Muggeridge says of Christianity:
Pessimism has, indeed, been Christianity’s great strength, and the reason for its survival. The concept of this world as a wilderness, and of human life as short and brutish, fits the circumstances of most people most of the time. The contrary proposition-that earthly life can be satisfying within its own dimensions and on its own terms-leads to such mental strain and confusion as to be scarcely tenable, other than briefly and artificially.
