PDF Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects Bertrand Russell Paul Edwards 9780671203238 Books
Download As PDF : Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects Bertrand Russell Paul Edwards 9780671203238 Books
“Devastating in its use of cold logic,” (The Independent), the classic essay collection that expresses the freethinker’s views to religion and challenges set notions in today’s society from one of the most influential intellectual figures of the twentieth century.
Dedicated as few men have been to the life of reason, Bertrand Russell has always been concerned with the basic questions to which religion also addresses itself—questions about man’s place in the universe and the nature of the good life, questions that involve life after death, morality, freedom, education, and sexual ethics. He brings to his treatment of these questions the same courage, scrupulous logic, and lofty wisdom for which his other work as philosopher, writer, and teacher has been famous. These qualities make the essays included in this book perhaps the most graceful and moving presentation of the freethinker's position since the days of Hume and Voltaire.
“I am as firmly convinced that religions do harm as I am that they are untrue,” Russell declares in his Preface, and his reasoned opposition to any system or dogma which he feels may shackle man’s mind runs through all the essays in this book, whether they were written as early as 1899 or as late as 1954.
The book has been edited, with Lord Russell’s full approval and cooperation, by Professor Paul Edwards of the Philosophy Department of New York University. In an Appendix, Professor Edwards contributes a full account of the highly controversial “Bertrand Russell Case” of 1940, in which Russell was judicially declared “unfit” to teach philosophy at the College of the City of New York.
Whether the reader shares or rejects Bertrand Russell’s views, he will find this book an invigorating challenge to set notions, a masterly statement of a philosophical position, and a pure joy to read.
PDF Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects Bertrand Russell Paul Edwards 9780671203238 Books
"Should be read by Christians who seek to impose their religious values on others."
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Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects Bertrand Russell Paul Edwards 9780671203238 Books Reviews :
Why I Am Not a Christian and Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects Bertrand Russell Paul Edwards 9780671203238 Books Reviews
- I read this book when I was 13 years old and the effect was profound.
I highly recommend it. If I could give everyone on the planet a free copy of this book I would.
Now I return to it decades later and Russell's logic is just as devastating as it was when I first read it.
Warning believers Cognitive Dissonance ahead. Fasten your seat belt. - Betrand is not advocating for the abuse of Christians, be it verbal or non verbal. He is advocating for free thought and rational thinking to the extent that the human mind can conceive. He respectfully acknowledges the uncertainty in life. We cannot be 100% certain about most things. Just as there is no scientific proof for the existence of God, there is neither a scientific proof that disproves the existence of God. THIS BOOK IS NOT A PROOF against the existence of God. Betrand is only sharing his thoughts as he understands religion and in specificity, Christianity. These are his subjective thoughts. As reader, appreciate them and come up with your own subjective thoughts. Your thoughts will be incomplete until you READ THE BIBLE FOR YOURSELF. Don't worship Betrand, he is a human being just like you. Read the bible and come to your own conclusion on whether it is or is not absolute.
- The next time some superstitious myth repeating Christian moron tries to corner you, or even if they are respectful about it, there is plenty of information / ammunition in this book to help you get them off your back. You might even get them to start questioning their beliefs.
- Should be read by Christians who seek to impose their religious values on others.
- Sir Bertrand is not just a good philosopher, but a great writer. He won the Nobel Prize for literature, so that tells you. This book has several essays on the general subject of religion and its evils, the best being the first one, "Why I Am Not a Christian". There, his discussion of Jesus is fascinating and powerful. He explains why Jesus was not really that "wise", and also why he was not really a very caring person. Everyone, believer or atheist, and everyone in between should read this book. It is wise, intelligent, honest, moral, and never angry or condescending.
- Bertrand Russell was a polymath a mathematician, a philosopher, a historian, a pacifist who was jailed for his anti-war views, and a Nobel Laureate in Literature. His essay "Why I Am Not A Christian," a lecture he delivered in 1927, is a clear, succinct, and well-reasoned brief against Christianity and the existence of a Deity (Christian or not). His hard to refute arguments presented in the essay are for those who are open to concepts which may not agree with their own views or their upbringing. But to read it is a journey worth the effort and may open to the reader new vistas.
- Bertrand Russell was arguably one of the best skeptical writers of the 20th century and his description of why a person of reason, observation, science and history could not continue to pretend that religion held anything of value for him, his neighbors and collegues or the public at large. Whether you're questioning the validity of religion, or just curious about how an athiest thinks and feels this is a great place to start. It's crystal clear, short and to the point.
- Interesting series of essays by a very intelligent man written early in the previous century. Provoked some thought
