THE mr.sis of the article was that ideas are more
important than events and individuals. Christ, Mr. Muggeridge thinks, 'propounded an idea 2,000 years ago which was to govern the hearts and thoughts of millions of human beings for cen- turies afterwards.' I do not know which idea Mr. Muggeridge had in mind, but he really ought to have learned by now that Christianity is a religion not a philosophy, that it is about a Person not an idea, and that it is the events in that Person's life, not his ideas, which have altered history. The Crucifixion was not an idea. Less forgivable than Mr. Muggeridge's total mis- understanding of Christianity was his description of Christ as 'a scarcely literate Palestinian Jew.' This reveals the most crass ignorance. All Jews in the time of Christ went to school, and Christ knew Hebrew as well as Aramaic, and probably a smattering of Greek. Mr. Muggeridge is one of the most brilliant journalists in the country, but it looks as if he is beginning to feel the strain of trying to keep up with the Osbornes.
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