Agnosticism Warning: You are not logged in. Your IP address will be publicly visible if you make any edits. If you log in or create an account, your edits will be attributed to your username, along with other benefits.Anti-spam check. Do not fill this in! ====Bertrand Russell==== [[File:Russell1907-2.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Bertrand Russell]]]] [[Bertrand Russell]] (1872β1970) declared ''[[Why I Am Not a Christian]]'' in 1927, a classic statement of agnosticism.<ref name="Users.drew.edu">{{cite web|url=http://users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html |title=Why I Am Not A Christian, by Bertrand Russell |publisher=Users.drew.edu |date=March 6, 1927 |access-date=February 9, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140301002401/http://www.users.drew.edu/~jlenz/whynot.html |archive-date=March 1, 2014 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref><ref name="Russell1992"> {{cite book|author=Bertrand Russell|title=Why I Am Not a Christian: And Other Essays on Religion and Related Subjects|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_f6LMwEACAAJ|year=1992|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-0-415-07918-1}} </ref> He calls upon his readers to "stand on their own two feet and look fair and square at the world with a fearless attitude and a free intelligence".<ref name="Russell1992" /> In 1939, Russell gave a lecture on ''The existence and nature of God'', in which he characterized himself as an atheist. He said:<ref>{{cite book| last=Russell| first= Bertrand| title=Collected Papers, Vol 10|page=255}}</ref> {{blockquote|The existence and nature of God is a subject of which I can discuss only half. If one arrives at a negative conclusion concerning the first part of the question, the second part of the question does not arise; and my position, as you may have gathered, is a negative one on this matter.}} However, later in the same lecture, discussing modern non-anthropomorphic concepts of God, Russell states:<ref>''Collected Papers, Vol. 10'', p. 258</ref> {{blockquote|That sort of God is, I think, not one that can actually be disproved, as I think the omnipotent and benevolent creator can.}} In Russell's 1947 pamphlet, ''Am I An Atheist or an Agnostic?'' (subtitled ''A Plea For Tolerance in the Face of New Dogmas''), he ruminates on the problem of what to call himself:<ref name="Russell1997"> {{cite book|author=Bertrand Russell|title=Last Philosophical Testament: 1943β68|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=r1jBN5iehKsC&pg=PA91|year=1997|publisher=Psychology Press|isbn=978-0-415-09409-2|pages=91β}}</ref> {{blockquote|As a philosopher, if I were speaking to a purely philosophic audience I should say that I ought to describe myself as an Agnostic, because I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a God. On the other hand, if I am to convey the right impression to the ordinary man in the street I think I ought to say that I am an Atheist, because when I say that I cannot prove that there is not a God, I ought to add equally that I cannot prove that there are not the Homeric gods.}} In his 1953 essay, ''What Is An Agnostic?'' Russell states:<ref name="Russell2009">{{cite book|author=Bertrand Russell|title=The Basic Writings of Bertrand Russell|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Lm58AgAAQBAJ&pg=PA557|date=March 2, 2009|publisher=Routledge|isbn=978-1-134-02867-2|pages=557β}} </ref> {{blockquote|An agnostic thinks it impossible to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life with which Christianity and other religions are concerned. Or, if not impossible, at least impossible at the present time. Are Agnostics Atheists? No. An atheist, like a Christian, holds that we can know whether or not there is a God. The Christian holds that we can know there is a God; the atheist, that we can know there is not. The Agnostic suspends judgment, saying that there are not sufficient grounds either for affirmation or for denial.}} Later in the essay, Russell adds:<ref>{{cite web|url=http://scepsis.net/eng/articles/id_5.php |title='What Is an agnostic?' by Bertrand Russell |publisher=Scepsis.net |access-date=February 2, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130822181953/http://scepsis.net/eng/articles/id_5.php |archive-date=August 22, 2013 |url-status=live |df=mdy }}</ref> {{blockquote|I think that if I heard a voice from the sky predicting all that was going to happen to me during the next twenty-four hours, including events that would have seemed highly improbable, and if all these events then produced to happen, I might perhaps be convinced at least of the existence of some superhuman intelligence.}} Summary: Please note that all contributions to Christianpedia may be edited, altered, or removed by other contributors. If you do not want your writing to be edited mercilessly, then do not submit it here. You are also promising us that you wrote this yourself, or copied it from a public domain or similar free resource (see Christianpedia:Copyrights for details). Do not submit copyrighted work without permission! Cancel Editing help (opens in new window) Discuss this page