What do you think of this philosophic quotation?

Question

"I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God. I equally cannot prove that Satan is a fiction. The Christian God may exist; so may the Gods of Olympus, or of ancient Egypt, or of Babylon."

Bertrand Russell in his book 'Why I am not a Christian and other essays...'

Comment: I do not understand the fact that ALL monotheistic religions claim their god is the 'Only True God'. What Russell is basically saying is that if the Christian God IS likely to exist, so are other gods.

Come on, people! This is food for the mind! Just trying to have a discussion here.

Other quotations I like from Bertrand Russell:

"I would never die for my beliefs because I might be wrong."

"Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so."

"Patriots always talk of dying for their country but never of killing for their country."

"So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence."

Phoenix, Mayor's Wife

NOT all gods. Maybe the gods you want to praise (like in paganism).

Jim,

You are right! That's why I chose those quotations.

The first one was for mere emphasis on the monotheistic concept. Russell clearly stated that if one god exists, then it's likely that other gods also exist. If one god does not exist, nor the other ones.

All 4 His Glory,

Thanks! I'll take a look at them. I like to see both sides of the story (secular and religious, of course).

My brain won't get hurt, I promise. ;)

Jedi,

Yup!

Loser2001,

Very nice put! Objective, clear and insightful!

Good job! :)

Rick T,

The thing is that his mind was rational and coherent and he always tried to seek the logic of things.

Answer 1

I do not like the first quote but some of the others are great!

"Many people would sooner die than think; In fact, they do so."

"Patriots always talk of dying for their country but never of killing for their country."

"So far as I can remember, there is not one word in the Gospels in praise of intelligence."

Bertrand Russell

I despise christ insanity and the weak (meek) minds that have faith in such destructive (even suicidal) idiocy!

1488
Rahowa

Answer 2

It sounds to me he realizes that God is mostly a concept that Man creates in every human community. We all need some kind of "God" so we can have that feeling inside. Cause you know some people believe there is no God while others belive there is, but then the concept may vary from community to community. The concept helps us to acheive that feeling of understanding in our own minds. If you believe there is no God it may help you to live your life as an independent strong go getter, and other people might need that concept of God to help them nderstand why bad things happen in their lives. Thruthfully we as humans can't prove an idea, so there's no real way to prove whether a God exists or not, but that idea or belief is good enough to help people live their lives to the end. Some people can't even get that far. I really liked the later quotations. They reminded me of what Chris Rock said in 'Dogma' about ideas beiong better than beliefs because you can change an idea. A belief is way harder to change because people put their whole beings into them. People would kill and die for what they believe to be true. From watching the movie 'What the Bleep" I've found that the power of belief actually delegates the world we see around us. What your mind believes to be true is everything your mind will allow you to see and experience. Imagine if everyone in America totally believed in UFOs, how many UFOs we'd see flying around everyday. Thanks for helping me think today, because some people don't have that privillage. Peas

Answer 3

What he is saying, actually, is that he has had no personal experience with any god, and therefore can't make an objective conclusion. Without evidence or data, either for or against, you have no basis on which to come to a conclusion. It's just a long way to say that he doesn't know anything.

Answer 4

Here some more quotes for you to ponder:

"If there were no God, there would be no atheists." GK Chesterton, Where All Roads Lead

Asked why he committed such brutal murders, Jeffrey Dahmer said: "I didn't believe in God, therefore, I didn't believe I would be held accountable for what I did."

"If God does not exist, all things are permissible." - Dostoyevsky

“Who are you to judge me, I did what I thought was right.” Charles Manson

"There is at the bottom of it all no good, no evil, no purpose, nothing but blind pitiless indifference. DNA neither knows nor cares. DNA just is, and we dance to its music."
Richard Dawkins

Answer 5

Check out Rene Descartes' Meditations on First Philosophy and his other works.... Very interesting stuff!

Also read C.S. Lewis' Mere Christianity!

Both of these men primarily C.S. Lewis were brilliant!

Warning: Meditations on First Philosophy may hurt your brain a bit, and can be a bit dry and wordy.

Answer 6

Colossians 2:8
8See to it that no one takes you captive through hollow and deceptive philosophy, which depends on human tradition and the basic principles of this world rather than on Christ.

Answer 7

If Christians thought about this, we would never see Pascal's Wager.

This is also why we couldn't have prayer in schools, as we would have to pray to ALL the gods.

Answer 8

i think it voices a certain truth.

the problem with it is that it, in a way, validates all the old religions.

this, amusingly, leaves your every day theist i na bit of a quandary. if all opinions are valid then all invested faith is equally valid. it puts their god at an equal level with gods they dont beleive in.

i think youd he bard pressed to find a theist who will agree with this.

Answer 9

That's interesting. But it also brings up some very interesting points as well.

Answer 10

I know without a doubt that Jesus is alive and his spirit lives in me!!