The first thing to say about the short story is that Bertrand Russell has his own opinion through out the story of , What is a Christian. This is not short story points of one person's feelings. This one person being the speaker. The story expresses Bertrand Russell idea of what a Christian is and beliefs that they should uphold. The story's basis stems from two thoughts in one thought Christ is to be immortal, in another thought to be a Christian you should believe in hell. These were the main ideas for this short story.
How can we characterize the speaker? For one thing the writer is very one sided. Remarkably, he is right in some aspects. Such as his thought on the two questions a person should ask themselves" Why do I not believe in God and in mortality: and, secondly Why I do not think that Christ was the best and wisest of men." This seems odd that the narrator says these two phrases. It seems as if he is trying to justify for him not believing in god. Although, he stands firm on his opinion of not being a Christian, he in someway doubts himself. In this phrase," although I grant him a very high degree of moral goodness." For a person that is not a Christian and does not believe, speaks very highly of a man that the author believes is not reality. These thoughts that the speaker portrays gives you a sense of confusion and uncertainty as a reader. .
Second we could say the narrator is very intelligent. "The geographical books count us all in, but that is a purely geographical sense, which I suppose we can ignore." Notice how the narrator speaks with such accuracy and factual information. It is almost difficult to have your own opinion, because the speaker proves his view so well in the story. The narrator talks about the different thoughts and feeling through out the years on whether believing in hell makes you a Christian or not. Once again the speaker states his opinion" Consequently I shall not insist that a Christian must believe in hell.
It is true that he suffered and this suffering is borne out in his spirituals, but the world has never been without its courageous leadership and even when the massive weight of evidence seemed to be able to turn any tide, voices were raised and men suffered much to be Chirstian. ...
