1573: Bertrand Russell on God: A Timeline of Agnosticism (1903–1958)
Author(s): Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Medium (Personal)
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/10/26
How did Bertrand Russell’s views on God and agnosticism evolve from 1903 to 1958?
1903: “Thus Man creates God, all-powerful and all-good, the mystic unity of what is and what should be.”
1925: “I do not pretend to be able to prove that there is no God.”
1925: “The Christian God may exist; so may the Gods of Olympus.”
1927: “One form is to say that there would be no right or wrong unless God existed.”
1930: “Anything that causes alarm is apt to turn people’s thoughts to God.”
1948: “No, I should not say that: my position is agnostic.”
1948: “I should say that the universe is just there, and that’s all.”
1952: “A man with any genuine religious feeling will wish to know whether, in fact, there is a God.”
1953: “An agnostic thinks it impossible to know the truth in matters such as God and the future life.”
1958: “I observe that a very large portion of the human race does not believe in God and suffers no visible punishment in consequence.”
1947: “I do not think that there is a conclusive argument by which one can prove that there is not a God.”
(c. 1950s): “Belief in God and a future life makes it possible to go through life with less of stoic courage than is needed by skeptics.”
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