Posted by Amanda on January 07, 1997 at 07:59:37:
In Reply to: Re: Bertrand Russell posted by Lynn on January 06, 1997 at 20:33:40:
: Would you comment further on his teachings about Christ and scripture. I would appreciate an opportunity to refute his claims, as I'm sure I would disagree, from what you have told me so far.
Sure, I'd appreciate your comments.
He initially makes the claimthat to be a Christian one must believe that Christ was, if not divine, then the best and wisest of men. He grants Christ a very high degree of moral goodness but no divinity nor a "best man" title.
He quotes Jesus' saying "Resist not evil: but whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also." He shows that this is not a new principle and was used by Lao-tse and Buddha 500 years before Christ. He also quotes the "Judge not lest ye be judged." line and shows how this has never been popular in the law courts of Christian countries. He quotes two other of Christ's teachings that he likes but says they aren't practiced by the majority of Christians - these are: "Give to him that asketh of thee, and from him that would borrow of thee turn not thou away" and "If thou wilt be perfect, go and sell that which thou hast, and give to the poor." These comments were all under the heading "The Character of Christ".
Under the heading "Defects in Christ's Teachings" he gives examples of how Christ appears in the Gospels and why he doesn't find them very wise. If you take it narratively it certainly looks that Christ thought His second coming would occur before the death of all the people who were living at that time. Comments like "There are some standing here which shall not taste death till the Son of Man comes into His kingdom". Russell also remarks that Christ believed in Hell and believed that and person who is profoundly humane can not believe in everlasting punishment. There appears tobe a vindictive fury associated with Christ in the Gospels, against those people who would not listen to his preaching. He compares Christ to Socrates and I enjoyed the comparison. He quotes such lines as "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell." and "Whosoever speaketh against the Holy Ghost it shall not be forgiven him niether in this World nor in the world to come." That last bit has caused a lot of misery in this world for people who have believed that they committed a sin and would never be forgiven. Russell claims that a person with a proper degree of kindliness in his nature would not have put fears and terrors of this sort into the world. He also quotes the sayings of Christ regarding hell and what it will be like - "wailing and gnashing of teeth", "fire that shall never be quenched" and claims it put added cruelty into the world and gave the world generations of cruel torture.
I only looked at the one essay to give you this info - there is much more and would be happy to give it to you if you want. I think Russell makes some good points on this subject but I have come across other people who perhaps do a better job at discussing Christ. Anyway, let me know what you think.