[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-45537-en":3,"doc-seo-45537-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":91},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":21,"is_downloadable":21,"audit_status":21,"page_count":22,"language":23,"language_code":24,"site_id":25,"html_lang":24,"table_of_contents":26,"faqs":27,"seo_title":13,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},45537,16904993612988,"Olivia Brown","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_a8503ba1806abce46bf441b54a3ca4cd",9,"Religion & Spirituality","Bertrand Russell Why I Am Not a Christian","A lecture text explaining why Bertrand Russell rejects Christianity in a historically grounded sense. It first clarifies what “Christian” means, distinguishing earlier, more creedal definitions from a minimal core belief in God, immortality, and a specific view of Christ. The essay then outlines how Russell addresses key doctrines, including the existence of God and traditional proofs such as the First Cause argument, arguing that these beliefs fail to meet rational or conceptual standards.","Why I am not a Christian Bertrand Russell  \nIntroductory note:  \nRussell delivered this lecture on March 6, 1927 to the National Secular Society, South London Branch, at Battersea Town Hall. Published in pamphlet form in that same year, the essay subsequently achieved new fame with Paul Edwards' edition of Russell's book, Why IAm Not a Christian and Other Essays ... (1957) .  \nAs your Chairman has told you, the subject about which I am going to speak to you tonight is \"Why I Am Not a Christian.\" Perhaps it would be as well, first of all, to try to make out what one means by the word Christian. It is used these days in a very loose sense by a great many people. Some people mean no more by it than a person who attempts to live a good life. In that sense I suppose there would be Christians in all sectsand creeds; but I do not think that that is the proper sense of the word, if only because it would imply that all the people who are not Christians--all the Buddhists, Confucians, Mohammedans, and so on--are not trying to live a good life. I do not mean by a Christian any person who tries to live decently according to his lights. I think that you must have a certain amount of definite belief before you have a right to call yourself a Christian. The word does not have quite such a full-blooded meaning now as it had in the times of St. Augustine and St. Thomas Aquinas. In those days, if a man said that he was a Christian it was known what he meant. You accepted a whole collection of creeds which were set out with great precision, and every single syllable of those creeds you believed with the whole strength of your convictions.  \nWhat Is a Christian?  \nNowadays it is not quite that. We have to be a little more vague in our meaning of Christianity. I think, however, that there are two different items which are quite essential to anybody calling himself a Christian. The first is one of a dogmatic nature--namely, that you must believe in God and immortality. If you do not believe in those two things, Ido not think that you can properly call yourself a Christian. Then, further than that, as the name implies, you must have some kind of belief about Christ. The Mohammedans, for instance, also believe in God and in immortality, and yet they would not call themselves Christians. I think you must have at the very lowest the belief that Christ was, if not divine, at least the best and wisest of men. If you are not going to believe that much about Christ, I do not think you have any right to call yourself a Christian. Of course, there is another sense, which you find in Whitaker's Almanack and in geography books, where the population of the world is said to be divided into Christians, Mohammedans, Buddhists, fetish worshipers, and so on; and in that sense we are all Christians. The geography books count us all in, but that is a purely geographical sense, which I suppose we can ignore.Therefore I take it that when I tell you why I am not a Christian I have to tell you two different things: first, why I do not believe in God and in immortality; and, secondly, why I do not think that Christ was the best and wisest of men, although I grant him a very high degree of moral goodness.  \nBut for the successful efforts of unbelievers in the past, I could not take so elastic a definition of Christianity as that. As I said before, in olden days it had a much more fullblooded sense. For instance, it included he belief in hell. Belief in eternal hell-fire was an essential item of Christian belief until pretty recent times. In this country, as you know, it ceased to be an essential item because of a decision of the Privy Council, and from that decision the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Archbishop of York dissented; but in this country our religion is settled by Act of Parliament, and therefore the Privy Council was  \nable to override their Graces and hell was no longer necessary to a Christian.  \nConsequently I shall not insist that a Christian must believe","cbCaijXZIHAtQtDE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaijXZIHAtQtDE","pdf",70525,2,1,13,"English","en",105,"# Why I Am Not a Christian\n## What Is a Christian?\n## The Existence of God\n## The First-cause Argument","[{\"question\":\"What definition of “Christian” does Russell use in the lecture?\",\"answer\":\"Russell argues a proper sense requires definite belief: faith in God and immortality, and some belief about Christ, at least that Christ was the best and wisest of men.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does Russell say he is not a Christian?\",\"answer\":\"He frames the rejection in two parts: why he does not believe in God and immortality, and why he does not think Christ was the best and wisest of men (despite acknowledging moral goodness).\"},{\"question\":\"What is the First Cause argument, and how does Russell treat it?\",\"answer\":\"The First Cause argument claims that everything has a cause, so the chain must end in a First Cause identified with God. Russell says it carries little weight today because “cause” has changed in scientific and philosophical use and the argument lacks validity.\"}]",1783461058,33,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":25,"language":24,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":86,"head_meta":88,"extra_data":90,"updated_unix":28},"bertrand-russell-why-i-am-not-a-christian","",{"@graph":36,"@context":85},[37,53,68],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,47,50],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":21},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":20},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",{"item":48,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":49},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/religion-spirituality/",3,{"item":51,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":52},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/bertrand-russell-why-i-am-not-a-christian/45537/",4,{"url":51,"name":13,"@type":54,"author":55,"headline":13,"publisher":57,"fileFormat":60,"inLanguage":24,"description":14,"dateModified":61,"datePublished":62,"encodingFormat":60,"isAccessibleForFree":63,"interactionStatistic":64},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":56},"Person",{"url":41,"name":58,"@type":59},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-07-14","2026-07-07",true,{"@type":65,"interactionType":66,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":67},"ViewAction",{"@type":69,"mainEntity":70},"FAQPage",[71,77,81],{"name":72,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":74},"What definition of “Christian” does Russell use in the lecture?","Question",{"text":75,"@type":76},"Russell argues a proper sense requires definite belief: faith in God and immortality, and some belief about Christ, at least that Christ was the best and wisest of men.","Answer",{"name":78,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":79},"Why does Russell say he is not a Christian?",{"text":80,"@type":76},"He frames the rejection in two parts: why he does not believe in God and immortality, and why he does not think Christ was the best and wisest of men (despite acknowledging moral goodness).",{"name":82,"@type":73,"acceptedAnswer":83},"What is the First Cause argument, and how does Russell treat it?",{"text":84,"@type":76},"The First Cause argument claims that everything has a cause, so the chain must end in a First Cause identified with God. Russell says it carries little weight today because “cause” has changed in scientific and philosophical use and the argument lacks validity.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":51,"og:type":87,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":58,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":89,"canonical":51},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":25},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":92},[93,97,101,105,110,115,120,125,128,131,135],{"id":21,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":94,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":52,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":107,"show_sort_weight":108,"slug":109},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":111,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":112,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":121,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":122,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":124},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":127},20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":126,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":129,"show_sort_weight":126,"slug":130},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":132,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":133,"show_sort_weight":132,"slug":134},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":136,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":137,"show_sort_weight":106,"slug":138},19,"General","general"]