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The End of Christendom
Christendom, according to Malcolm Muggeridge in this fiery book, is something quite different from Christianity. Christ said his kingdom was not of this world; Christendom, on the other hand, is of this world and, like every other human creation, is subject to decay and eventual desolation. In this book Muggeridge perceptively explores the downfall of Christendom, indicating some of the contributing factors to its collapse.
62 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1980
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About the author
Malcolm Muggeridge
102 books288 followersThomas Malcolm Muggeridge was an English journalist, author, media personality, and satirist. During World War II, he was a soldier and a spy. In the aftermath of the war, as a hugely influential London journalist, he converted to Christianity and helped bring Mother Teresa to popular attention in the West. He was also a critic of the sexual revolution and of drug use.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews
September 11, 2017
If you've ever listened to Ravi Zacharias, the name of Malcolm Muggeridge is familiar to you. When I came across this small 62 page book at my Mom's, I had to ask to borrow it, to read directly from this oft-quoted man. I didn't know anything about it when I started on it, so I wasn't sure what Muggeridge meant by the "end of Christendom". This is actually the transcript of the inaugural address of the Pascal Lectures on Christianity and the University, at University of Waterloo, given by Muggeridge in October 1978, complete with audience Q&A.
Muggeridge aims to differentiate between true Christianity and the more "statish" concept of Christendom. As he puts it, "Christendom, however, is something quite different from Christianity, being the administrative or power structure, based on the Christian religion and constructed by men." This distinction is emphasized by his choice of titles for the 2 essays he presented: "The End of Christendom" and "But Not of Christ". As he points out, "You might even say that Christ Himself abolished Christendom before it began by stating that His kingdom was not of this world." And so it seems a little depressing at first as he compares the decline of Christendom to the decline and eventual fall of the Roman empire. But he reminds us in the second half that, "Now we see Christendom likewise sinking. But the true point I want to make is this: that Christ's kingdom remains. Indeed, it can be seen more clearly and appreciated more sharply by contrast with the darkness and depravity of the contemporary scene."
Overall, I found the book to very appropriate for our time still, as he calls for an end of cultural Christianity, Christianity in name only, a public-endorsed societal influence of Christianity without any of the individual life-changing power of it. In the end, it is not the influence of Christianity that has changed the world, though its positive influence in human rights, disaster relief, medicine, education, music, art, architecture, and a host of other areas is undeniable; it is the power of God transforming individual human hearts and minds so that all those things naturally flow from a heart that is truly a "new creation".
Muggeridge aims to differentiate between true Christianity and the more "statish" concept of Christendom. As he puts it, "Christendom, however, is something quite different from Christianity, being the administrative or power structure, based on the Christian religion and constructed by men." This distinction is emphasized by his choice of titles for the 2 essays he presented: "The End of Christendom" and "But Not of Christ". As he points out, "You might even say that Christ Himself abolished Christendom before it began by stating that His kingdom was not of this world." And so it seems a little depressing at first as he compares the decline of Christendom to the decline and eventual fall of the Roman empire. But he reminds us in the second half that, "Now we see Christendom likewise sinking. But the true point I want to make is this: that Christ's kingdom remains. Indeed, it can be seen more clearly and appreciated more sharply by contrast with the darkness and depravity of the contemporary scene."
Overall, I found the book to very appropriate for our time still, as he calls for an end of cultural Christianity, Christianity in name only, a public-endorsed societal influence of Christianity without any of the individual life-changing power of it. In the end, it is not the influence of Christianity that has changed the world, though its positive influence in human rights, disaster relief, medicine, education, music, art, architecture, and a host of other areas is undeniable; it is the power of God transforming individual human hearts and minds so that all those things naturally flow from a heart that is truly a "new creation".
August 19, 2020
A short, bracing pair of lectures from 1978 that are both very much of their time and full of lasting truth.
Christianity, as Muggeridge sees it, is fatally compromised by its association with “Christendom,” which is the worldly structure of the faith that, unlike the faith itself, is “constructed by men,” and therefore perishable. Muggeridge sees this structure perishing in his day and predicts its total collapse in the forthcoming generations. However, Christianity will endure—that is, Christ himself will endure—which Muggeridge also sees signs of in his day, not the least of which is the flowering of the faith in the harshest possible conditions, in the savage atheistic totalitarian regimes of China and, especially Russia, with which Muggeridge had a long acquaintance. So while the West decays, putrefying of infections of its own making—his acid remarks on campus radicals could have been made yesterday—the power of Christ to renew is still evident to him, and the one hope of what used to be a Christian society. He invokes Pascal (for whom the lecture series was named), St Augustine of Hippo (apropos of the topic), Solzhenitsyn, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche quite a lot, and in interesting ways.
This includes not just the lectures but the Q&A sessions after each, which is some of the most interesting and striking stuff. Muggeridge, I know from watching him on old episodes of “Firing Line” (here's a good one), was wonderful in debate or discussion. Here he counters or answers the audience's objections and questions about the lectures and even gets into more nitty gritty specifics, such as the state of American Christianity, which has so totally identified itself with the American system; evolution; Nietzsche and his madness; and others.
Slight, as a pair of lectures must be, but worthwhile. I listened to a very old audio recording of this via Hoopla. (An annoyance: the narrator read all the edtior's or publisher's footnotes right into the text, disastrously wrecking the flow of Muggeridge’s thought several times.) I hope to get a physical copy of the book to reread it soon.
Christianity, as Muggeridge sees it, is fatally compromised by its association with “Christendom,” which is the worldly structure of the faith that, unlike the faith itself, is “constructed by men,” and therefore perishable. Muggeridge sees this structure perishing in his day and predicts its total collapse in the forthcoming generations. However, Christianity will endure—that is, Christ himself will endure—which Muggeridge also sees signs of in his day, not the least of which is the flowering of the faith in the harshest possible conditions, in the savage atheistic totalitarian regimes of China and, especially Russia, with which Muggeridge had a long acquaintance. So while the West decays, putrefying of infections of its own making—his acid remarks on campus radicals could have been made yesterday—the power of Christ to renew is still evident to him, and the one hope of what used to be a Christian society. He invokes Pascal (for whom the lecture series was named), St Augustine of Hippo (apropos of the topic), Solzhenitsyn, Dostoevsky, and Nietzsche quite a lot, and in interesting ways.
This includes not just the lectures but the Q&A sessions after each, which is some of the most interesting and striking stuff. Muggeridge, I know from watching him on old episodes of “Firing Line” (here's a good one), was wonderful in debate or discussion. Here he counters or answers the audience's objections and questions about the lectures and even gets into more nitty gritty specifics, such as the state of American Christianity, which has so totally identified itself with the American system; evolution; Nietzsche and his madness; and others.
Slight, as a pair of lectures must be, but worthwhile. I listened to a very old audio recording of this via Hoopla. (An annoyance: the narrator read all the edtior's or publisher's footnotes right into the text, disastrously wrecking the flow of Muggeridge’s thought several times.) I hope to get a physical copy of the book to reread it soon.
May 9, 2023
Muggeridge offers helpful observations pertaining to the demise of Christendom and a good case for hope and optimism for Christian faith in the era that follows.
December 29, 2021
Muggeridge has some important things to say in this book. Interacting with the likes of Blaise Pascal, he rightly argues that Christianity is much different from the worldly structures that uphold it. However, he makes the all too common mistake of assuming that since Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world, there are no ‘worldly’ structures that could accompany it. Still an enjoyable read.
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August 11, 2012Although I don't agree with many of Muggeridge"s conservative views, I found this to be a compelling discussion of the place of Christianity in the modern era.
March 2, 2013
Christendom may collapse, but Christ will never cease to be.
February 21, 2015
1980, no good w/o God, Blaise Pascal, highest aspiration to see God, misuse of words are undoing love freedom liberation to facilitate more ill of abortion and marriage, current times focused on trite, humility a condition of virtue, faith as received by heart not reason, arrogance of mind produced the devil see Dostoyevsky book, see also decline of west per Solzhenitsyn Harvard lecture, also John Henry Newman, civilizations wax and wane, excessive self-indulgence break down of law/order and society, only city of God everlasting per Augustine, wonder of world procreation, cold war and who created more of what, absolute power response is absolute love of Jesus, free if only free in souls, line between good and evil through heart-Sol, Tolstoy learn to be free for love of God, what is reality of Christ, evolution as one of jokes of history, media able to miss the most important thing.
January 19, 2017
Just finished rereading Muggeridge’s END OF CHRISTENDOM, which I enjoyed. But I did not enjoy it as much as when I first came across it around 1982. What struck me as heroic the first time I read it took on shades of smugness this time. He was so confident and almost satisfied that humanity was doomed. Perhaps, as I get older, I feel more the tragedy in humanity’s fallenness and more hopeful about the implications of our being made in God’s image. As a young man, I enjoyed the vicarious thrill that someone on “our side” sounded so smart and insightful.
July 1, 2021
My first Muggeridge experience. Tim Keller refers to him in his own works and I thought I would see what he has to say. Timely insights for his time and now ours only a few decades later. He brings an informed perspective on the health of Christianity in the world, particularly interesring to me was his insight on communist Russia and Christianity within its borders. He repeatedly refers to how old he his and speaks accordingly, as one who has nothing to gain or lose by speaking plainly about the state of the Western world, the demise of Christendom, and the greatness of the gospel.
October 18, 2021
Interesting how people said the same thing in the 60s as people are saying today.
April 15, 2025
This book is a couple of lectures that Malcolm Muggeridge gave at the University of Waterloo. There are also some questions that he answered from the audience after the lecture.
From the book you can sense the authors that Muggeridge appreciates -- in particular, Solzhenitsyn (he quotes the Gulag Archipelago a lot) and ones that he doesn't -- Nitzsche is singled out as having philosophy that ends in insanity. Along the way, Muggeridge has many quotable sections.
“The strange and mysterious and highly amusing thing is that probably you would have very great difficulty in finding a single Marxist in the U.S.S.R. You would only find Marxists among left-wing Jesuits in the faculties of universities in the West, which is one of God's little jokes.”
Muggeridge saw clearly that Communism was failing in the USSR, but the Christendom had failed as well. Amusingly, he comments that the Soviets went around creating anti-communists, while the United States created communists. The point, being that the policies of each country had the exact opposite effect of their intended consequences.
"It's a very difficult equation to work out. It's the equation with which our Lord himself left us, that we must render unto God the things that are God's and unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. He neglected to tell us what proportion we owed, so that of course people like myself can hope to get by with offering Caesar very little. [...] The cleverness of that reply was of course that it didn't specify exactly how much was due to Caesar and how much to God. He left us to work out.”
While Muggeridge saw the end of Christendom, he did not see this as the end of Christ or of God worship. Many of the structures would vanish that had been in place for hundreds of years.
He found it amusing that when the Soviets backs were against the wall in World War II, Stalin got a cleric out of prison and used him to encourage the faithful to fight back against the Germans. Reading Marxist rhetoric didn't seem adequate for the occasion.
“The early Christians had the great advantage of believing that the world would soon come to an end. That was a sort of miracle in their favor because it prevented them occupying their minds with irrelevant matters.”
I think I'll leave it there. Muggeridge is really quotable and has a wry sense of humor that wends its way through his lectures.
The biggest negative is his smugness in shooting down the opposition's balloons. He was asked a question about how his belief structure would change if evolution were shown to be true and he basically declined to answer because, he was certain that evolution wasn't true and that future generations would view our current generation as the most gullible generation because of our willingness to believe everything that scientists trotted out.
This is a short read and well worth the time spent in perusing its pages. Highly recommended.
From the book you can sense the authors that Muggeridge appreciates -- in particular, Solzhenitsyn (he quotes the Gulag Archipelago a lot) and ones that he doesn't -- Nitzsche is singled out as having philosophy that ends in insanity. Along the way, Muggeridge has many quotable sections.
“The strange and mysterious and highly amusing thing is that probably you would have very great difficulty in finding a single Marxist in the U.S.S.R. You would only find Marxists among left-wing Jesuits in the faculties of universities in the West, which is one of God's little jokes.”
Muggeridge saw clearly that Communism was failing in the USSR, but the Christendom had failed as well. Amusingly, he comments that the Soviets went around creating anti-communists, while the United States created communists. The point, being that the policies of each country had the exact opposite effect of their intended consequences.
"It's a very difficult equation to work out. It's the equation with which our Lord himself left us, that we must render unto God the things that are God's and unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's. He neglected to tell us what proportion we owed, so that of course people like myself can hope to get by with offering Caesar very little. [...] The cleverness of that reply was of course that it didn't specify exactly how much was due to Caesar and how much to God. He left us to work out.”
While Muggeridge saw the end of Christendom, he did not see this as the end of Christ or of God worship. Many of the structures would vanish that had been in place for hundreds of years.
He found it amusing that when the Soviets backs were against the wall in World War II, Stalin got a cleric out of prison and used him to encourage the faithful to fight back against the Germans. Reading Marxist rhetoric didn't seem adequate for the occasion.
“The early Christians had the great advantage of believing that the world would soon come to an end. That was a sort of miracle in their favor because it prevented them occupying their minds with irrelevant matters.”
I think I'll leave it there. Muggeridge is really quotable and has a wry sense of humor that wends its way through his lectures.
The biggest negative is his smugness in shooting down the opposition's balloons. He was asked a question about how his belief structure would change if evolution were shown to be true and he basically declined to answer because, he was certain that evolution wasn't true and that future generations would view our current generation as the most gullible generation because of our willingness to believe everything that scientists trotted out.
This is a short read and well worth the time spent in perusing its pages. Highly recommended.
March 5, 2022
The name Malcolm Muggeridge has been stuck somewhere in the back of my mind for some years as that of an eminent Christian thinker, most likely from the frequent quotes in lectures from Ravi Zacharias (which I listened to frequently in my early 20s). All that said, when I found this little book on the used bookshelf at the library, I was quite excited to read it. However, it was not long into the book they I found myself to be quite disappointed. There were certain mystic themes that were quite off-putting. When he mentioned that he wasn’t “interested in the historical Jesus” I knew that I wasn’t just being overly critical. I don’t think they he personally denied the historicity of Jesus and his resurrection, but he did downplay the importance of the historical aspects of the life of Christ. Unfortunately, the Apostle Paul disagreed (cf. 1 Cor. 15). When I dug a little more online and discovered that he joined the RCC two years after writing this book, my respect for him dwindled even further. I also found an interesting story recounting a meeting between him and Francis Schaeffer — it was apparently an uncomfortable meeting, and I am most sympathetic with Schaefer’s side of the conversation.
All that said, he did offer some interesting thoughts on the decline of western civilization, and it is always fun to see people engaging with great minds like Pascal, Blake, Dostoyevsky, Solzhenitsyn etc… He is also an excellent writer with a splendid grasp of the English language. Maybe I’ll re-read in a couple years and see if there is something more that I can get out of it when reading it with fresh eyes.
All that said, he did offer some interesting thoughts on the decline of western civilization, and it is always fun to see people engaging with great minds like Pascal, Blake, Dostoyevsky, Solzhenitsyn etc… He is also an excellent writer with a splendid grasp of the English language. Maybe I’ll re-read in a couple years and see if there is something more that I can get out of it when reading it with fresh eyes.
March 20, 2018
Muggeridge criticizes the decadence of Western culture especially at the twilight of the Soviet Union. He despises television and encourages the reading of Blaise Pascal, Leo Tolstoy, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn, and John Henry Newman. He takes questions at the end of these lectures but bluntly refuses to answer some questions, particularly about whether the theory of evolution is true. He flatly denies the truth of evolutionary theory and points to it as another hallmark of the credulity of modern culture--an ironic jab since modern culture would paint the faithful as credulous. Muggeridge contends that the faithful have, in fact, been quite careful about what they believe; and Pascal serves as his primary example.
September 18, 2020
Published in 1980, the late London journalist Muggeridge, who served in WWII and converted to Christianity later in life, reflects on the decay of cultural Christianity in his lifetime among other things. Reflecting deeply on the work of Blaise Pascal, the author strikes notes now familiar in the secular West, nominal faith, nationalistic cult syncretism, and affluent decadence take center stage in the fall of Christianity’s power structures and moral authority in the West. In spite of this, Muggeridge is quick to remind us Christ’s true kingdom transcends all earthly powers, that Christendom emerged in Rome’s fall, and something greater can emerge in Christendom’s wake. 2 hours or 80 pages of history, faith, and curmudgeonly reflection.
December 29, 2022
Muggeridge differentiates Christianity and Christendom. He submits that Christianity begins with Christ whereas Christendom begins with Constantine. This is an important distinction. By recognizing the difference we can have an end to the cultural/political movement without an end to the spiritual one. Jesus did not seek to establish an earthly kingdom in the first century AD. Instead he told his audiences that the Kingdom of God was near them-ever present in our everyday lives but outside the reach of earthly rulers. The first part of the book deals with the author's lecture on Pascal. He provides and interesting thesis on a very interesting man. Short and interesting read!
November 22, 2016
Although this book is a little dated (it was published in 1980), it is still quite relevant to the Christian living in the Western World. Malcolm Muggeridge offers both hope and perspective for Christians, who are nervous about the diminishing of the Christianity's place in Western society and culture. Even if individuals don't agree with everything he has written, I believe they will find much on which they can reflect and find hope.
June 15, 2017
Book contains two inaugural addresses by Muggeridge at initial Pascal Lectures on Christianity at University of Waterloo in 1978. Following quote summarizes: "Amid the shambles of Christendom [lecture 1] I feel a renewed confidence in the light of the Christian revelation with which it first began [lecture 2].
January 31, 2021
Dated in some ways, but timeless in others, and timely at the moment for the reminder of the difference between Christianity and Christendom. Seems foundational, but each generation needs to be reminded that Christ's kingdom is not of this world. Engaging author/speaker (as this is a transcript of the Pascal Lectures on Christianity and University given at University of Waterloo).
March 4, 2021
A really fine work. Muggeridge recognizes what all of history has seen, and that is that christianity continues even as Christendom wains. These were two lectures turned into a short book and so there are some obvious discrepancies that come from a speech that wasn't meant for print, but that shouldn't hold the reader back much at all.
October 26, 2022
Another included Audible book, suggested to me by the algorithm 😏 In general, a quick listen that revealed to me that “there is nothing new under the sun—many of the points Muggeridge made in 1980 sound very contemporary to what we are still arguing for and against today. He nearly lost me at the end with his dismissive remarks regarding evolution though…
January 14, 2021
Christendom, at least as it's known in the west, may come to an end, but Christ will continue. This really means Christendom will resurrect. A good, short read with fun Q&A included at the end. Important truths for these troubled times.
August 30, 2021
My first encounter with Muggeridge resonates well with our own time & circumstances. I appreciated his sense of humor in the Q&A as well. It’ll make you want to read Solzhenitsyn and Pascal! Some great reflections and quotables!
December 23, 2021
My husband got this on our audible account so I had to see what it was about. What a short yet profound truth filled lecture that makes you pause and actually think. I can see myself re- listening to this over and over again before understanding the depth it provides.
May 5, 2017
There is a lot of great stuff in here, nice gems.
Simple, but powerful. Thank you Mr. Muggeridge, I look forward to seeing(reading) you.
Simple, but powerful. Thank you Mr. Muggeridge, I look forward to seeing(reading) you.
November 17, 2019
Brilliant. Learned, lucid and concise whether or not one agrees with him.
July 31, 2020
One of the great Christian thinkers. This is really two lectures. I listened on audio and it works very well.
September 7, 2020
A really good and relevant read. I’m surprised it took me this long to get to it.
December 24, 2020
A bit reminiscent of C.S. Lewis to me. Fascinating guy...
January 7, 2021
Jan 2021. Two lectures from 1978. Reading on a lark because it's short, and because I've heard good (if conflicting) things about Muggeridge.
Finished: a charming combination of wit and piety.
Finished: a charming combination of wit and piety.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 57 reviews