トップ＞

バートランド・ラッセル「キリストの性格の難点」

* 原著：Why I am not a Christian ? 1927
* 出典：牧野力(編)『ラッセル思想辞典』
　

　下記は牧野力氏による要旨訳（ただし、少し字句を修正）に原文を追加したものです。

　キリストの格言の立派さを認めた上で言えば、福音書に描かれているキリスト像には、最高の聡明も最高の善も認めることができるとは信じない。歴史的に見て、キリストが実際に存在していたかどうかは甚だ疑間であり、実在したとしても彼について何も知らないから、歴史的な問題には一切触れずに、福音書に現れたキリストだけに関心を払って、福音書に書かれたままに受け取った上で見ると、キリストには性格的な難点があると思う。・・・。
　第一は、彼が地獄を信じていた点である。真に深い人情味があれば、永遠の罰を信じることはできない気がする。さらに、彼の説教に耳を貸さない者に報復的な憤激をを繰り返している。これは説教者にふさわしくない。至高の立派さから見て、多少下位になる。このような態度はソクラテスには見られない。彼の意見に耳を貸さない者に対しても愛想が良く、思いやりのあるのがわかる。ソクラテスの方がはるかに聖人にふさわしい「汝ら蛇共よ、サソりの仲間よ、どうして地獄の呪いから逃れられようぞ」は最善の説教調とは言えない。
　聡明さの点でも、他の点でも、歴史に知られている他の人々ほどにキリストが高いとは思えない。それらの点で、 仏陀とソクラテスを彼の上に置くべきだ、と私は考える。
( Having granted the excellence of these maxims, I come to certain points in which I do not believe that one can grant either the superlative wisdom or the superlative goodness of Christ as depicted in the Gospels; and here I may say that one is not concerned with the historical question. Historically it is quite doubtful whether Christ ever existed at all, and if He did we do not know anything about him, so that I am not concerned with the historical question, which is a very difficult one. I am concerned with Christ as He appears in the Gospels, taking the Gospel narrative as it stands, and there one does find some things that do not seem to be very wise. ...
Then you come to moral questions. There is one very serious defect to my mind in Christ's moral character, and that is that He believed in hell. I do not myself feel that any person who is really profoundly humane can believe in everlasting punishment. Christ certainly as depicted in the Gospels did believe in everlasting punishment, and one does find repeatedly a vindictive fury against those people who would not listen to His preaching -- an attitude which is not uncommon with preachers, but which does somewhat detract from superlative excellence. You do not, for instance find that attitude in Socrates. You find him quite bland and urbane toward the people who would not listen to him; and it is, to my mind, far more worthy of a sage to take that line than to take the line of indignation. You probably all remember the sorts of things that Socrates was saying when he was dying, and the sort of things that he generally did say to people who did not agree with him. You will find that in the Gospels Christ said, "Ye serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of Hell." That was said to people who did not like His preaching. It is not really to my mind quite the best tone, and there are a great many of these things about Hell. ...
... I cannot myself feel that either in the matter of wisdom or in the matter of virtue Christ stands quite as high as some other people known to history. I think I should put Buddha and Socrates above Him in those respects.