WLC Reacts! to Bertrand Russell and His Message to the Future

Dr. William Lane Craig watches and responds to a video of philosopher Bertrand Russell from 1959 where he gives advice to future generations.

VIDEO - QUESTION TO BERTRAND RUSSELL: One last question. Suppose, Lord Russell, this film would be looked at by our descendants like a Dead Sea Scroll in a thousand years time. What would you think is worth telling that generation about the life you've lived and the lessons you've learned from it?

VIDEO - BERTRAND RUSSELL: I should like to say two things, one intellectual and one moral. The intellectual thing I should want to say to them is this: when you are studying any matter or considering any philosophy ask yourself only what are the facts and what is the truth that the facts bear out? Never let yourself be diverted either by what you wish to believe or by what you think could have beneficent social effects if it were believed. But look only and surely at what are the facts. That is the intellectual thing that I should wish to say. The moral thing I should wish to say to them is very simple. I should say love is wise; hatred is foolish. In this world which is getting more and more closely interconnected, we have to learn to tolerate each other. We have to learn to put up with the fact that some people say things that we don't like.

DR. CRAIG: Now, this video is priceless! I have never seen a film of Bertrand Russell before, and to hear him speak is just the paragon of the British philosopher. It is so charming. In this clip he shares an intellectual lesson with us and a moral lesson, and I think we can all resonate with his intellectual lesson, namely to pursue truth objectively and not to be swayed by our own prejudices and biases. And of course that lesson is true for both believers and unbelievers alike. I think sometimes unbelievers don't understand that it's not merely believers who are swayed by emotions and personal biases, but this attends every person. The second lesson that Russell shared he said was moral, but it really struck me forcefully that he did not share a moral lesson. He did not say love is good and hatred is evil. Instead what he said was love is wise and hatred is foolish. Why? Well, because cultivating love you will get along with your fellow man; it will be conducive to the flourishing of human society, and so forth, whereas hatred is foolish that promotes division and violence and other things that are not in your own self-interest. So what he's really offering here is not a moral lesson; it's prudential. He is giving prudential advice about how you ought to act if you're going to get along well in the world. And it's striking, I think, because in the absence of God (Russell was not a theist) he recognized there are no objective moral values and duties. Love is not a good – you do not have an obligation to love your neighbor. And hatred is not evil, and there's nothing wrong with hating each other. It's just not wise.