SOURCE: Breslin, John B. “Jesus and St. Mug.” America 133, no. 10 (11 October 1975): 207-10.

In the following essay, Breslin contrasts Muggeridge's iconoclastic reputation with his increasingly Christian outlook on life.

In a review of the second volume of his autobiography, I referred to Malcolm Muggeridge as a “formidable commentator” on the follies of the recent past and present. As I traveled down from London to spend an afternoon with him at his cottage in Sussex several weeks ago, that phrase came back to haunt me.

I took some comfort from the assurances of people I knew who had met Mr. Muggeridge that he was both gracious and genial in person, even to interviewers. But the baleful look I remembered so well from BBC telecasts and the astringent tone of the two books I had just finished reading made me wonder again whether I was heading for the lion's den with...