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Concepts of God

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 October 2008

Paul Gastwirth
Paul Gastwirth
Affiliation:
Formerly of Southampton College, New York
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Extract

During World War I, Bertrand Russell's outspoken pacifism resulted in his being committed to jail. When he entered the prison, he was met by the warden who showed himself to be quite ecumenical in his religious beliefs, as indicated by this anecdote:

‘I was much cheered on my arrival by the warder at the gate, who had to take particluars about me. He asked my religion and I replied “agnostic”. He asked how to spell it, and remarked with a sigh: “Well, there are many religions, but I suppose they all worship the same God”. This remark kept me cheerful about a week.’

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Type
Articles
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Religious Studies , Volume 8 , Issue 2 , June 1972, pp. 147 - 152
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1972

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References

page 147 note 1 Bertrand, Russell, Portraits from Memory (London: George Allen and Unwin, 1956), pp. 33–4.Google Scholar

page 148 note 1 Hintz, Howard W., ‘On Defining the Term “God”’, Religious Experience and Truth, edited by Hook, Sidney (New York: New York University Press, 1961), pp. 254–5.Google Scholar

page 148 note 2 Ibid., p. 255.

page 148 note 3 Paul, Ziff, ‘About “God”’, Religious Experience and Truth, ed. by Sidney, Hook, pp. 198–9.Google Scholar

page 148 note 4 Ibid., p. 198.

page 148 note 5 Ibid., p. 198.

page 148 note 6 John, Hick, ‘Meaning and Truth in Theology,’ Religious Experience and Truth, ed. by Sidney, Hook, p. 203.Google Scholar

page 149 note 1 Dorothy, Emmet, ‘Ambiguities in the Concept of God’, Religious Experience and Truth, ed. by Sidney, Hook, p. 251.Google Scholar

page 149 note 2 Ibid., p. 253.

page 150 note 1 Wittgenstein, Ludwig, Philosophical Investigations (New York: Macmillan Co., 1963), p. 31e, Section 66.Google Scholar

page 151 note 1 Wittgenstein, Ludwig, Philosophical Investigations (New York: Macmillan Co., 1963), p. 32e, Section 67.Google Scholar

page 152 note 1 The refutability of such claims is cogently argued by Edwards, Paul, ‘Is Fideistic Theology Irrefutable’, The Rationalist Annual (London: Pemberton Pub. Co., 1966), pp. 43–9Google Scholar, and by Kai, Nielsen, ‘Can Faith Validate God “Talk”’, Theology To-day (July 1963)Google Scholar, anthologised in New Theology No. 1, edited by Marty, Martin E. and Peerman, Dean G. (New York: Macmillan Co. 1964), pp. 131–49.Google Scholar