11 OCTOBER 1997, Page 35

Self-pride and vainglory

Sir: My old friend Paul Johnson miscon- strues my remark in the James Bryce Lec- ture (And another thing, 27 September). My point was not at all that many Ameri- cans believe they talk to God regularly. As Lady Thatcher properly commented, that's What prayer is. My point was that, accord- ing to the Gallup poll, more than a third of American adults claim that God talks to them regularly — surely an expression of self-pride and vainglory alien to the Chris- tian tradition. As Lincoln said, 'The Almighty has His own purposes.'

Arthur Schlesinger

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