Why I'm not a Christian (bottle)

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Why I am not a Christian. Report and argumentation is the name of a book by Kurt Flasch (born 1930) published by CH Beck in Munich in August 2013 , in which the emeritus philosophy professor at the Ruhr University in Bochum justifies his renunciation of the Christian faith , which he had already done in 1994/95 had presented in a series of lectures. The book achieved bestseller status and is currently (June 2014) in its 5th edition.

Flasch took the title from the essay Why I am not a Christian by Bertrand Russell from 1927, who formulated a predominantly logical criticism of Christianity, while Flasch wants to argue primarily as a historian.

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In this "personal book", which is not aimed at a specialist audience, but at the interested public, the specialist in late ancient and medieval philosophy describes what led him to end his belief in God in a long learning process. Nevertheless, he is not an atheist , since he cannot prove the non-existence of God, but he sees himself as a consistent agnostic who questions the truth of central statements of the Bible and the correctness of the church's appeal to the Bible. He emphasizes the images of humanity and help for the weak incorporated into Christian culture, but he also sees “a moral and political credibility problem” of the Christian churches.

The two main reasons for his departure from faith are doubts about the truth of central reports in the Bible and the later theological involvement of the Christian churches in the principles of faith in the biblical texts. Since the truth of the biblical accounts is the foundation of the Christian faith, Flasch uses the historical-critical method to investigate the coherence of witness statements and check whether they are truthful. Isn't the Bible right ? In Flasch's view, on essential points rather not: He justified his doubts e.g. For example, to Moses as the author of the five books of Moses, to the virgin birth , to the reports on the resurrection and to the reports on the creation of the world .

In particular, he criticizes the subsequent and, in his opinion, not very convincing attempts by the Christian churches to offer solutions to the biblical contradictions and to introduce new dogmas that are not based on the old texts and that are represented as being guaranteed by the old texts. On several occasions he refers to the group interests that he believes are promoted with the help of these additions and the power politics of the clergy , a process that has already shaped the texts of the Bible.

Are examined in more detail z. B. According to Flasch, the construction of a coherent God shaped by love, which contradicts at least the Old Testament , the historical change in the image of God as an immutable God, the doctrine of the Trinity not contained in the New Testament , proofs of God , the justifications of evil in the world ( theodicy ) , the problem of a Christian ethics based on the Old Testament Ten Commandments and the raptured Sermon on the Mount, as well as the logical and geographical uncertainties of heaven and hell .

In several places he explicitly addresses the theology of Joseph Ratzinger , the later Pope Benedict XVI, whose positions Flasch seem to be unsustainable (cf. register of persons).

Similar titles on other topics

With Why I am not a communist , the Czech writer Karel Čapek set himself apart from communism as early as 1924 in the magazine Přítomnost .

The work Mere Christianity , already written by CS Lewis in 1952 , later appeared in German under the title Pardon, I am Christ - My arguments for faith .

A similar title is Why I Am Not a Conservative by the economist Friedrich Hayek (1960).

The critic of Islam, who appears under the pseudonym Ibn Warraq , published a pamphlet in Why I am not a Muslim in 1995 . Kancha Ilaiah under Why I Am Not A Hind is a biting criticism of the Indian caste system . Why I Am Not a Scientist (2009) by anthropologist Jonathan M. Marks deals with the narrowed concept of science in English-speaking countries. In contrast to its German counterpart, science is clearly narrowed down to natural science subjects.

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Remarks

  1. ↑ In November 2013 at number 14 of the # x5D; = 9783406652844 Spiegel bestseller list ( Memento from December 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ).
  2. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 253
  3. ↑ On the other hand, John Leslie Mackie , who, after examining many proofs of God, sees no reasonable reason to believe in the existence of God, and yet positions himself as an atheist . (JLMackie: Das Wunder des Theismus, Reclam: Stuttgart 2013, p. 7 and 402)
  4. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , pp. 23, 57, 253 f. In contrast, Richard Dawkins formulates , Der Gotteswahn . 5th edition, Ullstein, Berlin 2009, p. 223, less careful: "God almost certainly does not exist." And Michel Onfray radicalizes in his title: We don't need God. Why you have to be an atheist now . 5th edition, Piper, Munich / Zurich 2010
  5. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I'm not a Christian , p. 43
  6. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 83 ff.
  7. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 164 ff. Cf. also Matthias Köckert : The Ten Commandments . Beck, Munich 2007, pp. 15 ff., 38 ff.
  8. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 110 ff.
  9. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 120 ff.
  10. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 180 ff. The biologist Edward O. Wilson describes in his study Die Sozial Eroberung der Erde , Beck, Munich 2013, p. 306 ff., Religion as a product, its evolutionary Benefit mainly in the stabilization of the social order through the thesis of the chosen one and through the interpretation of one's own history.
  11. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , pp. 56, 63, 119, 260 f. Confirmation here Matthias Köckert: The ten commandments . Beck, Munich 2007, pp. 24 f., 42 f.
  12. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , pp. 142 ff., 260 ff. Deviating from this, Matthias Köckert: The Ten Commandments . Beck, Munich 2007, p. 51, who interprets God's jealousy and the harsh punishments for Israel in a harmonizing way as the 'passionate love' of God.
  13. ↑ Confirming here Matthias Köckert: The ten commandments . Beck, Munich 2007, p. 53 f.
  14. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , pp. 50, 126 f., 256, 258 f.
  15. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 144 ff.
  16. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 171 ff.
  17. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I am not a Christian , p. 215 ff. Mathias Schreiber also confirms : The Ten Commandments. An ethic for today . dva, Munich 2010.
  18. ↑ Kurt Flasch, Why I Am Not a Christian , p. 232 ff.
  19. ↑ Karel Čapek: Proč nejsem komunistou? (German: Why I am not a communist ) in: Přítomnost , December 4, 1924 in Czech