WHAT IS A CHRISTIAN?

In other words, he narrows the meaning of the word "proof"

to rational proof. In point of fact, the word "proof" may be
Idea of theists: employed in at least two other senses: (1) the historical, and
Idea of Russell: A Christian must be a firm believer of God, (2) the subjective.
immortality, and Christ. It is rational to suppose that mental Responses:
life ceases when bodily life ceases. The truth of the belief in
immortality cannot be proven rationally; therefore, Russell
cannot subscribe to it. Also, he says that the net result of
THE FIRST CAUSE ARGUMENT
this immortality belief has made men more egotistic, more
shut up in themselves, than nature made them. Idea of theists:
Counterarguments: Calling belief "in an afterlife" a "basic Idea of Russell:
Christian tenet" is like saying that belief in God is a basic
Christian tenet. Christians do believe in God, but so do Counterarguments:
practically all other religious people in the world. Belief in Responses:
God cannot be called a "basic Christian tenet" until some
content is given to the word "God." The same is true of
belief in an afterlife.
THE NATURAL LAW ARGUMENT
Responses:
Idea of theists:
Idea of Russell:
THE EXISTENCE OF GOD
Counterarguments:
Idea of theists: As a dogma, the existence of God can be
Responses:
proved by the unaided reason.
Idea of Russell:
THE ARGUMENT FROM DESIGN
Counterarguments: A rational proof of God's existence is,
moreover, actually inconsistent with the Christian faith. Idea of theists: Since there is design, there must be a
Blaise Pascal has well stated in his Penses that the heart designer. That designed is God himself.
has its reasons which reason does not know. It is the heart
which experiences God, and not the reason. This is not to Idea of Russell:
say that reason has no place within the Christian religion; it Counterarguments:
is, however, to assert that the Christian does not come to a
knowledge of his personal God via rationalism. Responses:
 THE MORAL ARGUMENTS FOR DEITY DEFECTS IN CHRISTS TEACHING
Idea of theists: There is no difference between right and Idea of theists:
wrong without God.
Idea of Russell:
Idea of Russell:
Counterarguments: Therefore, it is evident that Russell
Counterarguments: "uses selected material from the Bible to illustrate an
independently formulated philosophy." He does not
Responses:
inductively attempt to find what the Bible says before
criticizing it; rather, his negative evaluation of the Bible is
based upon his predetermined categories.
THE REMEDYING OF INJUSTICE
Responses:
Idea of theists: God must exist in order to bring justice to
the world.
Idea of Russell: THE MORAL PROBLEM

Counterarguments: Idea of theists:

Responses: Idea of Russell:

Counterarguments:

THE CHARACTER OF CHRIST Responses:

Idea of theists:

Idea of Russell: THE EMOTIONAL FACTOR

Counterarguments: Moreover, to judge God by an Idea of theists:

external ethical standard is self-contradictory. What is Idea of Russell:
Russell's standard of perfection and of wisdom by which he
evaluates Christ? Whatever standard Russell sets up, he Counterarguments:
cannot justify it nor can he measure Christ in accord with it
Responses:
because Christ is infinitely beyond all that the human mind
may imagine.
Responses: HOW CHURCHES HAVE RETARDED PROGRESS
Idea of theists:
Idea of Russell: The organized Christian Church has been measures for the peaceful adjustment of friction between
the powerful agent of moral retardation in the world. nations and for international co-operation for the welfare of
mankind. By its symbol and name the Red Cross bore
Counterarguments: First, he attacks Christianity by what
witness of its Christian origin. It came into being through the
he sees in practice within the organized Christian Church.
efforts of a Protestant layman of Geneva, Henri Duvant.
And quite often these are two entirely different things. Even
if Mr. Russell's denunciation were wholly accurate, it would What is his standard of moral decay?
be no proof of the falsity of Christianity. It would prove only
Therefore, Russell's arguments against the institutionalized
that Christians had continuously and without exception
Christian Church cannot be proven empirically nor
prostituted the principles of the religion they professed. It
established historicallythe former because empirically
would be as illogical not to believe in Christianity because of
there is no way of proving that any progress or hindrance
the crimes committed by Christians, as not to believe in
thereof is due solely to one factor such as the Christian
Socialism because there have been Socialists who
Church, and the latter because there is much positive
propagate their faith by persecution and murder.
evidence in behalf of Christianity's claims to be in fact the
Never has the Christian faith been as widely accepted as it light of the world.
is today. Indeed no other religion has ever had as extensive
Responses:
a geographic spread as has Christianity in the twentieth
century. A century and a half ago Protestantism was
confined almost entirely to Northwestern Europe. Today it is
the prevailing form of the faith in the United States, Canada, FEAR, THE FOUNDATION OF RELIGION
Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, and it is
Idea of theists:
increasing by leaps and bounds in Latin America, the
Philippines, Africa south of the Sahara, India, and Indonesia. Idea of Russell: Religion is based primarily and mainly
If Russell's moral condemnation of the Church were true, upon fearfear of the mysterious, defeat, death.
then we should rightly conclude that all these nations are
Counterarguments: This claim displays what Randall and
morally degenerate. Though this is of course possible,
Buchler have well termed the sociological fallacy. This
common sense makes us doubt that such is the case. It is
fallacy occurs when people try to establish the origin of
probably much truer to say that moral uplift, rather than
something, in this case religious belief, by considering it as
moral degradation, goes hand in hand with the spread of
it actually functions in society, and then on the basis of this
Christianity.
sociological investigation use the common elements to
Moved by their faith, Christians devised new methods and evaluate that which has allegedly arisen out of the societal
programs for the education of the masses. They brought situation.
into being hundreds of colleges and universities. Christians
Consequently, Russell's assertion that "all religious beliefs
also were the initiators and supporters of measures and
are based upon fear" does not actually evaluate belief; it
movements to reduce the sufferings attendant on wars and
merely describes a condition present in some people at the
to eliminate war by devising and operating institutions and
time they come to belief in God. Moreover, fear is not even
a necessary condition for belief, as other factors such as Responses:
desire for happiness, freedom, security only to mention a
few may be equally as determinative as fear.
Why is it that most people believe in that which is both
Analogously we may state that most people fear fire, but
untrue and harmful?
this says nothing about nor does it determine the value of
fire. H. G. Woods succinctly notes that psychological reasons
do not explain the origin of beliefs. They help to show why
men believe. They do not account for what they believe.
Responses:

WHAT WE MUST DO
Idea of Russell: If Russell rejects Christianity, what is his MEMORIZE THIS!
alternative? It is a rationalistic humanism based on the good Why, in summary, is Russell not a Christian? First, he
life inherent within man, inspired by love and guided by believes that all religion is based on fear and thus is bad.
scientific knowledge. The pursuit of this good life will, he
Secondly, he cannot on rational grounds accept a belief in
claims, free the world of all its evils.86 His motto is basically
God or in the immortality of the soul. Thirdly, he is unable to
this: "Conquer the world by intelligence, and not merely by
being slavishly subdued by the terror that comes from it. regard Jesus as the wisest and best of men. Lastly, he sees
the organized Christian religion as a retardation to moral
Counterarguments: Rationalists are often very anxious to progress in the world.
do something about world conditions, but they are never
ready to go to the root of the problem: man in his sinful
condition. "The fact is that the man who will not or cannot
mend himself likes to project his sins on other people."