God's Existence and Christianity in Why I Am Not Christian by Bertrant Russell

Religion has been the cause for countless fights, debates, and wars throughout the existence of humankind. There have been many people who have stepped into the void of the endless dispute, among them are ones claiming God’s existence, and the ones refuting it. The forms of this endless debate fall into many categories to express opinions on religion: speeches, poems, and essays. It is common for these forms of expression to sway to both ends of the spectrum on religion. One of the most common topics that seem to be the one most contemplated is whether or not God does truly exists and what evidence supports it. An essay written by Bertrand Russell called “Why I Am Not a Christian”, is an example of this classic debate that adds his view point on Christian religion. While Russell explains each of these things, his arguments are based more off of other religions such as Hinduism, rather than actually evidence. In Russell’s essay, the reasoning behind most arguments is based mainly upon examples from other religions; fighting belief against belief makes his argument ineffective.

“Why I Am Not a Christian” is sectioned into four main parts in which Russell reflects, argues, and refutes certain aspects of each of the major arguments supporting a theistic way of life. In the beginning section it talks about mainly the background on Christians and what a Christian actually is defined as. He states that a Christian has two defining features, first the belief of God and immortality and then a sense of belief in Christ. After describing these two things he goes on saying he is not a Christian for two reasons, “First, why I do not believe in God and immortality; and secondly, why I do not think that Christ was the best and wisest of men” (...

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...fs but on a much larger scale. When exercised within the real world, there isn’t much to gain from war and is rendered, like Russell’s argument highly ineffective.

Ultimately Bertrand Russell’s essay “Why I Am Not a Christian” gives an interesting perception on the common debates among humans and give incite to new ideas toward questions. Yet, he doesn’t have enough of an effective argument because of the comparison between religions. Much like most people have done within this vast planet, it causes controversy and fighting. Religion bases on beliefs of people vary from each ends of the spectrum and make this comparison difficult. The main goal for Russell was to elaborate on his feelings regarding Christianity and God’s existence. Sadly enough, he did not take into how different religions are and how although similar, can’t be compared on a single playing field.