Why I am not a Christian by Bertrand Russell

This article is full of misquotes and ideas looked at way out of context. I will try to work my way through the article and point out some of the flaws. I will not be able to go into depth on each subject simply because it would take a long time. The First Cause argument uses sciences stand that one thing comes from another in our universe. To say that God would have to be created by something else is inconsistent with Christian theology which says that God created the universe and is not himself a part of or subject to the universe and its laws. This also discounts the argument regarding natural law, because God is outside of this law. The argument of design has a few problems. First, the strawman argument that no Christian theologian would make about a nose being made for glasses is ridiculous and I don’t even want to discuss it anymore. Second, all the misery in this world created by people like the KKK does not make God the bad person. It shows that God has given us free will and we have made the misery that we live with. The argument for the origins of morality will lead nowhere and cannot be proven one way or the other, there is simply a lack of evidence either way.

Now on to the character of Christ. Saying that Christ was not the first person to say turn the other cheek does not invalidate the truthfulness behind the claim. When it comes to judging people, the Christian view on this is that you can and should judge a person based on a legal standpoint just not on a personal basis or on their salvation. His arguments that most Christians do not follow all of the teachings of Christ is invalid because no one is perfect and everyone will make mistakes and appear to be a hypocrite. The teachings of Christ section has a major flaw. Russell must think he can read the mind of Christ by some of the claims that he is making. Some of the statements quoted do not refer to the second coming but rather to his ascension into Heaven. When it comes to the moral problem Russell just takes certain verses and leaves out others that show the desire God has for all to go to Heaven but his desire to allow us to have free will allows us to chose to be apart from him. I can go on about the problems with Russell’s arguments and go into further depth but time prevents me from doing this.