Why I Am Not a Christian is an essay by the British philosopher Bertrand Russell hailed by The Independent as "devastating in its use of cold logic,"[1] and listed in the New York Public Library's list of the most influential books of the 20th century. An essay is usually a short piece of writing It is often written from an author's personal point of view. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Philosophy is the study of general problems concerning matters such as existence knowledge truth beauty justice validity mind and language Bertrand Arthur William Russell 3rd Earl Russell, OM, FRS (18 May 1872 – 2 February 1970 was a British Philosopher, Historian The Independent is a British compact Newspaper published by Tony O'Reilly 's Independent News & Media. The New York Public Library ( NYPL) is one of the leading public libraries of the world and is one of America's most significant Research libraries. [2]
Contents |
History
Originally a talk given March 6, 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 was later published, with other essays, in the book, Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects (ISBN 0-671-20323-1). Events 1079 - Omar Khayyám completes the Iranian calendar. 1454 - Thirteen Years' War: Delegates of Year 1927 ( MCMXXVII) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Battersea is a place in the London Borough of Wandsworth. It is an inner-city district located 2 The National Secular Society is a British campaigning organisation which promotes Secularism, the separation of Church and State to make society fair for everyone A pamphlet is an unbound Booklet (that is without a hard cover or binding)
Contents
Russell considers a number of logical arguments for the existence of God, including the cosmological argument, the natural-law argument, the teleological argument and moral arguments. Arguments for and against the existence of God have been proposed by philosophers theologians and others The cosmological argument is an Argument for the Existence of God or a " First Cause " Natural law or the law of nature ( Latin: lex naturalis) is a theory that posits the existence of a law whose content is set by Nature and that A teleological argument, or argument from design, is an Argument for the Existence of God or a creator based on perceived evidence of order purpose design He also goes into specifics about Christian theology, alleging defects in Jesus's teaching and his moral character, in particular because Jesus believed in hell and everlasting punishment. Christian Theology is discourse concerning Christian faith Christian theologians use biblical Exegesis, rational analysis and argument Jesus of Nazareth (7–2 BC / BCE —26–36 AD / CE) Morality (from the Latin la moralitas "manner character proper behavior" has three principal meanings Hell, according to many Religious beliefs, is a location in the Afterlife, which may be described as a place of suffering
Russell also expresses doubt over the historical existence of Jesus and questions the morality of religion:
| “ | I say quite deliberately that the Christian religion, as organized in its churches, has been and still is the principal enemy of moral progress in the world. The historicity of Jesus concerns the historical authenticity of Jesus of Nazareth. [3] | ” |
Russell's conclusion
| “ | Religion is based, I think, primarily and mainly upon fear. It is partly the terror of the unknown and partly, as I have said, the wish to feel that you have a kind of elder brother who will stand by you in all your troubles and disputes. . . . 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. [3] | ” |
Related works by other authors
- Why I Am Not a Muslim, by Ibn Warraq, is also critical of the religion in which the author was brought up — in this case, Islam. Why I Am Not a Muslim, a book written by Ibn Warraq, is a critique of Islam and the Qur'an. Ibn Warraq (born 1946 is the Pen name of a Secularist author of Pakistani origin and founder of the Institute for the Secularisation of Islamic Society For other meanings including people named 'Islam' see Islam (disambiguation. 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. Kancha Ilaiah is the Chairman of the Political science department at Osmania University, a Social activist and author Caste (Sanskrit Gyati ज्ञाति, Hindi Biradari बिरादरी samaj समाज jati जाति etc, Urdu Zat ज़ात) is an Endogamous group
- Why I Am Still a Christian is a book by Catholic theologian Hans Küng, published in 1987. Hans Küng (born March 19, 1928 in Sursee, Canton of Lucerne) is a Catholic Priest, a Swiss theologian and
References
- ^ Amazon entry
- ^ New York Public Library website
- ^ a b Russell, Bertrand. Why I Am Not a Christian. Retrieved on 2007-04-20. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 1303 - The University of Rome La Sapienza is instituted by Pope Boniface VIII.
External links
- Complete text with annotations
- Chapman, Simon. A book that changed me (book review). British Medical Journal. Retrieved on 2007-08-27. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Events 479 BC - Greco-Persian Wars: Persian forces led by Mardonius are routed by Pausanias, the Spartan
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