WHY I AM NOT A CHRISTIAN

An Examination of the God-Idea and Christianity.

[The lecture reproduced here was delivered at the Battersea Town Hall under the auspices of the South London Branch of the National Secular Society, England. It should be added that the editor is willing to share full responsibility with the Honorable Bertrand Russell, as he is in agreement with the political and other opinions expressed.]

As your Chairman has told you, the subject about which I am going to speak to you tonight is "Why I Am Not a Christian." Perhaps it would be best, first of all, to try to determine what one means by the word "Christian." It is used in these days in a very loose sense by a great many people. Some people mean no more by it than a person who attempts to live a good life. In that sense, I suppose there would be Christians in all sects and creeds; but I do not think that is the proper sense of the word, if only because it would imply that all the people who are not Christians—all the Buddhists, Confucians, Mohammedans modern term: Muslims, and so on—are not trying to live a good life. I do not mean by a Christian any person who tries to live decently according to their own lights. I think that you must have a certain amount of definite belief before you