Why Bertrand Russell Was Not A Christian

by Rev. Ralph Allan Smith (1996)

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Preface

Bertrand Russell was probably the most sophisticated and eloquent spokesman for atheism in this century. No one can doubt his credentials as a philosopher. Nor can anyone doubt that a winner of the Nobel Prize for Literature had a talent for communication. The philosophical brilliance and superb communicative skills evident in his writings guarantee that Russell's influence will continue for some time to come. That is why I thought it worthwhile to provide a Christian critique of Russell's essay "Why I Am Not a Christian," even though it is based upon a speech given in 1927.

Some time after writing the first draft of this essay, while searching through my apologetics files, I ran across an article by Greg Bahnsen that refutes Russell's essay. My revision has been helped by Bahnsen's article, but even my first draft was largely dependent on Bahnsen's tape cassette classes on apologetics. Following Van Til, Bahnsen's tape cassette courses set forth an apologetic approach that aims to prove Christianity the necessary presupposition for human knowledge. I have attempted in the following essay to apply that approach. The reader will have to decide whether or not I have been faithful to Van Til's approach, and whether or not that approach accomplishes what it claims.

Those interested in Greg Bahnsen's tape cassettes, essays, or books may contact the Southern California Center For Christian Studies.

[ Table of Contents | Preface | Introduction | Chapter One | Chapter Two | Conclusion ]