Why I Am Not a Christian is an essay by the BritishphilosopherBertrand Russell. Originally a talk given on 6 March 1927 at Battersea Town Hall, under the auspices of the South London Branch of the National Secular Society, it was published that year as a pamphlet and has been republished several times in English and in translation.[1]
Dutch edition book cover of Why I Am Not a Christian
Russell questions the morality of religion, which is, in his view, predominantly based on fear.
Russell opens by defining the term 'Christian', rejecting overly broad definitions in favour of two minimal beliefs: that God exists, and that Christ is a supreme moral role-model. He then sets out his reasons for rejecting both of these beliefs, and hence for not labelling himself a Christian.
Russell argues that, although people are usually Christian for emotional reasons or due to their upbringing, it is Catholic dogma that belief in God can be defended by reason alone. Russell then proceeds to attack the main arguments of this kind. The first cause argument is rejected on the grounds that God may not be the first cause or that there may be no first cause at all. The natural law argument is rejected on the grounds that quantum physics produces a probabilistic rather than law-like picture, that the laws are just human descriptions of reality rather than prescriptions (like law in the ordinary sense), and that there is no satisfactory account of God's role as law-giver even if there are such laws. The design argument is rejected on the grounds of evolution and the problem of evil. The moral argument is rejected on the grounds of the Euthyphro dilemma, and a modified version based on the remedying of injustice the non-existence of perfect justice (due to the improbability of an afterlife or similar).
Russell then moves on to Christ, and argues that although some of his teachings are praiseworthy, the balance is such that he is not the supreme moral role-model (in comparison to Socrates or Buddha). Russell expresses doubt in the historicity of Christ, but suggests that even if the account in the Gospels is accepted in its entirety then Christ is still not worthy of worship. Russell highlights Christ's teachings on turning the other cheek and helping the poor as examples of the praiseworthy kind, but suggests that these are ironically those least often followed by Christians. Russell then cites chiefly Christ's frequent invocations of Hell (but also the stories of the Gadarene swine and the fig-tree) as examples of those teachings that suggest imperfection in both kindness and wisdom.
Russell closes by suggesting that religion is the chief obstacle to moral progress, and an appeal to replace it with science (which can dispel the fear that Russell suggests is the chief cause of all religion) and the moral aim to make the world in which we live a better place.
"A good world needs knowledge, kindliness, and courage; it does not need a regretful hankering after the past, or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men. It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence. It needs hope for the future, not looking back all the time towards a past that is dead, which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create."
Historyedit
The first German edition was published in 1932 by Kreis der Freunde monistischen Schrifttums, a monist association in Dresden inspired by Ernst Haeckel. In 1957, Paul Edwards preferred Russell over the then more trendy Ludwig Wittgenstein and published the essay and further texts referring to the background of The Bertrand Russell Case. Russell had been denied a professorship in New York for his political and secular views, tolerance for gay and lesbian behaviour, and support of eugenics, particularly directed toward sterilizing "feeble-minded women". Some countries banned the book, including South Africa.[2] The enhanced version has been republished in various editions since the 1960s. The New York Public Library listed it among the most influential books of the 20th century.[3]
Similarly titled works by other authorsedit
Como e porque sou romancista (How and Why I am a Novelist), an autobiography by Brazilian writer José Alencar, published in 1893.
Why I Am Still a Christian, a book by Catholic theologian Hans Küng, published in 1987.
Why I Am Not a Muslim, a 1995 book by Ibn Warraq, is also critical of the religion in which the author was brought up — in this case, Islam. The author mentions Why I Am Not a Christian towards the end of the first chapter, stating that many of its arguments also apply to Islam.
Why I Am Not a Buddhist, book by Evan Thompson, publ. 2020, Yale Univ. Press, criticizes what he calls Buddhist exceptionalism, the idea in contemporary culture that (among other things) falsely views Buddhism as a kind of science, a mind science. Author mentions Russell's essay on p.22. Chapter 2 takes specific aim at Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright. Instead of science or Buddhism, Thompson advocates the cosmopolitanism approach of Kwame Anthony Appiah, among others.
Referencesedit
^Chapman, Simon (22 April 2000). "A book that changed me". British Medical Journal. 320 (7242): 1152. Retrieved 27 August 2007.
^"Literarische Umschau" – E. Katzmann, Karl Ude [ed.]: Welt und Wort. Literarische Monatsschrift, 14 (1959), 200.
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Why I Am Not a Christian is an essay by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell Originally a talk given on 6 March 1927 at Battersea Town Hall under the auspices of the South London Branch of the National Secular Society it was published that year as a pamphlet and has been republished several times in English and in translation 1 Dutch edition book cover of Why I Am Not a Christian Contents 1 Contents 2 History 2 1 Similarly titled works by other authors 3 References 4 External linksContents editThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed July 2022 Learn how and when to remove this message Russell questions the morality of religion which is in his view predominantly based on fear Russell opens by defining the term Christian rejecting overly broad definitions in favour of two minimal beliefs that God exists and that Christ is a supreme moral role model He then sets out his reasons for rejecting both of these beliefs and hence for not labelling himself a Christian Russell argues that although people are usually Christian for emotional reasons or due to their upbringing it is Catholic dogma that belief in God can be defended by reason alone Russell then proceeds to attack the main arguments of this kind The first cause argument is rejected on the grounds that God may not be the first cause or that there may be no first cause at all The natural law argument is rejected on the grounds that quantum physics produces a probabilistic rather than law like picture that the laws are just human descriptions of reality rather than prescriptions like law in the ordinary sense and that there is no satisfactory account of God s role as law giver even if there are such laws The design argument is rejected on the grounds of evolution and the problem of evil The moral argument is rejected on the grounds of the Euthyphro dilemma and a modified version based on the remedying of injustice the non existence of perfect justice due to the improbability of an afterlife or similar Russell then moves on to Christ and argues that although some of his teachings are praiseworthy the balance is such that he is not the supreme moral role model in comparison to Socrates or Buddha Russell expresses doubt in the historicity of Christ but suggests that even if the account in the Gospels is accepted in its entirety then Christ is still not worthy of worship Russell highlights Christ s teachings on turning the other cheek and helping the poor as examples of the praiseworthy kind but suggests that these are ironically those least often followed by Christians Russell then cites chiefly Christ s frequent invocations of Hell but also the stories of the Gadarene swine and the fig tree as examples of those teachings that suggest imperfection in both kindness and wisdom Russell closes by suggesting that religion is the chief obstacle to moral progress and an appeal to replace it with science which can dispel the fear that Russell suggests is the chief cause of all religion and the moral aim to make the world in which we live a better place A good world needs knowledge kindliness and courage it does not need a regretful hankering after the past or a fettering of the free intelligence by the words uttered long ago by ignorant men It needs a fearless outlook and a free intelligence It needs hope for the future not looking back all the time towards a past that is dead which we trust will be far surpassed by the future that our intelligence can create History editThe first German edition was published in 1932 by Kreis der Freunde monistischen Schrifttums a monist association in Dresden inspired by Ernst Haeckel In 1957 Paul Edwards preferred Russell over the then more trendy Ludwig Wittgenstein and published the essay and further texts referring to the background of The Bertrand Russell Case Russell had been denied a professorship in New York for his political and secular views tolerance for gay and lesbian behaviour and support of eugenics particularly directed toward sterilizing feeble minded women Some countries banned the book including South Africa 2 The enhanced version has been republished in various editions since the 1960s The New York Public Library listed it among the most influential books of the 20th century 3 Similarly titled works by other authors edit Como e porque sou romancista How and Why I am a Novelist an autobiography by Brazilian writer Jose Alencar published in 1893 Why I Am an Atheist an essay by Indian revolutionary Bhagat Singh published in 1930 Why I Am Not a Conservative an essay by Austrian School economist Friedrich Hayek published in 1960 Why I Am Still a Christian a book by Catholic theologian Hans Kung published in 1987 Why I Am Not a Muslim a 1995 book by Ibn Warraq is also critical of the religion in which the author was brought up in this case Islam The author mentions Why I Am Not a Christian towards the end of the first chapter stating that many of its arguments also apply to Islam Why I Am Not a Hindu a 1996 book in a similar vein by Kancha Ilaiah an activist opposed to the Indian caste system Why I Am Not a Secularist 2000 by William E Connolly 4 Why I Am Not a Scientist 2009 ISBN 0 520 25960 2 by biological anthropologist Jonathan M Marks Why I Am Not A Christian by philosopher and independent scholar Richard Carrier Why I Am Not a Communist by Karel Capek a 1924 essay in Pritomnost magazine Why I Am Not A Property Dualist an essay by John Searle in which he criticises the philosophical position of property dualism How I Stopped Being a Jew a 2014 book by Israeli historian Shlomo Sand Why I Am a Christian a 2003 book by English author John Stott Why I Am a Hindu a 2018 book by Indian author Shashi Tharoor Why I Am Not an Austrian Economist an essay by economist Bryan Caplan Why Am I a Heathen an essay by Wong Chin Foo Why I Am Not a Buddhist book by Evan Thompson publ 2020 Yale Univ Press criticizes what he calls Buddhist exceptionalism the idea in contemporary culture that among other things falsely views Buddhism as a kind of science a mind science Author mentions Russell s essay on p 22 Chapter 2 takes specific aim at Why Buddhism is True by Robert Wright Instead of science or Buddhism Thompson advocates the cosmopolitanism approach of Kwame Anthony Appiah among others References edit Chapman Simon 22 April 2000 A book that changed me British Medical Journal 320 7242 1152 Retrieved 27 August 2007 Literarische Umschau E Katzmann Karl Ude ed Welt und Wort Literarische Monatsschrift 14 1959 200 New York Public Library website William E Connolly Why I Am Not a Secularist Minneapolis U of Minnesota Press 1999 ISBN 9780816633319 pp 5ffExternal links editText of essay at the Bertrand Russell Society website Annotated text Portals nbsp Religion nbsp Books Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Why I Am Not a Christian amp oldid 1180223132, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
