God and Religion

(Continuing Bertrand Russell's "God and Religion")

Chapter 4 is "What Is an Agnostic?". Not much to say here. Nothing I haven't seen before.


Russell is most opposed to dogma. That is, a set of facts unquestionably accepted as true. I don't understand this stand. I wonder how much of the modern postmodern's "arrogance of certainty" has stemmed from this.

Everyone has a set of dogma. Russell believes his mind is sufficient for determining truth (Chapter 5, pg 84). He may claim this is "minimal" or "necessary", but it is dogma. The Christian dogma is that our reason is fallen, and fallible. God's revelation (for our generation, the Bible) is infallible, and totally sufficient. I'm not certain how Russell is equipped to judge between the two...


Chapter 5 is "Am I an Atheist or an Agnostic?" Apart from the point above ("the supremacy of reason"), Russell acknowledges that "atheists" are technically "agnostics" as far as knowing whether God exists or not. Still, he prefers the term "atheist" to designate the vigor of his beliefs.

On page 85, he challenges the reader to disprove the existence of the Greek gods, believing it an impossible task. 1 Corinthians 8:4b "we know that an idol [is] nothing in the world, and that [there is] none other God but one".


Chapter 6 is "The Faith of a Rationalist". On page 89, Russell talks about the impact of Copernicus on belief in God. Here, I think, he makes the error of belief (or non-belief) in a "man-centered" universe. That is, creation for the purposes of men (whether it be happiness, fulfillment, glory, etc.).

Creation is "God centered" (aka "Christ centered").

I'll close with a quote from page 91, "Only kindly men believe in a kindly god, and they would be kindly in any case." This is perhaps the saddest thing I have read so far. Russell seems completely unaware of the transformative power of the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit takes wicked, evil men; and makes them saints.

I know. I'm one :)

Russell on Christian Doctrine

(Continuing on Bertrand Russell's "God and Religion")

On pages 59 and 60, Russell returns to the argument of God as "First Cause". He makes two points:

1. The world may have come into existence without a cause.
2. The world may be eternal.

The eternality of the world was considered for some time, and rejected. See Olber's Paradox.

The first point I can't disprove. There is no evidence for this (nor can there be). It seems illogical (to me) to believe a completely causal universe came from an acausal source. However, I do have evidence that God is without cause (Exodus 3:13, as mentioned previously).

On page 68, Russell makes a rather odd statement, he is talking about the doctrine of Hell, and says:

"and he goes on about the wailing and the gnashing of teeth. It comes in one verse after another, and it is quite manifest to the reader that there is a certain pleasure in contemplating wailing and gnashing of teeth, or else it would not occur so often." (emphasis added)

I have read that passage (probably Matthew 13:42) many times, even before I was a Christian. I never took that meaning. The sad thing is, I don't think Russell is creating this interpretation on his own (although, he might). He probably heard some well meaning (or not) preacher, who did take pleasure in declaming sinners to Hell.

That is not the tone of this passage.

The tone is one of sadness, and pleading with people who are determined to go to destruction. A loving wakeup call for people to turn away from destruction. That is Jesus' attitude, and it should be ours.

Russell closes out the essay with a complaint on the use of emotion (both content and fearful) in the persuasion for religion. This I agree with (although the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom, so some amount is good for you, at least at first). Far too many Christian churches appeal to emotion to "win conversions" (many of which will be false), and "to feel the Spirit". Our emotions are not a reliable source of information. For example, sin can feel very right, for a time. Also, decisions should be made by taking into account Biblical principles (and outright commands); not whether it "feels right".

On Free Will

This is a topic I have been meaning to cover for some time. It could also be called, "On Predestination", and was covered somewhat in "Arminianism vs. Calvinism".

Do we have free will? This is a difficult question to phrase:

• Are we free to do as we please? It certainly seems so.


• Does God hold us responsible for our actions? Definitely (Ezekiel 18:4, "the soul that sinneth, it shall die").


• Does God make us do evil? No (1 John 1:5 "God is light, and in him is no darkness at all").

Ok, those weren't too hard. How about some harder ones:

• Does God choose those who are saved, and those who are not saved (without regard to their character)? Yes. Salvation (even the faith required for salvation) is a gift from God, apart from what we do -- our works (Ephesians 2:8-9)


• Further, does God harden some people to prevent them from believing in God? (Exodus 4:21, 9:34, etc. Deuteronomy 2:30, Romans 9:18. Also the explanation for why Jesus spoke in parables, Matthew 13:10-15: "lest at any time they should see with [their] eyes, and hear with [their] ears, and should understand with [their] heart, and should be converted")


• Can we lose our salvation? No. John 10:29 "My Father, which gave [them] me, is greater than all; and no [man] is able to pluck [them] out of my Father's hand."

At the same time:

• We are commanded to repent and believe the Gospel message (Mark 1:15, Acts 2:38).
• We are commanded to keep ourselves in the faith, to not fall away (Hebrews 3:12-13).
• We are commanded to pray to God, so that He will do what He has already decided to do.
  

So, perhaps, we do not have free will (certainly not the ability to act outside of God's plan). But we certainly seem to have free will. And our conscience acts as if we had free will. When we turn from our sins, and trust in God; it seems like our idea.

So That You May Know

If I had to pick a favorite book of the Bible, it would probably be 1 John. A book I have, on "Studying the Bible for Yourself" says to read 1 John every day for a week (you can read it in 15-20 minutes). If you are not certain you are saved at the end of that week, keep reading it! :)

This is stated outright in 1 John 2:21 "I have not written unto you because ye know not the truth, but because ye know it, and that no lie is of the truth."

John starts the letter with assurances that he is an eye witness to the life of Jesus Christ, which made clear that He was God's Word, made flesh (1 John 1:1 "That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we have looked upon, and our hands have handled, of the Word of life;").

John also gives the bad news of sin, and the good news of salvation (1 John 1:8-10, 1 John 2:1-2).

Now, we must careful not to confuse holding to the Ten Commandments with our salvation as Christians. When John talks of "keep[ing] the commandments" (1 John 2:3), he is not talking about the Law of Moses. This is spelled out in 1 John 3:23 "And this is his commandment, That we should believe on the name of his Son Jesus Christ, and love one another, as he gave us commandment."

I'll close with 1 John 5:13:

"These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that ye may know that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God."

God and Religion

(Continuing Bertrand Russell's "God and Religion")

The second essay is "First Efforts" (1959). It is a selection of Russell's philosophy diary when he was a teenager.

The third is "Why I Am Not A Christian" (1927). Lots of stuff here...

First, Russell attempts to define what it means to be a Christian. He is right in saying it is a confused matter (and that was eight years ago! It is only more confused now...).

Russell attempts to find a set of doctrines which define Christianity. This can be effective, Christians have a set of beliefs which you must hold to be "orthodox" (small 'o'). However, we should ask, "Where do these doctrines come from?" and look to the logical backing behind them. Russell fails to do this, probably from ignorance.


Ultimately, it is irrelevant whether one calls oneself "Christian". The Bible makes it clear, there will be a judgment between true and false Christians (sometimes referred to as the "Sheep/Goat" judgment -- Matthew 7:21-23).

So, what matters is whether Christ will call you Christian. This is made clear in 1 John. We must agree with God that we are sinners, repent (turn from) a life of sin, and trust in the death and resurrection of Christ to pay the price for our sins and guarantee us eternal life. Then, read the Bible (as the source of God's instructions for us) and do what it says.


So, the doctrines vital to Christians are not just a random set of dogmatic statements (as Russell seems to believe). They are logical propositions which follow from a complete reading of the Bible, with a view to interpreting the Bible in terms of itself, and using the clear passages to shed light on the unclear (and not being dogmatic about what is truly unclear).

Russell lists the following doctrines:

1. Belief in God and immortality (the first seems obvious, the second follows from the Bible -- God says there will be a resurrection to life with God, and one to punishment).
2. "[B]elief that Christ was, if not divine, at least the best and wisest of men." (I would go further, Jesus said He was God. If that is not true, then He would not be good or wise at all.)
3. Belief in Hell. Interestingly Russell says an act of Parliament removed this from Christian doctrine. I wasn't aware that Parliament was superior to God... Anyway, the Bible clearly says there is a Hell, and that everyone deserves to go there. It is only by the grace and mercy of God, and the death of Christ to pay the penalty of sin, that any may be saved.

This post is getting long, so I will expand on these later.

Bertrand Russell

I have started reading a collection of essays by Bertrand Russell (called "Bertrand Russell on God and Religion", edited by Al Seckel). There is a lot here, so I will break it into multiple posts.


The first essay is "My Religious Reminiscences" (1938). Reading about Russell's childhood is pretty sad. I couldn't help but think of Ephesians 6:4 "And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord." I also thank God that I did not grow up in a country with a state religion (Russell grew up in England, under Anglicanism; and Scotland/Presbyterian). That's just a recipe for disaster.

On page 41, Russell talks about his struggle with the notion of free will, and how he gave up any notion of God when he heard John Stuart Mill quote his brother (James), "Who made God?".

Russell says he had a Bible, he must of not gotten to the second book (Exodus 3:13) "And Moses said unto God, Behold, [when] I come unto the children of Israel, and shall say unto them, The God of your fathers hath sent me unto you; and they shall say to me, What [is] his name? what shall I say unto them? (14) And God said unto Moses, I AM THAT I AM: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I AM hath sent me unto you."

God IS

That's it. God was not made, He just is. How does that work? I don't know. You see, God is bigger than us (He measures the universe with the span of His hand - Isaiah 40:12 "Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?"). We are not going to be able to understand God, He is just too big to fit in our minds. But we can know what He has revealed to us.

Free will is big enough to deserve its own post.

God's Gonna Cut You Down

I first heard this song as sung by Johnny Cash (available on You Tube). It's also known as "Run On", as performed by Elvis (also on You Tube, I find Elvis' version too upbeat for the subject).

Is it good theology? Let's look at the lyrics:
"Sooner or later God will cut you down" - Ezekiel 18:4 "Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die."

So every sinner will die. Who are sinners? The song mentions a "long tongued liar", "midnight rider", "rambler", "gambler", "backbiter". I'm not sure what most of those are (or what is wrong with being out after midnight...).

But what about "long tongued liar"? Perhaps a reference to Satan -- but, how many lies must one tell to be a liar? Revelation 21:8 "all liars, shall have their part in the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone: which is the second death."


This gives us greater insight. 1 Timothy 1:8 "But we know that the law [is] good, if a man use it lawfully;" (The law refers to God's Law given to Moses, the Ten Commandments). And 1 John 3:4 "Whosoever committeth sin transgresseth also the law: for sin is the transgression of the law."


A sinner is anyone who has broken God's Law (listed in Exodus 20:1-17).

And not just in actions (this is made clear by the tenth commandment (verse 17):

"Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that [is] thy neighbour's.")

Coveting is in the heart (mind), this is what Jesus is talking about when He says (Matthew 15:19) "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies".

Hatred is murder in your heart (#6, verse 13).

Lust is adultery in your heart (#7, verse 14).

False witness (lying) is sin (#9, verse 16).

We are all sinners (Romans 3:23), and God will cut us all down.