Hipster Jesus

I am currently typing this blog beside a beautiful lake in northern Idaho. My family and I are visiting my dad for a few days. This visit will pretty much finish off the summer vacation. With the sun setting over the mountains, following a day filled with hiking, fishing, swimming, and water tubing, I briefly pause before bed to share a quote for the morning's blog post.

The quote comes from the book Jesus Rediscovered by Malcolm Muggeridge. Here is a brief bio of Muggeridge:

Malcolm Muggeridge was born in 1903. His father was a member of the House of Commons and Muggeridge later described his upbringing as "socialist".

In 1924 Muggeridge left Cambridge University and worked as a teacher in India and Egypt. He also contributed articles for various newspapers including the Evening Standard and the Daily Telegraph.

In 1932 Muggeridge became a correspondent for the Manchester Guardian in the Soviet Union. He witnessed the Ukranian famine and wrote vivid accounts of this disaster. Muggeridge then returned to India where he became assistant editor for the Calcutta Statesman. He also published the book, The Earnest Atheist (1936).

On the outbreak of the Second World War, Muggeridge joined the Army Intelligence Corps and served in Mozambique, Italy, and France. He also worked for MI5 during this period.

After the war Muggeridge became a correspondent for the Daily Telegraph in Washington (1946-52). This was followed by a spell as editor of Punch Magazine (1953-57). He also worked as a television reporter for Panorama (1953-60). He also had two interview programmes: Appointment With (1960-61) and Let Me Speak (1964-65).

In later life Muggeridge became very religious and this is reflected in the books he published: Jesus Rediscovered (1969), Something Beautiful For God (1971), Chronicles of Wasted Time (1973), Jesus: The Man Who Lives (1975), Christ and the Media (1977), The End of Christendom (1980), A Third Testament (1983) and Confessions of a 20th Century Pilgrim (1988).

Malcolm Muggeridge died on 14th November, 1990.

In his book, Jesus Rediscovered, Muggerdige provides a great quote that is as applicable today as it was when it was written:

Each generation of Christians inevitably seeks to fashion its own Christ; from the austere figures carved in wood of the early Middle Ages, through the ebullient Renaissance Christs, to the weird efforts of our own time, sometimes clerically sponsored, to devise a Hipster Saviour.

It seems we will always reflect this famous quote by Rousseau: "God created man in his own image. And man, being a gentleman, returned the favor."