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diff --git a/17607-8.txt b/17607-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..a3fbb03 --- /dev/null +++ b/17607-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,9088 @@ +Project Gutenberg's Superstition In All Ages (1732), by Jean Meslier + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + +Title: Superstition In All Ages (1732) + Common Sense + +Author: Jean Meslier + +Commentator: Voltaire + +Translator: Anna Knoop + +Release Date: January 25, 2006 [EBook #17607] +[Last updated: July 2, 2011] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUPERSTITION IN ALL AGES (1732) *** + + + + +Produced by Gary Klein + + + + + + +SUPERSTITION IN ALL AGES + +By Jean Meslier + +1732 + + +A ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST, WHO, AFTER A PASTORAL SERVICE OF THIRTY YEARS +AT ETREPIGNY IN CHAMPAGNE, FRANCE, WHOLLY ABJURED RELIGIOUS DOGMAS, AND +LEFT AS HIS LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT TO HIS PARISHIONERS, AND TO THE +WORLD, TO BE PUBLISHED AFTER HIS DEATH, THE FOLLOWING PAGES, ENTITLED: +COMMON SENSE. + + +Translated from the French original by Miss Anna Knoop + + +1878 + + + + +LIFE OF JEAN MESLIER BY VOLTAIRE. + +Jean Meslier, born 1678, in the village of Mazerny, dependency of the +duchy of Rethel, was the son of a serge weaver; brought up in the +country, he nevertheless pursued his studies and succeeded to the +priesthood. At the seminary, where he lived with much regularity, he +devoted himself to the system of Descartes. + +Becoming curate of Etrepigny in Champagne and vicar of a little annexed +parish named Bue, he was remarkable for the austerity of his habits. +Devoted in all his duties, every year he gave what remained of his salary +to the poor of his parishes; enthusiastic, and of rigid virtue, he was +very temperate, as much in regard to his appetite as in relation to +women. + +MM. Voiri and Delavaux, the one curate of Varq, the other curate of +Boulzicourt, were his confessors, and the only ones with whom he +associated. + +The curate Meslier was a rigid partisan of justice, and sometimes +carried his zeal a little too far. The lord of his village, M. de +Touilly, having ill-treated some peasants, he refused to pray for him in +his service. M. de Mailly, Archbishop of Rheims, before whom the case +was brought, condemned him. But the Sunday which followed this decision, +the abbot Meslier stood in his pulpit and complained of the sentence of +the cardinal. "This is," said he, "the general fate of the poor country +priest; the archbishops, who are great lords, scorn them and do not +listen to them. Therefore, let us pray for the lord of this place. We +will pray for Antoine de Touilly, that he may be converted and granted +the grace that he may not wrong the poor and despoil the orphans." His +lordship, who was present at this mortifying supplication, brought new +complaints before the same archbishop, who ordered the curate Meslier to +come to Donchery, where he ill-treated him with abusive language. + +There have been scarcely any other events in his life, nor other +benefice, than that of Etrepigny. He died in the odor of sanctity in the +year 1733, fifty-five years old. It is believed that, disgusted with +life, he expressly refused necessary food, because during his sickness +he was not willing to take anything, not even a glass of wine. + +At his death he gave all he possessed, which was inconsiderable, to his +parishioners, and desired to be buried in his garden. + +They were greatly surprised to find in his house three manuscripts, each +containing three hundred and sixty-six pages, all written by his hand, +signed and entitled by him, "My Testament." This work, which the author +addressed to his parishioners and to M. Leroux, advocate and procurator +for the parliament of Meziers, is a simple refutation of all the +religious dogmas, without excepting one. The grand vicar of Rheims +retained one of the three copies; another was sent to Monsieur +Chauvelin, guardian of the State's seal; the third remained at the +clerk's office of the justiciary of St. Minehould. The Count de Caylus +had one of those three copies in his possession for some time, and soon +afterward more than one hundred were at Paris, sold at ten Louis-d'or +apiece. A dying priest accusing himself of having professed and taught +the Christian religion, made a deeper impression upon the mind than the +"Thoughts of Pascal." + +The curate Meslier had written upon a gray paper which enveloped the +copy destined for his parishioners these remarkable words: "I have seen +and recognized the errors, the abuses, the follies, and the wickedness +of men. I have hated and despised them. I did not dare say it during my +life, but I will say it at least in dying, and after my death; and it is +that it may be known, that I write this present memorial in order that +it may serve as a witness of truth to all those who may see and read it +if they choose." + +At the beginning of this work is found this document (a kind of +honorable amend, which in his letter to the Count of d'Argental of May +31, 1762, Voltaire qualifies as a preface), addressed to his +parishioners. + +"You know," said he, "my brethren, my disinterestedness; I do not +sacrifice my belief to any vile interest. If I embraced a profession so +directly opposed to my sentiments, it was not through cupidity. I obeyed +my parents. I would have preferred to enlighten you sooner if I could +have done it safely. You are witnesses to what I assert. I have not +disgraced my ministry by exacting the requitals, which are a part of it. + +"I call heaven to witness that I also thoroughly despised those who +laughed at the simplicity of the blind people, those who furnished +piously considerable sums of money to buy prayers. How horrible this +monopoly! I do not blame the disdain which those who grow rich by your +sweat and your pains, show for their mysteries and their superstitions; +but I detest their insatiable cupidity and the signal pleasure such +fellows take in railing at the ignorance of those whom they carefully +keep in this state of blindness. Let them content themselves with +laughing at their own ease, but at least let them not multiply their +errors by abusing the blind piety of those who, by their simplicity, +procured them such an easy life. You render unto me, my brethren, the +justice that is due me. The sympathy which I manifested for your +troubles saves me from the least suspicion. How often have I performed +gratuitously the functions of my ministry. How often also has my heart +been grieved at not being able to assist you as often and as abundantly +as I could have wished! Have I not always proved to you that I took more +pleasure in giving than in receiving? I carefully avoided exhorting you +to bigotry, and I spoke to you as rarely as possible of our unfortunate +dogmas. It was necessary that I should acquit myself as a priest of my +ministry, but how often have I not suffered within myself when I was +forced to preach to you those pious lies which I despised in my heart. +What a disdain I had for my ministry, and particularly for that +superstitious Mass, and those ridiculous administrations of sacraments, +especially if I was compelled to perform them with the solemnity which +awakened all your piety and all your good faith. What remorse I had for +exciting your credulity! A thousand times upon the point of bursting +forth publicly, I was going to open your eyes, but a fear superior to my +strength restrained me and forced me to silence until my death." + +The abbot Meslier had written two letters to the curates of his +neighborhood to inform them of his Testament; he told them that he had +consigned to the chancery of St. Minnehould a copy of his manuscript in +366 leaves in octavo; but he feared it would be suppressed, according to +the bad custom established to prevent the poor from being instructed and +knowing the truth. + +The curate Meslier, the most singular phenomenon ever seen among all the +meteors fatal to the Christian religion, worked his whole life secretly +in order to attack the opinions he believed false. To compose his +manuscript against God, against all religion, against the Bible and the +Church, he had no other assistance than the Bible itself, Moreri +Montaigne, and a few fathers. + +While the abbot Meslier naively acknowledged that he did not wish to be +burned till after his death, Thomas Woolston, a doctor of Cambridge, +published and sold publicly at London, in his own house, sixty thousand +copies of his "Discourses" against the miracles of Jesus Christ. + +It was a very astonishing thing that two priests should at the same time +write against the Christian religion. The curate Meslier has gone +further yet than Woolston; he dares to treat the transport of our +Saviour by the devil upon the mountain, the wedding of Cana, the bread +and the fishes, as absurd fables, injurious to divinity, which were +ignored during three hundred years by the whole Roman Empire, and +finally passed from the lower class to the palace of the emperors, when +policy obliged them to adopt the follies of the people in order the more +easily to subjugate them. The denunciations of the English priest do not +approach those of the Champagne priest. Woolston is sometimes indulgent, +Meslier never. He was a man profoundly embittered by the crimes he +witnessed, for which he holds the Christian religion responsible. There +is no miracle which to him is not an object of contempt and horror; no +prophecy that he does not compare to those of Nostredamus. He wrote thus +against Jesus Christ when in the arms of death, at a time when the most +dissimulating dare not lie, and when the most intrepid tremble. Struck +with the difficulties which he found in Scripture, he inveighed against +it more bitterly than the Acosta and all the Jews, more than the famous +Porphyre, Celse, Iamblique, Julian, Libanius, and all the partisans of +human reason. + +There were found among the books of the curate Meslier a printed +manuscript of the Treatise of Fenelon, Archbishop of Cambray, upon the +existence of God and His attributes, and the reflections of the Jesuit +Tournemine upon Atheism, to which treatise he added marginal notes +signed by his hand. + + +DECREE + +of the NATIONAL CONVENTION upon the proposition to erect a statue to the +curate Jean Meslier, the 27 Brumaire, in the year II. (November 17, +1793). The National Convention sends to the Committee of Public +Instruction the proposition made by one of its members to erect a statue +to Jean Meslier, curate at Etrepigny, in Champagne, the first priest who +had the courage and the honesty to abjure religious errors. + +PRESIDENT AND SECRETARIES. + +SIGNED--P. A. Laloy, President; Bazire, Charles Duval, Philippeaux, +Frecine, and Merlin (de Thionville), Secretaries. + +Certified according to the original. + +MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE OF DECREES AND PROCESS-VERBAL. + +SIGNED--Batellier, Echasseriaux, Monnel, Becker, Vernetey, Pérard, Vinet, +Bouillerot, Auger, Cordier, Delecloy, and Cosnard. + + + + +PREFACE OF THE AUTHOR. + +When we wish to examine in a cool, calm way the opinions of men, we are +very much surprised to find that in those which we consider the most +essential, nothing is more rare than to find them using common sense; +that is to say, the portion of judgment sufficient to know the most +simple truths, to reject the most striking absurdities, and to be +shocked by palpable contradictions. We have an example of this in +Theology, a science revered in all times, in all countries, by the +greatest number of mortals; an object considered the most important, the +most useful, and the most indispensable to the happiness of society. If +they would but take the trouble to sound the principles upon which this +pretended science rests itself, they would be compelled to admit that +the principles which were considered incontestable, are but hazardous +suppositions, conceived in ignorance, propagated by enthusiasm or bad +intention, adopted by timid credulity, preserved by habit, which never +reasons, and revered solely because it is not comprehended. Some, says +Montaigne, make the world believe that which they do not themselves +believe; a greater number of others make themselves believe, not +comprehending what it is to believe. In a word, whoever will consult +common sense upon religious opinions, and will carry into this +examination the attention given to objects of ordinary interest, will +easily perceive that these opinions have no solid foundation; that all +religion is but a castle in the air; that Theology is but ignorance of +natural causes reduced to a system; that it is but a long tissue of +chimeras and contradictions; that it presents to all the different +nations of the earth only romances devoid of probability, of which the +hero himself is made up of qualities impossible to reconcile, his name +having the power to excite in all hearts respect and fear, is found to +be but a vague word, which men continually utter, being able to attach +to it only such ideas or qualities as are belied by the facts, or which +evidently contradict each other. The notion of this imaginary being, or +rather the word by which we designate him, would be of no consequence +did it not cause ravages without number upon the earth. Born into the +opinion that this phantom is for them a very interesting reality, men, +instead of wisely concluding from its incomprehensibility that they are +exempt from thinking of it, on the contrary, conclude that they can not +occupy themselves enough about it, that they must meditate upon it +without ceasing, reason without end, and never lose sight of it. The +invincible ignorance in which they are kept in this respect, far from +discouraging them, does but excite their curiosity; instead of putting +them on guard against their imagination, this ignorance makes them +positive, dogmatic, imperious, and causes them to quarrel with all those +who oppose doubts to the reveries which their brains have brought forth. +What perplexity, when we attempt to solve an unsolvable problem! Anxious +meditations upon an object impossible to grasp, and which, however, is +supposed to be very important to him, can but put a man into bad humor, +and produce in his brain dangerous transports. When interest, vanity, +and ambition are joined to such a morose disposition, society +necessarily becomes troubled. This is why so many nations have often +become the theaters of extravagances caused by nonsensical visionists, +who, publishing their shallow speculations for the eternal truth, have +kindled the enthusiasm of princes and of people, and have prepared them +for opinions which they represented as essential to the glory of +divinity and to the happiness of empires. We have seen, a thousand +times, in all parts of our globe, infuriated fanatics slaughtering each +other, lighting the funeral piles, committing without scruple, as a +matter of duty, the greatest crimes. Why? To maintain or to propagate +the impertinent conjectures of enthusiasts, or to sanction the knaveries +of impostors on account of a being who exists only in their imagination, +and who is known only by the ravages, the disputes, and the follies +which he has caused upon the earth. + +Originally, savage nations, ferocious, perpetually at war, adored, under +various names, some God conformed to their ideas; that is to say, cruel, +carnivorous, selfish, greedy of blood. We find in all the religions of +the earth a God of armies, a jealous God, an avenging God, an +exterminating God, a God who enjoys carnage and whose worshipers make it +a duty to serve him to his taste. Lambs, bulls, children, men, heretics, +infidels, kings, whole nations, are sacrificed to him. The zealous +servants of this barbarous God go so far as to believe that they are +obliged to offer themselves as a sacrifice to him. Everywhere we see +zealots who, after having sadly meditated upon their terrible God, +imagine that, in order to please him, they must do themselves all the +harm possible, and inflict upon themselves, in his honor, all imaginable +torments. In a word, everywhere the baneful ideas of Divinity, far from +consoling men for misfortunes incident to their existence, have filled +the heart with trouble, and given birth to follies destructive to them. +How could the human mind, filled with frightful phantoms and guided by +men interested in perpetuating its ignorance and its fear, make +progress? Man was compelled to vegetate in his primitive stupidity; he +was preserved only by invisible powers, upon whom his fate was supposed +to depend. Solely occupied with his alarms and his unintelligible +reveries, he was always at the mercy of his priests, who reserved for +themselves the right of thinking for him and of regulating his conduct. + +Thus man was, and always remained, a child without experience, a slave +without courage, a loggerhead who feared to reason, and who could never +escape from the labyrinth into which his ancestors had misled him; he +felt compelled to groan under the yoke of his Gods, of whom he knew +nothing except the fabulous accounts of their ministers. These, after +having fettered him by the ties of opinion, have remained his masters or +delivered him up defenseless to the absolute power of tyrants, no less +terrible than the Gods, of whom they were the representatives upon the +earth. Oppressed by the double yoke of spiritual and temporal power, it +was impossible for the people to instruct themselves and to work for +their own welfare. Thus, religion, politics, and morals became +sanctuaries, into which the profane were not permitted to enter. Men had +no other morality than that which their legislators and their priests +claimed as descended from unknown empyrean regions. The human mind, +perplexed by these theological opinions, misunderstood itself, doubted +its own powers, mistrusted experience, feared truth, disdained its +reason, and left it to blindly follow authority. Man was a pure machine +in the hands of his tyrants and his priests, who alone had the right to +regulate his movements. Always treated as a slave, he had at all times +and in all places the vices and dispositions of a slave. + +These are the true sources of the corruption of habits, to which +religion never opposes anything but ideal and ineffectual obstacles; +ignorance and servitude have a tendency to make men wicked and unhappy. +Science, reason, liberty, alone can reform them and render them more +happy; but everything conspires to blind them and to confirm them in +their blindness. The priests deceive them, tyrants corrupt them in order +to subjugate them more easily. Tyranny has been, and will always be, the +chief source of the depraved morals and habitual calamities of the +people. These, almost always fascinated by their religious notions or by +metaphysical fictions, instead of looking upon the natural and visible +causes of their miseries, attribute their vices to the imperfections of +their nature, and their misfortunes to the anger of their Gods; they +offer to Heaven vows, sacrifices, and presents, in order to put an end +to their misfortunes, which are really due only to the negligence, the +ignorance, and to the perversity of their guides, to the folly of their +institutions, to their foolish customs, to their false opinions, to +their unreasonable laws, and especially to their want of enlightenment. +Let the mind be filled early with true ideas; let man's reason be +cultivated; let justice govern him; and there will be no need of +opposing to his passions the powerless barrier of the fear of Gods. Men +will be good when they are well taught, well governed, chastised or +censured for the evil, and justly rewarded for the good which they have +done to their fellow-citizens. It is idle to pretend to cure mortals of +their vices if we do not begin by curing them of their prejudices. It is +only by showing them the truth that they can know their best interests +and the real motives which will lead them to happiness. Long enough have +the instructors of the people fixed their eyes on heaven; let them at +last bring them back to the earth. Tired of an incomprehensible +theology, of ridiculous fables, of impenetrable mysteries, of puerile +ceremonies, let the human mind occupy itself with natural things, +intelligible objects, sensible truths, and useful knowledge. Let the +vain chimeras which beset the people be dissipated, and very soon +rational opinions will fill the minds of those who were believed fated +to be always in error. To annihilate religious prejudices, it would be +sufficient to show that what is inconceivable to man can not be of any +use to him. Does it need, then, anything but simple common sense to +perceive that a being most clearly irreconcilable with the notions of +mankind, that a cause continually opposed to the effects attributed to +him; that a being of whom not a word can be said without falling into +contradictions; that a being who, far from explaining the mysteries of +the universe, only renders them more inexplicable; that a being to whom +for so many centuries men addressed themselves so vainly to obtain their +happiness and deliverance from their sufferings; does it need, I say, +more than simple common sense to understand that the idea of such a +being is an idea without model, and that he is himself evidently not a +reasonable being? Does it require more than common sense to feel that +there is at least delirium and frenzy in hating and tormenting each +other for unintelligible opinions of a being of this kind? Finally, does +it not all prove that morality and virtue are totally incompatible with +the idea of a God, whose ministers and interpreters have painted him in +all countries as the most fantastic, the most unjust, and the most cruel +of tyrants, whose pretended wishes are to serve as rules and laws for +the inhabitants of the earth? To discover the true principles of +morality, men have no need of theology, of revelation, or of Gods; they +need but common sense; they have only to look within themselves, to +reflect upon their own nature, to consult their obvious interests, to +consider the object of society and of each of the members who compose +it, and they will easily understand that virtue is an advantage, and +that vice is an injury to beings of their species. Let us teach men to +be just, benevolent, moderate, and sociable, not because their Gods +exact it, but to please men; let us tell them to abstain from vice and +from crime, not because they will be punished in another world, but +because they will suffer in the present world. There are, says +Montesquieu, means to prevent crime, they are sufferings; to change the +manners, these are good examples. Truth is simple, error is complicated, +uncertain in its gait, full of by-ways; the voice of nature is +intelligible, that of falsehood is ambiguous, enigmatical, and +mysterious; the road of truth is straight, that of imposture is oblique +and dark; this truth, always necessary to man, is felt by all just +minds; the lessons of reason are followed by all honest souls; men are +unhappy only because they are ignorant; they are ignorant only because +everything conspires to prevent them from being enlightened, and they +are wicked only because their reason is not sufficiently developed. + + + + +COMMON SENSE. + +Detexit quo dolose Vaticinandi furore sacerdotes mysteria, illis spe +ignota, audactur publicant.--PETRON. SATYR. + + + + +I.--APOLOGUE. + +There is a vast empire governed by a monarch, whose conduct does but +confound the minds of his subjects. He desires to be known, loved, +respected, and obeyed, but he never shows himself; everything tends to +make uncertain the notions which we are able to form about him. The +people subjected to his power have only such ideas of the character and +the laws of their invisible sovereign as his ministers give them; these +suit, however, because they themselves have no idea of their master, for +his ways are impenetrable, and his views and his qualities are totally +incomprehensible; moreover, his ministers disagree among themselves in +regard to the orders which they pretend emanated from the sovereign +whose organs they claim to be; they announce them diversely in each +province of the empire; they discredit and treat each other as impostors +and liars; the decrees and ordinances which they promulgate are obscure; +they are enigmas, made not to be understood or divined by the subjects +for whose instruction they were intended. The laws of the invisible +monarch need interpreters, but those who explain them are always +quarreling among themselves about the true way of understanding them; +more than this, they do not agree among themselves; all which they +relate of their hidden prince is but a tissue of contradictions, +scarcely a single word that is not contradicted at once. He is called +supremely good, nevertheless not a person but complains of his decrees. +He is supposed to be infinitely wise, and in his administration +everything seems contrary to reason and good sense. They boast of his +justice, and the best of his subjects are generally the least favored. +We are assured that he sees everything, yet his presence remedies +nothing. It is said that he is the friend of order, and everything in +his universe is in a state of confusion and disorder; all is created by +him, yet events rarely happen according to his projects. He foresees +everything, but his foresight prevents nothing. He is impatient if any +offend him; at the same time he puts every one in the way of offending +him. His knowledge is admired in the perfection of his works, but his +works are full of imperfections, and of little permanence. He is +continually occupied in creating and destroying, then repairing what he +has done, never appearing to be satisfied with his work. In all his +enterprises he seeks but his own glory, but he does not succeed in being +glorified. He works but for the good of his subjects, and most of them +lack the necessities of life. Those whom he seems to favor, are +generally those who are the least satisfied with their fate; we see them +all continually revolting against a master whose greatness they admire, +whose wisdom they extol, whose goodness they worship, and whose justice +they fear, revering orders which they never follow. This empire is the +world; its monarch is God; His ministers are the priests; their subjects +are men. + + + + +II.--WHAT IS THEOLOGY? + +There is a science which has for its object only incomprehensible +things. Unlike all others, it occupies itself but with things unseen. +Hobbes calls it "the kingdom of darkness." In this land all obey laws +opposed to those which men acknowledge in the world they inhabit. In +this marvelous region light is but darkness, evidence becomes doubtful +or false, the impossible becomes credible, reason is an unfaithful +guide, and common sense changed into delirium. This science is named +Theology, and this Theology is a continual insult to human reason. + + + + +III. + +By frequent repetition of if, but, and perhaps, we succeed in forming an +imperfect and broken system which perplexes men's minds to the extent of +making them forget the clearest notions, and to render uncertain the +most palpable truths. By the aid of this systematic nonsense, all nature +has become an inexplicable enigma for man; the visible world has +disappeared to give place to invisible regions; reason is obliged to +give place to imagination, which can lead us only to the land of +chimeras which she herself has invented. + + + + +IV.--MAN BORN NEITHER RELIGIOUS NOR DEISTICAL. + +All religious principles are founded upon the idea of a God, but it is +impossible for men to have true ideas of a being who does not act upon +any one of their senses. All our ideas are but pictures of objects which +strike us. What can the idea of God represent to us when it is evidently +an idea without an object? Is not such an idea as impossible as an +effect without a cause? An idea without a prototype, is it anything but +a chimera? Some theologians, however, assure us that the idea of God is +innate, or that men have this idea from the time of their birth. Every +principle is a judgment; all judgment is the effect of experience; +experience is not acquired but by the exercise of the senses: from which +it follows that religious principles are drawn from nothing, and are not +innate. + + + + +V.--IT IS NOT NECESSARY TO BELIEVE IN A GOD, AND THE MOST REASONABLE +THING IS NOT TO THINK OF HIM. + +No religious system can be founded otherwise than upon the nature of God +and of men, and upon the relations they bear to each other. But, in +order to judge of the reality of these relations, we must have some idea +of the Divine nature. But everybody tells us that the essence of God is +incomprehensible to man; at the same time they do not hesitate to assign +attributes to this incomprehensible God, and assure us that man can not +dispense with a knowledge of this God so impossible to conceive of. The +most important thing for men is that which is the most impossible for +them to comprehend. If God is incomprehensible to man, it would seem +rational never to think of Him at all; but religion concludes that man +is criminal if he ceases for a moment to revere Him. + + + + +VI.--RELIGION IS FOUNDED UPON CREDULITY. + +We are told that Divine qualities are not of a nature to be grasped by +limited minds. The natural consequence of this principle ought to be +that the Divine qualities are not made to employ limited minds; but +religion assures us that limited minds should never lose sight of this +inconceivable being, whose qualities can not be grasped by them: from +which we see that religion is the art of occupying limited minds with +that which is impossible for them to comprehend. + + + + +VII.--EVERY RELIGION IS AN ABSURDITY. + +Religion unites man with God or puts them in communication; but do you +say that God is infinite? If God is infinite, no finite being can have +communication or any relation with Him. Where there are no relations, +there can be no union, no correspondence, no duties. If there are no +duties between man and his God, there exists no religion for man. Thus +by saying that God is infinite, you annihilate, from that moment, all +religion for man, who is a finite being. The idea of infinity is for us +in idea without model, without prototype, without object. + + + + +VIII.--THE NOTION OF GOD IS IMPOSSIBLE. + +If God is an infinite being, there can be neither in the actual world or +in another any proportion between man and his God; thus the idea of God +will never enter the human mind. In the supposition of a life where men +will be more enlightened than in this one, the infinity of God will +always place such a distance between his idea and the limited mind of +man, that he will not be able to conceive of God any more in a future +life than in the present. Hence, it evidently follows that the idea of +God will not be better suited to man in the other life than in the +present. God is not made for man; it follows also that intelligences +superior to man--such as angels, archangels, seraphims, and saints--can +have no more complete notions of God than has man, who does not +understand anything about Him here below. + + + + +IX.--ORIGIN OF SUPERSTITION. + +How is it that we have succeeded in persuading reasonable beings that +the thing most impossible to understand was the most essential for them. +It is because they were greatly frightened; it is because when men are +kept in fear they cease to reason; it is because they have been +expressly enjoined to distrust their reason. When the brain is troubled, +we believe everything and examine nothing. + + + + +X.--ORIGIN OF ALL RELIGION. + +Ignorance and fear are the two pivots of all religion. The uncertainty +attending man's relation to his God is precisely the motive which +attaches him to his religion. Man is afraid when in darkness--physical or +moral. His fear is habitual to him and becomes a necessity; he would +believe that he lacked something if he had nothing to fear. + + + + +XI.--IN THE NAME OF RELIGION CHARLATANS TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE WEAKNESS +OF MEN. + +He who from his childhood has had a habit of trembling every time he +heard certain words, needs these words, and needs to tremble. In this +way he is more disposed to listen to the one who encourages his fears +than to the one who would dispel his fears. The superstitious man wants +to be afraid; his imagination demands it. It seems that he fears nothing +more than having no object to fear. Men are imaginary patients, whom +interested charlatans take care to encourage in their weakness, in order +to have a market for their remedies. Physicians who order a great number +of remedies are more listened to than those who recommend a good +regimen, and who leave nature to act. + + + + +XII.--RELIGION ENTICES IGNORANCE BY THE AID OF THE MARVELOUS. + +If religion was clear, it would have fewer attractions for the ignorant. +They need obscurity, mysteries, fables, miracles, incredible things, +which keep their brains perpetually at work. Romances, idle stories, +tales of ghosts and witches, have more charms for the vulgar than true +narrations. + + + + +XIII.--CONTINUATION. + +In the matter of religion, men are but overgrown children. The more +absurd a religion is, and the fuller of marvels, the more power it +exerts; the devotee thinks himself obliged to place no limits to his +credulity; the more inconceivable things are, the more divine they +appear to him; the more incredible they are, the more merit he gives +himself for believing them. + + + + +XIV.--THERE WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN ANY RELIGION IF THERE HAD NEVER BEEN +ANY DARK AND BARBAROUS AGES. + +The origin of religious opinions dates, as a general thing, from the +time when savage nations were yet in a state of infancy. It was to +coarse, ignorant, and stupid men that the founders of religion addressed +themselves in all ages, in order to present them with Gods, ceremonies, +histories of fabulous Divinities, marvelous and terrible fables. These +chimeras, adopted without examination by the fathers, have been +transmitted with more or less changes to their polished children, who +often do not reason more than their fathers. + + + + +XV.--ALL RELIGION WAS BORN OF THE DESIRE TO DOMINATE. + +The first legislators of nations had for their object to dominate, The +easiest means of succeeding was to frighten the people and to prevent +them from reasoning; they led them by tortuous paths in order that they +should not perceive the designs of their guides; they compelled them to +look into the air, for fear they should look to their feet; they amused +them upon the road by stories; in a word, they treated them in the way +of nurses, who employ songs and menaces to put the children to sleep, or +to force them to be quiet. + + + + +XVI.--THAT WHICH SERVES AS A BASIS FOR ALL RELIGION IS VERY UNCERTAIN. + +The existence of a God is the basis of all religion. Few people seem to +doubt this existence, but this fundamental principle is precisely the +one which prevents every mind from reasoning. The first question of +every catechism was, and will always be, the most difficult one to +answer. + + + + +XVII.--IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO BE CONVINCED OF THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. + +Can one honestly say that he is convinced of the existence of a being +whose nature is not known, who remains inaccessible to all our senses, +and of whose qualities we are constantly assured that they are +incomprehensible to us? In order to persuade me that a being exists, or +can exist, he must begin by telling me what this being is; in order to +make me believe the existence or the possibility of such a being, he +must tell me things about him which are not contradictory, and which do +not destroy one another; finally, in order to convince me fully of the +existence of this being, he must tell me things about him which I can +comprehend, and prove to me that it is impossible that the being to whom +he attributes these qualities does not exist. + + + + +XVIII.--CONTINUATION. + +A thing is impossible when it is composed of two ideas so antagonistic, +that we can not think of them at the same time. Evidence can be relied +on only when confirmed by the constant testimony of our senses, which +alone give birth to ideas, and enable us to judge of their conformity or +of their incompatibility. That which exists necessarily, is that of +which the non-existence would imply contradiction. These principles, +universally recognized, are at fault when the question of the existence +of God is considered; what has been said of Him is either unintelligible +or perfectly contradictory; and for this reason must appear impossible +to every man of common sense. + + + + +XIX.--THE EXISTENCE OF GOD IS NOT PROVED. + +All human intelligences are more or less enlightened and cultivated. By +what fatality is it that the science of God has never been explained? +The most civilized nations and the most profound thinkers are of the +same opinion in regard to the matter as the most barbarous nations and +the most ignorant and rustic people. As we examine the subject more +closely, we will find that the science of divinity by means of reveries +and subtleties has but obscured it more and more. Thus far, all religion +has been founded on what is called in logic, a "begging of the +question;" it supposes freely, and then proves, finally, by the +suppositions it has made. + + + + +XX.--TO SAY THAT GOD IS A SPIRIT, IS TO SPEAK WITHOUT SAYING ANYTHING AT +ALL. + +By metaphysics, God is made a pure spirit, but has modern theology +advanced one step further than the theology of the barbarians? They +recognized a grand spirit as master of the world. The barbarians, like +all ignorant men, attribute to spirits all the effects of which their +inexperience prevents them from discovering the true causes. Ask a +barbarian what causes your watch to move, he will answer, "a spirit!" +Ask our philosophers what moves the universe, they will tell you "it is +a spirit." + + + + +XXI.--SPIRITUALITY IS A CHIMERA. + +The barbarian, when he speaks of a spirit, attaches at least some sense +to this word; he understands by it an agent similar to the wind, to the +agitated air, to the breath, which produces, invisibly, effects that we +perceive. By subtilizing, the modern theologian becomes as little +intelligible to himself as to others. Ask him what he means by a spirit? +He will answer, that it is an unknown substance, which is perfectly +simple, which has nothing tangible, nothing in common with matter. In +good faith, is there any mortal who can form the least idea of such a +substance? A spirit in the language of modern theology is then but an +absence of ideas. The idea of spirituality is another idea without a +model. + + + + +XXII.--ALL WHICH EXISTS SPRINGS FROM THE BOSOM OF MATTER. + +Is it not more natural and more intelligible to deduce all which exists, +from the bosom of matter, whose existence is demonstrated by all our +senses, whose effects we feel at every moment, which we see act, move, +communicate, motion, and constantly bring living beings into existence, +than to attribute the formation of things to an unknown force, to a +spiritual being, who can not draw from his ground that which he has not +himself, and who, by the spiritual essence claimed for him, is incapable +of making anything, and of putting anything in motion? Nothing is +plainer than that they would have us believe that an intangible spirit +can act upon matter. + + + + +XXIII.--WHAT IS THE METAPHYSICAL GOD OF MODERN THEOLOGY? + +The material Jupiter of the ancients could move, build up, destroy, and +propagate beings similar to himself; but the God of modern theology is a +sterile being. According to his supposed nature he can neither occupy +any place, nor move matter, nor produce a visible world, nor propagate +either men or Gods. The metaphysical God is a workman without hands; he +is able but to produce clouds, suspicions, reveries, follies, and +quarrels. + + + + +XXIV.--IT WOULD BE MORE RATIONAL TO WORSHIP THE SUN THAN A SPIRITUAL GOD. + +Since it was necessary for men to have a God, why did they not have the +sun, the visible God, adored by so many nations? What being had more +right to the homage of mortals than the star of the day, which gives +light and heat; which invigorates all beings; whose presence reanimates +and rejuvenates nature; whose absence seems to plunge her into sadness +and languor? If some being bestowed upon men power, activity, +benevolence, strength, it was no doubt the sun, which should be +recognized as the father of nature, as the soul of the world, as +Divinity. At least one could not without folly dispute his existence, or +refuse to recognize his influence and his benefits. + + + + +XXV.--A SPIRITUAL GOD IS INCAPABLE OF WILLING AND OF ACTING. + +The theologian tells us that God does not need hands or arms to act, and +that He acts by His will alone. But what is this God who has a will? And +what can be the subject of this divine will? Is it more ridiculous or +more difficult to believe in fairies, in sylphs, in ghosts, in witches, +in were-wolfs, than to believe in the magical or impossible action of +the spirit upon the body? As soon as we admit of such a God, there are +no longer fables or visions which can not be believed. The theologians +treat men like children, who never cavil about the possibilities of the +tales which they listen to. + + + + +XXVI.--WHAT IS GOD? + +To unsettle the existence of a God, it is only necessary to ask a +theologian to speak of Him; as soon as he utters one word about Him, the +least reflection makes us discover at once that what he says is +incompatible with the essence which he attributes to his God. Therefore, +what is God? It is an abstract word, coined to designate the hidden +forces of nature; or, it is a mathematical point, which has neither +length, breadth, nor thickness. A philosopher [David Hume] has very +ingeniously said in speaking of theologians, that they have found the +solution to the famous problem of Archimedes; a point in the heavens +from which they move the world. + + + + +XXVII.--REMARKABLE CONTRADICTIONS OF THEOLOGY. + +Religion puts men on their knees before a being without extension, and +who, notwithstanding, is infinite, and fills all space with his +immensity; before an almighty being, who never executes that which he +desires; before a being supremely good, and who causes but displeasure; +before a being, the friend of order, and in whose government everything +is in disorder. After all this, let us conjecture what this God of +theology is. + + + + +XXVIII.--TO ADORE GOD IS TO ADORE A FICTION. + +In order to avoid all embarrassment, they tell us that it is not +necessary to know what God is; that we must adore without knowing; that +it is not permitted us to turn an eye of temerity upon His attributes. +But if we must adore a God without knowing Him, should we not be assured +that He exists? Moreover, how be assured that He exists without having +examined whether it is possible that the diverse qualities claimed for +Him, meet in Him? In truth, to adore God is to adore nothing but +fictions of one's own brain, or rather, it is to adore nothing. + + + + +XXIX.--THE INFINITY OF GOD AND THE IMPOSSIBILITY OF KNOWING THE DIVINE +ESSENCE, OCCASIONS AND JUSTIFIES ATHEISM. + +Without doubt the more to perplex matters, theologians have chosen to +say nothing about what their God is; they tell us what He is not. By +negations and abstractions they imagine themselves composing a real and +perfect being, while there can result from it but a being of human +reason. A spirit has no body; an infinite being is a being which is not +finite; a perfect being is a being which is not imperfect. Can any one +form any real notions of such a multitude of deficiencies or absence of +ideas? That which excludes all idea, can it be anything but nothingness? +To pretend that the divine attributes are beyond the understanding of +the human mind is to render God unfit for men. If we are assured that +God is infinite, we admit that there can be nothing in common between +Him and His creatures. To say that God is infinite, is to destroy Him +for men, or at least render Him useless to them. + +God, we are told, created men intelligent, but He did not create them +omniscient: that is to say, capable of knowing all things. We conclude +that He was not able to endow him with intelligence sufficient to +understand the divine essence. In this case it is demonstrated that God +has neither the power nor the wish to be known by men. By what right +could this God become angry with beings whose own essence makes it +impossible to have any idea of the divine essence? God would evidently +be the most unjust and the most unaccountable of tyrants if He should +punish an atheist for not knowing that which his nature made it +impossible for him to know. + + + + +XXX.--IT IS NEITHER LESS NOR MORE CRIMINAL TO BELIEVE IN GOD THAN NOT TO +BELIEVE IN HIM. + +For the generality of men nothing renders an argument more convincing +than fear. In consequence of this fact, theologians tell us that the +safest side must be taken; that nothing is more criminal than +incredulity; that God will punish without mercy all those who have the +temerity to doubt His existence; that His severity is just; since it is +only madness or perversity which questions the existence of an angry +monarch who revenges himself cruelly upon atheists. If we examine these +menaces calmly, we shall find that they assume always the thing in +question. They must commence by proving to our satisfaction the +existence of a God, before telling us that it is safer to believe, and +that it is horrible to doubt or to deny it. Then they must prove that it +is possible for a just God to punish men cruelly for having been in a +state of madness, which prevented them from believing in the existence +of a being whom their enlightened reason could not comprehend. In a +word, they must prove that a God that is said to be full of equity, +could punish beyond measure the invincible and necessary ignorance of +man, caused by his relation to the divine essence. Is not the +theologians' manner of reasoning very singular? They create phantoms, +they fill them with contradictions, and finally assure us that the +safest way is not to doubt the existence of those phantoms, which they +have themselves invented. By following out this method, there is no +absurdity which it would not be safer to believe than not to believe. + +All children are atheists--they have no idea of God; are they, then, +criminal on account of this ignorance? At what age do they begin to be +obliged to believe in God? It is, you say, at the age of reason. At what +time does this age begin? Besides, if the most profound theologians lose +themselves in the divine essence, which they boast of not comprehending, +what ideas can common people have?--women, mechanics, and, in short, +those who compose the mass of the human race? + + + + +XXXI.--THE BELIEF IN GOD IS NOTHING BUT A MECHANICAL HABITUDE OF +CHILDHOOD. + +Men believe in God only upon the word of those who have no more idea of +Him than they themselves. Our nurses are our first theologians; they +talk to children of God as they talk to them of were-wolfs; they teach +them from the most tender age to join the hands mechanically. Have the +nurses clearer notions of God than the children, whom they compel to +pray to Him? + + + + +XXXII.--IT IS A PREJUDICE WHICH HAS BEEN HANDED FROM FATHER TO CHILDREN. + +Religion is handed down from fathers to children as the property of a +family with the burdens. Very few people in the world would have a God +if care had not been taken to give them one. Each one receives from his +parents and his instructors the God which they themselves have received +from theirs; only, according to his own temperament, each one arranges, +modifies, and paints Him agreeably to his taste. + + + + +XXXIII.--ORIGIN OF PREJUDICES. + +The brain of man is, especially in infancy, like a soft wax, ready to +receive all the impressions we wish to make on it; education furnishes +nearly all his opinions, at a period when he is incapable of judging for +himself. We believe that the ideas, true or false, which at a tender age +were forced into our heads, were received from nature at our birth; and +this persuasion is one of the greatest sources of our errors. + + + + +XXXIV.--HOW THEY TAKE ROOT AND SPREAD. + +Prejudice tends to confirm in us the opinions of those who are charged +with our instruction. We believe them more skillful than we are; we +suppose them thoroughly convinced themselves of the things they teach +us. We have the greatest confidence in them. After the care they have +taken of us when we were unable to assist ourselves, we judge them +incapable of deceiving us. These are the motives which make us adopt a +thousand errors without other foundation than the dangerous word of +those who have educated us; even the being forbidden to reason upon what +they tell us, does not diminish our confidence, but contributes often to +increase our respect for their opinions. + + + + +XXXV.--MEN WOULD NEVER HAVE BELIEVED IN THE PRINCIPLES OF MODERN THEOLOGY +IF THEY HAD NOT BEEN TAUGHT AT AN AGE WHEN THEY WERE INCAPABLE OF +REASONING. + +The instructors of the human race act very prudently in teaching men +their religious principles before they are able to distinguish the true +from the false, or the left hand from the right. It would be as +difficult to tame the spirit of a man forty years old with the +extravagant notions which are given us of Divinity, as to banish these +notions from the head of a man who has imbibed them since his tenderest +infancy. + + + + +XXXVI.--THE WONDERS OF NATURE DO NOT PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF GOD. + +We are assured that the wonders of nature are sufficient to a belief in +the existence of a God, and to convince us fully of this important +truth. But how many persons are there in this world who have the +leisure, the capacity, the necessary taste, to contemplate nature and to +meditate upon its progress? The majority of men pay no attention to it. +A peasant is not at all moved by the beauty of the sun, which he sees +every day. The sailor is not surprised by the regular movements of the +ocean; he will draw from them no theological inductions. The phenomena +of nature do not prove the existence of a God, except to a few +forewarned men, to whom has been shown in advance the finger of God in +all the objects whose mechanism could embarrass them. The unprejudiced +philosopher sees nothing in the wonders of nature but permanent and +invariable law; nothing but the necessary effects of different +combinations of diversified substance. + + + + +XXXVII.--THE WONDERS OF NATURE EXPLAIN THEMSELVES BY NATURAL CAUSES. + +Is there anything more surprising than the logic of so many profound +doctors, who, instead of acknowledging the little light they have upon +natural agencies, seek outside of nature--that is to say, in imaginary +regions--an agent less understood than this nature, of which they can at +least form some idea? To say that God is the author of the phenomena +that we see, is it not attributing them to an occult cause? What is God? +What is a spirit? They are causes of which we have no idea. Sages! study +nature and her laws; and when you can from them unravel the action of +natural causes, do not go in search of supernatural causes, which, very +far from enlightening your ideas, will but entangle them more and more +and make it impossible for you to understand yourselves. + + + + +XXXVIII--CONTINUATION. + +Nature, you say, is totally inexplicable without a God; that is to say, +in order to explain what you understand so little, you need a cause +which you do not understand at all. You pretend to make clear that which +is obscure, by magnifying its obscurity. You think you have untied a +knot by multiplying knots. Enthusiastic philosophers, in order to prove +to us the existence of a God, you copy complete treatises on botany; you +enter into minute details of the parts of the human body; you ascend +into the air to contemplate the revolutions of the stars; you return +then to earth to admire the course of the waters; you fly into ecstasies +over butterflies, insects, polyps, organized atoms, in which you think +to find the greatness of your God; all these things will not prove the +existence of this God; they will only prove that you have not the ideas +which you should have of the immense variety of causes and effects that +can produce the infinitely diversified combinations, of which the +universe is the assemblage. This will prove that you ignore nature, that +you have no idea of her resources when you judge her incapable of +producing a multitude of forms and beings, of which your eyes, even by +the aid of the microscope, see but the least part; finally, this will +prove, that not being able to know the sensible and comprehensible +agents, you find it easier to have recourse to a word, by which you +designate an agent, of whom it will always be impossible for you to form +any true idea. + + + + +XXXIX.--THE WORLD HAS NOT BEEN CREATED, AND MATTER MOVES BY ITSELF. + +They tell us gravely that there is no effect without a cause; they +repeat to us very often that the world did not create itself. But the +universe is a cause, not an effect; it is not a work, has not been made, +because it was impossible that it should be made. The world has always +been, its existence is necessary. It is the cause of itself. Nature, +whose essence is visibly acting and producing, in order to fulfill her +functions, as we see she does, needs no invisible motor far more unknown +than herself. Matter moves by its own energy, by the necessary result of +its heterogeneity; the diversity of its movements or of its ways of +acting, constitute only the diversity of substances; we distinguish one +being from another but by the diversity of the impressions or movements +which they communicate to our organs. + + + + +XL.--CONTINUATION. + +You see that everything in nature is in a state of activity, and you +pretend that nature of itself is dead and without energy! You believe +that all this, acting of itself, has need of a motor! Well! who is this +motor? It is a spirit, that is to say, an absolutely incomprehensible +and contradictory being. Conclude then, I say to you, that matter acts +of itself, and cease to reason about your spiritual motor, which has +nothing that is necessary to put it into motion. Return from your +useless excursions; come down from an imaginary into a real world; take +hold of second causes; leave to theologians their "First Cause," of +which nature has no need in order to produce all the effects which you +see. + + + + +XLI.--OTHER PROOFS THAT MOTION IS IN THE ESSENCE OF MATTER, AND THAT IT +IS NOT NECESSARY TO SUPPOSE A SPIRITUAL MOTOR. + +It is but by the diversity of impressions or of effects which substances +or bodies make upon us, that we feel them, that we have perceptions and +ideas of them, that we distinguish them one from another, that we assign +to them peculiarities. Moreover, in order to perceive or to feel an +object, this object must act upon our organs; this object can not act +upon us without exciting some motion in us; it can not produce any +motion in us if it is not itself in motion. As soon as I see an object, +my eyes must be struck by it; I can not conceive of light and of vision +without a motion in the luminous, extended, and colored body which +communicates itself to my eye, or which acts upon my retina. As soon as +I smell a body, my olfactory nerve must be irritated or put into motion +by the parts exhaled from an odorous body. As soon as I hear a sound, +the tympanum of my ear must be struck by the air put in motion by a +sonorous body, which could not act if it was not moved of itself. From +which it follows, evidently, that without motion I can neither feel, +see, distinguish, compare, nor judge the body, nor even occupy my +thought with any matter whatever. It is said in the schools, that the +essence of a being is that from which flow all the properties of that +being. Now then, it is evident that all the properties of bodies or of +substances of which we have ideas, are due to the motion which alone +informs us of their existence, and gives us the first conceptions of it. +I can not be informed or assured of my own existence but by the motions +which I experience within myself. I am compelled to conclude that motion +is as essential to matter as its extension, and that it can not be +conceived of without it. If one persists in caviling about the evidences +which prove to us that motion is an essential property of matter, he +must at least acknowledge that substances which seemed dead or deprived +of all energy, take motion of themselves as soon as they are brought +within the proper distance to act upon each other. Pyrophorus, when +enclosed in a bottle or deprived of contact with the air, can not take +fire by itself, but it burns as soon as exposed to the air. Flour and +water cause fermentation as soon as they are mixed. Thus dead substances +engender motion of themselves. Matter has then the power to move itself, +and nature, in order to act, does not need a motor whose essence would +hinder its activity. + + + + +XLII.--THE EXISTENCE OF MAN DOES NOT PROVE THAT OF GOD. + +Whence comes man? What is his origin? Is he the result of the fortuitous +meeting of atoms? Was the first man formed of the dust of the earth? I +do not know! Man appears to me to be a production of nature like all +others she embraces. I should be just as much embarrassed to tell you +whence came the first stones, the first trees, the first elephants, the +first ants, the first acorns, as to explain the origin of the human +species. Recognize, we are told, the hand of God, of an infinitely +intelligent and powerful workman, in a work so wonderful as the human +machine. I would admit without question that the human machine appears +to me surprising; but since man exists in nature, I do not believe it +right to say that his formation is beyond the forces of nature. I will +add, that I could conceive far less of the formation of the human +machine, when to explain it to me they tell me that a pure spirit, who +has neither eyes, nor feet, nor hands, nor head, nor lungs, nor mouth, +nor breath, has made man by taking a little dust and blowing upon it. +The savage inhabitants of Paraguay pretend to be descended from the +moon, and appear to us as simpletons; the theologians of Europe pretend +to be descended from a pure spirit. Is this pretension more sensible? + +Man is intelligent, hence it is concluded that he must be the work of an +intelligent being, and not of a nature devoid of intelligence. Although +nothing is more rare than to see man use this intelligence, of which he +appears so proud, I will admit that he is intelligent, that his +necessities develop in him this faculty, that the society of other men +contributes especially to cultivate it. But in the human machine and in +the intelligence with which it is endowed, I see nothing that shows in a +precise manner the infinite intelligence of the workman who has the +honor of making it. I see that this admirable machine is subject to +derangement; that at that time this wonderful intelligence is +disordered, and sometimes totally disappears; from this I conclude that +human intelligence depends upon a certain disposition of the material +organs of the body, and that, because man is an intelligent being, it is +not well to conclude that God must be an intelligent being, any more +than because man is material, we are compelled to conclude that God is +material. The intelligence of man no more proves the intelligence of God +than the malice of men proves the malice of this God, of whom they +pretend that man is the work. In whatever way theology is taken, God +will always be a cause contradicted by its effects, or of whom it is +impossible to judge by His works. We shall always see evil, +imperfections, and follies resulting from a cause claimed to be full of +goodness, of perfections, and of wisdom. + + + + +XLIII.--HOWEVER, NEITHER MAN NOR THE UNIVERSE IS THE EFFECT OF CHANCE. + +Then you will say that intelligent man and even the universe and all it +encloses, are the effects of chance. No, I answer, the universe is not +an effect; it is the cause of all effects; all the beings it embraces +are the necessary effects of this cause which sometimes shows to us its +manner of acting, out which often hides from us its way. Men may use the +word "chance" to cover their ignorance of the true causes; nevertheless, +although they may ignore them, these causes act, but by certain laws. +There is no effect without a cause. + +Nature is a word which we make use of to designate the immense +assemblage of beings, diverse substances, infinite combinations, and all +the various motions which we see. All bodies, whether organized or not +organized, are the necessary results of certain causes, made to produce +necessarily the effects which we see. Nothing in nature can be made by +chance; all follow fixed laws; these laws are but the necessary union of +certain effects with their causes. An atom of matter does not meet +another atom by accident or by hazard; this rencounter is due to +permanent laws, which cause each being to act by necessity as it does, +and can not act otherwise under the same circumstances. To speak about +the accidental coming together of atoms, or to attribute any effects to +chance, is to say nothing, if not to ignore the laws by which bodies +act, meet, combine, or separate. + +Everything is made by chance for those who do not understand nature, the +properties of beings, and the effects which must necessarily result from +the concurrence of certain causes. It is not chance that has placed the +sun in the center of our planetary system; it is by its very essence, +the substance of which it is composed, that it occupies this place, and +from thence diffuses itself to invigorate the beings who live in these +planets. + + + + +XLIV.--NEITHER DOES THE ORDER OF THE UNIVERSE PROVE THE EXISTENCE OF A +GOD. + +The worshipers of a God find, especially in the order of the universe, +an invincible proof of the existence of an intelligent and wise being +who rules it. But this order is only a result of motions necessarily +brought on by causes or by circumstances which are sometimes favorable +and sometimes injurious to ourselves; we approve the former and find +fault with the latter. + +Nature follows constantly the same progress; that is to say, the same +causes produce the same effects, as long as their action is not +interrupted by other causes which occasion the first ones to produce +different effects. When the causes, whose effects we feel, are +interrupted in their action by causes which, although unknown to us, are +no less natural and necessary, we are stupefied, we cry out miracles: +and we attribute them to a cause far less known than all those we see +operating before us. The universe is always in order; there can be no +disorder for it. Our organization alone is suffering if we complain +about disorder. Bodies, causes, beings, which this world embraces, act +necessarily in the manner in which we see them act, whether we approve +or disapprove their action. Earthquakes, volcanoes, inundations, +contagions, and famines are effects as necessary in the order of nature +as the fall of heavy bodies, as the course of rivers, as the periodical +movements of the seas, the blowing of the winds, the abundant rains, and +the favorable effects for which we praise and thank Providence for its +blessings. + +To be astonished that a certain order reigns in the world, is to be +surprised to see the same causes constantly producing the same effects. +To be shocked at seeing disorder, is to forget that the causes being +changed or disturbed in their action, the effects can no longer be the +same. To be astonished to see order in nature, is to be astonished that +anything can exist; it is to be surprised at one's own existence. What +is order for one being, is disorder for another. All wicked beings find +that everything is in order when they can with impunity put everything +into disorder; they find, on the contrary, that everything is in +disorder when they are prevented from exercising their wickedness. + + + + +XLV.--CONTINUATION. + +Supposing God to be the author and the motor of nature, there could be +no disorder relating to Him; all causes which He would have made would +necessarily act according to their properties the essences and the +impulsions that He had endowed them with. If God should change the +ordinary course of things, He would not be immutable. If the order of +the universe--in which we believe we see the most convincing proof of His +existence, of His intelligence, His power, and His goodness--should be +inconsistent, His existence might be doubted; or He might be accused at +least of inconstancy, of inability, of want of foresight, and of wisdom +in the first arrangement of things; we would have a right to accuse Him +of blundering in His choice of agents and instruments. Finally, if the +order of nature proves the power and the intelligence, disorder ought to +prove the weakness, inconstancy, and irrationality of Divinity. You say +that God is everywhere; that He fills all space; that nothing was made +without Him; that matter could not act without Him as its motor. But in +this case you admit that your God is the author of disorder; that it is +He who deranges nature; that He is the Father of confusion; that He is +in man; and that He moves man at the moment when he sins. If God is +everywhere, He is in me; He acts with me; He is deceived when I am +deceived; He questions with me the existence of God; He offends God with +me. Oh, theologians! you never understand yourselves when you speak of +God. + + + + +XLVI.--A PURE SPIRIT CAN NOT BE INTELLIGENT, AND TO ADORE A DIVINE +INTELLIGENCE IS A CHIMERA. + +To be what we call intelligent, we must have ideas, thoughts, will; to +have ideas, thoughts, and will, we must have organs; to have organs, we +must have a body; to act upon bodies, we must have a body; to experience +trouble, we must be capable of suffering; from which it evidently +follows that a pure spirit can not be intelligent, and can not be +affected by that which takes place in the universe. + +Divine intelligence, divine ideas, divine views, you say, have nothing +in common with those of men. So much the better! But in this case, how +can men judge of these views--whether good or evil--reason about these +ideas, or admire this intelligence? It would be to judge, to admire, to +adore that of which we can form no idea. To adore the profound views of +divine wisdom, is it not to worship that of which it is impossible for +us to judge? To admire these same views, is it not admiring without +knowing wry? Admiration is always the daughter of ignorance. Men admire +and worship only what they do not understand. + + + + +XLVII.--ALL THE QUALITIES WHICH THEOLOGY GIVES TO ITS GOD ARE CONTRARY TO +THE VERY ESSENCE WHICH IT SUPPOSES HIM TO HAVE. + +All these qualities which are given to God are not suited to a being +who, by His own essence, is devoid of all similarity to human beings. It +is true, they think to find this similarity by exaggerating the human +qualities with which they have clothed Divinity; they thrust them upon +the infinite, and from that moment cease to understand themselves. What +is the result of this combination of man with God, or of this +theanthropy? Its only result is a chimera, of which nothing can be +affirmed without causing the phantom to vanish which they had taken so +much trouble to conjure up. + +Dante, in his poem of Paradise, relates that the Divinity appeared to +him under the figure of three circles, which formed an iris, whose +bright colors arose from each other; but having wished to retain its +brilliant light, the poet saw only his own face. In worshiping God, man +adores himself. + + + + +XLVIII.--CONTINUATION. + +The slightest reflection suffices to prove to us that God can not have +any of the human qualities, virtues, or perfections. Our virtues and our +perfections are the results of our temperament modified. Has God a +temperament like ours? Our good qualities are our habits relative to the +beings in whose society we live. God, according to you, is a solitary +being. God has no one like Him; He does not live in society; He has no +need of any one; He enjoys a happiness which nothing can alter. Admit, +then, upon your own principles, that God can not possess what we call +virtues, and that man can not be virtuous in regard to Him. + + + + +XLIX.--IT IS ABSURD TO SAY THAT THE HUMAN RACE IS THE OBJECT AND THE END +OF CREATION. + +Man, charmed with his own merits, imagines that it is but his own kind +that God proposed as the object and the end in the formation of the +universe. Upon what is this so flattering opinion based? It is, we are +told, upon this: that man is the only being endowed with an intelligence +which enables him to know the Divine nature, and to render to it homage +worthy of it. We are assured that God created the world for His own +glory, and that the human race was included in His plan, in order that +He might have somebody to admire and glorify Him in His works. But by +these intentions has not God visibly missed His end? + +1. According to you, it would always be impossible for man to know his +God, and he would be kept in the most invincible ignorance of the Divine +essence. + +2. A being who has no equals, can not be susceptible of glory. Glory can +result but from the comparison of his own excellence with that of +others. + +3. If God by Himself is infinitely happy and is sufficient unto Himself, +why does He need the homage of His feeble creatures? + +4. In spite of all His works, God is not glorified; on the contrary, all +the religions of the world show Him to us as perpetually offended; their +great object is to reconcile sinful, ungrateful, and rebellious man with +his wrathful God. + + + + +L.--GOD IS NOT MADE FOR MAN, NOR MAN FOR GOD. + +If God is infinite, He is created still less for man, than man is for +the ants. Would the ants of a garden reason pertinently with reference +to the gardener, if they should attempt to occupy themselves with his +intentions, his desires, and his projects? Would they reason correctly +if they pretended that the park of Versailles was made but for them, and +that a fastidious monarch had had as his only object to lodge them +superbly? But according to theology, man in his relation to God is far +beneath what the lowest insect is to man. Thus by the acknowledgment of +theology itself, theology, which does but occupy itself with the +attributes and views of Divinity, is the most complete of follies. + + + + +LI.--IT IS NOT TRUE THAT THE OBJECT OF THE FORMATION OF THE UNIVERSE WAS +TO RENDER MEN HAPPY. + +It is pretended, that in forming the universe, God had no object but to +render man happy. But, in a world created expressly for him and governed +by an all-mighty God, is man after all very happy? Are his enjoyments +durable? Are not his pleasures mingled with sufferings? Are there many +people who are contented with their fate? Is not mankind the continual +victim of physical and moral evils? This human machine, which is shown +to us as the masterpiece of the Creator's industry, has it not a +thousand ways of deranging itself? Would we admire the skill of a +mechanic, who should show us a complicated machine, liable to be out of +order at any moment, and which would after a while destroy itself? + + + + +LII.--WHAT IS CALLED PROVIDENCE IS BUT A WORD VOID OF SENSE. + +We call Providence the generous care which Divinity shows in providing +for our needs, and in watching over the happiness of its beloved +creatures. But, as soon as we look around, we find that God provides for +nothing. Providence neglects the greatest part of the inhabitants of +this world. Against a very small number of men, who are supposed to be +happy, what a multitude of miserable ones are groaning beneath +oppression, and languishing in misery! Whole nations are compelled to +starve in order to indulge the extravagances of a few morose tyrants, +who are no happier than the slaves whom they oppress! At the same time +that our philosophers energetically parade the bounties of Providence, +and exhort us to place confidence in it, do we not see them cry out at +unforeseen catastrophes, by which Providence plays with the vain +projects of men; do we not see that it overthrows their designs, laughs +at their efforts, and that its profound wisdom pleases itself in +misleading mortals? But how can we place confidence in a malicious +Providence which laughs at and sports with mankind? How can I admire the +unknown course of a hidden wisdom whose manner of acting is inexplicable +to me? Judge it by its effects! you will say; it is by these I do judge +it, and I find that these effects are sometimes useful and sometimes +injurious to me. + +We think to justify Providence by saying, that in this world there are +more blessings than evil for each individual man. Let us suppose that +the blessings which this Providence makes us enjoy are as one hundred, +and that the evils are as ten per cent.; would it not always result that +against these hundred degrees of goodness, Providence possesses a tenth +degree of malignity?--which is incompatible with the perfection we +suppose it to have. + +All the books are filled with the most flattering praises of Providence, +whose attentive care is extolled; it would seem to us, as if in order to +live happy here below, man would have no need of exerting himself. +However, without labor, man could scarcely live a day. In order to live, +I see him obliged to sweat, work, hunt, fish, toil without relaxation; +without these secondary causes, the First Cause (at least in the +majority of countries) could provide for none of his needs. If I examine +all parts of this globe, I see the uncivilized as well as the civilized +man in a perpetual struggle with Providence; he is compelled to ward off +the blows which it sends in the form of hurricanes, tempests, frost, +hail, inundations, sterility, and the divers accidents which so often +render all their labors useless. In a word, I see the human race +continually occupied in protecting itself from the wicked tricks of this +Providence, which is said to be busy with the care of their happiness. A +devotee admired Divine Providence for having wisely made rivers to flow +through all the places where men had built large cities. Is not this +man's way of reasoning as sensible as that of many learned men who do +not cease from telling us of Final Causes, or who pretend to perceive +clearly the benevolent views of God in the formation of things? + + + + +LIII.--THIS PRETENDED PROVIDENCE IS LESS OCCUPIED IN CONSERVING THAN IN +DISTURBING THE WORLD--MORE AN ENEMY THAN A FRIEND OF MAN. + +Do we see, then, that Divine Providence manifests itself in a sensible +manner in the conservation of its admirable works, for which we honor +it? If it is Divine Providence which governs the world, we find it as +much occupied in destroying as in creating; in exterminating as in +producing. Does it not at every instant cause thousands of those same +men to perish, to whose preservation and well-being it is supposed to +give its continual attention? Every moment it loses sight of its beloved +creatures; sometimes it tears down their dwellings; sometimes it +destroys their harvests, inundates their fields, devastates by a +drought, arms all nature against man, sets man against man, and finishes +by causing him to expire in pain. Is this what you call preserving a +universe? If we attempted to consider without prejudice the equivocal +conduct of Providence relative to mankind and to all sentient beings, we +should find that very far from resembling a tender and careful mother, +it rather resembles those unnatural mothers who, forgetting the +unfortunate fruits of their illicit amours, abandon their children as +soon as they are born; and who, pleased to have conceived them, expose +them without mercy to the caprices of fate. + +The Hottentots--wiser in this particular than other nations, who treat +them as barbarians--refuse, it is said, to adore God, because if He +sometimes does good, He as often does harm. Is not this reasoning more +just and more conformed to experience than that of so many men who +persist in seeing in their God but kindness, wisdom, and foresight; and +who refuse to see that the countless evils, of which the world is the +theater, must come from the same Hand which they kiss with transport? + + + + +LIV.--NO! THE WORLD IS NOT GOVERNED BY AN INTELLIGENT BEING. + +The logic of common sense teaches us that we should judge a cause but by +its effects. A cause can not be reputed as constantly good, except when +it constantly produces good, useful, and agreeable effects. A cause +which produces good at one time, and evil at another, is a cause which +is sometimes good and sometimes bad. But the logic of Theology destroys +all this. According to it, the phenomena of nature, or the effects which +we see in this world, prove to us the existence of an infinitely good +Cause, and this Cause is God. Although this world is full of evils, +although disorder reigns here very often, although men groan every +moment under the fate which oppresses them, we ought to be convinced +that these effects are due to a benevolent and immutable Cause; and many +people believe it, or pretend to believe it! + +Everything which takes place in the world proves to us in the clearest +way that it is not governed by an intelligent being. We can judge of the +intelligence of a being but by the means which he employs to accomplish +his proposed design. The aim of God, it is said, is the happiness of our +race; however, the same necessity regulates the fate of all sentient +beings--which are born to suffer much, to enjoy little, and to die. Man's +cup is full of joy and of bitterness; everywhere good is side by side +with evil; order is replaced by disorder; generation is followed by +destruction. If you tell me that the designs of God are mysteries, and +that His views are impossible to understand, I will answer, that in this +case it is impossible for me to judge whether God is intelligent. + + + + +LV.--GOD CAN NOT BE CALLED IMMUTABLE. + +You pretend that God is immutable! But what is it that occasions the +continual instability in this world, which you claim as His empire? Is +any state subject to more frequent and cruel revolutions than that of +this unknown monarch? How can we attribute to an immutable God, powerful +enough to give solidity to His works, the government of a world where +everything is in a continual vicissitude? If I think to see a God +unchanging in all the effects advantageous to my kind, what God can I +discover in the continual misfortunes by which my kind is oppressed? You +tell me that it is our sins that force Him to punish us. I will answer +that God, according to yourselves, is not immutable, because the sins of +men compel Him to change His conduct in regard to them. Can a being who +is sometimes irritated, and sometimes appeased, be constantly the same? + + + + +LVI.--EVIL AND GOOD ARE THE NECESSARY EFFECTS OF NATURAL CAUSES. WHAT IS +A GOD WHO CAN CHANGE NOTHING? + +The universe is but what it can be; all sentient beings enjoy and suffer +here: that is to say, they are moved sometimes in an agreeable, and at +other times in a disagreeable way. These effects are necessary; they +result from causes that act according to their inherent tendencies., +These effects necessarily please or displease me, according to my own +nature. This same nature compels me to avoid, to remove, and to combat +the one, and to seek, to desire, and to procure the other. In a world +where everything is from necessity, a God who remedies nothing, and +allows things to follow their own course, is He anything else but +destiny or necessity personified? It is a deaf God who can effect no +change on the general laws to which He is subjected Himself. What do I +care for the infinite power of a being who can do but a very few things +to please me? Where is the infinite kindness of a being who is +indifferent to my happiness? What good to me is the favor of a being +who, able to bestow upon me infinite good, does not even give me a +finite one? + + + + +LVII.--THE VANITY OF THEOLOGICAL CONSOLATIONS +IN THE TROUBLES OF THIS LIFE. THE HOPE OF A HEAVEN, OF A FUTURE LIFE, +IS BUT IMAGINARY. + +When we ask why, under a good God, so many are wretched, we are reminded +that the present world is but a pass-way, designed to conduct man to a +happier sphere; we are assured that our sojourn on the earth, where we +live, is for trial; they silence us by saying that God would not impart +to His creatures either the indifference to the sufferings of others, or +the infinite happiness which He reserved for Himself alone. How can we +be satisfied with these answers? + +1. The existence of another life has no other guaranty than the +imagination of men, who, in supposing it, have but manifested their +desire to live again, in order to enter upon a purer and more durable +state of happiness than that which they enjoy at present. + +2. How can we conceive of a God who, knowing all things, must know to +their depths the nature of His creatures, and yet must have so many +proofs in order to assure Himself of their proclivities? + +3. According to the calculations of our chronologists, the earth which +we inhabit has existed for six or seven thousand years; during this time +the nations have, under different forms, experienced many vicissitudes +and calamities; history shows us that the human race in all ages has +been tormented and devastated by tyrants, conquerors, heroes; by wars, +inundations, famines, epidemics, etc. Is this long catalogue of proofs +of such a nature as to inspire us with great confidence in the hidden +views of the Divinity? Do such constant evils give us an exalted idea of +the future fate which His kindness is preparing for us? + +4. If God is as well-disposed as they assure us He is, could He not at +least, without bestowing an infinite happiness upon men, communicate to +them that degree of happiness of which finite beings are susceptible? In +order to be happy, do we need an Infinite or Divine happiness? + +5. If God has not been able to render men happier than they are here +below, what will become of the hope of a Paradise, where it is pretended +that the elect or chosen few will rejoice forever in ineffable +happiness? If God could not or would not remove evil from the earth (the +only sojourning place we know of), what reason could we have to presume +that He can or will remove it from another world, of which we know +nothing? More than two thousand years ago, according to Lactance, the +wise epicure said: "Either God wants to prevent evil, and can not, or He +can and will not; or He neither can nor will, or He will and can. If He +wants to, without the power, He is impotent; if He can, and will not, He +is guilty of malice which we can not attribute to Him; if He neither can +nor will, He is both impotent and wicked, and consequently can not be +God; if He wishes to and can, whence then comes evil, or why does He not +prevent it?" For more than two thousand years honest minds have waited +for a rational solution of these difficulties; and our theologians teach +us that they will not be revealed to us until the future life. + + + + +LVIII.--ANOTHER IDLE FANCY. + +We are told of a pretended scale for human beings; it is supposed that +God has divided His creatures into different classes, each one enjoying +the degree of happiness of which he is susceptible. According to this +romantic arrangement, all beings, from the oyster to the angel, enjoy +the happiness which belongs to them. Experience contradicts this sublime +revery. In the world where we are, we see all sentient beings living and +suffering in the midst of dangers. Man can not step without wounding, +tormenting, crushing a multitude of sentient beings which he finds in +his path, while he himself, at every step, is exposed to a throng of +evils seen or unseen, which may lead to his destruction. Is not the very +thought of death sufficient to mar his greatest enjoyment? During the +whole course of his life he is subject to sufferings; there is not a +moment when he feels sure of preserving his existence, to which he is so +strongly attached, and which he regards as the greatest gift of +Divinity. + + + + +LIX.--IN VAIN DOES THEOLOGY EXERT ITSELF TO ACQUIT GOD OF MAN'S DEFECTS. +EITHER THIS GOD IS NOT FREE, OR HE IS MORE WICKED THAN GOOD. + +The world, it will be said, has all the perfection of which it was +susceptible; by the very reason that the world was not the God who made +it, it was necessary that it should have great qualities and great +defects. But we will answer, that the world necessarily having great +defects, it would have been better suited to the nature of a good God +not to create a world which He could not render completely happy. If +God, who was, according to you, supremely happy before the world was +created, had continued to be supremely happy in the created world, why +did He not remain in peace? Why must man suffer? Why must man exist What +is his existence to God? Nothing or something. If his existence is not +useful or necessary to God, why did He not leave him in nothingness? If +man's existence is necessary to His glory, He then needed man, He lacked +something before this man existed! + +We can forgive an unskillful workman for doing imperfect work, because +he must work, well or ill, or starve; this workman is excusable; but +your God is not. According to you, He is self-sufficient; in this case, +why does He create men? He has, according to you, all that is necessary +to render man happy; why, then, does He not do it? You must conclude +that your God has more malice than goodness, or you must admit that God +was compelled to do what He has done, without being able to do +otherwise. However, you assure us that your God is free; you say also +that He is immutable, although beginning in time and ceasing in time to +exercise His power, like all the inconstant beings of this world. Oh, +theologians! you have made vain efforts to acquit your God of all the +defects of man; there is always visible in this God so perfect, "a tip +of the [human] ear." + + + + +LX.--WE CAN NOT BELIEVE IN A DIVINE PROVIDENCE, IN AN INFINITELY GOOD AND +POWERFUL GOD. + +Is not God the master of His favors? Has He not the right to dispense +His benefits? Can He not take them back again? His creature has no right +to ask the reason of His conduct; He can dispose at will of the works of +His hands. Absolute sovereign of mortals, He distributes happiness or +unhappiness, according to His pleasure. These are the solutions which +theologians give in order to console us for the evils which God inflicts +upon us. We would tell them that a God who was infinitely good, would +not be the master of His favors, but would be by His own nature obliged +to distribute them among His creatures; we would tell them that a truly +benevolent being would not believe he had the right to abstain from +doing good; we would tell them that a truly generous being does not take +back what he has given, and any man who does it, forfeits gratitude, and +has no right to complain of ingratitude. How can the arbitrary and +whimsical conduct which theologians ascribe to God, be reconciled with +the religion which supposes a compact or mutual agreement between this +God and men? If God owes nothing to His creatures, they, on their part, +can not owe anything to their God. All religion is founded upon the +happiness which men believe they have a right to expect from the +Divinity, who is supposed to tell them: "Love, adore, obey me, and I +will render you happy!" Men on their side say to Him: "Make us happy, be +faithful to your promises, and we will love you, we will adore you, we +will obey your laws!" In neglecting the happiness of His creatures, in +distributing His favors and His graces according to His caprice, and +taking back His gifts, does not God violate the contract which serves as +a base for all religion? + +Cicero has said with reason that if God does not make Himself agreeable +to man, He can not be his God. [Nisi Deus homini placuerit, Deus non +erit.] Goodness constitutes Divinity; this Goodness can manifest itself +to man only by the advantages he derives from it. As soon as he is +unfortunate, this Goodness disappears and ceases to be Divinity. An +infinite Goodness can be neither partial nor exclusive. If God is +infinitely good, He owes happiness to all His creatures; one unfortunate +being alone would be sufficient to annihilate an unlimited goodness. +Under an infinitely good and powerful God, is it possible to conceive +that a single man could suffer? An animal, a mite, which suffers, +furnishes invincible arguments against Divine Providence and its +infinite benefactions. + + + + +LXI.--CONTINUATION. + +According to theologians, the afflictions and evils of this life are +chastisements which culpable men receive from Divinity. But why are men +culpable? If God is Almighty, does it cost Him any more to say, "Let +everything remain in order!"--"let all my subjects be good, innocent, +fortunate!"--than to say, "Let everything exist?" Was it more difficult +for this God to do His work well than to do it so badly? Was it any +farther from the nonexistence of beings to their wise and happy +existence, than from their non-existence to their insensate and +miserable existence? Religion speaks to us of a hell--that is, of a +fearful place where, notwithstanding His goodness, God reserves eternal +torments for the majority of men. Thus, after having rendered mortals +very miserable in this world, religion teaches them that God can make +them much more wretched in another. They meet our objections by saying, +that otherwise the goodness of God would take the place of His justice. +But goodness which takes the place of the most terrible cruelty, is not +infinite kindness. Besides, a God who, after having been infinitely +good, becomes infinitely wicked, can He be regarded as an immutable +being? A God filled with implacable fury, is He a God in whom we can +find a shadow of charity or goodness? + + + + +LXII.--THEOLOGY MAKES OF ITS GOD A MONSTER OF NONSENSE, OF INJUSTICE, OF +MALICE, AND ATROCITY--A BEING ABSOLUTELY HATEFUL. + +Divine justice, such as our theologians paint it, is, without doubt, a +quality intended to make us love Divinity. According to the notions of +modern theology, it appears evident that God has created the majority of +men with the view only of punishing them eternally. Would it not have +been more in conformity with kindness, with reason, with equity, to +create but stones or plants, and not sentient beings, than to create men +whose conduct in this world would cause them eternal chastisements in +another? A God so perfidious and wicked as to create a single man and +leave him exposed to the perils of damnation, can not be regarded as a +perfect being, but as a monster of nonsense, injustice, malice, and +atrocity. Far from forming a perfect God, the theologians have made the +most imperfect of beings. According to theological ideas, God resembles +a tyrant who, having deprived the majority of his slaves of their +eyesight, would confine them in a cell where, in order to amuse himself +he could observe incognito their conduct through a trap-door, in order +to have occasion to cruelly punish all those who in walking should hurt +each other; but who would reward splendidly the small number of those to +whom the sight was spared, for having the skill to avoid an encounter +with their comrades. Such are the ideas which the dogma of gratuitous +predestination gives of Divinity! + +Although men repeat to us that their God is infinitely good, it is +evident that in the bottom of their hearts they can believe nothing of +it. How can we love anything we do not know? How can we love a being, +the idea of whom is but liable to keep us in anxiety and trouble? How +can we love a being of whom all that is told conspires to render him +supremely hateful? + + + + +LXIII.--ALL RELIGION INSPIRES BUT A COWARDLY AND INORDINATE FEAR OF THE +DIVINITY. + +Many people make a subtle distinction between true religion and +superstition; they tell us that the latter is but a cowardly and +inordinate fear of Divinity, that the truly religious man has confidence +in his God, and loves Him sincerely; while the superstitious man sees in +Him but an enemy, has no confidence in Him, and represents Him as a +suspicious and cruel tyrant, avaricious of His benefactions and prodigal +of His chastisements. But does not all religion in reality give us these +same ideas of God? While we are told that God is infinitely good, is it +not constantly repeated to us that He is very easily offended, that He +bestows His favors but upon a few, that He chastises with fury those to +whom He has not been pleased to grant them? + + + + +LXIV.--THERE IS IN REALITY NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN RELIGION AND THE MOST +SOMBRE AND SERVILE SUPERSTITION. + +If we take our ideas of God from the nature of the things where we find +a mixture of good and evil, this God, according to the good and evil +which we experience, does naturally appear to us capricious, inconstant, +sometimes good, sometimes wicked, and in this way, instead of exciting +our love, He must produce suspicion, fear, and uncertainty in our +hearts. There is no real difference between natural religion and the +most sombre and servile superstition. If the Theist sees God but on the +beautiful side, the superstitious man looks upon Him from the most +hideous side. The folly of the one is gay of the other is lugubrious; +but both are equally delirious. + + + + +LXV.--ACCORDING TO THE IDEAS WHICH THEOLOGY GIVES OF DIVINITY, TO LOVE +GOD IS IMPOSSIBLE. + +If I take my ideas of God from theology, God shows Himself to me in such +a light as to repel love. The devotees who tell us that they love their +God sincerely, are either liars or fools who see their God but in +profile; it is impossible to love a being, the thought of whom tends to +excite terror, and whose judgments make us tremble. How can we face +without fear, a God whom we suppose sufficiently barbarous to wish to +damn us forever? Let them not speak to us of a filial or respectful fear +mingled with love, which men should have for their God. A son can not +love his father when he knows he is cruel enough to inflict exquisite +torments upon him; in short, to punish him for the least faults. No man +upon earth can have the least spark of love for a God who holds in +reserve eternal, hard, and violent chastisements for ninety-nine +hundredths of His children. + + + + +LXVI.--BY THE INVENTION OF THE DOGMA OF THE ETERNAL TORMENTS OF HELL, +THEOLOGIANS HAVE MADE OF THEIR GOD A DETESTABLE BEING, MORE WICKED THAN +THE MOST WICKED OF MEN, A PERVERSE AND CRUEL TYRANT WITHOUT AIM. + +The inventors of the dogma of eternal torments in hell, have made of the +God whom they call so good, the most detestable of beings. Cruelty in +man is the last term of corruption. There is no sensitive soul but is +moved and revolts at the recital alone of the torments which the +greatest criminal endures; but cruelty merits the greater indignation +when we consider it gratuitous or without motive. The most sanguinary +tyrants, Caligula, Nero, Domitian, had at least some motive in +tormenting their victims and insulting their sufferings; these motives +were, either their own safety, the fury of revenge, the design to +frighten by terrible examples, or perhaps the vanity to make parade of +their power, and the desire to satisfy a barbarous curiosity. Can a God +have any of these motives? In tormenting the victims of His wrath, He +would punish beings who could not really endanger His immovable power, +nor trouble His felicity, which nothing can change. On the other hand, +the sufferings of the other life would be useless to the living, who can +not witness them; these torments would be useless to the damned, because +in hell is no more conversion, and the hour of mercy is passed; from +which it follows, that God, in the exercise of His eternal vengeance, +would have no other aim than to amuse Himself and insult the weakness of +His creatures. I appeal to the whole human race! Is there in nature a +man so cruel as to wish in cold blood to torment, I do not say his +fellow-beings, but any sentient being whatever, without fee, without +profit, without curiosity, without having anything to fear? Conclude, +then, O theologians! that according to your own principles, your God is +infinitely more wicked than the most wicked of men. You will tell me, +perhaps, that infinite offenses deserve infinite chastisements, and I +will tell you that we can not offend a God whose happiness is infinite. +I will tell you further, that offenses of finite beings can not be +infinite; that a God who does not want to be offended, can not consent +to make His creatures' offenses last for eternity; I will tell you that +a God infinitely good, can not be infinitely cruel, nor grant His +creatures infinite existence solely for the pleasure of tormenting them +forever. + +It could have been but the most cruel barbarity, the most notorious +imposition, but the blindest ambition which could have created the dogma +of eternal damnation. If there exists a God who could be offended or +blasphemed, there would not be upon earth any greater blasphemers than +those who dare to say that this God is perverse enough to take pleasure +in dooming His feeble creatures to useless torments for all eternity. + + + + +LXVII.--THEOLOGY IS BUT A SERIES OF PALPABLE CONTRADICTIONS. + +To pretend that God can be offended with the actions of men, is to +annihilate all the ideas that are given to us of this being. To say that +man can disturb the order of the universe, that he can grasp the +lightning from God's hand, that he can upset His projects, is to claim +that man is stronger than his God, that he is the arbiter of His will, +that it depends on him to change His goodness into cruelty. Theology +does nothing but destroy with one hand that which it builds with the +other. If all religion is founded upon a God who becomes angry, and who +is appeased, all religion is founded upon a palpable contradiction. + +All religions agree in exalting the wisdom and the infinite power of the +Divinity; but as soon as they expose His conduct, we discover but +imprudence, want of foresight, weakness, and folly. God, it is said, +created the world for Himself; and so far He has not succeeded in making +Himself properly respected! God has created men in order to have in His +dominion subjects who would render Him homage; and we continually see +men revolt against Him! + + + + +LXVIII.--THE PRETENDED WORKS OF GOD DO NOT PROVE AT ALL WHAT WE CALL +DIVINE PERFECTION. + +We are continually told of the Divine perfections; and as soon as we ask +the proofs of them, we are shown the works in which we are assured that +these perfections are written in ineffaceable characters. All these +works, however, are imperfect and perishable; man, who is regarded as +the masterpiece, as the most marvelous work of Divinity, is full of +imperfections which render him disagreeable in the eyes of the Almighty +workman who has formed him; this surprising work becomes often so +revolting and so odious to its Author, that He feels Himself compelled +to cast him into the fire. But if the choicest work of Divinity is +imperfect, by what are we to judge of the Divine perfections? Can a work +with which the author himself is so little satisfied, cause us to admire +his skill? Physical man is subject to a thousand infirmities, to +countless evils, to death; the moral man is full of defects; and yet +they exhaust themselves by telling us that he is the most beautiful work +of the most perfect of beings. + + + + +LXIX.--THE PERFECTION OF GOD DOES NOT SHOW TO ANY MORE ADVANTAGE IN THE +PRETENDED CREATION OF ANGELS AND PURE SPIRITS. + +It appears that God, in creating more perfect beings than men, did not +succeed any better, or give stronger proofs of His perfection. Do we not +see in many religions that angels and pure spirits revolted against +their Master, and even attempted to expel Him from His throne? God +intended the happiness of angels and of men, and He has never succeeded +in rendering happy either angels or men; pride, malice, sins, the +imperfections of His creatures, have always been opposed to the wishes +of the perfect Creator. + + + + +LXX.--THEOLOGY PREACHES THE OMNIPOTENCE OF ITS GOD, AND CONTINUALLY SHOWS +HIM IMPOTENT. + +All religion is visibly founded upon the principle that "God proposes +and man disposes." All the theologies of the world show us an unequal +combat between Divinity on the one side, and His creatures on the other. +God never relies on His honor; in spite of His almighty power, He could +not succeed in making the works of His hands as He would like them to +be. To complete the absurdity, there is a religion which pretends that +God Himself died to redeem the human race; and, in spite of His death, +men are not in the least as this God would desire them to be! + + + + +LXXI.--ACCORDING TO ALL THE RELIGIOUS SYSTEMS OF THE EARTH, GOD WOULD BE +THE MOST CAPRICIOUS AND THE MOST INSENSATE OF BEINGS. + +Nothing could be more extravagant than the role which in every country +theology makes Divinity play. If the thing was real, we would be obliged +to see in it the most capricious and the most insane of beings; one +would be obliged to believe that God made the world to be the theater of +dishonoring wars with His creatures; that He created angels, men, +demons, wicked spirits, but as adversaries, against whom He could +exercise His power. He gives them liberty to offend Him, makes them +wicked enough to upset His projects, obstinate enough to never give up: +all for the pleasure of getting angry, and being appeased, of +reconciling Himself, and of repairing the confusion they have made. Had +Divinity formed at once His creatures such as they ought to be in order +to please Him, what trouble He might have spared Himself! or, at least, +how much embarrassment He might have saved to His theologians! According +to all the religious systems of the earth, God seems to be occupied but +in doing Himself injury; He does it as those charlatans do who wound +themselves, in order to have occasion to show the public the value of +their ointments. We do not see, however, that so far Divinity has been +able to radically cure itself of the evil which is caused by men. + + + + +LXXII.--IT IS ABSURD TO SAY THAT EVIL DOES NOT COME FROM GOD. + +God is the author of all; still we are assured that evil does not come +from God. Whence, then, does it come? From men? But who has made men? It +is God: then that evil comes from God. If He had not made men as they +are, moral evil or sin would not exist in the world. We must blame God, +then, that man is so perverse. If man has the power to do wrong or to +offend God, we must conclude that God wishes to be offended; that God, +who has created man, resolved that evil should be done by him: without +this, man would be an effect contrary to the cause from which he derives +his being. + + + + +LXXIII.--THE FORESIGHT ATTRIBUTED TO GOD, WOULD GIVE TO GUILTY MEN WHOM +HE PUNISHES, THE RIGHT TO COMPLAIN OF HIS CRUELTY. + +The faculty of foresight, or the ability to know in advance all which is +to happen in the world, is attributed to God. But this foresight can +scarcely belong to His glory, nor spare Him the reproaches which men +could legitimately heap upon Him. If God had the foresight of the +future, did He not foresee the fall of His creatures whom He had +destined to happiness? If He resolved in His decrees to allow this fall, +there is no doubt that He desired it to take place: otherwise it would +not have happened. If the Divine foresight of the sin of His creatures +had been necessary or forced, it might be supposed that God was +compelled by His justice to punish the guilty; but God, enjoying the +faculty of foresight and the power to predestinate everything, would it +not depend upon Himself not to impose upon men these cruel laws? Or, at +least, could He not have dispensed with creating beings whom He might be +compelled to punish and to render unhappy by a subsequent decree? What +does it matter whether God destined men to happiness or to misery by a +previous decree, the effect of His foresight, or by a subsequent decree, +the effect of His justice. Does the arrangement of these decrees change +the fate of the miserable? Would they not have the right to complain of +a God who, having the power of leaving them in oblivion, brought them +forth, although He foresaw very well that His justice would force Him +sooner or later to punish them? + + + + +LXXIV.--ABSURDITY OF THE THEOLOGICAL FABLES UPON ORIGINAL SIN AND UPON +SATAN. + +Man, say you, issuing from the hands of God, was pure, innocent, and +good; but his nature became corrupted in consequence of sin. If man +could sin, when just leaving the hands of God, his nature was then not +perfect! Why did God permit him to sin, and his nature to become +corrupt? Why did God allow him to be seduced, knowing well that he would +be too weak to resist the tempter? Why did God create a Satan, a +malicious spirit, a tempter? Why did not God, who was so desirous of +doing good to mankind, why did He not annihilate, once for all, so many +evil genii whose nature rendered them enemies of our happiness? Or +rather, why did God create evil spirits, whose victories and terrible +influences upon the human race He must have foreseen? Finally, by what +fatality, in all the religions of the world, has the evil principle such +a marked advantage over the good principle or over Divinity? + + + + +LXXV.--THE DEVIL, LIKE RELIGION, WAS INVENTED TO ENRICH THE PRIESTS. + +We are told a story of the simple-heartedness of an Italian monk, which +does him honor. This good man preaching one day felt obliged to announce +to his auditory that, thanks to Heaven, he had at last discovered a sure +means of rendering all men happy. "The devil," said he, "tempts men but +to have them as comrades of his misery in hell. Let us address +ourselves, then, to the Pope, who possesses the keys of paradise and of +hell; let us ask him to beseech God, at the head of the whole Church, to +reconcile Himself with the devil; to take him back into His favor; to +re-establish him in His first rank. This can not fail to put an end to +his sinister projects against mankind." The good monk did not see, +perhaps, that the devil is at least fully as useful as God to the +ministers of religion. These reap too many benefits from their +differences to lend themselves willingly to a reconciliation between the +two enemies ties, upon whose contests their existence and their revenues +depend. If men would cease to be tempted and to sin, the ministry of +priests would become useless to them. Manicheism is evidently the +support of all religions; but unfortunately the devil, being invented to +remove all suspicion of malice from Divinity, proves to us at every +moment the powerlessness or the awkwardness of his celestial Adversary. + + + + +LXXVI.--IF GOD COULD NOT RENDER HUMAN NATURE SINLESS, HE HAS NO RIGHT TO +PUNISH MAN. + +Man's nature, it is said, must necessarily become corrupt. God could not +endow him with sinlessness, which is an inalienable portion of Divine +perfection. But if God could not render him sinless, why did He take the +trouble of creating man, whose nature was to become corrupt, and which, +consequently, had to offend God? On the other side, if God Himself was +not able to render human nature sinless, what right had He to punish men +for not being sinless? It is but by the right of might. But the right of +the strongest is violence; and violence is not suited to the most Just +of Beings. God would be supremely unjust if He punished men for not +having a portion of the Divine perfections, or for not being able to be +Gods like Himself. + +Could not God have at least endowed men with that sort of perfection of +which their nature is susceptible? If some men are good or render +themselves agreeable to their God, why did not this God bestow the same +favor or give the same dispositions to all beings of our kind? Why does +the number of wicked exceed so greatly the number of good people? Why, +for every friend, does God find ten thousand enemies in a world which +depended upon Him alone to people with honest men? If it is true that +God intends to form in heaven a court of saints, of chosen ones, or of +men who have lived in this world according to His views, would He not +have had a court more numerous, more brilliant, and more honorable to +Him, if it were composed of all the men to whom, in creating them, He +could have granted the degree of goodness necessary to obtain eternal +happiness? Finally, were it not easier not to take man from nothingness +than to create him full of defects, rebellious to his Creator, +perpetually exposed to lose himself by a fatal abuse of his liberty? +Instead of creating men, a perfect God ought to have created only docile +and submissive angels. The angels, it is said, are free; a few among +them have sinned; but all of them have not sinned; all have not abused +their liberty by revolting against their Master. Could not God have +created only angels of the good kind? If God could create angels who +have not sinned, could He not create men sinless, or those who would +never abuse their liberty by doing evil. If the chosen ones are +incapable of sinning in heaven, could not God have made sinless men upon +the earth? + + + + +LXXVII.--IT IS ABSURD TO SAY THAT GOD'S CONDUCT MUST BE A MYSTERY TO MAN, +AND THAT HE HAS NO RIGHT TO EXAMINE AND JUDGE IT. + +We are told that the enormous distance which separates God from men, +makes God's conduct necessarily a mystery for us, and that we have no +right to interrogate our Master. Is this statement satisfactory? But +according to you, when my eternal happiness is involved, have I not the +right to examine God's own conduct? It is but with the hope of happiness +that men submit to the empire of a God. A despot to whom men are +subjected but through fear, a master whom they can not interrogate, a +totally inaccessible sovereign, can not merit the homage of intelligent +beings. If God's conduct is a mystery to me, it is not made for me. Man +can not adore, admire, respect, or imitate a conduct of which everything +is impossible to conceive, or of which he can not form any but revolting +ideas; unless it is pretended that he should worship all the things of +which he is forced to be ignorant, and then all that he does not +understand becomes admirable. + +Priests! you teach us that the designs of God are impenetrable; that His +ways are not our ways; that His thoughts are not our thoughts; that it +is folly to complain of His administration, whose motives and secret +ways are entirely unknown to us; that there is temerity in accusing Him +of unjust judgments, because they are incomprehensible to us. But do you +not see that by speaking in this manner, you destroy with your own hands +all your profound systems which have no design but to explain the ways +of Divinity that you call impenetrable? These judgments, these ways, and +these designs, have you penetrated them? You dare not say so; and, +although you season incessantly, you do not understand them more than we +do. If by chance you know the plan of God, which you tell us to admire, +while there are many people who find it so little worthy of a just, +good, intelligent, and rational being; do not say that this plan is +impenetrable. If you are as ignorant as we, have some indulgence for +those who ingenuously confess that they comprehend nothing of it, or +that they see nothing in it Divine. Cease to persecute for opinions +which you do not understand yourselves; cease to slander each other for +dreams and conjectures which are altogether contradictory; speak to us +of intelligible and truly useful things; and no longer tell us of the +impenetrable ways of a God, about which you do nothing but stammer and +contradict yourselves. + +In speaking to us incessantly of the immense depths of Divine wisdom, in +forbidding us to fathom these depths by telling us that it is insolence +to call God to the tribunal of our humble reason, in making it a crime +to judge our Master, the theologians only confess the embarrassment in +which they find themselves as soon as they have to render account of the +conduct of a God, which they tell us is marvelous, only because it is +totally impossible for them to understand it themselves. + + + + +LXXVIII.--IT IS ABSURD TO CALL HIM A GOD OF JUSTICE AND GOODNESS, WHO +INFLICTS EVIL INDISCRIMINATELY ON THE GOOD AND THE WICKED, UPON THE +INNOCENT AND THE GUILTY; IT IS IDLE TO DEMAND THAT THE UNFORTUNATE +SHOULD CONSOLE THEMSELVES FOR THEIR MISFORTUNES, IN THE VERY ARMS OF THE +ONE WHO ALONE IS THE AUTHOR OF THEM. + +Physical evil commonly passes as the punishment of sin. Calamities, +diseases, famines, wars, earthquakes, are the means which God employs to +chastise perverse men. Therefore, they have no difficulty in attributing +these evils to the severity of a just and good God. However, do we not +see these plagues fall indiscriminately upon the good and the wicked, +upon the impious and the pious, upon the innocent and the guilty? How +can we be made to admire, in this proceeding, the justice and the +goodness of a being, the idea of whom appears so consoling to the +unfortunate? Doubtless the brain of these unfortunate ones has been +disturbed by their misfortunes, since they forget that God is the +arbiter of things, the sole dispenser of the events of this world. In +this case ought they not to blame Him for the evils for which they would +find consolation in His arms? Unfortunate father! you console yourself +in the bosom of Providence for the loss of a cherished child or of a +wife, who made your happiness! Alas! do you not see that your God has +killed them? Your God has rendered you miserable; and you want Him to +console you for the fearful blows He has inflicted upon you. + +The fantastic and supernatural notions of theology have succeeded so +thoroughly in overcoming the simplest, the clearest, the most natural +ideas of the human spirit, that the pious, incapable of accusing God of +malice, accustom themselves to look upon these sad afflictions as +indubitable proofs of celestial goodness. Are they in affliction, they +are told to believe that God loves them, that God visits them, that God +wishes to try them. Thus it is that religion changes evil into good! +Some one has said profanely, but with reason: "If the good God treats +thus those whom He loves, I beseech Him very earnestly not to think of +me." Men must have formed very sinister and very cruel ideas of their +God whom they call so good, in order to persuade themselves that the +most frightful calamities and the most painful afflictions are signs of +His favor! Would a wicked Genii or a Devil be more ingenious in +tormenting his enemies, than sometimes is this God of goodness, who is +so often occupied with inflicting His chastisements upon His dearest +friends? + + + + +LXXIX.--A GOD WHO PUNISHES THE FAULTS WHICH HE COULD HAVE PREVENTED, IS A +FOOL, WHO ADDS INJUSTICE TO FOOLISHNESS. + +What would we say or a father who, we are assured, watches without +relaxation over the welfare of his feeble and unforeseeing children, and +who, however, would leave them at liberty to go astray in the midst of +rocks, precipices, and waters; who would prevent them but rarely from +following their disordered appetites; who would permit them to handle, +without precaution, deadly arms, at the risk of wounding themselves +severely? What would we think of this same father, if, instead of +blaming himself for the harm which would have happened to his poor +children, he should punish them for their faults in the most cruel way? +We would say, with reason, that this father is a fool, who joins +injustice to foolishness. A God who punishes the faults which He could +have prevented, is a being who lacks wisdom, goodness, and equity. A God +of foresight would prevent evil, and in this way would be saved the +trouble of punishing it. A good God would not punish weaknesses which He +knows to be inherent in human nature. A just God, if He has made man, +would not punish him for not being strong enough to resist his desires. +To punish weakness, is the most unjust tyranny. Is it not calumniating a +just God, to say that He punishes men for their faults, even in the +present life? How would He punish beings whom He alone could correct, +and who, as long as they had not received grace, can not act otherwise +than they do? + +According to the principles of theologians themselves, man, in his +actual state of corruption, can do nothing but evil, for without Divine +grace he has not the strength to do good. Moreover, if man's nature, +abandoned to itself, of destitute of Divine help, inclines him +necessarily to evil, or renders him incapable of doing good, what +becomes of his free will? According to such principles, man can merit +neither reward nor punishment; in rewarding man for the good he does, +God would but recompense Himself; in punishing man for the evil he does, +God punishes him for not having been given the grace, without which it +was impossible for him to do better. + + + + +LXXX.--FREE WILL IS AN IDLE FANCY. + +Theologians tell and repeat to us that man is free, while all their +teachings conspire to destroy his liberty. Trying to justify Divinity, +they accuse him really of the blackest injustice. They suppose that, +without grace, man is compelled to do evil: and they maintain that God +will punish him for not having been given the grace to do good! With a +little reflection, we will be obliged to see that man in all things acts +by compulsion, and that his free will is a chimera, even according to +the theological system. Does it depend upon man whether or not he shall +be born of such or such parents? Does it depend upon man to accept or +not to accept the opinions of his parents and of his teachers? If I were +born of idolatrous or Mohammedan parents, would it have depended upon me +to become a Christian? However, grave Doctors of Divinity assure us that +a just God will damn without mercy all those to whom He has not given +the grace to know the religion of the Christians. + +Man's birth does not depend upon his choice; he was not asked if he +would or would not come into the world; nature did not consult him upon +the country and the parents that she gave him; the ideas he acquired, +his opinions, his true or false notions are the necessary fruits of the +education which he has received, and of which he has not been the +master; his passions and his desires are the necessary results of the +temperament which nature has given him, and of the ideas with which he +has been inspired; during the whole course of his life, his wishes and +his actions are determined by his surroundings, his habits, his +occupations, his pleasures, his conversations, and by the thoughts which +present themselves involuntarily to him; in short, by a multitude of +events and accidents which are beyond his control. Incapable of +foreseeing the future, he knows neither what he will wish, nor what he +will do in the time which must immediately follow the present. Man +passes his life, from the moment of his birth to that of his death, +without having been free one instant. Man, you say, wishes, deliberates, +chooses, determines; hence you conclude that his actions are free. It is +true that man intends, but he is not master of his will or of his +desires. He can desire and wish only what he judges advantageous for +himself; he can not love pain nor detest pleasure. Man, it will be said, +sometimes prefers pain to pleasure; but then, he prefers a passing pain +in the hope of procuring a greater and more durable pleasure. In this +case, the idea of a greater good determines him to deprive himself of +one less desirable. + +It is not the lover who gives to his mistress the features by which he +is enchanted; he is not then the master to love or not to love the +object of his tenderness; he is not the master of the imagination or the +temperament which dominates him; from which it follows, evidently, that +man is not the master of the wishes and desires which rise in his soul, +independently of him. But man, say you, can resist his desires; then he +is free. Man resists his desires when the motives which turn him from an +object are stronger than those which draw him toward it; but then, his +resistance is necessary. A man who fears dishonor and punishment more +than he loves money, resists necessarily the desire to take possession +of another's money. Are we not free when we deliberate?--but has one the +power to know or not to know, to be uncertain or to be assured? +Deliberation is the necessary effect of the uncertainty in which we find +ourselves with reference to the results of our actions. As soon as we +believe ourselves certain of these results, we necessarily decide; and +then we act necessarily according as we shall have judged right or +wrong. Our judgments, true or false, are not free; they are necessarily +determined by ideas which we have received, or which our mind has +formed. Man is not free in his choice; he is evidently compelled to +choose what he judges the most useful or the most agreeable for himself. +When he suspends his choice, he is not more free; he is forced to +suspend it till he knows or believes he knows the qualities of the +objects presented to him, or until he has weighed the consequence of his +actions. Man, you will say, decides every moment on actions which he +knows will endanger him; man kills himself sometimes, then he is free. I +deny it! Has man the ability to reason correctly or incorrectly? Do not +his reason and his wisdom depend either upon opinions that he has +formed, or upon his mental constitution? As neither the one nor the +other depends upon his will, they can not in any wise prove his liberty. + +If I make the wager to do or not to do a thing, am I not free? Does it +not depend upon me to do or not to do it? No; I will answer you, the +desire to win the wager will necessarily determine you to do or not to +do the thing in question. "But if I consent to lose the wager?" Then the +desire to prove to me that you are free will have become to you a +stronger motive than the desire to win the wager; and this motive will +necessarily have determined you to do or not to do what was understood +between us. But you will say, "I feel myself free." It is an illusion +which may be compared to that of the fly in the fable, which, lighting +on the shaft of a heavy wagon, applauded itself as driver of the vehicle +which carried it. Man who believes himself free, is a fly who believes +himself the master-motor in the machine of the universe, while he +himself, without his own volition, is carried on by it. The feeling +which makes us believe that we are free to do or not to do a thing, is +but a pure illusion. When we come to the veritable principle of our +actions, we will find that they are nothing but the necessary results of +our wills and of our desires, which are never within our power. You +believe yourselves free because you do as you choose; but are you really +free to will or not to will, to desire or not to desire? Your wills and +your desires, are they not necessarily excited by objects or by +qualities which do not depend upon you at all? + + + + +LXXXI.--WE SHOULD NOT CONCLUDE FROM THIS THAT SOCIETY HAS NOT THE RIGHT +TO CHASTISE THE WICKED. + +If the actions of men are necessary, if men are not free, what right has +society to punish the wicked who infest it? Is it not very unjust to +chastise beings who could not act otherwise than they did? If the wicked +act from the impulse of their corrupt nature, society in punishing them +acts necessarily on its side from the desire to preserve itself. Certain +objects produce in us the feeling of pain; therefore our nature compels +us to hate them, and incites us to remove them. A tiger pressed by +hunger, attacks the man whom he wishes to devour; but the man is not the +master of his fear of the tiger, and seeks necessarily the means of +exterminating it. + + + + +LXXXII.--REFUTATION OF THE ARGUMENTS IN FAVOR OF FREE WILL. + +If everything is necessary, if errors, opinions, and ideas of men are +fated, how or why can we pretend to reform them? The errors of men are +the necessary results of their ignorance; their ignorance, their +obstinacy, their credulity, are the necessary results of their +inexperience, of their indifference, of their lack of reflection; the +same as congestion of the brain or lethargy are the natural effects of +some diseases. Truth, experience, reflection, reason, are the proper +remedies to cure ignorance, fanaticism, and follies; the same as +bleeding is good to soothe congestion of the brain. But you will say, +why does not truth produce this effect upon many of the sick heads? +There are some diseases which resist all remedies; it is impossible to +cure obstinate patients who refuse to take the remedies which are given +them; the interest of some men and the folly of others naturally oppose +them to the admission of truth. A cause produces its effect only when it +is not interrupted in its action by other causes which are stronger, or +which weaken the action of the first cause or render it useless. It is +entirely impossible to have the best arguments accepted by men who are +strongly interested in error; who are prejudiced in its favor; who +refuse to reflect; but it must necessarily be that truth undeceives the +honest souls who seek it in good faith. Truth is a cause; it produces +necessarily its effect when its impulse is not interrupted by causes +which suspend its effects. + + + + +LXXXIII.--CONTINUATION. + +To take away from man his free will, is, we are told, to make of him a +pure machine, an automaton without liberty; there would exist in him +neither merit nor virtue What is merit in man? + +It is a certain manner of acting which renders him estimable in the eyes +of his fellow beings. What is virtue? It is the disposition that causes +us to do good to others. What can there be contemptible in automatic +machines capable of producing such desirable effects? Marcus Aurelius +was a very useful spring to the vast machine of the Roman Empire. By +what right will a machine despise another machine, whose springs would +facilitate its own play? Good people are springs which assist society in +its tendency to happiness; wicked men are badly-formed springs, which +disturb the order, the progress, and harmony of society. If for its own +interests society loves and rewards the good, she hates, despises, and +removes the wicked, as useless or dangerous motors. + + + + +LXXXIV.--GOD HIMSELF, IF THERE WAS A GOD, WOULD NOT BE FREE; HENCE THE +USELESSNESS OF ALL RELIGION. + +The world is a necessary agent; all the beings which compose it are +united to each other, and can not do otherwise than they do, so long as +they are moved by the same causes and possessed of the same qualities. +If they lose these qualities, they will act necessarily in a different +way. God Himself (admitting His existence a moment) can not be regarded +as a free agent; if there existed a God, His manner of acting would +necessarily be determined by the qualities inherent in His nature; +nothing would be able to alter or to oppose His wishes. This considered, +neither our actions nor our prayers nor our sacrifices could suspend or +change His invariable progress and His immutable designs, from which we +are compelled to conclude that all religion would be entirely useless. + + + + +LXXXV.--EVEN ACCORDING TO THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES, MAN IS NOT FREE ONE +INSTANT. + +If theologians were not constantly contradicting each other, they would +know, from their own hypotheses, that man can not be called free for an +instant. Is not man supposed to be in a continual dependence upon God? +Is one free, when one could not have existed or can not live without +God, and when one ceases to exist at the pleasure of His supreme will? +If God created man of nothing, if the preservation of man is a continual +creation, if God can not lose sight of His creature for an instant, if +all that happens to him is a result of the Divine will, if man is +nothing of himself, if all the events which he experiences are the +effects of Divine decrees, if he can not do any good without assistance +from above, how can it be pretended that man enjoys liberty during one +moment of his life? If God did not save him in the moment when he sins, +how could man sin? If God preserves him, God, therefore, forces him to +live in order to sin. + + + + +LXXXVI.--ALL EVIL, ALL DISORDER, ALL SIN, CAN BE ATTRIBUTED BUT TO GOD; +AND CONSEQUENTLY, HE HAS NO RIGHT TO PUNISH OR REWARD. + +Divinity is continually compared to a king, the majority of whose +subjects revolt against Him and it is pretended that He has the right to +reward His faithful subjects, and to punish those who revolt against +Him. This comparison is not just in any of its parts. God presides over +a machine, of which He has made all the springs; these springs act +according to the way in which God has formed them; it is the fault of +His inaptitude if these springs do not contribute to the harmony of the +machine in which the workman desired to place them. God is a creating +King, who created all kinds of subjects for Himself; who formed them +according to His pleasure, and whose wishes can never find any +resistance. If God in His empire has rebellious subjects, it is God who +resolved to have rebellious subjects. If the sins of men disturb the +order of the world, it is God who desired this order to be disturbed. +Nobody dares to doubt Divine justice; however, under the empire of a +just God, we find nothing but injustice and violence. Power decides the +fate of nations. Equity seems to be banished from the earth; a small +number of men enjoy with impunity the repose, the fortunes, the liberty, +and the life of all the others. Everything is in disorder in a world +governed by a God of whom it is said that disorder displeases Him +exceedingly. + + + + +LXXXVII.--MEN'S PRAYERS TO GOD PROVE SUFFICIENTLY THAT THEY ARE NOT +SATISFIED WITH THE DIVINE ECONOMY. + +Although men incessantly admire the wisdom the goodness, the justice, +the beautiful order of Providence, they are, in fact, never contented +with it. The prayers which they continually offer to Heaven, prove to us +that they are not at all satisfied with God's administration. Praying to +God, asking a favor of Him, is to mistrust His vigilant care; to pray +God to avert or to suppress an evil, is to endeavor to put obstacles in +the way of His justice; to implore the assistance of God in our +calamities, means to appeal to the very author of these calamities in +order to represent to Him our welfare; that He ought to rectify in our +favor His plan, which is not beneficial to our interests. The optimist, +or the one who thinks that everything is good in the world, and who +repeats to us incessantly that we live in the best world possible, if he +were consistent, ought never to pray; still less should he expect +another world where men will be happier. Can there be a better world +than the best possible of all worlds? Some of the theologians have +treated the optimists as impious for having claimed that God could not +have made a better world than the one in which we live; according to +these doctors it is limiting the Divine power and insulting it. But do +not theologians see that it is less offensive for God, to pretend that +He did His best in creating the world, than to say that He, having the +power to produce a better one, had the malice to make a very bad one? If +the optimist, by his system, does wrong to the Divine power, the +theologian, who treats him as impious, is himself a reprobate, who +wounds the Divine goodness under pretext of taking interest in God. + + + + +LXXXVIII.--THE REPARATION OF THE INIQUITIES AND THE MISERIES OF THIS +WORLD IN ANOTHER WORLD, IS AN IDLE CONJECTURE AND AN ABSURD SUPPOSITION. + +When we complain of the evils of which this world is the theater, we are +referred to another world; we are told that there God will repair all +the iniquities and the miseries which He permits for a time here below. +However, if leaving His eternal justice to sleep for a time, God could +consent to evil during the period of the existence of our globe, what +assurance have we that during the existence of another globe, Divine +justice will not likewise sleep during the misfortunes of its +inhabitants? They console us in our troubles by saying, that God is +patient, and that His justice, although often very slow, is not the less +certain. But do you not see, that patience can not be suited to a being +just, immutable, and omnipotent? Can God tolerate injustice for an +instant? To temporize with an evil that one knows of, evinces either +uncertainty, weakness, or collusion; to tolerate evil which one has the +power to prevent, is to consent that evil should be committed. + + + + +LXXXIX.--THEOLOGY JUSTIFIES THE EVIL AND INJUSTICE PERMITTED BY ITS GOD, +ONLY BY CONCEDING TO THIS GOD THE RIGHT OF THE STRONGEST, THAT IS TO +SAY, THE VIOLATION OF ALL RIGHTS, OR IN COMMANDING FROM MEN A STUPID +DEVOTION. + +I hear a multitude of theologians tell me on all sides, that God is +infinitely just, but that His justice is not that of men! Of what kind, +or of what nature is this Divine justice then? What idea can I form of a +justice which so often resembles human injustice? Is it not confounding +all our ideas of justice and of injustice, to tell us that what is +equitable in God is iniquitous in His creatures? How can we take as a +model a being whose Divine perfections are precisely contrary to human +perfections? God, you say, is the sovereign arbiter of our destinies; +His supreme power, that nothing can limit, authorizes Him to do as He +pleases with His works; a worm, such as man, has not the right to murmur +against Him. This arrogant tone is literally borrowed from the language +which the ministers of tyrants hold, when they silence those who suffer +by their violences; it can not, then, be the language of the ministers +of a God of whose equity they boast. It can not impose upon a being who +reasons. Ministers of a just God! I tell you then, that the greatest +power is not able to confer even upon your God Himself the right to be +unjust to the vilest of His creatures. A despot is not a God. A God who +arrogates to Himself the right to do evil, is a tyrant; a tyrant is not +a model for men. He ought to be an execrable object in their eyes. Is it +not strange that, in order to justify Divinity, they made of Him the +most unjust of beings? As soon as we complain of His conduct, they think +to silence us by claiming that God is the Master; which signifies that +God, being the strongest, He is not subjected to ordinary rules. But the +right of the strongest is the violation of all rights; it can pass as a +right but in the eyes of a savage conqueror, who, in the intoxication of +his fury, imagines he has the right to do as he pleases with the +unfortunate ones whom he has conquered; this barbarous right can appear +legitimate only to slaves, who are blind enough to think that everything +is allowed to tyrants, who are too strong for them to resist. + +By a foolish simplicity, or rather by a plain contradiction of terms, do +we not see devotees exclaim, amidst the greatest calamities, that the +good Lord is the Master? Well, illogical reasoners, you believe in good +faith that the good Lord sends you the pestilence; that your good Lord +gives war; that the good Lord is the cause of famine; in a word, that +the good Lord, without ceasing to be good, has the will and the right to +do you the greatest evils you can endure! Cease to call your Lord good +when He does you harm; do not say that He is just; say that He is the +strongest, and that it is impossible for you to avert the blows which +His caprice inflicts upon you. God, you say, punishes us for our highest +good; but what real benefit can result to a nation in being exterminated +by contagion, murdered by wars, corrupted by the examples of perverse +masters, continually pressed by the iron scepter of merciless tyrants, +subjected to the scourge of a bad government, which often for centuries +causes nations to suffer its destructive effects? The eyes of faith must +be strange eyes, if we see by their means any advantage in the most +dreadful miseries and in the most durable evils, in the vices and +follies by which our kind is so cruelly afflicted! + + + + +XC.--REDEMPTION, AND THE CONTINUAL EXTERMINATIONS ATTRIBUTED TO JEHOVAH +IN THE BIBLE, ARE SO MANY ABSURD AND RIDICULOUS INVENTIONS WHICH +PRESUPPOSE AN UNJUST AND BARBAROUS GOD. + +What strange ideas of the Divine justice must the Christians have who +believe that their God, with the view of reconciling Himself with +mankind, guilty without knowledge of the fault of their parents, +sacrificed His own innocent and sinless Son! What would we say of a +king, whose subjects having revolted against him, in order to appease +himself could find no other expedient than to put to death the heir to +his crown, who had taken no part in the general rebellion? It is, the +Christian will say, through kindness for His subjects, incapable of +satisfying themselves of His Divine justice, that God consented to the +cruel death of His Son. But the kindness of a father to strangers does +not give him the right to be unjust and cruel to his son. All the +qualities that theology gives to its God annul each other. The exercise +of one of His perfections is always at the expense of another. + +Has the Jew any more rational ideas than the Christian of Divine +justice? A king, by his pride, kindles the wrath of Heaven. Jehovah +sends pestilence upon His innocent people; seventy thousand subjects are +exterminated to expiate the fault of a monarch that the kindness of God +resolved to spare. + + + + +XCI.--HOW CAN WE DISCOVER A TENDER, GENEROUS, AND EQUITABLE FATHER IN A +BEING WHO HAS CREATED HIS CHILDREN BUT TO MAKE THEM UNHAPPY? + +In spite of the injustice with which all religions are pleased to +blacken the Divinity, men can not consent to accuse Him of iniquity; +they fear that He, like the tyrants of this world, will be offended by +the truth, and redouble the weight of His malice and tyranny upon them. +They listen, then, to their priests, who tell them that their God is a +tender Father; that this God is an equitable Monarch, whose object in +this world is to assure Himself of the love, obedience, and respect of +His subjects; who gives them the liberty to act, in order to give them +occasion to deserve His favors and to acquire eternal happiness, which +He does not owe them in any way. In what way can we recognize the +tenderness of a Father who created the majority of His children but for +the purpose of dragging out a life of pain, anxiety, and bitterness upon +this earth? Is there any more fatal boon than this pretended liberty +which, it is said, men can abuse, and thereby expose themselves to the +risk of eternal misery? + + + + +XCII.--THE LIFE OF MORTALS, ALL WHICH TAKES PLACE HERE BELOW, TESTIFIES +AGAINST MAN'S LIBERTY AND AGAINST THE JUSTICE AND GOODNESS OF A +PRETENDED GOD. + +In calling mortals into life, what a cruel and dangerous game does the +Divinity force them to play! Thrust into the world without their wish, +provided with a temperament of which they are not the masters, animated +by passions and desires inherent in their nature, exposed to snares +which they have not the skill to avoid, led away by events which they +could neither foresee nor prevent, the unfortunate beings are obliged to +follow a career which conducts them to horrible tortures. + +Travelers assert that in some part of Asia reigns a sultan full of +phantasies, and very absolute in his will. By a strange mania this +prince spends his time sitting before a table, on which are placed six +dice and a dice-box. One end of the table is covered with a pile of +gold, for the purpose of exciting the cupidity of the courtiers and of +the people by whom the sultan is surrounded. He, knowing the weak point +of his subjects, speaks to them in this way: "Slaves! I wish you well; +my aim is to enrich you and render you all happy. Do you see these +treasures? Well, they are for you! try to win them; let each one in turn +take this box and these dice; whoever shall have the good luck to raffle +six, will be master of this treasure; but I warn you that he who has not +the luck to throw the required number, will be precipitated forever into +an obscure cell, where my justice exacts that he shall be burned by a +slow fire." Upon this threat of the monarch, they regarded each other in +consternation; no one willing to take a risk so dangerous. "What!" said +the angry sultan, "no one wants to play? Oh, this does not suit me! My +glory demands that you play. You will raffle then; I wish it; obey +without replying!" It is well to observe that the despot's dice are +prepared in such a way, that upon a hundred thousand throws there is but +one that wins; thus the generous monarch has the pleasure to see his +prison well filled, and his treasures seldom carried away. Mortals! this +Sultan is your God; His treasures are heaven; His cell is hell; and you +hold the dice! + + + + +XCIII.--IT IS NOT TRUE THAT WE OWE ANY GRATITUDE TO WHAT WE CALL +PROVIDENCE. + +We are constantly told that we owe an infinite gratitude to Providence +for the countless blessings It is pleased to lavish upon us. They boast +above all that our existence is a blessing. But, alas! how many mortals +are really satisfied with their mode of existence? If life has its +sweets, how much of bitterness is mingled with it? Is not one bitter +trouble sufficient to blight all of a sudden the most peaceful and happy +life? Is there a great number of men who, if it depended upon them, +would wish to begin, at the same sacrifice, the painful career into +which, without their consent, destiny has thrown them? You say that +existence itself is a great blessing. But is not this existence +continually troubled by griefs, fears, and often cruel and undeserved +maladies. This existence, menaced on so many sides, can we not be +deprived of it at any moment? Who is there, after having lived for some +time, who has not been deprived of a beloved wife, a beloved child, a +consoling friend, whose loss fills his mind constantly? There are very +few mortals who have not been compelled to drink from the cup of +bitterness; there are but few who have not often wished to die. Finally, +it did not depend upon us to exist or not to exist. Would the bird be +under such great obligations to the bird-catcher for having caught it in +his net and for having put it into his cage, in order to eat it after +being amused with it? + + + + +XCIV.--TO PRETEND THAT MAN IS THE BELOVED CHILD OF PROVIDENCE, GOD'S +FAVORITE, THE ONLY OBJECT OF HIS LABORS, THE KING OF NATURE, IS FOLLY. + +In spite of the infirmities, the troubles, the miseries to which man is +compelled to submit in this world; in spite of the danger which his +alarmed imagination creates in regard to another, he is still foolish +enough to believe himself to be God's favorite, the only aim of all His +works. He imagines that the entire universe was made for him; he calls +himself arrogantly the king of nature, and ranks himself far above other +animals. Poor mortal! upon what can you establish your high pretensions? +It is, you say, upon your soul, upon your reason, upon your sublime +faculties, which place you in a condition to exercise an absolute +authority over the beings which surround you. But weak sovereign of this +world, art thou sure one instant of the duration of thy reign? The least +atoms of matter which you despise, are they not sufficient to deprive +you of your throne and life? Finally, does not the king of animals +terminate always by becoming food for the worms? + +You speak of your soul. But do you know what your soul is? Do you not +see that this soul is but the assemblage of your organs, from which life +results? Would you refuse a soul to other animals who live, who think, +who judge, who compare, who seek pleasure, and avoid pain even as you +do, and who often possess organs which are better than your own? You +boast of your intellectual faculties, but these faculties which render +you so proud, do they make you any happier than other creatures? Do you +often make use of this reason which you glory in, and which religion +commands you not to listen to? Those animals which you disdain because +they are weaker or less cunning than yourself, are they subject to +troubles, to mental anxieties, to a thousand frivolous passions, to a +thousand imaginary needs, of which your heart is continually the prey? +Are they, like you, tormented by the past, alarmed for the future? + +Limited solely to the present, what you call their instinct, and what I +call their intelligence, is it not sufficient to preserve and to defend +them and to provide for their needs? This instinct, of which you speak +with disdain, does it not often serve them much better than your +wonderful faculties? Their peaceable ignorance, is it not more +advantageous than these extravagant meditations and these futile +investigations which render you miserable, and for which you are driven +to murdering beings of your own noble kind? Finally, these animals, have +they, like mortals, a troubled imagination which makes them fear not +only death, but even eternal torments? Augustus, having heard that +Herod, king of Judea, had murdered his sons, cried out: "It would be +better to be Herod's pig than his son!" We can say as much of men; this +beloved child of Providence runs much greater risks than all other +animals. After having suffered a great deal in this world, do we not +believe ourselves in danger of suffering for eternity in another? + + + + +XCV.--COMPARISON BETWEEN MAN AND ANIMALS. + +What is the exact line of demarcation between man and the other animals +which he calls brutes? In what way does he essentially differ from the +beasts? It is, we are told, by his intelligence, by the faculties of his +mind, by his reason, that man is superior to all the other animals, +which in all they do, act but by physical impulsions, reason taking no +part. But the beasts, having more limited needs than men, do very well +without these intellectual faculties, which would be perfectly useless +in their way of living. Their instinct is sufficient for them, while all +the faculties of man are hardly sufficient to render his existence +endurable, and to satisfy the needs which his imagination, his +prejudices, and his institutions multiply to his torment. + +The brute is not affected by the same objects as man; it has neither the +same needs, nor the same desires, nor the same whims; it early reaches +maturity, while nothing is more rare than to see the human being +enjoying all of his faculties, exercising them freely, and making a +proper use of them for his own happiness. + + + + +XCVI.--THERE ARE NO MORE DETESTABLE ANIMALS IN THIS WORLD THAN TYRANTS. + +We are assured that the human soul is a simple substance; but if the +soul is such a simple substance, it ought to be the same in all the +individuals of the human race, who all ought to have the same +intellectual faculties; however, this is not the case; men differ as +much in qualities of mind as in the features of the face. There are in +the human race, beings as different from one another as man is from a +horse or a dog. What conformity or resemblance do we find between some +men? What an infinite distance between the genius of a Locke, of a +Newton, and that of a peasant, of a Hottentot, or of a Laplander! + +Man differs from other animals but by the difference of his +organization, which causes him to produce effects of which they are not +capable. The variety which we notice in the organs of individuals of the +human race, suffices to explain to us the difference which is often +found between them in regard to the intellectual faculties. More or less +of delicacy in these organs, of heat in the blood, of promptitude in the +fluids, more or less of suppleness or of rigidity in the fibers and the +nerves, must necessarily produce the infinite diversities which are +noticeable in the minds of men. It is by exercise, by habitude, by +education, that the human mind is developed and succeeds in rising above +the beings which surround it; man, without culture and without +experience, is a being as devoid of reason and of industry as the brute. +A stupid individual is a man whose organs are acted upon with +difficulty, whose brain is hard to move, whose blood circulates slowly; +a man of mind is he whose organs are supple, who feels very quickly, +whose brain moves promptly; a learned man is one whose organs and whose +brain have been exercised a long while upon objects which occupy him. + +The man without culture, experience, or reason, is he not more +despicable and more abominable than the vilest insects, or the most +ferocious beasts? Is there a more detestable being in nature than a +Tiberius, a Nero, a Caligula? These destroyers of the human race, known +by the name of conquerors, have they better souls than those of bears, +lions, and panthers? Are there more detestable animals in this world +than tyrants? + + + + +XCVII.--REFUTATION OF MAN'S EXCELLENCE. + +Human extravagances soon dispel, in the eyes of reason, the superiority +which man arrogantly claims over other animals. Do we not see many +animals show more gentleness, more reflection and reason than the animal +which calls itself reasonable par excellence? Are there amongst men, who +are so often enslaved and oppressed, societies as well organized as +those of ants, bees, or beavers? Do we ever see ferocious beasts of the +same kind meet upon the plains to devour each other without profit? Do +we see among them religious wars? The cruelty of beasts against other +species is caused by hunger, the need of nourishment; the cruelty of man +against man has no other motive than the vanity of his masters and the +folly of his impertinent prejudices. Theorists who try to make us +believe that everything in the universe was made for man, are very much +embarrassed when we ask them in what way can so many mischievous animals +which continually infest our life here, contribute to the welfare of +men. What known advantage results for God's friend to be bitten by a +viper, stung by a gnat, devoured by vermin, torn into pieces by a tiger? +Would not all these animals reason as wisely as our theologians, if they +should pretend that man was made for them? + + + + +XCVIII.--AN ORIENTAL LEGEND. + +At a short distance from Bagdad a dervis, celebrated for his holiness, +passed his days tranquilly in agreeable solitude. The surrounding +inhabitants, in order to have an interest in his prayers, eagerly +brought to him every day provisions and presents. The holy man thanked +God incessantly for the blessings Providence heaped upon him. "O Allah," +said he, "how ineffable is Thy tenderness toward Thy servants. What have +I done to deserve the benefactions which Thy liberality loads me with! +Oh, Monarch of the skies! oh, Father of nature! what praises could be +worthy to celebrate Thy munificence and Thy paternal cares! O Allah, how +great are Thy gifts to the children of men!" Filled with gratitude, our +hermit made a vow to undertake for the seventh time the pilgrimage to +Mecca. The war, which then existed between the Persians and the Turks, +could not make him defer the execution of his pious enterprise. Full of +confidence in God, he began his journey; under the inviolable safeguard +of a respected garb, he passed through without obstacle the enemies' +detachments; far from being molested, he receives at every step marks of +veneration from the soldiers of both sides. At last, overcome by +fatigue, he finds himself obliged to seek a shelter from the rays of the +burning sun; he finds it beneath a fresh group of palm-trees, whose +roots were watered by a limpid rivulet. In this solitary place, where +the silence was broken only by the murmuring of the waters and the +singing of the birds, the man of God found not only an enchanting +retreat, but also a delicious repast; he had but to extend the hand to +gather dates and other agreeable fruits; the rivulet can appease his +thirst; very soon a green plot invites him to take sweet repose. As he +awakens he performs the holy cleansing; and in a transport of ecstasy, +he exclaimed: "O Allah! HOW GREAT IS THY GOODNESS TO THE CHILDREN OF +MEN!" Well rested, refreshed, full of life and gayety, our holy man +continues on his road; it conducts him for some time through a +delightful country, which offers to his sight but blooming shores and +trees filled with fruit. Softened by this spectacle, he worships +incessantly the rich and liberal hand of Providence, which is everywhere +seen occupied with the welfare of the human race. Going a little +farther, he comes across a few mountains, which were quite hard to +ascend; but having arrived at their summit, a hideous sight suddenly +meets his eyes; his soul is all consternation. He discovers a vast plain +entirely devastated by the sword and fire; he looks at it and finds it +covered with more than a hundred thousand corpses, deplorable remains of +a bloody battle which had taken place a few days previous. Eagles, +vultures, ravens, and wolves were devouring the dead bodies with which +the earth was covered. This sight plunges our pilgrim into a sad +reverie. Heaven, by a special favor, had made him understand the +language of beasts. He heard a wolf, gorged with human flesh, exclaim in +his excessive joy: "O Allah! how great is Thy kindness for the children +of wolves! Thy foreseeing wisdom takes care to send infatuation upon +these detestable men who are so dangerous to us. Through an effect of +Thy Providence which watches over Thy creatures, these, our destroyers, +murder each other, and thus furnish us with sumptuous repasts. O Allah! +HOW GREAT IS THY GOODNESS TO THE CHILDREN OF WOLVES!" + + + + +XCIX.--IT IS FOOLISH TO SEE IN THE UNIVERSE ONLY THE BENEFACTIONS OF +HEAVEN, AND TO BELIEVE THAT THIS UNIVERSE WAS MADE BUT FOR MAN. + +An exalted imagination sees in the universe but the benefactions of +Heaven; a calm mind finds good and evil in it. I exist, you will say; +but is this existence always a benefit? You will say, look at this sun, +which shines for you; this earth, which is covered with fruits and +verdure; these flowers, which bloom for our sight and smell; these +trees, which bend beneath the weight of fruits; these pure streams, +which flow but to quench your thirst; these seas, which embrace the +universe to facilitate your commerce; these animals, which a foreseeing +nature produces for your use! Yes, I see all these things, and I enjoy +them when I can. But in some climates this beautiful sun is most always +obscured from me; in others, its excessive heat torments me, produces +storm, gives rise to dreadful diseases, dries up the fields; the meadows +have no grass, the trees are fruitless, the harvests are scorched, the +springs are dried up; I can scarcely exist, and I sigh under the cruelty +of a nature which you find so benevolent. If these seas bring me spices, +riches, and useless things, do they not destroy a multitude of mortals +who are dupes enough to go after them? + +Man's vanity persuades him that he is the sole center of the universe; +he creates for himself a world and a God; he thinks himself of +sufficient consequence to derange nature at his will, but he reasons as +an atheist when the question of other animals is involved. Does he not +imagine that the individuals different from his species are automatons +unworthy of the cares of universal Providence, and that the beasts can +not be the objects of its justice and kindness? Mortals consider +fortunate or unfortunate events, health or sickness, life and death, +abundance or famine, as rewards or punishments for the use or misuse of +the liberty which they arrogate to themselves. Do they reason on this +principle when animals are taken into consideration? No; although they +see them under a just God enjoy and suffer, be healthy and sick, live +and die, like themselves, it does not enter their mind to ask what +crimes these beasts have committed in order to cause the displeasure of +the Arbiter of nature. Philosophers, blinded by their theological +prejudices, in order to disembarrass themselves, have gone so far as to +pretend that beasts have no feelings! + +Will men never renounce their foolish pretensions? Will they not +recognize that nature was not made for them? Will they not see that this +nature has placed on equal footing all the beings which she produced? +Will they not see that all organized beings are equally made to be born +and to die, to enjoy and to suffer? Finally, instead of priding +themselves preposterously on their mental faculties, are they not +compelled to admit that they often render them more unhappy than the +beasts, in which we find neither opinions, prejudices, vanities, nor the +weaknesses which decide at every moment the well-being of men? + + + + +C.--WHAT IS THE SOUL? WE KNOW NOTHING ABOUT IT. IF THIS PRETENDED SOUL +WAS OF ANOTHER ESSENCE FROM THAT OF THE BODY, THEIR UNION WOULD BE +IMPOSSIBLE. + +The superiority which men arrogate to themselves over other animals, is +principally founded upon the opinion of possessing exclusively an +immortal soul. But as soon as we ask what this soul is, they begin to +stammer. It is an unknown substance; it is a secret force distinguished +from their bodies; it is a spirit of which they can form no idea. Ask +them how this spirit, which they suppose like their God, totally +deprived of a physical substance, could combine itself with their +material bodies? They will tell you that they know nothing about it; +that it is a mystery to them; that this combination is the effect of the +Almighty power. These are the clear ideas which men form of the hidden, +or, rather, imaginary substance which they consider the motor of all +their actions! If the soul is a substance essentially different from the +body, and which can have no affinity with it, their union would be, not +a mystery, but a thing impossible. Besides, this soul, being of an +essence different from that of the body, ought to act necessarily in a +different way from it. However, we see that the movements of the body +are felt by this pretended soul, and that these two substances, so +different in essence, always act in harmony. You will tell us that this +harmony is a mystery; and I will tell you that I do not see my soul, +that I know and feel but my body; that it is my body which feels, which +reflects, which judges, which suffers, and which enjoys, and that all of +its faculties are the necessary results of its own mechanism or of its +organization. + + + + +CI.--THE EXISTENCE OF A SOUL IS AN ABSURD SUPPOSITION, AND THE EXISTENCE +OF AN IMMORTAL SOUL IS A STILL MORE ABSURD SUPPOSITION. + +Although it is impossible for men to have the least idea of the soul, or +of this pretended spirit which animates them, they persuade themselves, +however, that this unknown soul is exempt from death; everything proves +to them that they feel, think, acquire ideas, enjoy or suffer, but by +the means of the senses or of the material organs of the body. Even +admitting the existence of this soul, one can not refuse to recognize +that it depends wholly on the body, and suffers conjointly with it all +the vicissitudes which it experiences itself; and however it is imagined +that it has by its nature nothing analogous with it; it is pretended +that it can act and feel without the assistance of this body; that +deprived of this body and robbed of its senses, this soul will be able +to live, to enjoy, to suffer, be sensitive of enjoyment or of rigorous +torments. Upon such a tissue of conjectural absurdities the wonderful +opinion of the immortality of the soul is built. + +If I ask what ground we have for supposing that the soul is immortal: +they reply, it is because man by his nature desires to be immortal, or +to live forever. But I rejoin, if you desire anything very much, is it +sufficient to conclude that this desire will be fulfilled? By what +strange logic do they decide that a thing can not fail to happen because +they ardently desire it to happen? Man's childish desires of the +imagination, are they the measure of reality? Impious people, you say, +deprived of the flattering hopes of another life, desire to be +annihilated. Well, have they not just as much right to conclude by this +desire that they will be annihilated, as you to conclude that you will +exist forever because you desire it? + + + + +CII.--IT IS EVIDENT THAT THE WHOLE OF MAN DIES. + +Man dies entirely. Nothing is more evident to him who is not delirious. +The human body, after death, is but a mass, incapable of producing any +movements the union of which constitutes life. We no longer see +circulation, respiration, digestion, speech, or reflection. It is +claimed then that the soul has separated itself from the body. But to +say that this soul, which is unknown, is the principle of life, is +saying nothing, unless that an unknown force is the invisible principle +of imperceptible movements. Nothing is more natural and more simple than +to believe that the dead man lives no more, nothing more absurd than to +believe that the dead man is still living. + +We ridicule the simplicity of some nations whose fashion is to bury +provisions with the dead--under the idea that this food might be useful +and necessary to them in another life. Is it more ridiculous or more +absurd to believe that men will eat after death than to imagine that +they will think; that they will have agreeable or disagreeable ideas; +that they will enjoy; that they will suffer; that they will be conscious +of sorrow or joy when the organs which produce sensations or ideas are +dissolved and reduced to dust? To claim that the souls of men will be +happy or unhappy after the death of the body, is to pretend that man +will be able to see without eyes, to hear without ears, to taste without +a palate, to smell without a nose, and to feel without hands and without +skin. Nations who believe themselves very rational, adopt, nevertheless, +such ideas. + + + + +CIII.--INCONTESTABLE PROOFS AGAINST THE SPIRITUALITY OF THE SOUL. + +The dogma of the immortality of the soul assumes that the soul is a +simple substance, a spirit; but I will always ask, what is a spirit? It +is, you say, a substance deprived of expansion, incorruptible, and which +has nothing in common with matter. But if this is true, how came your +soul into existence? how did it grow? how did it strengthen? how weaken +itself, get out of order, and grow old with your body? In reply to all +these questions, you say that they are mysteries; but if they are +mysteries, you understand nothing about them. If you do not understand +anything about them, how can you positively affirm anything about them? +In order to believe or to affirm anything, it is necessary at least to +know what that consists of which we believe and which we affirm. To +believe in the existence of your immaterial soul, is to say that you are +persuaded of the existence of a thing of which it is impossible for you +to form any true idea; it is to believe in words without attaching any +sense to them; to affirm that the thing is as you claim, is the highest +folly or assumption. + + + + +CIV.--THE ABSURDITY OF SUPERNATURAL CAUSES, WHICH THEOLOGIANS CONSTANTLY + + + +CALL TO THEIR AID. + +Are not theologians strange reasoners? As soon as they can not guess the +natural causes of things, they invent causes, which they call +supernatural; they imagine them spirits, occult causes, inexplicable +agents, or rather words much more obscure than the things which they +attempt to explain. Let us remain in nature when we desire to understand +its phenomena; let us ignore the causes which are too delicate to be +seized by our organs; and let us be assured that by seeking outside of +nature we can never find the solution of nature's problems. Even upon +the theological hypothesis--that is to say, supposing an Almighty motor +in matter--what right have theologians to refuse their God the power to +endow this matter with thought? Would it be more difficult for Him to +create combinations of matter from which results thought, than spirits +which think? At least, in supposing a substance endowed with thought, we +could form some idea of the object of our thoughts, or of what thinks in +us; while attributing thought to an immaterial being, it is impossible +for us to form the least idea of it. + + + + +CV.--IT IS FALSE THAT MATERIALISM CAN BE DEBASING TO THE HUMAN RACE. + +Materialism, it is objected, makes of man a mere machine, which is +considered very debasing to the human race. But will the human race be +more honored when it can be said that man acts by the secret impulsions +of a spirit, or a certain something which animates him without his +knowing how? It is easy to perceive that the superiority which is given +to mind over matter, or to the soul over the body, is based upon the +ignorance of the nature of this soul; while we are more familiarized +with matter or the body, which we imagine we know, and of which we +believe we have understood the springs; but the most simple movements of +our bodies are, for every thinking man, enigmas as difficult to divine +as thought. + + + + +CVI.--CONTINUATION. + +The esteem which so many people have for the spiritual substance, +appears to result from the impossibility they find in defining it in an +intelligible way. The contempt which our metaphysicians show for matter, +comes from the fact that "familiarity breeds contempt." When they tell +us that the soul is more excellent and noble than the body, they tell us +nothing, except that what they know nothing about must be more beautiful +than that of which they have some faint ideas. + + + + +CVII.--THE DOGMA OF ANOTHER LIFE IS USEFUL BUT FOR THOSE WHO PROFIT BY IT +AT THE EXPENSE OF THE CREDULOUS PUBLIC. + +We are constantly told of the usefulness of the dogma of life hereafter. +It is pretended that even if it should be a fiction, it is advantageous, +because it imposes upon men and leads them to virtue. But is it true +that this dogma renders men wiser and more virtuous? The nations where +this fiction is established, are they remarkable for the morality of +their conduct? Is not the visible world always preferred to the +invisible world? If those who are charged to instruct and to govern men +had themselves enlightenment and virtue, they would govern them far +better by realities than by vain chimeras; but deceitful, ambitious, and +corrupt, the legislators found it everywhere easier to put the nations +to sleep by fables than to teach them truths; than to develop their +reason; than to excite them to virtue by sensible and real motives; than +to govern them in a reasonable way. + +Theologians, no doubt, have had reasons for making the soul immaterial. +They needed souls and chimeras to populate the imaginary regions which +they have discovered in the other life. Material souls would have been +subjected, like all bodies, to dissolution. Moreover, if men believe +that everything is to perish with the body, the geographers of the other +world would evidently lose the chance of guiding their souls to this +unknown abode. They would draw no profits from the hopes with which they +feast them, and from the terrors with which they take care to overwhelm +them. If the future is of no real utility to the human race, it is at +least of the greatest advantage to those who take upon themselves the +responsibility of conducting mankind thither. + + + + +CVIII.--IT IS FALSE THAT THE DOGMA OF ANOTHER LIFE CAN BE CONSOLING; AND +IF IT WERE, IT WOULD BE NO PROOF THAT THIS ASSERTION IS TRUE. + +But, it will be said, is not the dogma of the immortality of the soul +consoling for beings who often find themselves very unhappy here below? +If this should be an illusion, is it not a sweet and agreeable one? Is +it not a benefit for man to believe that he can live again and enjoy, +sometime, the happiness which is refused to him on earth? Thus, poor +mortals! you make your wishes the measure of the truth! Because you +desire to live forever, and to be happier, you conclude from thence that +you will live forever, and that you will be more fortunate in an unknown +world than in the known world, in which you so often suffer! Consent, +then, to leave without regret this world, which causes more trouble than +pleasure to the majority of you. Resign yourselves to the order of +destiny, which decrees that you, like all other beings, should not +endure forever. But what will become of me? you ask! What you were +several millions of years ago. You were then, I do not know what; resign +yourselves, then, to become again in an instant, I do not know what; +what you were then; return peaceably to the universal home from which +you came without your knowledge into your material form, and pass by +without murmuring, like all the beings which surround you! + +We are repeatedly told that religious ideas offer infinite consolation +to the unfortunate; it is pretended that the idea of the immortality of +the soul and of a happier life has a tendency to lift up the heart of +man and to sustain him in the midst of the adversities with which he is +assailed in this life. Materialism, on the contrary, is, we are told, an +afflicting system, tending to degrade man, which ranks him among brutes; +which destroys his courage, whose only hope is complete annihilation, +tending to lead him to despair, and inducing him to commit suicide as +soon as he suffers in this world. The grand policy of theologians is to +blow hot and to blow cold, to afflict and to console, to frighten and to +reassure. + +According to the fictions of theology, the regions of the other life are +happy and unhappy. Nothing more difficult than to render one worthy of +the abode of felicity; nothing easier than to obtain a place in the +abode of torments that Divinity prepares for the unfortunate victims of +His eternal fury. Those who find the idea of another life so flattering +and so sweet, have they then forgotten that this other life, according +to them, is to be accompanied by torments for the majority of mortals? +Is not the idea of total annihilation infinitely preferable to the idea +of an eternal existence accompanied with suffering and gnashing of +teeth? The fear of ceasing to exist, is it more afflicting than the +thought of having not always been? The fear of ceasing to be is but an +evil for the imagination, which alone brought forth the dogma of another +life. + +You say, O Christian philosophers, that the idea of a happier life is +delightful; we agree; there is no one who would not desire a more +agreeable and a more durable existence than the one we enjoy here below. +But, if Paradise is tempting, you will admit, also, that hell is +frightful. It is very difficult to merit heaven, and very easy to gain +hell. Do you not say that one straight and narrow path leads to the +happy regions, and that a broad road leads to the regions of the +unhappy? Do you not constantly tell us that the number of the chosen +ones is very small, and that of the damned is very large? Do we not +need, in order to be saved, such grace as your God grants to but few? +Well! I tell you that these ideas are by no means consoling; I prefer to +be annihilated at once rather than to burn forever; I will tell you that +the fate of beasts appears to me more desirable than the fate of the +damned; I will tell you that the belief which delivers me from +overwhelming fears in this world, appears to me more desirable than the +uncertainty in which I am left through belief in a God who, master of +His favors, gives them but to His favorites, and who permits all the +others to render themselves worthy of eternal punishments. It can be but +blind enthusiasm or folly that can prefer a system which evidently +encourages improbable conjectures, accompanied by uncertainty and +desolating fear. + + + + +CIX.--ALL RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES ARE IMAGINARY. INNATE SENSE IS BUT THE +EFFECT OF A ROOTED HABIT. GOD IS AN IDLE FANCY, AND THE QUALITIES WHICH +ARE LAVISHED UPON HIM DESTROY EACH OTHER. + +All religious principles are a thing of imagination, in which experience +and reason have nothing to do. We find much difficulty in conquering +them, because imagination, when once occupied in creating chimeras which +astonish or excite it, is incapable of reasoning. He who combats +religion and its phantasies by the arms of reason, is like a man who +uses a sword to kill flies: as soon as the blow is struck, the flies and +the fancies return to the minds from which we thought to have banished +them. + +As soon as we refuse the proofs which theology pretends to give of the +existence of a God, they oppose to the arguments which destroy them, an +innate conviction, a profound persuasion, an invincible inclination +inherent in every man, which brings to him, in spite of himself, the +idea of an Almighty being which he can not altogether expel from his +mind, and which he is compelled to recognize in spite of the strongest +reasons that we can give him. But if we wish to analyze this innate +conviction, upon which so much weight is placed, we will find that it is +but the effect of a rooted habit, which, making them close their eyes +against the most demonstrative proofs, leads the majority of men, and +often the most enlightened ones, back to the prejudices of childhood. +What can this innate sense or this ill-founded persuasion prove against +the evidence which shows us that what implies contradiction can not +exist? + +We are told, very gravely, that it is not demonstrated that God does not +exist. However, nothing is better demonstrated, notwithstanding all that +men have told us so far, than that this God is an idle fancy, whose +existence is totally impossible, as nothing is more evident or more +clearly demonstrated than that a being can not combine qualities so +dissimilar, so contradictory, so irreconcilable as those which all the +religions of the earth ascribe to Divinity. The theologian's God, as +well as the God of the theist, is He not evidently a cause incompatible +with the effects attributed to Him? In whatever light we may look upon +it, we must either invent another God, or conclude that the one which, +for so many centuries, has been revealed to mortals, is at the same time +very good and very wicked, very powerful and very weak, immutable and +changeable, perfectly intelligent and perfectly destitute of reason, of +plan, and of means; the friend of order and permitting disorder; very +just and very unjust; very skillful and very awkward. Finally, are we +not obliged to admit that it is impossible to reconcile the discordant +attributes which are heaped upon a being of whom we can not say a single +word without falling into the most palpable contradictions? Let us +attempt to attribute but a single quality to Divinity, and what is said +of it will be contradicted immediately by the effects we assign to this +cause. + + + + +CX.--EVERY RELIGION IS BUT A SYSTEM IMAGINED FOR THE PURPOSE OF +RECONCILING CONTRADICTIONS BY THE AID OF MYSTERIES. + +Theology could very properly be defined as the science of +contradictions. Every religion is but a system imagined for the purpose +of reconciling irreconcilable ideas. By the aid of habitude and terror, +we come to persist in the greatest absurdities, even when they are the +most clearly exposed. All religions are easy to combat, but very +difficult to eradicate. Reason can do nothing against habit, which +becomes, as is said, a second nature. There are many persons otherwise +sensible, who, even after having examined the ruinous foundations of +their belief, return to it in spite of the most striking arguments. + +As soon as we complain of not understanding religion, finding in it at +every step absurdities which are repulsive, seeing in it but +impossibilities, we are told that we are not made to conceive the truths +of the religion which is proposed to us; that wandering reason is but an +unfaithful guide, only capable of conducting us to perdition; and what +is more, we are assured that what is folly in the eyes of man, is wisdom +in the eyes of God, to whom nothing is impossible. Finally, in order to +decide by a single word the most insurmountable difficulties which +theology presents to us on all sides, they simply cry out: "Mysteries!" + + + + +CXI.--ABSURDITY AND INUTILITY OF THE MYSTERIES FORGED IN THE SOLE +INTEREST OF THE PRIESTS. + +What is a mystery? If I examine the thing closely, I discover very soon +that a mystery is nothing but a contradiction, a palpable absurdity, a +notorious impossibility, on which theologians wish to compel men to +humbly close the eyes; in a word, a mystery is whatever our spiritual +guides can not explain to us. + +It is advantageous for the ministers of religion that the people should +not comprehend what they are taught. It is impossible for us to examine +what we do not comprehend. Every time that we can not see clearly, we +are obliged to be guided. If religion was comprehensible, priests would +not have so many charges here below. + +No religion is without mysteries; mystery is its essence; a religion +destitute of mysteries would be a contradiction of terms. The God which +serves as a foundation to natural religion, to theism or to deism, is +Himself the greatest mystery to a mind wishing to dwell upon Him. + + + + +CXII.--CONTINUATION. + +All the revealed religions which we see in the world are filled with +mysterious dogmas, unintelligible principles, of incredible miracles, of +astonishing tales which seem imagined but to confound reason. Every +religion announces a concealed God, whose essence is a mystery; +consequently, it is just as difficult to conceive of His conduct as of +the essence of this God Himself. Divinity has never spoken to us but in +an enigmatical and mysterious way in the various religions which have +been founded in the different regions of our globe. It has revealed +itself everywhere but to announce mysteries, that is to say, to warn +mortals that it designs that they should believe in contradictions, in +impossibilities, or in things of which they were incapable of forming +any positive idea. + +The more mysteries a religion has, the more incredible objects it +presents to the mind, the better fitted it is to please the imagination +of men, who find in it a continual pasturage to feed upon. The more +obscure a religion is, the more it appears divine, that is to say, in +conformity to the nature of an invisible being, of whom we have no idea. + +It is the peculiarity of ignorance to prefer the unknown, the concealed, +the fabulous, the wonderful, the incredible, even the terrible, to that +which is clear, simple, and true. Truth does not give to the imagination +such lively play as fiction, which each one may arrange as he pleases. +The vulgar ask nothing better than to listen to fables; priests and +legislators, by inventing religions and forging mysteries from them, +have served them to their taste. In this way they have attracted +enthusiasts, women, and the illiterate generally. Beings of this kind +resign easily to reasons which they are incapable of examining; the love +of the simple and the true is found but in the small number of those +whose imagination is regulated by study and by reflection. The +inhabitants of a village are never more pleased with their pastor than +when he mixes a good deal of Latin in his sermon. Ignorant men always +imagine that he who speaks to them of things which they do not +understand, is a very wise and learned man. This is the true principle +of the credulity of nations, and of the authority of those who pretend +to guide them. + + + + +CXIII.--CONTINUATION. + +To speak to men to announce to them mysteries, is to give and retain, it +is to speak not to be understood. He who talks but by enigmas, either +seeks to amuse himself by the embarrassment which he causes, or finds it +to his advantage not to explain himself too clearly. Every secret +betrays suspicion, weakness, and fear. Princes and their ministers make +a mystery of their projects for fear that their enemies in penetrating +them would cause them to fail. Can a good God amuse Himself by the +embarrassment of His creatures? A God who enjoys a power which nothing +in the world can resist, can He apprehend that His intentions could be +thwarted? What interest would He have in putting upon us enigmas and +mysteries? We are told that man, by the weakness of his nature, is not +capable of comprehending the Divine economy which can be to him but a +tissue of mysteries; that God can not unveil secrets to him which are +beyond his reach. In this case, I reply, that man is not made to trouble +himself with Divine economy, that this economy can not interest him in +the least, that he has no need of mysteries which he can not understand; +finally, that a mysterious religion is not made for him, any more than +an eloquent discourse is made for a flock of sheep. + + + + +CXIV.--A UNIVERSAL GOD SHOULD HAVE REVEALED A UNIVERSAL RELIGION. + +Divinity has revealed itself in the different parts of our globe in a +manner of such little uniformity, that in matters of religion men look +upon each other with hatred and disdain. The partisans of the different +sects see each other very ridiculous and foolish. The most respected +mysteries in one religion are laughable for another. God, having +revealed Himself to men, ought at least to speak in the same language to +all, and relieve their weak minds of the embarrassment of seeking what +can be the religion which truly emanated from Him, or what is the most +agreeable form of worship in His eyes. + +A universal God ought to have revealed a universal religion. By what +fatality are so many different religions found on the earth? Which is +the true one amongst the great number of those of which each one +pretends to be the right one, to the exclusion of all the others? We +have every reason to believe that not one of them enjoys this advantage. +The divisions and the disputes about opinions are indubitable signs of +the uncertainty and of the obscurity of the principles which they +profess. + + + + +CXV.--THE PROOF THAT RELIGION IS NOT NECESSARY, IS THAT IT IS +UNINTELLIGIBLE. + +If religion was necessary to all men, it ought to be intelligible to all +men. If this religion was the most important thing for them, the +goodness of God, it seems, ought to make it for them the clearest, the +most evident, and the best demonstrated of all things. Is it not +astonishing to see that this matter, so essential to the salvation of +mortals, is precisely the one which they understand the least, and about +which, during so many centuries, their doctors have disputed the most? +Never have priests, of even the same sect, come to an agreement among +themselves about the manner of understanding the wishes of a God who has +truly revealed Himself to them. The world which we inhabit can be +compared to a public place, in whose different parts several charlatans +are placed, each one straining himself to attract customers by +depreciating the remedies offered by his competitors. Each stand has its +purchasers, who are persuaded that their empiric alone possesses the +good remedies; notwithstanding the continual use which they make of +them, they do not perceive that they are no better, or that they are +just as sick as those who run after the charlatans of another stand. +Devotion is a disease of the imagination, contracted in infancy; the +devotee is a hypochondriac, who increases his disease by the use of +remedies. The wise man takes none of it; he follows a good regimen and +leaves the rest to nature. + + + + +CXVI.--ALL RELIGIONS ARE RIDICULED BY THOSE OF OPPOSITE THOUGH EQUALLY +INSANE BELIEF. + +Nothing appears more ridiculous in the eyes of a sensible man than for +one denomination to criticize another whose creed is equally foolish. A +Christian thinks that the Koran, the Divine revelation announced by +Mohammed, is but a tissue of impertinent dreams and impostures injurious +to Divinity. The Mohammedan, on his side, treats the Christian as an +idolater and a dog; he sees but absurdities in his religion; he imagines +he has the right to conquer his country and force him, sword in hand, to +accept the faith of his Divine prophet; he believes especially that +nothing is more impious or more unreasonable than to worship a man or to +believe in the Trinity. The Protestant Christian, who without scruple +worships a man, and who believes firmly in the inconceivable mystery of +the Trinity, ridicules the Catholic Christian because the latter +believes in the mystery of the transubstantiation. He treats him as a +fool, as ungodly and idolatrous, because he kneels to worship the bread +in which he believes he sees the God of the universe. All the Christian +denominations agree in considering as folly the incarnation of the God +of the Indies, Vishnu. They contend that the only true incarnation is +that of Jesus, Son of the God of the universe and of the wife of a +carpenter. The theist, who calls himself a votary of natural religion, +is satisfied to acknowledge a God of whom he has no conception; indulges +himself in jesting upon other mysteries taught by all the religions of +the world. + + + + +CXVII.--OPINION OF A CELEBRATED THEOLOGIAN. + +Did not a famous theologian recognize the absurdity of admitting the +existence of a God and arresting His course? "To us," he said, "who +believe through faith in a true God, an individual substance, there +ought to be no trouble in believing everything else. This first mystery, +which is no small matter of itself, once admitted, our reason can not +suffer violence in admitting all the rest. As for myself, it is no more +trouble to accept a million of things that I do not understand, than to +believe the first one." + +Is there anything more contradictory, more impossible, or more +mysterious, than the creation of matter by an immaterial Being, who +Himself immutable, causes the continual changes that we see in the +world? Is there anything more incompatible with all the ideas of common +sense than to believe that a good, wise, equitable, and powerful Being +presides over nature and directs Himself the movements of a world which +is filled with follies, miseries, crimes, and disorders, which He could +have foreseen, and by a single word could have prevented or made to +disappear? Finally, as soon as we admit a Being so contradictory as the +theological God, what right have we to refuse to accept the most +improbable fables, the most astonishing miracles, the most profound +mysteries? + + + + +CXVIII.--THE DEIST'S GOD IS NO LESS CONTRADICTORY, NO LESS FANCIFUL, THAN +THE THEOLOGIAN'S GOD. + +The theist exclaims, "Be careful not to worship the ferocious and +strange God of theology; mine is much wiser and better; He is the Father +of men; He is the mildest of Sovereigns; it is He who fills the universe +with His benefactions!" But I will tell him, do you not see that +everything in this world contradicts the good qualities which you +attribute to your God? In the numerous family of this mild Father I see +but unfortunate ones. Under the empire of this just Sovereign I see +crime victorious and virtue in distress. Among these benefactions, which +you boast of, and which your enthusiasm alone sees, I see a multitude of +evils of all kinds, upon which you obstinately close your eyes. + + + +Compelled to acknowledge that your good God, in contradiction with +Himself, distributes with the same hand good and evil, you will find +yourself obliged, in order to justify Him, to send me, as the priests +would, to the other life. Invent, then, another God than the one of +theology, because your God is as contradictory as its God is. A good God +who does evil or who permits it to be done, a God full of equity and in +an empire where innocence is so often oppressed; a perfect God who +produces but imperfect and wretched works; such a God and His conduct, +are they not as great mysteries as that of the incarnation? You blush, +you say, for your fellow beings who are persuaded that the God of the +universe could change Himself into a man and die upon a cross in a +corner of Asia. You consider the ineffable mystery of the Trinity very +absurd Nothing appears more ridiculous to you than a God who changes +Himself into bread and who is eaten every day in a thousand different +places. + +Well! are all these mysteries any more shocking to reason than a God who +punishes and rewards men's actions? Man, according to your views, is he +free or not? In either case your God, if He has the shadow of justice, +can neither punish him nor reward him. If man is free, it is God who +made him free to act or not to act; it is God, then, who is the +primitive cause of all his actions; in punishing man for his faults, He +would punish him for having done that which He gave him the liberty to +do. If man is not free to act otherwise than he does, would not God be +the most unjust of beings to punish him for the faults which he could +not help committing? Many persons are struck with the detail of +absurdities with which all religions of the world are filled; but they +have not the courage to seek for the source whence these absurdities +necessarily sprung. They do not see that a God full of contradictions, +of oddities, of incompatible qualities, either inflaming or nursing the +imagination of men, could create but a long line of idle fancies. + + + + +CXIX.--WE DO NOT PROVE AT ALL THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD BY SAYING THAT IN +ALL AGES EVERY NATION HAS ACKNOWLEDGED SOME KIND OF DIVINITY. + +They believe, to silence those who deny the existence of a God, by +telling them that all men, in all ages and in all centuries, have +believed in some kind of a God; that there is no people on the earth who +have not believed in an invisible and powerful being, whom they made the +object of their worship and of their veneration; finally, that there is +no nation, no matter how benighted we may suppose it to be, that is not +persuaded of the existence of some intelligence superior to human +nature. But can the belief of all men change an error into truth? A +celebrated philosopher has said with all reason: "Neither general +tradition nor the unanimous consent of all men could place any +injunction upon truth." [Bayle.] Another wise man said before him, that +"an army of philosophers would not be sufficient to change the nature of +error and to make it truth." [Averroës] + +There was a time when all men believed that the sun revolved around the +earth, while the latter remained motionless in the center of the whole +system of the universe; it is scarcely more than two hundred years since +this error was refuted. There was a time when nobody would believe in +the existence of antipodes, and when they persecuted those who had the +courage to sustain it; to-day no learned man dares to doubt it. All +nations of the world, except some men less credulous than others, still +believe in sorcerers, ghosts, apparitions, spirits; no sensible man +imagines himself obliged to adopt these follies; but the most sensible +people feel obliged to believe in a universal Spirit! + + + + +CXX.--ALL THE GODS ARE OF A BARBAROUS ORIGIN; ALL RELIGIONS ARE ANTIQUE +MONUMENTS OF IGNORANCE, SUPERSTITION, AND FEROCITY; AND MODERN RELIGIONS +ARE BUT ANCIENT FOLLIES REVIVED. + +All the Gods worshiped by men have a barbarous origin; they were visibly +imagined by stupid nations, or were presented by ambitious and cunning +legislators to simple and benighted people, who had neither the capacity +nor the courage to examine properly the object which, by means of +terrors, they were made to worship. In examining closely the God which +we see adored still in our days by the most civilized nations, we are +compelled to acknowledge that He has evidently barbarous features. To be +barbarous is to recognize no right but force; it is being cruel to +excess; it is but following one's own caprice; it is a lack of +foresight, of prudence, and reason. Nations, who believe yourselves +civilized! do you not perceive this frightful character of the God to +whom you offer your incense? The pictures which are drawn of Divinity, +are they not visibly borrowed from the implacable, jealous, vindictive, +blood-thirsty, capricious, inconsiderate humor of man, who has not yet +cultivated his reason? Oh, men! you worship but a great savage, whom you +consider as a model to follow, as an amiable master, as a perfect +sovereign. + +The religious opinions of men in every country are antique and durable +monuments of ignorance credulity, of the terrors and the ferocity of +their ancestors. Every barbarian is a child thirsting for the wonderful, +which he imbibes with pleasure, and who never reasons upon that which he +finds proper to excite his imagination; his ignorance of the ways of +nature makes him attribute to spirits, to enchantments, to magic, all +that appears to him extraordinary; in his eyes his priests are +sorcerers, in whom he supposes an Almighty power; before whom his +confused reason humiliates itself, whose oracles are for him infallible +decrees, to contradict which would be dangerous. In matters of religion +the majority of men have remained in their primitive barbarity. Modern +religions are but follies of old times rejuvenated or presented in some +new form. If the ancient barbarians have worshiped mountains, rivers, +serpents, trees, fetishes of every kind; if the wise Egyptians worshiped +crocodiles, rats, onions, do we not see nations who believe themselves +wiser than they, worship with reverence a bread, into which they imagine +that the enchantments of their priests cause the Divinity to descend? Is +not the God-bread the fetish of many Christian nations, as little +rational in this point as that of the most barbarous nations? + + + + +CXXI.--ALL RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES BEAR THE SEAL OF STUPIDITY OR BARBARITY. + +In all times the ferocity, the stupidity, the folly of savage men were +shown in religious customs which were often cruel and extravagant. A +spirit of barbarity has come down to our days; it intrudes itself into +the religions which are followed by the most civilized nations. Do we +not still see human victims offered to Divinity? In order to appease the +wrath of a God whom we suppose as ferocious, as jealous, as vindictive, +as a savage, do not sanguinary laws cause the destruction of those who +are believed to have displeased Him by their way of thinking? + +Modern nations, at the instigation of their priests, have even excelled +the atrocious folly of the most barbarous nations; at least do we not +find that it never entered into a savage's mind to torment for the sake +of opinions, to meddle in thought, to trouble men for the invisible +actions of their brains? When we see polished and wise nations, such as +the English, French, German, etc., notwithstanding all their +enlightenment, continue to kneel before the barbarous God of the Jews, +that is to say, of the most stupid, the most credulous, the most savage, +the most unsocial nation which ever was on the earth; when we see these +enlightened nations divide themselves into sects, tear one another, hate +and despise each other for opinions, equally ridiculous, upon the +conduct and the intentions of this irrational God; when we see +intelligent persons occupy themselves foolishly in meditating on the +wishes of this capricious and foolish God; we are tempted to exclaim, +"Oh, men! you are still savages! Oh, men! you are but children in the +matter of religion!" + + + + +CXXII.--THE MORE ANCIENT AND GENERAL A RELIGIOUS OPINION IS, THE GREATER +THE REASON FOR SUSPECTING IT. + +Whoever has formed true ideas of the ignorance, credulity, negligence, +and sottishness of common people, will always regard their religious +opinions with the greater suspicion for their being generally +established. The majority of men examine nothing; they allow themselves +to be blindly led by custom and authority; their religious opinions are +specially those which they have the least courage and capacity to +examine; as they do not understand anything about them, they are +compelled to be silent or put an end to their reasoning. Ask the common +man if he believes in God. He will be surprised that you could doubt it. +Then ask him what he understands by the word God. You will confuse him; +you will perceive at once that he is incapable of forming any real idea +of this word which he so often repeats; he will tell you that God is +God, and you will find that he knows neither what he thinks of Him, nor +the motives which he has for believing in Him. + +All nations speak of a God; but do they agree upon this God? No! Well, +difference of opinion does not serve as evidence, but is a sign of +uncertainty and obscurity. Does the same man always agree with himself +in his ideas of God? No! This idea varies with the vicissitudes of his +life. This is another sign of uncertainty. Men always agree with other +men and with themselves upon demonstrated truths, regardless of the +position in which they find themselves; except the insane, all agree +that two and two make four, that the sun shines, that the whole is +greater than any one of its parts, that Justice is a benefaction, that +we must be benevolent to deserve the love of men, that injustice and +cruelty are incompatible with goodness. Do they agree in the same way if +they speak of God? All that they think or say of Him is immediately +contradicted by the effects which they wish to attribute to Him. Tell +several artists to paint a chimera, each of them will form different +ideas of it, and will paint it differently; you will find no resemblance +in the features each of them will have given to a portrait whose model +exists nowhere. In painting God, do any of the theologians of the world +represent Him otherwise than as a great chimera, upon whose features +they never agree, each one arranging it according to his style, which +has its origin but in his own brain? There are no two individuals in the +world who have or can have the same ideas of their God. + + + + +CXXIII.--SKEPTICISM IN THE MATTER OF RELIGION, CAN BE THE EFFECT OF BUT A +SUPERFICIAL EXAMINATION OF THEOLOGICAL PRINCIPLES. + +Perhaps it would be more truthful to say, that all men are either +skeptics or atheists, than to pretend that they are firmly convinced of +the existence of a God. How can we be assured of the existence of a +being whom we never have been able to examine, of whom it is impossible +to form any permanent idea, whose different effects upon ourselves +prevent us from forming an invariable judgment, of whom no idea can be +uniform in two different brains? How can we claim to be completely +persuaded of the existence of a being to whom we are constantly obliged +to attribute a conduct opposed co the ideas which we had tried to form +of it? Is it possible firmly to believe what we can not conceive? In +believing thus, are we not adhering to the opinions of others without +having one of our own? The priests regulate the belief of the vulgar; +but do not these priests themselves acknowledge that God is +incomprehensible to them? Let us conclude, then, that the conviction of +the existence of a God is not as general as it is affirmed to be. + +To be a skeptic, is to lack the motives necessary to establish a +judgment. In view of the proofs which seem to establish, and of the +arguments which combat the existence of a God, some persons prefer to +doubt and to suspend their judgment; but at the bottom, this uncertainty +is the result of an insufficient examination. Is it, then, possible to +doubt evidence? Sensible people deride, and with reason, an absolute +pyrrhonism, and even consider it impossible. A man who could doubt his +own existence, or that of the sun, would appear very ridiculous, or +would be suspected of reasoning in bad faith. Is it less extravagant to +have uncertainties about the non-existence of an evidently impossible +being? Is it more absurd to doubt of one's own existence, than to +hesitate upon the impossibility of a being whose qualities destroy each +other? Do we find more probabilities for believing in a spiritual being +than for believing in the existence of a stick without two ends? Is the +notion of an infinitely good and powerful being who permits an infinity +of evils, less absurd or less impossible than that of a square triangle? + + + +Let us conclude, then, that religious skepticism can be but the effect +of a superficial examination of theological principles, which are in a +perpetual contradiction of the clearest and best demonstrated +principles! To doubt is to deliberate upon the judgment which we should +pass. Skepticism is but a state of indecision which results from a +superficial examination of subjects. Is it possible to be skeptical in +the matter of religion when we design to return to its principles, and +look closely into the idea of the God who serves as its foundation? +Doubt arises ordinarily from laziness, weakness, indifference, or +incapacity. To doubt, for many people, is to dread the trouble of +examining things to which one attaches but little interest. Although +religion is presented to men as the most important thing for them in +this world as well as in the other, skepticism and doubt on this subject +can be for the mind but a disagreeable state, and offers but a +comfortable cushion. No man who has not the courage to contemplate +without prejudice the God upon whom every religion is founded, can know +what religion to accept; he does not know what to believe and what not +to believe, to accept or to reject, what to hope or fear; finally, he is +incompetent to judge for himself. + +Indifference upon religion can not be confounded with skepticism; this +indifference itself is founded upon the assurance or upon the +probability which we find in believing that religion is not made to +interest us. The persuasion which we have that a thing which is +presented to us as very important, is not so, or is but indifferent, +supposes a sufficient examination of the thing, without which it would +be impossible to have this persuasion. Those who call themselves +skeptics in regard to the fundamental points of religion, are generally +but idle and lazy men, who are incapable of examining them. + + + + +CXXIV.--REVELATION REFUTED. + +In all parts of the world, we are assured that God revealed Himself. +What did He teach men? Does He prove to them evidently that He exists? +Does He tell them where He resides? Does He teach them what He is, or of +what His essence consists? Does He explain to them clearly His +intentions and His plan? What He says of this plan, does it agree with +the effects which we see? No! He informs us only that "He is the One +that is," [I am that I am, saith the Lord] that He is an invincible God, +that His ways are ineffable, that He becomes furious as soon as one has +the temerity to penetrate His decrees, or to consult reason in order to +judge of Him or His works. Does the revealed conduct of God correspond +with the magnificent ideas which are given to us of His wisdom, +goodness, justice, of His omnipotence? Not at all; in every revelation +this conduct shows a partial, capricious being, at least, good to His +favorite people, an enemy to all others. If He condescends to show +Himself to some men, He takes care to keep all the others in invincible +ignorance of His divine intentions. Does not every special revelation +announce an unjust, partial, and malicious God? + +Are the revealed wishes of a God capable of striking us by the sublime +reason or the wisdom which they contain? Do they tend to the happiness +of the people to whom Divinity has declared them? Examining the Divine +wishes, I find in them, in all countries, but whimsical ordinances, +ridiculous precepts, ceremonies of which we do not understand the aim, +puerile practices, principles of conduct unworthy of the Monarch of +Nature, offerings, sacrifices, expiations, useful, in fact, to the +ministers of God, but very onerous to the rest of mankind. I find also, +that they often have a tendency to render men unsocial, disdainful, +intolerant, quarrelsome, unjust, inhuman toward all those who have not +received either the same revelations as they, or the same ordinances, or +the same favors from Heaven. + + + + +CXXV.--WHERE, THEN, IS THE PROOF THAT GOD DID EVER SHOW HIMSELF TO MEN OR +SPEAK TO THEM? + +Are the precepts of morality as announced by Divinity truly Divine, or +superior to those which every rational man could imagine? They are +Divine only because it is impossible for the human mind to see their +utility. Their virtue consists in a total renunciation of human nature, +in a voluntary oblivion of one's reason, in a holy hatred of self; +finally, these sublime precepts show us perfection in a conduct cruel to +ourselves and perfectly useless to others. + +How did God show Himself? Did He Himself promulgate His laws? Did He +speak to men with His own mouth? I am told that God did not show Himself +to a whole nation, but that He employed always the organism of a few +favored persons, who took the care to teach and to explain His +intentions to the unlearned. It was never permitted to the people to go +to the sanctuary; the ministers of the Gods always alone had the right +to report to them what transpired. + + + + +CXXVI.--NOTHING ESTABLISHES THE TRUTH OF MIRACLES. + +If, in the economy of all Divine revelations, I am unable to recognize +either the wisdom, the goodness, or the equity of a God; if I suspect +deceit, ambition, selfish designs in the great personages who have +interposed between Heaven and us, I am assured that God has confirmed, +by splendid miracles, the mission of those who have spoken for Him. But +was it not much easier to show Himself, and to explain for Himself? On +the other hand, if I have the curiosity to examine these miracles, I +find that they are tales void of probability, related by suspicious +people, who had the greatest interest in making others believe that they +were sent from the Most High. + +What witnesses are referred to in order to make us believe incredible +miracles? They call as witnesses stupid people, who have ceased to exist +for thousands of years, and who, even if they could attest the miracles +in question, would be suspected of having been deceived by their own +imagination, and of permitting themselves to be seduced by the illusions +which skillful impostors performed before their eyes. But, you will say, +these miracles are recorded in books which through constant tradition +have been handed down to us. By whom were these books written? Who are +the men who have transmitted and perpetuated them? They are either the +same people who established these religions, or those who have become +their adherents and their assistants. Thus, in the matter of religion, +the testimony of interested parties is irrefragable and can not be +contested! + + + + +CXXVII.--IF GOD HAD SPOKEN, IT WOULD BE STRANGE THAT HE HAD SPOKEN +DIFFERENTLY TO ALL THE ADHERENTS OF THE DIFFERENT SECTS, WHO DAMN EACH +OTHER, WHO ACCUSE EACH OTHER, WITH REASON, OF SUPERSTITION AND IMPIETY. + +God has spoken differently to each nation of the globe which we inhabit. +The Indian does not believe one word of what He said to the Chinaman; +the Mohammedan considers what He has told to the Christian as fables; +the Jew considers the Mohammedan and the Christian as sacrilegious +corruptors of the Holy Law, which his God has given to his fathers. The +Christian, proud of his more modern revelation, equally damns the Indian +and the Chinaman, the Mohammedan, and even the Jew, whose holy books he +holds. Who is wrong or right? Each one exclaims: "It is I!" Every one +claims the same proofs; each one speaks of his miracles, his saints, his +prophets, his martyrs. Sensible men answer, that they are all delirious; +that God has not spoken, if it is true that He is a Spirit who has +neither mouth nor tongue; that the God of the Universe could, without +borrowing mortal organism, inspire His creatures with what He desired +them to learn, and that, as they are all equally ignorant of what they +ought to think about God, it is evident that God did not want to +instruct them. The adherents of the different forms of worship which we +see established in this world, accuse each other of superstition and of +ungodliness. The Christians abhor the superstition of the heathen, of +the Chinese, of the Mohammedans. The Roman Catholics treat the +Protestant Christians as impious; the latter incessantly declaim against +Roman superstition. They are all right. To be impious, is to have unjust +opinions about the God who is adored; to be superstitious, is to have +false ideas of Him. In accusing each other of superstition, the +different religionists resemble humpbacks who taunt each other with +their malformation. + + + + +CXXVIII.--OBSCURE AND SUSPICIOUS ORIGIN OF ORACLES. + +The oracles which the Deity has revealed to the nations through His +different mediums, are they clear? Alas! there are not two men who +understand them alike. Those who explain them to others do not agree +among themselves; in order to make them clear, they have recourse to +interpretations, to commentaries, to allegories, to parables, in which +is found a mystical sense very different from the literal one. Men are +needed everywhere to explain the wishes of God, who could not or would +not explain Himself clearly to those whom He desired to enlighten. God +always prefers to use as mediums men who can be suspected of having been +deceived themselves, or having reasons to deceive others. + + + + +CXXIX.--ABSURDITY OF PRETENDED MIRACLES. + +The founders of all religions have usually proved their mission by +miracles. But what is a miracle? It is an operation directly opposed to +the laws of nature. But, according to you, who has made these laws? It +is God. Thus your God, who, according to you, has foreseen everything, +counteracts the laws which His wisdom had imposed upon nature! These +laws were then defective, or at least in certain circumstances they +were but in accordance with the views of this same God, for you tell us +that He thought He ought to suspend or counteract them. + +An attempt is made to persuade us that men who have been favored by the +Most High have received from Him the power to perform miracles; but in +order to perform a miracle, it is necessary to have the faculty of +creating new causes capable of producing effects opposed to those which +ordinary causes can produce. Can we realize how God can give to men the +inconceivable power of creating causes out of nothing? Can it be +believed that an unchangeable God can communicate to man the power to +change or rectify His plan, a power which, according to His essence, an +immutable being can not have himself? Miracles, far from doing much +honor to God, far from proving the Divinity of religion, destroy +evidently the idea which is given to us of God, of His immutability, of +His incommunicable attributes, and even of His omnipotence. How can a +theologian tell us that a God who embraced at once the whole of His +plan, who could make but perfect laws, who can change nothing in them, +should be obliged to employ miracles to make His projects successful, or +grant to His creatures the faculty of performing prodigies, in order to +execute His Divine will? Is it probable that a God needs the support of +men? An Omnipotent Being, whose wishes are always gratified, a Being who +holds in His hands the hearts and the minds of His creatures, needs but +to wish, in order to make them believe all He desires. + + + + +CXXX.--REFUTATION OF PASCAL'S MANNER OF REASONING AS TO HOW WE SHOULD +JUDGE MIRACLES. + +What should we say of religions that based their Divinity upon miracles +which they themselves cause to appear suspicious? How can we place any +faith in the miracles related in the Holy Books of the Christians, where +God Himself boasts of hardening hearts, of blinding those whom He wishes +to ruin; where this God permits wicked spirits and magicians to perform +as wonderful miracles as those of His servants; where it is prophesied +that the Anti-Christ will have the power to perform miracles capable of +destroying the faith even of the elect? This granted, how can we know +whether God wants to instruct us or to lay a snare for us? How can we +distinguish whether the wonders which we see, proceed from God or the +Devil? Pascal, in order to disembarrass us, says very gravely, that we +must judge the doctrine by miracles, and the miracles by the doctrine; +that doctrine judges the miracles, and the miracles judge the doctrine. +If there exists a defective and ridiculous circle, it is no doubt in +this fine reasoning of one of the greatest defenders of the Christian +religion. Which of all the religions in the world does not claim to +possess the most admirable doctrine, and which does not bring to its aid +a great number of miracles? + +Is a miracle capable of destroying a demonstrated truth? Although a man +should have the secret of curing all diseases, of making the lame to +walk, of raising all the dead of a city, of floating in the air, of +arresting the course of the sun and of the moon, will he be able to +convince me by all this that two and two do not make four; that one +makes three and that three makes but one; that a God who fills the +universe with His immensity, could have transformed Himself into the +body of a Jew; that the eternal can perish like man; that an immutable, +foreseeing, and sensible God could have changed His opinion upon His +religion, and reform His own work by a new revelation? + + + + +CXXXI.--EVEN ACCORDING TO THE PRINCIPLES OF THEOLOGY ITSELF, EVERY NEW +REVELATION SHOULD BE REFUTED AS FALSE AND IMPIOUS. + +According to the principles of theology itself, whether natural or +revealed, every new revelation ought to be considered false; every +change in a religion which had emanated from the Deity ought to be +refuted as ungodly and blasphemous. Does not every reform suppose that +God did not know how at the start to give His religion the required +solidity and perfection? To say that God in giving a first law +accommodated Himself to the gross ideas of a people whom He wished to +enlighten, is to pretend that God neither could nor would make the +people whom He enlightened at that time, as reasonable as they ought to +be to please Him. + + + + +Christianity is an impiety, if it is true that Judaism as a religion +really emanated from a Holy, Immutable, Almighty, grid Foreseeing God. + + + +Christ's religion implies either defects in the law that God Himself +gave by Moses, or impotence or malice in this God who could not, or +would not make the Jews as they ought to be to please Him. All +religions, whether new, or ancient ones reformed, are evidently founded +on the weakness, the inconstancy, the imprudence, and the malice of the +Deity. + + + + +CXXXII.--EVEN THE BLOOD OF THE MARTYRS, TESTIFIES AGAINST THE TRUTH OF +MIRACLES AND AGAINST THE DIVINE ORIGIN WHICH CHRISTIANITY CLAIMS. + +If history informs me that the first apostles, founders or reformers of +religions, performed great miracles, history teaches me also that these +reforming apostles and their adherents have been usually despised, +persecuted, and put to death as disturbers of the peace of nations. I am +then tempted to believe that they have not performed the miracles +attributed to them. Finally, these miracles should have procured to them +a great number of disciples among those who witnessed them, who ought to +have prevented the performers from being maltreated. My incredulity +increases if I am told that the performers of miracles have been cruelly +tormented or slain. How can we believe that missionaries, protected by a +God, invested with His Divine Power, and enjoying the gift of miracles, +could not perform the simple miracle of escaping from the cruelty of +their persecutors? + +Persecutions themselves are considered as a convincing proof in favor of +the religion of those who have suffered them; but a religion which +boasts of having caused the death of many martyrs, and which informs us +that its founders have suffered for its extension unheard-of torments, +can not be the religion of a benevolent, equitable, and Almighty God. A +good God would not permit that men charged with revealing His will +should be misused. An omnipotent God desiring to found a religion, would +have employed simpler and less fatal means for His most faithful +servants. To say that God desired that His religion should be sealed by +blood, is to say that this God is weak, unjust, ungrateful, and +sanguinary, and that He sacrifices unworthily His missionaries to the +interests of His ambition. + + + + +CXXXIII.--THE FANATICISM OF THE MARTYRS, THE INTERESTED ZEAL OF +MISSIONARIES, PROVE IN NOWISE THE TRUTH OF RELIGION. + +To die for a religion does not prove it true or Divine; this proves at +most that we suppose it to be so. An enthusiast in dying proves nothing +but that religious fanaticism is often stronger than the love of life. +An impostor can sometimes die with courage; he makes then, as is said, +"a virtue of necessity." We are often surprised and affected at the +sight of the generous courage and the disinterested zeal which have led +missionaries to preach their doctrine at the risk even of suffering the +most rigorous torments. We draw from this love, which is exhibited for +the salvation of men, deductions favorable to the religion which they +have proclaimed; but in truth this disinterestedness is only apparent. +"Nothing ventured, nothing gained!" A missionary seeks fortune by the +aid of his doctrine; he knows that if he has the good fortune to retail +his commodity, he will become the absolute master of those who accept +him as their guide; he is sure to become the object of their care, of +their respect, of their veneration; he has every reason to believe that +he will be abundantly provided for. These are the true motives which +kindle the zeal and the charity of so many preachers and missionaries +who travel all over the world. + +To die for an opinion, proves no more the truth or the soundness of this +opinion than to die in a battle proves the right of the prince, for +whose benefit so many people are foolish enough to sacrifice themselves. +The courage of a martyr, animated by the idea of Paradise, is not any +more supernatural than the courage of a warrior, inspired with the idea +of glory or held to duty by the fear of disgrace. What difference do we +find between an Iroquois who sings while he is burned by a slow fire, +and the martyr St. Lawrence, who while upon the gridiron insults his +tyrant? + +The preachers of a new doctrine succumb because they are not the +strongest; the apostles usually practice a perilous business, whose +consequences they can foresee; their courageous death does not prove any +more the truth of their principles or their own sincerity, than the +violent death of an ambitious man or a brigand proves that they had the +right to trouble society, or that they believed themselves authorized to +do it. A missionary's profession has been always flattering to his +ambition, and has enabled him to subsist at the expense of the common +people; these advantages have been sufficient to make him forget the +dangers which are connected with it. + + + + +CXXXIV.--THEOLOGY MAKES OF ITS GOD AN ENEMY OF COMMON SENSE AND OF +ENLIGHTENMENT. + +You tell us, O theologians! that "what is folly in the eyes of men, is +wisdom before God, who is pleased to confound the wisdom of the wise." +But do you not pretend that human wisdom is a gift from Heaven? In +telling us that this wisdom displeases God, is but folly in His eyes, +and that He wishes to confound it, you proclaim that your God is but the +friend of unenlightened people, and that He makes to sensible people a +fatal gift, for which this perfidious Tyrant promises to punish them +cruelly some day. Is it not very strange that we can not be the friend +of your God but by declaring ourselves the enemy of reason and common +sense? + + + + +CXXXV.--FAITH IS IRRECONCILABLE WITH REASON, AND REASON IS PREFERABLE TO +FAITH. + +Faith, according to theologians, is consent without evidence. From this +it follows that religion exacts that we should firmly believe, without +evidence, in propositions which are often improbable or opposed to +reason. But to challenge reason as a judge of faith, is it not +acknowledging that reason can not agree with faith? As the ministers of +religion have determined to banish reason, they must have felt the +impossibility of reconciling reason with faith, which is visibly but a +blind submission to those priests whose authority, in many minds, +appears to be of a greater importance than evidence itself, and +preferable to the testimony of the senses. "Sacrifice your reason; give +up experience; distrust the testimony of your senses; submit without +examination to all that is given to you as coming from Heaven." This is +the usual language of all the priests of the world; they do not agree +upon any point, except in the necessity of never reasoning when they +present principles to us which they claim as the most important to our +happiness. + +I will not sacrifice my reason, because this reason alone enables me to +distinguish good from evil, the true from the false. If, as you pretend, +my reason comes from God, I will never believe that a God whom you call +so good, had ever given me reason but as a snare, in order to lead me to +perdition. Priests! in crying down reason, do you not see that you +slander your God, who, as you assure us, has given us this reason? + +I will not give up experience, because it is a much better guide than +imagination, or than the authority of the guides whom they wish to give +me. This experience teaches me that enthusiasm and interest can blind +and mislead them, and that the authority of experience ought to have +more weight upon my mind than the suspicious testimony of many men whom +I know to be capable of deceiving themselves, or very much interested in +deceiving others. + +I will not distrust my senses. I do not ignore the fact that they can +sometimes lead me into error; but on the other hand, I know that they do +not deceive me always. I know very well that the eye shows the sun much +smaller than it really is; but experience, which is only the repeated +application of the senses, teaches me that objects continually diminish +by reason of their distance; it is by these means that I reach the +conclusion that the sun is much larger than the earth; it is thus that +my senses suffice to rectify the hasty judgments which they induced me +to form. In warning me to doubt the testimony of my senses, you destroy +for me the proofs of all religion. If men can be dupes of their +imagination, if their senses are deceivers, why would you have me +believe in the miracles which made an impression upon the deceiving +senses of our ancestors? If my senses are faithless guides, I learn that +I should not have faith even in the miracles which I might see performed +under my own eyes. + + + + +CXXXVI.--HOW ABSURD AND RIDICULOUS IS THE SOPHISTRY OF THOSE WHO WISH TO +SUBSTITUTE FAITH FOR REASON. + +You tell me continually that the "truths of religion are beyond reason." +Do you not admit, then, that these truths are not made for reasonable +beings? To pretend that reason can deceive us, is to say that truth can +be false, that usefulness can be injurious. Is reason anything else but +the knowledge of the useful and the true? Besides, as we have but our +reason, which is more or less exercised, and our senses, such as they +are, to lead us in this life, to claim that reason is an unsafe guide, +and that our senses are deceivers, is to tell us that our errors are +necessary, that our ignorance is invincible, and that, without extreme +injustice, God can not punish us for having followed the only guides +which He desired to give us. To pretend that we are obliged to believe +in things which are beyond our reason, is an assertion as ridiculous as +to say that God would compel us to fly without wings. To claim that +there are objects on which reason should not be consulted, is to say +that in the most important affairs, we must consult but imagination, or +act by chance. + +Our Doctors of Divinity tell us that we ought to sacrifice our reason to +God; but what motives can we have for sacrificing our reason to a being +who gives us but useless gifts, which He does not intend that we should +make use of? What confidence can we place in a God who, according to our +Doctors themselves, is wicked enough to harden hearts, to strike us with +blindness, to place snares in our way, to lead us into temptation? +Finally, how can we place confidence in the ministers of this God, who, +in order to guide us more conveniently, command us to close our eyes? + + + + +CXXXVII.--HOW PRETEND THAT MAN OUGHT TO BELIEVE VERBAL TESTIMONY ON WHAT +IS CLAIMED TO BE THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR HIM? + +Men persuade themselves that religion is the most serious affair in the +world for them, while it is the very thing which they least examine for +themselves. If the question arises in the purchase of land, of a house, +of the investment of money, of a transaction, or of some kind of an +agreement, you will see each one examine everything with care, take the +greatest precautions, weigh all the words of a document, to beware of +any surprise or imposition. It is not the same with religion; each one +accepts it at hazard, and believes it upon verbal testimony, without +taking the trouble to examine it. Two causes seem to concur in +sustaining men in the negligence and the thoughtlessness which they +exhibit when the question comes up of examining their religious +opinions. The first one is, the hopelessness of penetrating the +obscurity by which every religion is surrounded; even in its first +principles, it has only a tendency to repel indolent minds, who see in +it but chaos, to penetrate which, they judge impossible. The second is, +that each one is afraid to incommode himself by the severe precepts +which everybody admires in the theory, and which few persons take the +trouble of practicing. Many people preserve their religion like old +family titles which they have never taken the trouble to examine +minutely, but which they place in their archives in case they need them. + + + + +CXXXVIII.--FAITH TAKES ROOT BUT IN WEAK, IGNORANT, OR INDOLENT MINDS. + +The disciples of Pythagoras had an implicit faith in their Master's +doctrine: "HE HAS SAID IT!" was for them the solution of all problems. +The majority of men act with as little reason. A curate, a priest, an +ignorant monk, will become in the matter of religion the master of one's +thoughts. Faith relieves the weakness of the human mind, for whom +application is commonly a very painful work; it is much easier to rely +upon others than to examine for one's self; examination being slow and +difficult, it is usually unpleasant to ignorant and stupid minds as well +as to very ardent ones; this is, no doubt, why faith finds so many +partisans. + +The less enlightenment and reason men possess, the more zeal they +exhibit for their religion. In all the religious factions, women, +aroused by their directors, exhibit very great zeal in opinions of which +it is evident they have not the least idea. In theological quarrels +people rush like a ferocious beast upon all those against whom their +priest wishes to excite them. Profound ignorance, unlimited credulity, a +very weak head, an irritated imagination, these are the materials of +which devotees, zealots, fanatics, and saints are made. How can we make +those people understand reason who allow themselves to be guided without +examining anything? The devotees and common people are, in the hands of +their guides, only automatons which they move at their fancy. + + + + +CXXXIX.--TO TEACH THAT THERE EXISTS ONE TRUE RELIGION IS AN ABSURDITY, +AND A CAUSE OF MUCH TROUBLE AMONG THE NATIONS. + +Religion is a thing of custom and fashion; we must do as others do. But, +among the many religions in the world, which one ought we to choose? +This examination would be too long and too painful; we must then hold to +the faith of our fathers, to that of our country, or to that of the +prince, who, possessing power, must be the best. Chance alone decides +the religion of a man and of a people. The French would be to-day as +good Mussulmen as they are Christians, if their ancestors had not +repulsed the efforts of the Saracens. If we judge of the intentions of +Providence by the events and the revolutions of this world, we are +compelled to believe that it is quite indifferent about the different +religions which exist on earth. During thousands of years Paganism, +Polytheism, and Idolatry have been the religions of the world; we are +assured today, that during this period the most flourishing nations had +not the least idea of the Deity, an idea which is claimed, however, to +be so important to all men. The Christians pretend that, with the +exception of the Jewish people, that is to say, a handful of unfortunate +beings, the whole human race lived in utter ignorance of its duties +toward God, and had but imperfect ideas of Divine majesty. Christianity, +offshoot of Judaism, which was very humble in its obscure origin, became +powerful and cruel under the Christian emperors, who, driven by a holy +zeal, spread it marvelously in their empire by sword and fire, and +founded it upon the ruins of overthrown Paganism. Mohammed and his +successors, aided by Providence, or by their victorious arms, succeeded +in a short time in expelling the Christian religion from a part of Asia, +Africa, and even of Europe itself; the Gospel was compelled to surrender +to the Koran. In all the factions or sects which during a great number +of centuries have lacerated the Christians, "THE REASON OF THE STRONGEST +WAS ALWAYS THE BEST;" the arms and the will of the princes alone decided +upon the most useful doctrine for the salvation of the nations. Could we +not conclude by this, either that the Deity takes but little interest in +the religion of men, or that He declares Himself always in favor of +opinions which best suit the Authorities of the earth, in order that He +can change His systems as soon as they take a notion to change? + +A king of Macassar, tired of the idolatry of his fathers, took a notion +one day to leave it. The monarch's council deliberated for a long time +to know whether they should consult Christian or Mohammedan Doctors. In +the impossibility of finding out which was the better of the two +religions, it was resolved to send at the same time for the missionaries +of both, and to accept the doctrine of those who would have the +advantage of arriving first. They did not doubt that God, who disposes +of events, would thus Himself explain His will. Mohammed's missionaries +having been more diligent, the king with his people submitted to the law +which he had imposed upon himself; the missionaries of Christ were +dismissed by default of their God, who did not permit them to arrive +early enough. God evidently consents that chance should decide the +religion of nations. + +Those who govern, always decide the religion of the people. The true +religion is but the religion of the prince; the true God is the God whom +the prince wishes them to worship; the will of the priests who govern +the prince, always becomes the will of God. A jester once said, with +reason, that "the true faith is always the one which has on its side +'the prince and the executioner.'" + +Emperors and executioners for a long time sustained the Gods of Rome +against the God of the Christians; the latter having won over to their +side the emperors, their soldiers and their executioners succeeded in +suppressing the worship of the Roman Gods. Mohammed's God succeeded in +expelling the Christian's God from a large part of the countries which +He formerly occupied. In the eastern part of Asia, there is a large +country which is very flourishing, very productive, thickly populated, +and governed by such wise laws, that the most savage conquerors adopted +them with respect. It is China! With the exception of Christianity, +which was banished as dangerous, they followed their own superstitious +ideas; while the mandarins or magistrates, undeceived long ago about the +popular religion, do not trouble themselves in regard to it, except to +watch over it, that the bonzes or priests do not use this religion to +disturb the peace of the State. However, we do not see that Providence +withholds its benefactions from a nation whose chiefs take so little +interest in the worship which is offered to it. The Chinese enjoy, on +the contrary, blessings and a peace worthy of being envied by many +nations which religion divides, ravages, and often destroys. We can not +reasonably expect to deprive a people of its follies; but we can hope to +cure of their follies those who govern the people; these will then +prevent the follies of the people from becoming dangerous. Superstition +is never to be feared except when it has the support of princes and +soldiers; it is only then that it becomes cruel and sanguinary. Every +sovereign who assumes the protection of a sect or of a religious +faction, usually becomes the tyrant of other sects, and makes himself +the must cruel perturbator in his kingdom. + + + + +CXL.--RELIGION IS NOT NECESSARY TO MORALITY AND TO VIRTUE. + +We are constantly told, and a good many sensible persons come to believe +it, that religion is necessary to restrain men; that without it there +would be no check upon the people; that morality and virtue are +intimately connected with it: "The fear of the Lord is," we are told, +"the beginning of wisdom." The terrors of another life are salutary +terrors, and calculated to subdue men's passions. To disabuse us in +regard to the utility of religious notions, it is sufficient to open the +eyes and to consider what are the morals of the most religious people. +We see haughty tyrants, oppressive ministers, perfidious courtiers, +countless extortioners, unscrupulous magistrates, impostors, adulterers, +libertines, prostitutes, thieves, and rogues of all kinds, who have +never doubted the existence of a vindictive God, or the punishments of +hell, or the joys of Paradise. + +Although very useless for the majority of men, the ministers of religion +have tried to make death appear terrible to the eyes of their votaries. +If the most devoted Christians could be consistent, they would pass +their whole lives in tears, and would finally die in the most terrible +alarms. What is more frightful than death to those unfortunate ones who +are constantly reminded that "it is a fearful thing to fall into the +hands of a living God;" that they should "seek salvation with fear and +trembling!" However, we are assured that the Christian's death has great +consolations, of which the unbeliever is deprived. The good Christian, +we are told, dies with the firm hope of enjoying eternal happiness, +which he has tried to deserve. But this firm assurance, is it not a +punishable presumption in the eyes of a severe God? The greatest saints, +are they not to be in doubt whether they are worthy of the love or of +the hatred of God Priests who console us with the hope of the joys of +Paradise, and close your eyes to the torments of hell, have you then had +the advantage of seeing your names and ours inscribed in the book of +life? + + + + +CXLI.--RELIGION IS THE WEAKEST RESTRAINT THAT CAN BE OPPOSED TO THE +PASSIONS. + +To oppose to the passions and present interests of men the obscure +notions about a metaphysical God whom no one can conceive of; the +incredible punishments of another life; the pleasures of Heaven, of +which we can not form an idea, is it not combating realities with +chimeras? Men have always but confused ideas of their God; they see Him +only in the clouds; they never think of Him when they wish to do wrong. +Whenever ambition, fortune, or pleasure entices them or leads them away, +God, and His menaces, and His promises weigh nothing in the balance. The +things of this life have for men a degree of certainty, which the most +lively faith can never give to the objects of another life. + +Every religion, in its origin, was a restraint invented by legislators +who wished to subjugate the minds of the common people. Like nurses who +frighten children in order to put them to sleep, ambitious men use the +name of the gods to inspire fear in savages; terror seems well suited to +compel them to submit quietly to the yoke which is to be imposed upon +them. Are the ghost stories of childhood fit for mature age? Man in his +maturity no longer believes in them, or if he does, he is troubled but +little by it, and he keeps on his road. + + + + +CXLII.--HONOR IS A MORE SALUTARY AND A STRONGER CHECK THAN RELIGION. + +There is scarcely a man who does not fear more what he sees than what he +does not see; the judgments of men, of which he experiences the effects, +than the judgments of God, of whom he has but floating ideas. The desire +to please the world, the current of custom, the fear of being ridiculed, +and of "WHAT WILL THEY SAY?" have more power than all religious +opinions. A warrior with the fear of dishonor, does he not hazard his +life in battles every day, even at the risk of incurring eternal +damnation? + +The most religious persons sometimes show more respect for a servant +than for God. A man that firmly believes that God sees everything, knows +everything, is everywhere, will, when he is alone, commit actions which +he never would do in the presence of the meanest of mortals. Those even +who claim to be the most firmly convinced of the existence of a God, act +every instant as if they did not believe anything about it. + + + + +CXLIII.--RELIGION IS CERTAINLY NOT A POWERFUL CHECK UPON THE PASSIONS OF +KINGS, WHO ARE ALMOST ALWAYS CRUEL AND FANTASTIC TYRANTS BY THE EXAMPLE +OF THIS SAME GOD, OF WHOM THEY CLAIM TO BE THE REPRESENTATIVES; THEY USE +RELIGION BUT TO BRUTALIZE THEIR SLAVES SO MUCH THE MORE, TO LULL THEM TO +SLEEP IN THEIR FETTERS, AND TO PREY UPON THEM WITH THE GREATER FACILITY. + +"Let us tolerate at least," we are told, "the idea of a God, which alone +can be a restraint upon the passions of kings." But, in good faith, can +we admire the marvelous effects which the fear of this God produces +generally upon the mind of the princes who claim to be His images? What +idea can we form of the original, if we judge it by its duplicates? +Sovereigns, it is true, call, themselves the representatives of God, His +lieutenants upon earth. But does the fear of a more powerful master than +themselves make them attend to the welfare of the peoples that +Providence has confided to their care? The idea of an invisible Judge, +to whom alone they pretend to be accountable for their actions, should +inspire them with terror! But does this terror render them more +equitable, more humane, less avaricious of the blood and the goods of +their subjects, more moderate in their pleasures, more attentive to +their duties? Finally, does this God, by whom we are assured that kings +reign, prevent them from vexing in a thousand ways the peoples of whom +they ought to be the leaders, the protectors, and fathers? Let us open +our eyes, let us turn our regards upon all the earth, and we shall see, +almost everywhere, men governed by tyrants, who make use of religion but +to brutalize their slaves, whom they oppress by the weight of their +vices, or whom they sacrifice without mercy to their fatal +extravagances. Far from being a restraint to the passions of kings, +religion, by its very principles, gives them a loose rein. It transforms +them into Divinities, whose caprices the nations never dare to resist. +At the same time that it unchains princes and breaks for them the ties +of the social pact, it enchains the minds and the hands of their +oppressed subjects. Is it surprising, then, that the gods of the earth +believe that all is permitted to them, and consider their subjects as +vile instruments of their caprices or of their ambition? + +Religion, in every country, has made of the Monarch of Nature a cruel, +fantastic, partial tyrant, whose caprice is the rule. The God-monarch is +but too well imitated by His representatives upon the earth. Everywhere +religion seems invented but to lull to sleep the people in fetters, in +order to furnish their masters the facility of devouring them, or to +render them miserable with impunity. + + + + +CXLIV.--ORIGIN OF THE MOST ABSURD, THE MOST RIDICULOUS, AND THE MOST +ODIOUS USURPATION, CALLED THE DIVINE RIGHT OF KINGS. WISE COUNSELS TO +KINGS. + +In order to guard themselves against the enterprises of a haughty +Pontiff who desired to reign over kings, and in order to protect their +persons from the attacks of the credulous people excited by their +priests, several princes of Europe pretended to have received their +crowns and their rights from God alone, and that they should account to +Him only for their actions. Civil power in its battles against spiritual +power, having at length gained the advantage, and the priests being +compelled to yield, recognized the Divine right of kings and preached it +to the people, reserving to themselves the right to change opinions and +to preach revolution, every time that the divine rights of kings did not +agree with the divine rights of the clergy. It was always at the expense +of the people that peace was restored between the kings and the priests, +but the latter maintained their pretensions notwithstanding all +treaties. + +Many tyrants and wicked princes, whose conscience reproaches them for +their negligence or their perversity, far from fearing their God, rather +like to bargain with this invisible Judge, who never refuses anything, +or with His priests, who are accommodating to the masters of the earth +rather than to their subjects. The people, when reduced to despair, +consider the divine rights of their chiefs as an abuse. When men become +exasperated, the divine rights of tyrants are compelled to yield to the +natural rights of their subjects; they have better market with the gods +than with men. Kings are responsible for their actions but to God, the +priests but to themselves; there is reason to believe that both of them +have more faith in the indulgence of Heaven than in that of earth. It is +much easier to escape the judgments of the gods, who can be appeased at +little expense, than the judgments of men whose patience is exhausted. +If you take away from the sovereigns the fear of an invisible power, +what restraint will you oppose to their misconduct? Let them learn how +to govern, how to be just, how to respect the rights of the people, to +recognize the benefactions of the nations from whom they obtain their +grandeur and power; let them learn to fear men, to submit to the laws of +equity, that no one can violate without danger; let these laws restrain +equally the powerful and the weak, the great and the small, the +sovereign and the subjects. + +The fear of the Gods, religion, the terrors of another life--these are +the metaphysical and supernatural barriers which are opposed to the +furious passions of princes! Are these barriers sufficient? We leave it +to experience to solve the question! To oppose religion to the +wickedness of tyrants, is to wish that vague speculations should be more +powerful than inclinations which conspire to fortify them in it from day +to day. + + + + +CXLV.--RELIGION IS FATAL TO POLITICS; IT FORMS BUT LICENTIOUS AND +PERVERSE DESPOTS, AS WELL AS ABJECT AND UNHAPPY SUBJECTS. + +We are told constantly of the immense advantages which religion secures +to politics; but if we reflect a moment, we will see without trouble +that religious opinions blind and lead astray equally the rulers and the +people, and never enlighten them either in regard to their true duties +or their real interests. Religion but too often forms licentious, +immoral tyrants, obeyed by slaves who are obliged to conform to their +views. From lack of the knowledge of the true principles of +administration, the aim and the rights of social life, the real +interests of men, and the duties which unite them, the princes are +become, in almost every land, licentious, absolute, and perverse; and +their subjects abject unhappy, and wicked. It was to avoid the trouble +of studying these important subjects, that they felt themselves obliged +to have recourse to chimeras, which so far, instead of being a remedy, +have but increased the evils of the human race and withdrawn their +attention from the most interesting things. Does not the unjust and +cruel manner in which so many nations are governed here below, furnish +the most visible proofs, not only of the non-effect produced by the fear +of another life, but of the non-existence of a Providence interested in +the fate of the human race? If there existed a good God, would we not be +forced to admit that He strangely neglects the majority of men in this +life? It would appear that this God created the nations but to be toys +for the passions and follies of His representatives upon earth. + + + + +CXLVI.--CHRISTIANITY EXTENDED ITSELF BUT BY ENCOURAGING DESPOTISM, OF +WHICH IT, LIKE ALL RELIGION, IS THE STRONGEST SUPPORT. + +If we read history with some attention, we shall see that Christianity, +fawning at first, insinuated itself among the savage and free nations of +Europe but by showing their chiefs that its principles would favor +despotism and place absolute power in their hands. We see, consequently, +barbarous kings converting themselves with a miraculous promptitude; +that is to say, adopting without examination a system so favorable to +their ambition, and exerting themselves to have it adopted by their +subjects. If the ministers of this religion have since often moderated +their servile principles, it is because the theory has no influence upon +the conduct of the Lord's ministers, except when it suits their temporal +interests. + + + + +Christianity boasts of having brought to men a happiness unknown to +preceding centuries. It is true that the Grecians have not known the +Divine right of tyrants or usurpers over their native country. Under the +reign of Paganism it never entered the brain of anybody that Heaven did +not want a nation to defend itself against a ferocious beast which +insolently ravaged it. The Christian religion, devised for the benefit +of tyrants, was established on the principle that the nations should +renounce the legitimate defense of themselves. Thus Christian nations +are deprived of the first law of nature, which decrees that man should +resist evil and disarm all who attempt to destroy him. If the ministers +of the Church have often permitted nations to revolt for Heaven's cause, +they never allowed them to revolt against real evils or known violences. + +It is from Heaven that the chains have come to fetter the minds of +mortals. Why is the Mohammedan everywhere a slave? It is because his +Prophet subdued him in the name of the Deity, just as Moses before him +subjugated the Jews. In all parts of the world we see that priests were +the first law-givers and the first sovereigns of the savages whom they +governed. Religion seems to have been invented but to exalt princes +above their nations, and to deliver the people to their discretion. As +soon as the latter find themselves unhappy here below, they are silenced +by menacing them with God's wrath; their eyes are fixed on Heaven, in +order to prevent them from perceiving the real causes of their +sufferings and from applying the remedies which nature offers them. + + + + +CXLVII.--THE ONLY AIM OF RELIGIOUS PRINCIPLES IS TO PERPETUATE THE +TYRANNY OF KINGS AND TO SACRIFICE THE NATIONS TO THEM. + +By incessantly repeating to men that the earth is not their true +country; that the present life is but a passage; that they were not made +to be happy in this world; that their sovereigns hold their authority +but from God, and are responsible to Him alone for the misuse of it; +that it is never permitted to them to resist, the priesthood succeeded +in perpetuating the misconduct of the kings and the misfortunes of the +people; the interests of the nations have been cowardly sacrificed to +their chiefs. The more we consider the dogmas and the principles of +religion, the more we shall be convinced that their only aim is to give +advantage to tyrants and priests; not having the least regard for the +good of society. In order to mask the powerlessness of these deaf Gods, +religion has succeeded in making mortals believe that it is always +iniquity which excites the wrath of Heaven. The people blame themselves +for the disasters and the adversities which they endure continually. If +disturbed nature sometimes causes the people to feel its blows, their +bad governments are but too often the immediate and permanent causes +from which spring the continual calamities that they are obliged to +endure. Is it not the ambition of kings and of the great, their +negligence, their vices, their oppression, to which are generally due +sterility, mendacity, wars, contagions, bad morals, and all the +multiplied scourges which desolate the earth? + +In continually directing the eyes of men toward Heaven, making them +believe that all their evils are due to Divine wrath, in furnishing them +but inefficient and futile means of lessening their troubles, it would +appear that the only object of the priests is to prevent the nations +from dreaming of the true sources of their miseries, and to perpetuate +them. The ministers of religion act like those indigent mothers, who, in +need of bread, put their hungry children to sleep by songs, or who +present them toys to make them forget the want which torments them. + +Blinded from childhood by error, held by the invincible ties of opinion, +crushed by panic terrors, stupefied at the bosom of ignorance, how could +the people understand the true causes of their troubles? They think to +remedy them by invoking the gods. Alas! do they not see that it is it +the name of these gods that they are ordered to present their throat to +the sword of their pitiless tyrants, in whom they would find the most +visible cause of the evils under which they groan, and for which they +uselessly implore the assistance of Heaven? Credulous people! in your +adversities redouble your prayers, your offerings, your sacrifices; +besiege your temples, strangle countless victims, fast in sackcloth and +in ashes, drink your own tears; finally, exhaust yourselves to enrich +your gods: you will do nothing but enrich their priests; the gods of +Heaven will not be propitious to you, except when the gods of the earth +will recognize that they are men like yourselves, and will give to your +welfare the care which is your due. + + + + +CXLVIII.--HOW FATAL IT IS TO PERSUADE KINGS THAT THEY HAVE ONLY GOD TO +FEAR IF THEY INJURE THE PEOPLE. + +Negligent, ambitious, and perverse princes are the real causes of public +adversities, of useless and unjust wars continually depopulating the +earth, of greedy and despotic governments, destroying the benefactions +of nature for men. The rapacity of the courts discourages agriculture, +blots out industry, causes famine, contagion, misery; Heaven is neither +cruel nor favorable to the wishes of the people; it is their haughty +chiefs, who always have a heart of brass. + +It is a notion destructive to wholesome politics and to the morals of +princes, to persuade them that God alone is to be feared by them, when +they injure their subjects or when they neglect to render them happy. +Sovereigns! It is not the Gods, but your people whom you offend when you +do evil. It is to these people, and by retroaction, to yourselves, that +you do harm when you govern unjustly. + +Nothing is more common in history than to see religious tyrants; nothing +more rare than to find equitable, vigilant, enlightened princes. A +monarch can be pious, very strict in fulfilling servilely the duties of +his religion, very submissive to his priests, liberal in their behalf, +and at the same time destitute of all the virtues and talents necessary +for governing. Religion for the princes is but an instrument intended to +keep the people more firmly under the yoke. According to the beautiful +principles of religious morality, a tyrant who, during a long reign, +will have done nothing but oppress his subjects, rob them of the fruits +of their labor, sacrifice them without pity to his insatiable ambition; +a conqueror who will have usurped the provinces of others, who will have +slaughtered whole nations, who will have been all his life a real +scourge of the human race, imagines that his conscience can be +tranquillized, if, in order to expiate so many crimes, he will have wept +at the feet of a priest, who will have the cowardly complaisance to +console and reassure a brigand, whom the most frightful despair would +punish too little for the evil which he has done upon earth. + + + + +CLXIX.--A RELIGIOUS KING IS A SCOURGE TO HIS KINGDOM. + +A sincerely religious sovereign is generally a very dangerous chief for +a State; credulity always indicates a narrow mind; devotion generally +absorbs the attention which the prince ought to give to the ruling of +his people. Docile to the suggestions of his priests, he constantly +becomes the toy of their caprices, the abettor of their quarrels, the +instrument and the accomplice of their follies, to which he attaches the +greatest importance. Among the most fatal gifts which religion has +bestowed upon the world, we must consider above all, these devoted and +zealous monarchs, who, with the idea of working for the salvation of +their subjects, have made it their sacred duty to torment, to persecute, +to destroy those whose conscience made them think otherwise than they +do. A religious bigot at the head of an empire, is one of the greatest +scourges which Heaven in its fury could have sent upon earth. One +fanatical or deceitful priest who has the ear of a credulous and +powerful prince, suffices to put a State into disorder and the universe +into combustion. + +In almost all countries, priests and devout persons are charged with +forming the mind and the heart of the young princes destined to govern +the nations. What enlightenment can teachers of this stamp give? Filled +themselves with prejudices, they will hold up to their pupil +superstition as the most important and the most sacred thing, its +chimerical duties as the most holy obligations, intolerance, and the +spirit of persecution, as the true foundations of his future authority; +they will try to make him a chief of party, a turbulent fanatic, and a +tyrant; they will suppress at an early period his reason; they will +premonish him against it; they will prevent truth from reaching him; +they will prejudice him against true talents, and prepossess him in +favor of despicable talents; finally they will make of him an imbecile +devotee, who will have no idea of justice or of injustice, of true glory +or of true greatness, and who will be devoid of the intelligence and +virtue necessary to the government of a great kingdom. Here, in brief, +is the plan of education for a child destined to make, one day, the +happiness or the misery of several millions of men. + + + + +CL.--THE SHIELD OF RELIGION IS FOR TYRANNY, A WEAK RAMPART AGAINST THE +DESPAIR OF THE PEOPLE. A DESPOT IS A MADMAN, WHO INJURES HIMSELF AND +SLEEPS UPON THE EDGE OF A PRECIPICE. + +Priests in all times have shown themselves supporters of despotism, and +the enemies of public liberty. Their profession requires vile and +submissive slaves, who never have the audacity to reason. In an absolute +government, their great object is to secure control of the mind of a +weak and stupid prince, in order to make themselves masters of the +people. Instead of leading the people to salvation, priests have always +led them to servitude. + +For the sake of the supernatural titles which religion has forged for +the most wicked princes, the latter have generally united with the +priests, who, sure of governing by controlling the opinion of the +sovereign himself, have charge of tying the hands of the people and of +keeping them under their yoke. But it is vain that the tyrant, protected +by the shield of religion, flatters himself with being sheltered from +all the blows of fate. Opinion is a weak rampart against the despair of +the people. Besides, the priest is the friend of the tyrant only so long +as he finds his profit by the tyranny; he preaches sedition and +demolishes the idol which he has made, when he considers it no longer in +conformity with the interests of Heaven, which he speaks of as he +pleases, and which never speaks but in behalf of his interests. No doubt +it will be said, that the sovereigns, knowing all the advantages which +religion procures for them, are truly interested in upholding it with +all their strength. If religious opinions are useful to tyrants, it is +evident that they are useless to those who govern according to the laws +of reason and of equity. Is there any advantage in exercising tyranny? +Does not tyranny deprive princes of true power, the love of the people, +in which is safety? Should not every rational prince perceive that the +despot is but an insane man who injures himself? Will not every +enlightened prince beware of his flatterers, whose object is to put him +to sleep at the edge of the precipice to which they lead him? + + + + +CLI.--RELIGION FAVORS THE ERRORS OF PRINCES, BY DELIVERING THEM FROM FEAR +AND REMORSE. + +If the sacerdotal flatteries succeed in perverting princes and changing +them into tyrants, the latter on their side necessarily corrupt the +great men and the people. Under an unjust master, without goodness, +without virtue, who knows no law but his caprice, a nation must become +necessarily depraved. Will this master wish to have honest, enlightened, +and virtuous men near him? No! he needs flatterers in those who +approach him, imitators, slaves, base and servile minds, who give +themselves up to his taste; his court will spread the contagion of vice +to the inferior classes. By degrees all will be necessarily corrupted, +in a State whose chief is corrupt himself. It was said a long time ago +that the princes seem ordained to do all they do themselves. Religion, +far from being a restraint upon the sovereigns, entitles them, without +fear and without remorse, to the errors which are as fatal to themselves +as to the nations which they govern. Men are never deceived with +impunity. Tell a prince that he is a God, and very soon he will believe +that he owes nothing to anybody. As long as he is feared, he will not +care much for love; he will recognize no rights, no relations with his +subjects, nor obligations in their behalf. Tell this prince that he is +responsible for his actions to God alone, and very soon he will act as +if he was responsible to nobody. + + + + +CLII.--WHAT IS AN ENLIGHTENED SOVEREIGN? + +An enlightened sovereign is he who understands his true interests; he +knows they are united to those of his nation; he knows that a prince can +be neither great, nor powerful, nor beloved, nor respected, so long as +he will command but miserable slaves; he knows that equity, benevolence, +and vigilance will give him more real rights over men than fabulous +titles which claim to come from Heaven. He will feel that religion is +useful but to the priests; that it is useless to society, which is often +troubled by it; that it must be limited to prevent it from doing injury; +finally, he will understand that, in order to reign with glory, he must +make good laws, possess virtues, and not base his power on impositions +and chimeras. + + + + +CLIII.--THE DOMINANT PASSIONS AND CRIMES OF PRIESTCRAFT. WITH THE +ASSISTANCE OF ITS PRETENDED GOD AND OF RELIGION, IT ASSERTS ITS PASSIONS +AND COMMITS ITS CRIMES. + +The ministers of religion have taken great care to make of their God a +terrible, capricious, and changeable tyrant; it was necessary for them +that He should be thus in order that He might lend Himself to their +various interests. A God who would be just and good, without a mixture +of caprice and perversity; a God who would constantly have the qualities +of an honest man or of a compliant sovereign, would not suit His +ministers. It is necessary to the priests that we tremble before their +God, in order that we have recourse to them to obtain the means to be +quieted. No man is a hero to his valet de chambre. It is not surprising +that a God clothed by His priests in such a way as to cause others to +fear Him, should rarely impose upon those priests themselves, or exert +but little influence upon their conduct. Consequently we see them behave +themselves in a uniform way in every land; everywhere they devour +nations, debase souls, discourage industry, and sow discord under the +pretext of the glory of their God. Ambition and avarice were at all +times the dominating passions of the priesthood; everywhere the priest +places himself above the sovereign and the laws; everywhere we see him +occupied but with the interests of his pride, his cupidity, his despotic +and vindictive mood; everywhere he substitutes expiations, sacrifices, +ceremonies, and mysterious practices; in a word, inventions lucrative to +himself for useful and social virtues. The mind is confounded and reason +interdicted with the view of ridiculous practices and pitiable means +which the ministers of the gods invented in every country to purify +souls and render Heaven favorable to nations. Here, they practice +circumcision upon a child to procure it Divine benevolence; there, they +pour water upon his head to wash away the crimes which he could not yet +have committed; in other places he is told to plunge himself into a +river whose waters have the power to wash away all his impurities; in +other places certain food is forbidden to him, whose use would not fail +to excite celestial indignation; in other countries they order the +sinful man to come periodically for the confession of his faults to a +priest, who is often a greater sinner than he. + + + + +CLIV.--CHARLATANRY OF THE PRIESTS. + +What would we say of a crowd of quacks, who every day would exhibit in a +public place, selling their remedies and recommending them as +infallible, while we should find them afflicted with the same +infirmities which they pretend to cure? Would we have much confidence in +the recipes of these charlatans, who would bawl out: "Take our remedies, +their effects are infallible--they cure everybody except us?" What would +we think to see these same charlatans pass their lives in complaining +that their remedies never produce any effect upon the patients who take +them? Finally, what idea would we form of the foolishness of the common +man who, in spite of this confession, would continue to pay very high +for remedies which will not be beneficial to him? The priests resemble +alchemists, who boldly assert that they have the secret of making gold, +while they scarcely have clothing enough to cover their nudity. + +The ministers of religion incessantly declaim against the corruption of +the age, and complain loudly of the little success of their teachings, +at the same time they assure us that religion is the universal remedy, +the true panacea for all human evils. These priests are sick themselves; +however, men continue to frequent their stands and to have faith in +their Divine antidotes, which, according to their own confession, cure +nobody! + + + + +CLV.--COUNTLESS CALAMITIES ARE PRODUCED BY RELIGION, WHICH HAS TAINTED +MORALITY AND DISTURBED ALL JUST IDEAS AND ALL SOUND DOCTRINES. + +Religion, especially among modern people, in taking possession of +morality, totally obscured its principles; it has rendered men unsocial +from a sense of duty; it has forced them to be inhuman toward all those +who did not think as they did. Theological disputes, equally +unintelligible for the parties already irritated against each other, +have unsettled empires, caused revolutions, ruined sovereigns, +devastated the whole of Europe; these despicable quarrels could not be +extinguished even in rivers of blood. After the extinction of Paganism +the people established a religious principle of going into a frenzy, +every time that an opinion was brought forth which their priests +considered contrary to the holy doctrine. The votaries of a religion +which preaches externally but charity, harmony, and peace, have shown +themselves more ferocious than cannibals or savages every time that +their instructors have excited them to the destruction of their +brethren. There is no crime which men have not committed in the idea of +pleasing the Deity or of appeasing His wrath. The idea of a terrible God +who was represented as a despot, must necessarily have rendered His +subjects wicked. Fear makes but slaves, and slaves are cowardly, low, +cruel, and think they have a right to do anything when it is the +question of gaining the good-will or of escaping the punishments of the +master whom they fear. Liberty of thought can alone give to men humanity +and grandeur of soul. The notion of a tyrant God can create but abject, +angry, quarrelsome, intolerant slaves. Every religion which supposes a +God easily irritated, jealous, vindictive, punctilious about His rights +or His title, a God small enough to be offended at opinions which we +have of Him, a God unjust enough to exact uniform ideas in regard to +Him, such a religion becomes necessarily turbulent, unsocial, +sanguinary; the worshipers of such a God never believe they can, without +crime, dispense with hating and even destroying all those whom they +designate as adversaries of this God; they would believe themselves +traitors to the cause of their celestial Monarch, if they should live on +good terms with rebellious fellow-citizens. To love what God hates, +would it not be exposing one's self to His implacable hatred? Infamous +persecutors, and you, religious cannibals! will you never feel the folly +and injustice of your intolerant disposition? Do you not see that man is +no more the master of his religious opinions, of his credulity or +incredulity, than of the language which he learns in childhood, and +which he can not change? To tell men to think as you do, is it not +asking a foreigner to express his thoughts in your language? To punish a +man for his erroneous opinions, is it not punishing him for having been +educated differently from yourself? If I am incredulous, is it possible +for me to banish from my mind the reasons which have unsettled my faith? +If God allows men the freedom to damn themselves, is it your business? +Are you wiser and more prudent than this God whose rights you wish to +avenge? + + + + +CLVI.--EVERY RELIGION IS INTOLERANT, AND CONSEQUENTLY DESTRUCTIVE OF +BENEFICENCE. + +There is no religious person who, according to his temperament, does not +hate, despise, or pity the adherents of a sect different from his own. +The dominant religion (which is never but that of the sovereign and the +armies) always makes its superiority felt in a very cruel and injurious +manner toward the weaker sects. There does not exist yet upon earth a +true tolerance; everywhere a jealous God is worshiped, and each nation +believes itself His friend to the exclusion of all others. + +Every nation boasts itself of worshiping the true God, the universal +God, the Sovereign of Nature; but when we come to examine this Monarch +of the world, we perceive that each organization, each sect, each +religious party, makes of this powerful God but an inferior sovereign, +whose cares and kindness extend themselves but over a small number of +His subjects who pretend to have the exclusive advantage of His favors, +and that He does not trouble Himself about the others. + +The founders of religions, and the priests who maintain them, have +intended to separate the nations which they indoctrinated, from other +nations; they desired to separate their own flock by distinctive +features; they gave to their votaries Gods inimical to other Gods as +well as the forms of worship, dogmas, ceremonies, separately; they +persuaded them especially that the religions of others were ungodly and +abominable. By this infamous contrivance, these ambitious impostors took +exclusive possession of the minds of their votaries, rendered them +unsocial, and made them consider as outcasts all those who had not the +same ideas and form of worship as their own. This is the way religion +succeeded in closing the heart, and in banishing from it that affection +which man ought to have for his fellow-being. Sociability, tolerance, +humanity, these first virtues of all morality are totally in compatible +with religious prejudices. + + + + +CLVII.--ABUSE OF A STATE RELIGION. + +Every national religion has a tendency to make man vain, unsocial, and +wicked; the first step toward humanity is to permit each one to follow +peacefully the worship and the opinions which suit him. But such a +conduct can not please the ministers of religion, who wish to have the +right to tyrannize over even the thoughts of men. Blind and bigoted +princes, you hate, you persecute, you devote heretics to torture, +because you are persuaded that these unfortunate ones displease God. But +do you not claim that your God is full of kindness? How can you hope to +please Him by such barbarous actions which He can not help disapproving +of? Besides, who told you that their opinions displease your God? Your +priests told you! But who guarantees that your priests are not deceived +themselves or that they do not wish to deceive you? It is these same +priests! Princes! it is upon the perilous word of your priests that you +commit the most atrocious and the most unheard-of crimes, with the idea +of pleasing the Deity! + + + + +CLVIII.--RELIGION GIVES LICENSE TO THE FEROCITY OF THE PEOPLE BY + + + +LEGITIMIZING IT, AND AUTHORIZES CRIME BY TEACHING THAT IT CAN BE USEFUL +TO THE DESIGNS OF GOD. + +"Never," says Pascal, "do we do evil so thoroughly and so willingly as +when we do it through a false principle of conscience." Nothing is more +dangerous than a religion which licenses the ferocity of the people, and +justifies in their eyes the blackest crimes; it puts no limits to their +wickedness as soon as they believe it authorized by their God, whose +interests, as they are told, can justify all their actions. If there is +a question of religion, immediately the most civilized nations become +true savages, and believe everything is permitted to them. The more +cruel they are, the more agreeable they suppose themselves to be to +their God, whose cause they imagine can not be sustained by too much +zeal. All religions of the world have authorized countless crimes. The +Jews, excited by the promises of their God, arrogated to themselves the +right of exterminating whole nations; the Romans, whose faith was +founded upon the oracles of their Gods, became real brigands, and +conquered and ravaged the world; the Arabians, encouraged by their +Divine preceptor, carried the sword and the flame among Christians and +idolaters. The Christians, under pretext of spreading their holy +religion, covered the two hemispheres a hundred times with blood. In all +events favorable to their own interests, which they always call the +cause of God, the priests show us the finger of God. According to these +principles, religious bigots have the luck of seeing the finger of God +in revolts, in revolutions, massacres, regicides, prostitutions, +infamies, and, if these things contribute to the advantage of religion, +we can say, then, that God uses all sorts of means to secure His ends. +Is there anything better calculated to annihilate every idea of morality +in the minds of men, than to make them understand that their God, who is +so powerful and so perfect, is often compelled to use crime to +accomplish His designs? + + + + +CLIX.--REFUTATION OF THE ARGUMENT, THAT THE EVILS ATTRIBUTED TO RELIGION +ARE BUT THE SAD EFFECTS OF THE PASSIONS OF MEN. + +When we complain about the violence and evils which generally religion +causes upon earth, we are answered at once, that these excesses are not +due to religion, but that they are the sad effect of men's passions. I +would ask, however, what unchained these passions? It is evidently +religion; it is a zeal which renders inhuman, and which serves to cover +the greatest infamy. Do not these disorders prove that religion, instead +of restraining the passions of men, does but cover them with a cloak +that sanctifies them; and that nothing would be more beneficial than to +tear away this sacred cloak of which men make such a bad use? What +horrors would be banished from society, if the wicked were deprived of a +pretext so plausible for disturbing it! + +Instead of cherishing peace among men, the priests stirred up hatred and +strife. They pleaded their conscience, and pretended to have received +from Heaven the right to be quarrelsome, turbulent, and rebellious. Do +not the ministers of God consider themselves to be wronged, do they not +pretend that His Divine Majesty is injured every time that the +sovereigns have the temerity to try to prevent them from doing injury? +The priests resemble that irritable woman, who cried out fire! murder! +assassins! while her husband was holding her hands to prevent her from +beating him. + + + + +CLX.--ALL MORALITY IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH RELIGIOUS OPINIONS. + +Notwithstanding the bloody tragedies which religion has so often caused +in this world, we are constantly told that there can be no morality +without religion. If we judge theological opinions by their effects, we +would be right in assuming that all morality is perfectly incompatible +with the religious opinions of men. "Imitate God," is constantly +repeated to us. Ah! what morals would we have if we should imitate this +God! Which God should we imitate? Is it the deist's God? But even this +God can not be a model of goodness for us. If He is the author of all, +He is equally the author of the good and of the bad we see in this +world; if He is the author of order, He is also the author of disorder, +which would not exist without His permission; if He produces, He +destroys; if He gives life, He also causes death; if He grants +abundance, riches, prosperity, and peace, He permits or sends famines, +poverty, calamities, and wars. How can you accept as a model of +permanent beneficence the God of theism or of natural religion, whose +favorable intentions are at every moment contradicted by everything that +transpires in the world? Morality needs a firmer basis than the example +of a God whose conduct varies, and whom we can not call good but by +obstinately closing the eyes to the evil which He causes, or permits to +be done in this world. + +Shall we imitate the good and great Jupiter of ancient Paganism? To +imitate such a God would be to take as a model a rebellious son, who +wrests his father's throne from him and then mutilates his body; it is +imitating a debauchee and adulterer, an incestuous, intemperate man, +whose conduct would cause any reasonable mortal to blush. What would +have become of men under the control of Paganism if they had imagined, +according to Plato, that virtue consisted in imitating the gods? + +Must we imitate the God of the Jews? Will we find a model for our +conduct in Jehovah? He is truly a savage God, really created for an +ignorant, cruel, and immoral people; He is a God who is constantly +enraged, breathing only vengeance; who is without pity, who commands +carnage and robbery; in a word, He is a God whose conduct can not serve +as a model to an honest man, and who can be imitated but by a chief of +brigands. + +Shall we imitate, then, the Jesus of the Christians? Can this God, who +died to appease the implacable fury of His Father, serve as an example +which men ought to follow? Alas! we will see in Him but a God, or rather +a fanatic, a misanthrope, who being plunged Himself into misery, and +preaching to the wretched, advises them to be poor, to combat and +extinguish nature, to hate pleasure, to seek sufferings, and to despise +themselves; He tells them to leave father, mother, all the ties of life, +in order to follow Him. What beautiful morality! you will say. It is +admirable, no doubt; it must be Divine, because it is impracticable for +men. But does not this sublime morality tend to render virtue +despicable? According to this boasted morality of the man-God of the +Christians, His disciples in this lower world are, like Tantalus, +tormented with burning thirst, which they are not permitted to quench. +Do not such morals give us a wonderful idea of nature's Author? If He +has, as we are assured, created everything for the use of His creatures, +by what strange caprice does He forbid the use of the good things which +He has created for them? Is the pleasure which man constantly desires +but a snare that God has maliciously laid in his path to entrap him? + + + + +CLXI.--THE MORALS OF THE GOSPEL ARE IMPRACTICABLE. + +The votaries of Christ would like to make us regard as a miracle the +establishment of their religion, which is in every respect contrary to +nature, opposed to all the inclinations of the heart, an enemy to +physical pleasures. But the austerity of a doctrine has a tendency to +render it more wonderful to the ignorant. The same reason which makes us +respect, as Divine and supernatural, inconceivable mysteries, causes us +to admire, as Divine and supernatural, a morality impracticable and +beyond the power of man. To admire morals and to practice them, are two +very different things. All the Christians continually admire the morals +of the Gospel, but it is practiced but by a small number of saints; +admired by people who themselves avoid imitating their conduct, under +the pretext that they are lacking either the power or the grace. + +The whole universe is infected more or less with a religious morality +which is founded upon the opinion that to please the Deity it is +necessary to render one's self unhappy upon earth. We see in all parts +of our globe penitents, hermits, fakirs, fanatics, who seem to have +studied profoundly the means of tormenting themselves for the glory of a +Being whose goodness they all agree in celebrating. Religion, by its +essence, is the enemy of joy and of the welfare of men. "Blessed are +those who suffer!" Woe to those who have abundance and joy! These are +the rare revelations which Christianity teaches! + + + + +CLXII.--A SOCIETY OF SAINTS WOULD BE IMPOSSIBLE. + +In what consists the saint of all religions? It is a man who prays, +fasts, who torments himself, who avoids the world, who, like an owl, is +pleased but in solitude, who abstains from all pleasure, who seems +frightened at every object which turns him a moment from his fanatical +meditations. Is this virtue? Is a being of this stamp of any use to +himself or to others? Would not society be dissolved, and would not men +retrograde into barbarism, if each one should be fool enough to wish to +be a saint? + +It is evident that the literal and rigorous practice of the Divine +morality of the Christians would lead nations to ruin. A Christian who +would attain perfection, ought to drive away from his mind all that can +alienate him from heaven--his true country. He sees upon earth but +temptations, snares, and opportunities to go astray; he must fear +science as injurious to faith; he must avoid industry, as it is a means +of obtaining riches, which are fatal to salvation; he must renounce +preferments and honors, as things capable of exciting his pride and +calling his attention away from his soul; in a word, the sublime +morality of Christ, if it were not impracticable, would sever all the +ties of society. + +A saint in the world is no more useful than a saint in the desert; the +saint has an unhappy, discontented, and often irritable, turbulent +disposition; his zeal often obliges him, conscientiously, to disturb +society by opinions or dreams which his vanity makes him accept as +inspirations from Heaven. The annals of all religions are filled with +accounts of anxious, intractable, seditious saints, who have +distinguished themselves by ravages that, for the greater glory of God, +they have scattered throughout the universe. If the saints who live in +solitude are useless, those who live in the world are very often +dangerous. The vanity of performing a role, the desire of distinguishing +themselves in the eyes of the stupid vulgar by a strange conduct, +constitute usually the distinctive characteristics of great saints; +pride persuades them that they are extraordinary men, far above human +nature; beings who are more perfect than others; chosen ones, which God +looks upon with more complaisance than the rest of mortals. Humility in +a saint is, is a general rule, but a pride more refined than that of +common men. It must be a very ridiculous vanity which can determine a +man to continually war with his own nature! + + + + +CLXIII.--HUMAN NATURE IS NOT DEPRAVED; AND A MORALITY WHICH CONTRADICTS +THIS FACT IS NOT MADE FOR MAN. + +A morality which contradicts the nature of man is not made for him. But +you will say that man's nature is depraved. In what consists this +pretended depravity? Is it because he has passions? But are not passions +the very essence of man? Must he not seek, desire, love that which is, +or that which he believes to be, essential to his happiness? Must he not +fear and avoid that which he judges injurious or fatal to him? Excite +his passions by useful objects; let him attach himself to these same +objects, divert him by sensible and known motives from that which can do +him or others harm, and you will make of him a reasonable and virtuous +being. A man without passions would be equally indifferent to vice and +to virtue. + +Holy doctors! you constantly tell us that man's nature is perverted; you +tell us that the way of all flesh is corrupt; you tell us that nature +gives us but inordinate inclinations. In this case you accuse your God, +who has not been able or willing to keep this nature in its original +perfection. If this nature became corrupted, why did not this God repair +it? The Christian assures me that human nature is repaired, that the +death of his God has reestablished it in its integrity. How comes it +then, that human nature, notwithstanding the death of a God, is still +depraved? Is it, then, a pure loss that your God died? What becomes of +His omnipotence and His victory over the Devil, if it is true that the +Devil still holds the empire which, according to you, he has always +exercised in the world? + +Death, according to Christian theology, is the penalty of sin. This +opinion agrees with that of some savage Negro nations, who imagine that +the death of a man is always the supernatural effect of the wrath of the +Gods. The Christians firmly believe that Christ has delivered them from +sin, while they see that, in their religion as in the others, man is +subject to death. To say that Jesus Christ has delivered us from sin, is +it not claiming that a judge has granted pardon to a guilty man, while +we see him sent to torture? + + + + +CLXIV.--OF JESUS CHRIST, THE PRIEST'S GOD. + +If, closing our eyes upon all that transpires in this world, we should +rely upon the votaries of the Christian religion, we would believe that +the coming of our Divine Saviour has produced the most wonderful +revolution and the most complete reform in the morals of nations. The +Messiah, according to Pascal, [See Thoughts of Pascal] ought of Himself +alone to produce a great, select, and holy people; conducting and +nourishing it, and introducing it into the place of repose and sanctity, +rendering it holy to God, making it the temple of God, saving it from +the wrath of God, delivering it from the servitude of sin, giving laws +to this people, engraving these laws upon their hearts, offering Himself +to God for them, crushing the head of the serpent, etc. This great man +has forgotten to show us the people upon whom His Divine Messiah has +produced the miraculous effects of which He speaks with so much +emphasis; so far, it seems, they do not exist upon the earth! + +If we examine ever so little the morals of the Christian nations, and +listen to the clamors of their priests, we will be obliged to conclude +that their God, Jesus Christ, preached without fruit, without success; +that His Almighty will still finds in men a resistance, over which this +God either can not or does not wish to triumph. The morality of this +Divine Doctor which His disciples admire so much, and practice so +little, is followed during a whole century but by half a dozen of +obscure saints, fanatical and ignorant monks, who alone will have the +glory of shining in the celestial court; all the remainder of mortals, +although redeemed by the blood of this God, will be the prey of eternal +flames. + + + + +CLXV.--THE DOGMA OF THE REMISSION OF SINS HAS BEEN INVENTED IN THE +INTEREST OF THE PRIESTS. + +When a man has a great desire to sin, he thinks very little about his +God; more than this, whatever crimes he may have committed, he always +flatters himself that this God will mitigate the severity of his +punishments. No mortal seriously believes that his conduct can damn him. +Although he fears a terrible God, who often makes him tremble, every +time he is strongly tempted he succumbs and sees but a God of mercy, the +idea of whom quiets him. Does he do evil? He hopes to have the time to +correct himself, and promises earnestly to repent some day. + +There are in the religious pharmacy infallible receipts for calming the +conscience; the priests in every country possess sovereign secrets for +disarming the wrath of Heaven. However true it may be that the anger of +Deity is appeased by prayers, by offerings, by sacrifices, by +penitential tears, we have no right to say that religion holds in check +the irregularities of men; they will first sin, and afterward seek the +means to reconcile God. Every religion which expiates, and which +promises the remission of crimes, if it restrains any, it encourages the +great number to commit evil. Notwithstanding His immutability, God is, +in all the religions of this world, a veritable Proteus. His priests +show Him now armed with severity, and then full of clemency and +gentleness; now cruel and pitiless, and then easily reconciled by the +repentance and the tears of the sinners. Consequently, men face the +Deity in the manner which conforms the most to their present interests. +An always wrathful God would repel His worshipers, or cast them into +despair. Men need a God who becomes angry and who can be appeased; if +His anger alarms a few timid souls, His clemency reassures the +determined wicked ones who intend to have recourse sooner or later to +the means of reconciling themselves with Him; if the judgments of God +frighten a few faint-hearted devotees who already by temperament and by +habitude are not inclined to evil, the treasures of Divine mercy +reassure the greatest criminals, who have reason to hope that they will +participate in them with the others. + + + + +CLXVI.--THE FEAR OF GOD IS POWERLESS AGAINST HUMAN PASSIONS. + +The majority of men rarely think of God, or, at least, do not occupy +themselves much with Him. The idea of God has so little stability, it is +so afflicting, that it can not hold the imagination for a long time, +except in some sad and melancholy visionists who do not constitute the +majority of the inhabitants of this world. The common man has no +conception of it; his weak brain becomes perplexed the moment he +attempts to think of Him. The business man thinks of nothing but his +affairs; the courtier of his intrigues; worldly men, women, youth, of +their pleasures; dissipation soon dispels the wearisome notions of +religion. The ambitious, the avaricious, and the debauchee sedulously +lay aside speculations too feeble to counterbalance their diverse +passions. + +Whom does the idea of God overawe? A few weak men disappointed and +disgusted with this world; some persons whose passions are already +extinguished by age, by infirmities, or by reverses of fortune. Religion +is a restraint but for those whose temperament or circumstances have +already subjected them to reason. The fear of God does not prevent any +from committing sin but those who do not wish to sin very much, or who +are no longer in a condition to sin. To tell men that Divinity punishes +crime in this world, is to claim as a fact that which experience +contradicts constantly The most wicked men are usually the arbiters of +the world, and those whom fortune blesses with its favors. To convince +us of the judgments of God by sending us to the other life, is to make +us accept conjectures in order to destroy facts which we can not +dispute. + + + + +CLXVII.--THE INVENTION OF HELL IS TOO ABSURD TO PREVENT EVIL. + +No one dreams about another life when he is very much absorbed in +objects which he meets on earth. In the eyes of a passionate lover, the +presence of his mistress extinguishes the fires of hell, and her charms +blot out all the pleasures of Paradise. Woman! you leave, you say, your +lover for your God? It is that your lover is no longer the same in your +estimation; or your lover leaves you, and you must fill the void which +is made in your heart. Nothing is more common than to see ambitious, +perverse, corrupt, and immoral men who are religious, and who sometimes +exhibit even zeal in its behalf; if they do not practice religion, they +promise themselves they will practice it some day; they keep it in +reserve as a remedy which, sooner or later, will be necessary to quiet +the conscience for the evil which they intend yet to do. Besides, +devotees and priests being a very numerous, active, and powerful party, +it is not astonishing to see impostors and thieves seek for its support +in order to gain their ends. We will be told, no doubt, that many honest +people are sincerely religious without profit; but is uprightness of +heart always accompanied with intelligence? We are cited to a great +number of learned men, men of genius, who are very religious. This +proves that men of genius can have prejudices, can be pusillanimous, can +have an imagination which seduces them and prevents them from examining +objects coolly. Pascal proves nothing in favor of religion, except that +a man of genius can possess a grain of weakness, and is but a child when +he is weak enough to listen to prejudices. Pascal himself tells us "that +the mind can be strong and narrow, and just as extended as it is weak." +He says more: "We can have our senses all right, and not be equally able +in all things; because there are men who, being right in a certain +sphere of things, lose themselves in others." + + + + +CLXVIII.--ABSURDITY OF THE MORALITY AND OF THE RELIGIOUS VIRTUES +ESTABLISHED SOLELY IN THE INTEREST OF THE PRIESTS. + +What is virtue according to theology? It is, we are told, the conformity +of men's actions with the will of God. But who is God? He is a being +whom no one is able to conceive of, and whom, consequently, each one +modifies in his own way. What is the will of God? It is what men who +have seen God, or whom God has inspired, have told us. Who are those who +have seen God? They are either fanatics, or scoundrels, or ambitious +men, whose word we can not rely upon. To found morality upon a God that +each man represents differently, that each one composes by his own idea, +whom everybody arranges according to his own temperament and his own +interest, is evidently founding morality upon the caprice and upon the +imagination of men; it is basing it upon the whims of a sect, faction, +or party, who, excluding all others, claim to have the advantage of +worshiping the true God. + +To establish morality, or the duties of man, upon the Divine will, is +founding it upon the wishes, the reveries, or the interests of those who +make God talk without fear of contradiction. In every religion the +priests alone have the right to decide upon what pleases or displeases +their God; we may rest assured that they will decide upon what pleases +or displeases themselves. + +The dogmas, ceremonies, the morality and the virtues which all religions +of the world prescribe, are visibly calculated only to extend the power +or to increase the emoluments of the founders and of the ministers of +these religions; the dogmas are obscure, inconceivable, frightful, and, +thereby, very liable to cause the imagination to wander, and to render +the common man more docile to those who wish to domineer over him; the +ceremonies and practices procure fortune or consideration to the +priests; the religious morals and virtues consist in a submissive faith, +which prevents reasoning; in a devout humility, which assures to the +priests the submission of their slaves; in an ardent zeal, when the +question of religion is agitated; that is to say, when the interest of +these priests is considered, all religious virtues having evidently for +their object the advantage of the priests. + + + + +CLXIX.--WHAT DOES THAT CHRISTIAN CHARITY AMOUNT TO, SUCH AS THEOLOGIANS +TEACH AND PRACTICE? + +When we reproach the theologians with the sterility of their religious +virtues, they praise, with emphasis, charity, that tender love of our +neighbor which Christianity makes an essential duty for its disciples. +But, alas! what becomes of this pretended charity as soon as we examine +the actions of the Lord's ministers? Ask if you must love your neighbor +if he is impious, heretical, and incredulous, that is to say, if he does +not think as they do? Ask them if you must tolerate opinions contrary to +those which they profess? Ask them if the Lord can show indulgence to +those who are in error? Immediately their charity disappears, and the +dominating clergy will tell you that the prince carries the sword but to +sustain the interests of the Most High; they will tell you that for love +of the neighbor, you must persecute, imprison, exile, or burn him. You +will find tolerance among a few priests who are persecuted themselves, +but who put aside Christian charity as soon as they have the power to +persecute in their turn. + +The Christian religion which was originally preached by beggars and by +very wretched men, strongly recommends alms-giving under the name of +charity; the faith of Mohammed equally makes it an indispensable duty. +Nothing, no doubt, is better suited to humanity than to assist the +unfortunate, to clothe the naked, to lend a charitable hand to whoever +needs it. But would it not be more humane and more charitable to foresee +the misery and to prevent the poor from increasing? If religion, instead +of deifying princes, had but taught them to respect the property of +their subjects, to be just, and to exercise but their legitimate rights, +we should not see such a great number of mendicants in their realms. A +greedy, unjust, tyrannical government multiplies misery; the rigor of +taxes produces discouragement, idleness, indigence, which, on their +part, produce robbery, murders, and all kinds of crime. If the +sovereigns had more humanity, charity, and justice, their States would +not be peopled by so many unfortunate ones whose misery becomes +impossible to soothe. + +The Christian and Mohammedan States are filled with vast and richly +endowed hospitals, in which we admire the pious charity of the kings and +of the sultans who erected them. Would it not have been more humane to +govern the people well, to procure them ease, to excite and to favor +industry and trade, to permit them to enjoy in safety the fruits of +their labors, than to oppress them under a despotic yoke, to impoverish +them by senseless wars, to reduce them to mendicity in order to gratify +an immoderate luxury, and afterward build sumptuous monuments which can +contain but a very small portion of those whom they have rendered +miserable? Religion, by its virtues, has but given a change to men; +instead of foreseeing evils, it applies but insufficient remedies. The +ministers of Heaven have always known how to benefit themselves by the +calamities of others; public misery became their element; they made +themselves the administrators of the goods of the poor, the distributors +of alms, the depositaries of charities; thereby they extended and +sustained at all times their power over the unfortunates who usually +compose the most numerous, the most anxious, the most seditious part of +society. Thus the greatest evils are made profitable to the ministers +of the Lord. + +The Christian priests tell us that the goods which they possess are the +goods of the poor, and pretend by this title that their possessions are +sacred; consequently, the sovereigns and the people press themselves to +accumulate lands, revenues, treasures for them; under pretext of +charity, our spiritual guides have become very opulent, and enjoy, in +the sight of the impoverished nations, goods which were destined but for +the miserable; the latter, far from murmuring about it, applaud a +deceitful generosity which enriches the Church, but which very rarely +alleviates the sufferings of the poor. + +According to the principles of Christianity, poverty itself is a virtue, +and it is this virtue which the sovereigns and the priests make their +slaves observe the most. According to these ideas, a great number of +pious Christians have renounced with good-will the perishable riches of +the earth; have distributed their patrimony to the poor, and have +retired into a desert to live a life of voluntary indigence. But very +soon this enthusiasm, this supernatural taste for misery, must surrender +to nature. The successors to these voluntary poor, sold to the religious +people their prayers and their powerful intercession with the Deity; +they became rich and powerful; thus, monks and hermits lived in +idleness, and, under the pretext of charity, devoured insultingly the +substance of the poor. Poverty of spirit was that of which religion made +always the greatest use. The fundamental virtue of all religion, that is +to say, the most useful one to its ministers, is faith. It consists in +an unlimited credulity, which causes men to believe, without +examination, all that which the interpreters of the Deity wish them to +believe. With the aid of this wonderful virtue, the priests became the +arbiters of justice and of injustice; of good and of evil; they found it +easy to commit crimes when crimes became necessary to their interests. +Implicit faith has been the source of the greatest outrages which have +been committed upon the earth. + + + + +CLXX.--CONFESSION, THAT GOLDEN MINE FOR THE PRIESTS, HAS DESTROYED THE +TRUE PRINCIPLES OF MORALITY. + +He who first proclaimed to the nations that, when man had wronged man, +he must ask God's pardon, appease His wrath by presents, and offer Him +sacrifices, obviously subverted the true principles of morality. +According to these ideas, men imagine that they can obtain from the King +of Heaven, as well as from the kings of the earth, permission to be +unjust and wicked, or at least pardon for the evil which they might +commit. + +Morality is founded upon the relations, the needs, and the constant +interests of the inhabitants of the earth; the relations which subsist +between men and God are either entirely unknown or imaginary. The +religion associating God with men has visibly weakened or destroyed the +ties which unite men. + +Mortals imagine that they can, with impunity, injure each other by +making a suitable reparation to the Almighty Being, who is supposed to +have the right to remit all the injuries done to His creatures. Is there +anything more liable to encourage wickedness and to embolden to crime, +than to persuade men that there exists an invisible being who has the +right to pardon injustice, rapine, perfidy, and all the outrages they +can inflict upon society? Encouraged by these fatal ideas, we see the +most perverse men abandon themselves to the greatest crimes, and expect +to repair them by imploring Divine mercy; their conscience rests in +peace when a priest assures them that Heaven is quieted by sincere +repentance, which is very useless to the world; this priest consoles +them in the name of Deity, if they consent in reparation of their faults +to divide with His ministers the fruits of their plunderings, of their +frauds, and of their wickedness. Morality united to religion, becomes +necessarily subordinate to it. In the mind of a religious person, God +must be preferred to His creatures; "It is better to obey Him than men!" +The interests of the Celestial Monarch must be above those of weak +mortals. But the interests of Heaven are evidently the interests of the +ministers of Heaven; from which it follows evidently, that in all +religions, the priests, under pretext of Heaven's interest's, or of +God's glory, will be able to dispense with the duties of human morals +when they do not agree with the duties which God is entitled to impose. + +Besides, He who has the power to pardon crimes, has He not the right to +order them committed? + + + + +CLXXI.--THE SUPPOSITION OF THE EXISTENCE OF A GOD IS NOT NECESSARY TO +MORALITY. + +We are constantly told that without a God, there can be no moral +obligation; that it is necessary for men and for the sovereigns +themselves to have a lawgiver sufficiently powerful to compel them to be +moral; moral obligation implies a law; but this law arises from the +eternal and necessary relations of things among themselves, which have +nothing in common with the existence of a God. The rules which govern +men's conduct spring from their own nature, which they are supposed to +know, and not from the Divine nature, of which they have no conception; +these rules compel us to render ourselves estimable or contemptible, +amiable or hateful, worthy of reward or of punishments, happy or +unhappy, according to the extent to which we observe them. The law that +compels man not to harm himself, is inherent in the nature of a sensible +being, who, no matter how he came into this world, or what can be his +fate in another, is compelled by his very nature to seek his welfare and +to shun evil, to love pleasure and to fear pain. The law which compels a +man not to harm others and to do good, is inherent in the nature of +sensible beings living in society, who, by their nature, are compelled +to despise those who do them no good, and to detest those who oppose +their happiness. Whether there exists a God or not, whether this God has +spoken or not, men's moral duties will always be the same so long as +they possess their own nature; that is to say, so long as they are +sensible beings. Do men need a God whom they do not know, or an +invisible lawgiver, or a mysterious religion, or chimerical fears in +order to comprehend that all excess tends ultimately to destroy them, +and that in order to preserve themselves they must abstain from it; that +in order to be loved by others, they must do good; that doing evil is a +sure means of incurring their hatred and vengeance? "Before the law +there was no sin." Nothing is more false than this maxim. It is enough +for a man to be what he is, to be a sensible being in order to +distinguish that which pleases or displeases him. It is enough that a +man knows that another man is a sensible being like himself, in order +for him to know what is useful or injurious to him. It is enough that +man needs his fellow-creature, in order that he should fear that he +might produce unfavorable impressions upon him. Thus a sentient and +thinking being needs but to feel and to think, in order to discover that +which is due to him and to others. I feel, and another feels, like +myself; this is the foundation of all morality. + + + + +CLXXII.--RELIGION AND ITS SUPERNATURAL MORALITY ARE FATAL TO THE PEOPLE, +AND OPPOSED TO MAN'S NATURE. + +We can judge of the merit of a system of morals but by its conformity +with man's nature. According to this comparison, we have a right to +reject it, if we find it detrimental to the welfare of mankind. Whoever +has seriously meditated upon religion and its supernatural morality, +whoever has weighed its advantages and disadvantages, will become +convinced that they are both injurious to the interests of the human +race, or directly opposed to man's nature. + +"People, to arms! Your God's cause is at stake! Heaven is outraged! +Faith is in danger! Down upon infidelity, blasphemy, and heresy!" + +By the magical power of these valiant words, which the people never +understand, the priests in all ages were the leaders in the revolts of +nations, in dethroning kings, in kindling civil wars, and in imprisoning +men. When we chance to examine the important objects which have excited +the Celestial wrath and produced so many ravages upon the earth, it is +found that the foolish reveries and the strange conjectures of some +theologian who did not understand himself, or, the pretensions of the +clergy, have severed all ties of society and inundated the human race in +its own blood and tears. + + + + +CLXXIII.--HOW THE UNION OF RELIGION AND POLITICS IS FATAL TO THE PEOPLE +AND TO THE KINGS. + +The sovereigns of this world in associating the Deity in the government +of their realms, in pretending to be His lieutenants and His +representatives upon earth, in admitting that they hold their power from +Him, must necessarily accept His ministers as rivals or as masters. Is +it, then, astonishing that the priests have often made the kings feel +the superiority of the Celestial Monarch? Have they not more than once +made the temporal princes understand that the greatest physical power is +compelled to surrender to the spiritual power of opinion? Nothing is +more difficult than to serve two masters, especially when they do not +agree upon what they demand of their subjects. The union of religion +with politics has necessarily caused a double legislation in the States. +The law of God, interpreted by His priests, is often contrary to the law +of the sovereign or to the interest of the State. When the princes are +firm, and sure of the love of their subjects, God's law is sometimes +obliged to comply with the wise intentions of the temporal sovereign; +but more often the sovereign authority is obliged to retreat before the +Divine authority, that is to say, before the interests of the clergy. +Nothing is more dangerous for a prince, than to meddle with +ecclesiastical affairs (to put his hands into the holy-water pot), that +is to say, to attempt the reform of abuses consecrated by religion. God +is never more angry than when the Divine rights, the privileges, the +possessions, and the immunities of His priests are interfered with. + +Metaphysical speculations or the religious opinions of men, never +influence their conduct except when they believe them conformed to their +interests. Nothing proves this truth more forcibly than the conduct of a +great number of princes in regard to the spiritual power, which we see +them very often resist. Should not a sovereign who is persuaded of the +importance and the rights of religion, conscientiously feel himself +obliged to receive with respect the orders of his priests, and consider +them as commandments of the Deity? There was a time when the kings and +the people, more conformable, and convinced of the rights of the +spiritual power, became its slaves, surrendered to it on all occasions, +and were but docile instruments in its hands; this happy time is no +more. By a strange inconsistency, we sometimes see the most religious +monarchs oppose the enterprises of those whom they regard as God's +ministers. A sovereign who is filled with religion or respect for his +God, ought to be constantly prostrate before his priests, and regard +them as his true sovereigns. Is there a power upon the earth which has +the right to measure itself with that of the Most High? + + + + +CLXXIV.--CREEDS ARE BURDENSOME AND RUINOUS TO THE MAJORITY OF NATIONS. + +Have the princes who believe themselves interested in propagating the +prejudices of their subjects, reflected well upon the effects which are +produced by privileged demagogues, who have the right to speak when they +choose, and excite in the name of Heaven the passions of many millions +of their subjects? What ravages would not these holy haranguers cause +should they conspire to disturb a State, as they have so often done? + +Nothing is more onerous and more ruinous for the greatest part of the +nations than the worship of their Gods! Everywhere their ministers not +only rank as the first order in the State, but also enjoy the greater +portion of society's benefits, and have the right to levy continual +taxes upon their fellow-citizens. What real advantages do these organs +of the Most High procure for the people in exchange for the immense +profits which they draw from them? Do they give them in exchange for +their wealth and their courtesies anything but mysteries, hypotheses, +ceremonies, subtle questions, interminable quarrels, which very often +their States must pay for with their blood? + + + + +CLXXV.--RELIGION PARALYZES MORALITY. + +Religion, which claims to be the firmest support of morality, evidently +deprives it of its true motor, to substitute imaginary motors, +inconceivable chimeras, which, being obviously contrary to common sense, +can not be firmly believed by any one. Everybody assures us that he +believes firmly in a God who rewards and punishes; everybody claims to +be persuaded of the existence of a hell and of a Paradise; however, do +we see that these ideas render men better or counterbalance in the minds +of the greatest number of them the slightest interest? Each one assures +us that he is afraid of God's judgments, although each one gives vent to +his passions when he believes himself sure of escaping the judgments of +men. The fear of invisible powers is rarely as great as the fear of +visible powers. Unknown or distant sufferings make less impression upon +people than the erected gallows, or the example of a hanged man. There +is scarcely any courtier who fears God's anger more than the displeasure +of his master. A pension, a title, a ribbon, are sufficient to make one +forget the torments of hell and the pleasures of the celestial court. A +woman's caresses expose him every day to the displeasure of the Most +High. A joke, a banter, a bon-mot, make more impression upon the man of +the world than all the grave notions of his religion. Are we not assured +that a true repentance is sufficient to appease Divinity? However, we do +not see that this true repentance is sincerely expressed; at least, we +very rarely see great thieves, even in the hour of death, restore the +goods which they know they have unjustly acquired. Men persuade +themselves, no doubt, that they will submit to the eternal fire, if they +can not guarantee themselves against it. But as settlements can be made +with Heaven by giving the Church a portion of their fortunes, there are +very few religious thieves who do not die perfectly quieted about the +manner in which they gained their riches in this world. + + + + +CLXXVI.--FATAL CONSEQUENCES OF PIETY. + +Even by the confession of the most ardent defenders of religion and of +its usefulness, nothing is more rare than sincere conversions; to which +we might add, nothing is more useless to society. Men do not become +disgusted with the world until the world is disgusted with them; a woman +gives herself to God only when the world no longer wants her. Her vanity +finds in religious devotion a role which occupies her and consoles her +for the ruin of her charms. She passes her time in the most trifling +practices, parties, intrigues, invectives, and slander; zeal furnishes +her the means of distinguishing herself and becoming an object of +consideration in the religious circle. If the bigots have the talent to +please God and His priests, they rarely possess that of pleasing society +or of rendering themselves useful to it. Religion for a devotee is a +veil which covers and justifies all his passions, his pride, his bad +humor, his anger, his vengeance, his impatience, his bitterness. +Religion arrogates to itself a tyrannical superiority which banishes +from commerce all gentleness, gaiety, and joy; it gives the right to +censure others; to capture and to exterminate the infidels for the glory +of God; it is very common to be religious and to have none of the +virtues or the qualities necessary to social life. + + + + +CLXXVII.--THE SUPPOSITION OF ANOTHER LIFE IS NEITHER CONSOLING TO MAN NOR +NECESSARY TO MORALITY. + +We are assured that the dogma of another life is of the greatest +importance to the peace of society; it is imagined that without it men +would have no motives for doing good. Why do we need terrors and fables +to teach any reasonable man how he ought to conduct himself upon earth? +Does not each one of us see that he has the greatest interest in +deserving the approbation, esteem, and kindness of the beings which +surround him, and in avoiding all that can cause the censure, the +contempt, and the resentment of society? No matter how short the +duration of a festival, of a conversation, or of a visit may be, does +not each one of us wish to act a befitting part in it, agreeable to +himself and to others? If life is but a passage, let us try to make it +easy; it can not be so if we lack the regards of those who travel with +us. + +Religion, which is so sadly occupied with its gloomy reveries, +represents man to us as but a pilgrim upon earth; it concludes that in +order to travel with more safety, he should travel alone; renounce the +pleasures which he meets and deprive himself of the amusements which +could console him for the fatigues and the weariness of the road. A +stoical and morose philosophy sometimes gives us counsels as senseless +as religion; but a more rational philosophy inspires us to strew flowers +on life's pathway; to dispel melancholy and panic terrors; to link our +interests with those of our traveling companions; to divert ourselves by +gaiety and honest pleasures from the pains and the crosses to which we +are so often exposed. We are made to feel, that in order to travel +pleasantly, we should abstain from that which could become injurious to +ourselves, and to avoid with great care that which could make us odious +to our associates. + + + + +CLXXVIII.--AN ATHEIST HAS MORE MOTIVES FOR ACTING UPRIGHTLY, MORE + + + +CONSCIENCE, THAN A RELIGIOUS PERSON. + +It is asked what motives has an atheist for doing right. He can have the +motive of pleasing himself and his fellow-creatures; of living happily +and tranquilly; of making himself loved and respected by men, whose +existence and whose dispositions are better known than those of a being +impossible to understand. Can he who fears not the Gods, fear anything? +He can fear men, their contempt, their disrespect, and the punishments +which the laws inflict; finally, he can fear himself; he can be afraid +of the remorse that all those experience whose conscience reproaches +them for having deserved the hatred of their fellow-beings. Conscience +is the inward testimony which we render to ourselves for having acted in +such a manner as to deserve the esteem or the censure of those with whom +we associate. This conscience is based upon the knowledge which we have +of men, and of the sentiments which our actions must awaken in them. A +religious person's conscience persuades him that he has pleased or +displeased his God, of whom he has no idea, and whose obscure and +doubtful intentions are explained to him only by suspicious men, who +know no more of the essence of Divinity than he does, and who do not +agree upon what can please or displease God. In a word, the conscience +of a credulous man is guided by men whose own conscience is in error, or +whose interest extinguishes intelligence. + + + + +Can an atheist have conscience? What are his motives for abstaining from +secret vices and crimes of which other men are ignorant, and which are +beyond the reach of laws? He can be assured by constant experience that +there is no vice which, in the nature of things, does not bring its own +punishment. If he wishes to preserve himself, he will avoid all those +excesses which can be injurious to his health; he would not desire to +live and linger, thus becoming a burden to himself and others. In regard +to secret crimes, he would avoid them through fear of being ashamed of +himself, from whom he can not hide. If he has reason, he will know the +price of the esteem that an honest man should have for himself. He will +know, besides, that unexpected circumstances can unveil to the eyes of +others the conduct which he feels interested in concealing. The other +world gives no motive for doing well to him who finds no motive for it +here. + + + + +CLXXIX.--AN ATHEISTICAL KING WOULD BE PREFERABLE TO ONE WHO IS RELIGIOUS +AND WICKED, AS WE OFTEN SEE THEM. + +The speculating atheist, the theist will tell us, may be an honest man, +but his writings will cause atheism in politics. Princes and ministers, +being no longer restrained by the fear of God, will give themselves up +without scruple to the most frightful excesses. But no matter what we +can suppose of the depravity of an atheist on a throne, can it ever be +any greater or more injurious than that of so many conquerors, tyrants, +persecutors, of ambitious and perverse courtiers, who, without being +atheists, but who, being very often religious, do not cease to make +humanity groan under the weight of their crimes? Can an atheistical king +inflict more evil on the world than a Louis XI., a Philip II., a +Richelieu, who have all allied religion with crime? Nothing is rarer +than atheistical princes, and nothing more common than very bad and very +religious tyrants. + + + + +CLXXX.--THE MORALITY ACQUIRED BY PHILOSOPHY IS SUFFICIENT TO VIRTUE. + +Any man who reflects can not fail of knowing his duties, of discovering +the relations which subsist between men, of meditating upon his own +nature, of discerning his needs, his inclinations, and his desires, and +of perceiving what he owes to the beings necessary to his own happiness. +These reflections naturally lead to the knowledge of the morality which +is the most essential for society. Every man who loves to retire within +himself in order to study and seek for the principles of things, has no +very dangerous passions; his greatest passion will be to know the truth, +and his greatest ambition to show it to others. Philosophy is beneficial +in cultivating the heart and the mind. In regard to morals, has not he +who reflects and reasons the advantage over him who does not reason? + +If ignorance is useful to priests and to the oppressors of humanity, it +is very fatal to society. Man, deprived of intelligence, does not enjoy +the use of his reason; man, deprived of reason and intelligence, is a +savage, who is liable at any moment to be led into crime. Morality, or +the science of moral duties, is acquired but by the study of man and his +relations. He who does not reflect for himself does not know true +morals, and can not walk the road of virtue. The less men reason, the +more wicked they are. The barbarians, the princes, the great, and the +dregs of society, are generally the most wicked because they are those +who reason the least. The religious man never reflects, and avoids +reasoning; he fears examination; he follows authority; and very often an +erroneous conscience makes him consider it a holy duty to commit evil. +The incredulous man reasons, consults experience, and prefers it to +prejudice. If he has reasoned justly, his conscience becomes clear; he +finds more real motives for right-doing than the religious man, who has +no motives but his chimeras, and who never listens to reason. Are not +the motives of the incredulous man strong enough to counterbalance his +passions? Is he blind enough not to recognize the interests which should +restrain him? Well! he will be vicious and wicked; but even then he will +be no worse and no better than many credulous men who, notwithstanding +religion and its sublime precepts, continue to lead a life which this +very religion condemns. Is a credulous murderer less to be feared than a +murderer who does not believe anything? Is a religious tyrant any less a +tyrant than an irreligious one? + + + + +CLXXXI.--OPINIONS RARELY INFLUENCE CONDUCT. + +There is nothing more rare in the world than consistent men. Their +opinions do not influence their conduct, except when they conform to +their temperament, their passions, and to their interests. Religious +opinions, according to daily experience, produce much more evil than +good; they are injurious, because they very often agree with the +passions of tyrants, fanatics, and priests; they produce no effect, +because they have not the power to balance the present interests of the +majority of men. Religious principles are always put aside when they are +opposed to ardent desires; without being incredulous, they act as if +they believed nothing. We risk being deceived when we judge the opinions +of men by their conduct or their conduct by their opinions. A very +religious man, notwithstanding the austere and cruel principles of a +bloody religion, will sometimes be, by a fortunate inconsistency, +humane, tolerant, moderate; in this case the principles of his religion +do not agree with the mildness of his disposition. A libertine, a +debauchee, a hypocrite, an adulterer, or a thief will often show us that +he has the clearest ideas of morals. Why do they not practice them? It +is because neither their temperament, their interests, nor their habits +agree with their sublime theories. The rigid principles of Christian +morality, which so many attempt to pass off as Divine, have but very +little influence upon the conduct of those who preach them to others. Do +they not tell us every day to do what they preach, and not what they +practice? + +The religious partisans generally designate the incredulous as +libertines. It may be that many incredulous people are immoral; this +immorality is due to their temperament, and not to their opinions. But +what has their conduct to do with these opinions? Can not an immoral man +be a good physician, a good architect, a good geometer, a good logician, +a good metaphysician? With an irreproachable conduct, one can be +ignorant upon many things, and reason very badly. When truth is +presented, it matters not from whom it comes. Let us not judge men by +their opinions, or opinions by men; let us judge men by their conduct; +and their opinions by their conformity with experience, reason, and +their usefulness for mankind. + + + + +CLXXXII.---REASON LEADS MEN TO IRRELIGION AND TO ATHEISM, BECAUSE +RELIGION IS ABSURD, AND THE GOD OF THE PRIESTS IS A MALICIOUS AND +FEROCIOUS BEING. + +Every man who reasons soon becomes incredulous, because reasoning proves +to him that theology is but a tissue of falsehoods; that religion is +contrary to all principles of common sense; that it gives a false color +to all human knowledge. The rational man becomes incredulous, because he +sees that religion, far from rendering men happier, is the first cause +of the greatest disorders, and of the permanent calamities with which +the human race is afflicted. The man who seeks his well-being and his +own tranquillity, examines his religion and is undeceived, because he +finds it inconvenient and useless to pass his life in trembling at +phantoms which are made but to intimidate silly women or children. If, +sometimes, libertinage, which reasons but little, leads to irreligion, +the man who is regular in his morals can have very legitimate motives +for examining his religion, and for banishing it from his mind. Too weak +to intimidate the wicked, in whom vice has become deeply rooted, +religious terrors afflict, torment, and burden imaginative minds. If +souls have courage and elasticity, they shake off a yoke which they bear +unwillingly. If weak or timorous, they wear the yoke during their whole +life, and they grow old, trembling, or at least they live under +burdensome uncertainty. + +The priests have made of God such a malicious, ferocious being, so ready +to be vexed, that there are few men in the world who do not wish at the +bottom of their hearts that this God did not exist. We can not live +happy if we are always in fear. You worship a terrible God, O religious +people! Alas! And yet you hate Him; you wish that He was not. Can we +avoid wishing the absence or the destruction of a master, the idea of +whom can but torment the mind? It is the dark colors in which the +priests paint the Deity which revolt men, moving them to hate and +reject Him. + + + + +CLXXXIII.--FEAR ALONE CREATES THEISTS AND BIGOTS. + +If fear has created the Gods, fear still holds their empire in the mind +of mortals; they have been so early accustomed to tremble even at the +name of the Deity, that it has become for them a specter, a goblin, a +were-wolf which torments them, and whose idea deprives them even of the +courage to attempt to reassure themselves. They are afraid that this +invisible specter will strike them if they cease to be afraid. The +religious people fear their God too much to love Him sincerely; they +serve Him as slaves, who can not escape His power, and take the part of +flattering their Master; and who, by continually lying, persuade +themselves that they love Him. They make a virtue of necessity. The love +of religious bigots for their God, and of slaves for their despots, is +but a servile and simulated homage which they render by compulsion, in +which the heart has no part. + + + + +CLXXXIV.--CAN WE, OR SHOULD WE, LOVE OR NOT LOVE GOD? + +The Christian Doctors have made their God so little worthy of love, that +several among them have thought it their duty not to love Him; this is a +blasphemy which makes less sincere doctors tremble. Saint Thomas, having +asserted that we are under obligation to love God as soon as we can use +our reason, the Jesuit Sirmond replied to him that that was very soon; +the Jesuit Vasquez claims that it is sufficient to love God in the hour +of death; Hurtado says that we should love God at all times; Henriquez +is content with loving Him every five years; Sotus, every Sunday. "Upon +what shall we rely?" asks Father Sirmond, who adds: "that Suarez desires +that we should love God sometimes. But at what time? He allows you to +judge of it; he knows nothing about it himself; for he adds: 'What a +learned doctor does not know, who can know?'" The same Jesuit Sirmond +continues, by saying: "that God does not command us to love Him with +human affection, and does not promise us salvation but on condition of +giving Him our hearts; it is enough to obey Him and to love Him, by +fulfilling His commandments; that this is the only love which we owe +Him, and He has not commanded so much to love Him as not to hate Him." +[See "Apology, Des Lettres Provinciales," Tome II.] This doctrine +appears heretical, ungodly, and abominable to the Jansenists, who, by +the revolting severity which they attribute to their God, render Him +still less lovable than their adversaries, the Jesuits. The latter, in +order to make converts, represent God in such a light as to give +confidence to the most perverse mortals. Thus, nothing is less +established among the Christians than the important question, whether we +can or should love or not love God. Among their spiritual guides some +pretend that we must love God with all the heart, notwithstanding all +His severity; others, like the Father Daniel, think that an act of pure +love of God is the most heroic act of Christian virtue, and that human +weakness can scarcely reach so high. The Jesuit Pintereau goes still +further; he says: "The deliverance from the grievous yoke of Divine love +is a privilege of the new alliance." + + + + +CLXXXV.--THE VARIOUS AND CONTRADICTORY IDEAS WHICH EXIST EVERYWHERE UPON +GOD AND RELIGION, PROVE THAT THEY ARE BUT IDLE FANCIES. + +It is always the character of man which decides upon the character of +his God; each one creates a God for himself, and in his own image. The +cheerful man who indulges in pleasures and dissipation, can not imagine +God to be an austere and rebukeful being; he requires a facile God with +whom he can make an agreement. The severe, sour, bilious man wants a God +like himself; one who inspires fear; and regards as perverse those that +accept only a God who is yielding and easily won over. Heresies, +quarrels, and schisms are necessary. Can men differently organized and +modified by diverse circumstances, agree in regard to an imaginary being +which exists but in their own brains? The cruel and interminable +disputes continually arising among the ministers of the Lord, have not a +tendency to attract the confidence of those who take an impartial view +of them. How can we help our incredulity, when we see principles about +which those who teach them to others, never agree? How can we avoid +doubting the existence of a God, the idea of whom varies in such a +remarkable way in the mind of His ministers? How can we avoid rejecting +totally a God who is full of contradictions? How can we rely upon +priests whom we see continually contending, accusing each other of being +infidels and heretics, rending and persecuting each other without mercy, +about the way in which they understand the pretended truths which they +reveal to the world? + + + + +CLXXXVI.--THE EXISTENCE OF GOD, WHICH IS THE BASIS OF ALL RELIGION, HAS +NOT YET BEEN DEMONSTRATED. + +However, so far, this important truth has not yet been demonstrated, not +only to the incredulous, but in a satisfactory way to theologians +themselves. In all times, we have seen profound thinkers who thought +they had new proofs of the truth most important to men. What have been +the fruits of their meditations and of their arguments? They left the +thing at the same point; they have demonstrated nothing; nearly always +they have excited the clamors of their colleagues, who accuse them of +having badly defended the best of causes. + + + + +CLXXXVII.--PRIESTS, MORE THAN UNBELIEVERS, ACT FROM INTEREST. + +The apologists of religion repeat to us every day that the passions +alone create unbelievers. "It is," they say, "pride, and a desire to +distinguish themselves, that make atheists; they seek also to efface the +idea of God from their minds, because they have reason to fear His +rigorous judgments." Whatever may be the motives which cause men to be +irreligious, the thing in question is whether they have found truth. No +man acts without motives; let us first examine the arguments--we shall +examine the motives afterward--and we shall find that they are more +legitimate, and more sensible, than those of many credulous devotees who +allow themselves to be guided by masters little worthy of men's +confidence. + +You say, O priests of the Lord! that the passions cause unbelievers; you +pretend that they renounce religion through interest, or because it +interferes with their irregular inclinations; you assert that they +attack your Gods because they fear their punishments. Ah! yourselves in +defending this religion and its chimeras, are you, then, really exempt +from passions and interests? Who receive the fees of this religion, on +whose behalf the priests are so zealous? It is the priests. To whom does +religion procure power, credit, honors, wealth? To the priests! In all +countries, who make war upon reason, science, truth, and philosophy and +render them odious to the sovereigns and to the people? Who profit by +the ignorance of men and their vain prejudices? The priests! You are, O +priests, rewarded, honored, and paid for deceiving mortals, and you +punish those who undeceive them. The follies of men procure you +blessings, offerings, expiations; the most useful truths bring to those +who announce them, chains, sufferings, stakes. Let the world judge +between us. + + + + +CLXXXVIII.--PRIDE, PRESUMPTION, AND CORRUPTION OF THE HEART ARE MORE +OFTEN FOUND AMONG PRIESTS THAN AMONG ATHEISTS AND UNBELIEVERS. + +Pride and vanity always were and always will be the inherent vices of +the priesthood. Is there anything that has a tendency to render men +haughty and vain more than the assumption of exercising Heavenly power, +of possessing a sacred character, of being the messengers of the Most +High? Are not these dispositions continually increased by the credulity +of the people, by the deference and the respect of the sovereigns, by +the immunities, the privileges, and the distinctions which the clergy +enjoy? The common man is, in every country, more devoted to his +spiritual guides, whom he considers as Divine men, than to his temporal +superiors, whom he considers as ordinary men. Village priests enjoy more +honor than the lord or the judge. A Christian priest believes himself +far above a king or an emperor. A Spanish grandee having spoken hastily +to a monk, the latter said to him, arrogantly, "Learn to respect a man +who has every day your God in his hands and your queen at his feet." + +Have the priests any right to accuse the unbelievers of pride? Do they +distinguish themselves by a rare modesty or profound humility? Is it not +evident that the desire to domineer over men is the essence of their +profession? If the Lord's ministers were truly modest, would we see them +so greedy of respect, so easily irritated by contradictions, so prompt +and so cruel in revenging themselves upon those whose opinions offend +them? Does not modest science impress us with the difficulty of +unraveling truth? What other passion than frenzied pride can render men +so ferocious, so vindictive, so devoid of toleration and gentleness? +What is more presumptuous than to arm nations and cause rivers of blood, +in order to establish or to defend futile conjectures? + +You say, O Doctors of Divinity! that it is presumption alone which makes +atheists. Teach them, then, what your God is; instruct them about His +essence; speak of Him in an intelligible way; tell of Him reasonable +things, which are not contradictory or impossible! If you are not in the +condition to satisfy them; if, so far, none of you have been able to +demonstrate the existence of a God in a clear and convincing way; if, +according to your own confession, His essence is as much hidden from you +as from the rest of mortals, pardon those who can not admit that which +they can neither understand nor reconcile. Do not accuse of presumption +and vanity those who have the sincerity to confess their ignorance; +accuse not of folly those who find it impossible to believe in +contradictions. You should blush at the thought of exciting the hatred +of the people and the vengeance of the sovereigns against men who do not +think as you do upon a Being of whom you have no idea yourselves. Is +there anything more audacious and more extravagant than to reason about +an object which it is impossible to conceive of? + +You tell us it is corruption of the heart which produces atheists; that +they shake off the yoke of the Deity because they fear His terrible +judgments. But why do you paint your God in such black colors? Why does +this powerful God permit that such corrupt hearts should exist? Why +should we not make efforts to break the yoke of a Tyrant who, being able +to make of the hearts of men what He pleases, allows them to become +perverted and hardened; blinds them; refuses them His grace, in order to +have the satisfaction of punishing them eternally for having been +hardened, blinded, and not having received the grace which He refused +them? The theologians and the priests must feel themselves very sure of +Heaven's grace and of a happy future, in order not to detest a Master so +capricious as the God whom they announce to us. A God who damns +eternally must be the most odious Being that the human mind could +imagine. + + + + +CLXXXIX.--PREJUDICES ARE BUT FOR A TIME, AND NO POWER IS DURABLE EXCEPT +IT IS BASED UPON TRUTH, REASON, AND EQUITY. + +No man on earth is truly interested in sustaining error; sooner or later +it is compelled to surrender to truth. General interest tends to the +enlightenment of mortals; even the passions sometimes contribute to the +breaking of some of the chains of prejudice. Have not the passions of +some sovereigns destroyed, within the past two centuries in some +countries of Europe, the tyrannical power which a haughty Pontiff +formerly exercised over all the princes of his sect? Politics, becoming +more enlightened, has despoiled the clergy of an immense amount of +property which credulity had accumulated in their hands. Should not this +memorable example make even the priests realize that prejudices are but +for a time, and that truth alone is capable of assuring a substantial +well-being? + +Have not the ministers of the Lord seen that in pampering the +sovereigns, in forging Divine rights for them, and in delivering to them +the people, bound hand and foot, they were making tyrants of them? Have +they not reason to fear that these gigantic idols, whom they have raised +to the skies, will crush them also some day? Do not a thousand examples +prove that they ought to fear that these unchained lions, after having +devoured nations, will in turn devour them? + +We will respect the priests when they become citizens. Let them make +use, if they can, of Heaven's authority to create fear in those princes +who incessantly desolate the earth; let them deprive them of the right +of being unjust; let them recognize that no subject of a State enjoys +living under tyranny; let them make the sovereigns feel that they +themselves are not interested in exercising a power which, rendering +them odious, injures their own safety, their own power, their own +grandeur; finally, let the priests and the undeceived kings recognize +that no power is safe that is not based upon truth, reason, and equity. + + + + +CXC.--HOW MUCH POWER AND CONSIDERATION THE MINISTERS OF THE GODS WOULD +HAVE, IF THEY BECAME THE APOSTLES OF REASON AND THE DEFENDERS OF +LIBERTY! + +The ministers of the Gods, in warring against human reason, which they +ought to develop, act against their own interest. What would be their +power, their consideration, their empire over the wisest men; what would +be the gratitude of the people toward them if, instead of occupying +themselves with their vain quarrels, they had applied themselves to the +useful sciences; if they had sought the true principles of physics, of +government, and of morals. Who would dare reproach the opulence and +credit of a corporation which, consecrating its leisure and its +authority to the public good, should use the one for studying and +meditating, and the other for enlightening equally the minds of the +sovereigns and the subjects? + +Priests! lay aside your idle fancies, your unintelligible dogmas, your +despicable quarrels; banish to imaginary regions these phantoms, which +could be of use to you only in the infancy of nations; take the tone of +reason, instead of sounding the tocsin of persecution against your +adversaries; instead of entertaining the people with foolish disputes, +of preaching useless and fanatical virtues, preach to them humane and +social morality; preach to them virtues which are really useful to the +world; become the apostles of reason, the lights of the nations, the +defenders of liberty, reformers of abuses, the friends of truth, and we +will bless you, we will honor you, we will love you, and you will be +sure of holding an eternal empire over the hearts of your fellow-beings. + + + + +CXCI.--WHAT A HAPPY AND GREAT REVOLUTION WOULD TAKE PLACE IN THE +UNIVERSE, IF PHILOSOPHY WAS SUBSTITUTED FOR RELIGION! + +Philosophers, in all ages, have taken the part that seemed destined for +the ministers of religion. The hatred of the latter for philosophy was +never more than professional jealousy. All men accustomed to think, +instead of seeking to injure each other, should unite their efforts in +combating errors, in seeking truth, and especially in dispelling the +prejudices from which the sovereigns and subjects suffer alike, and +whose upholders themselves finish, sooner or later, by becoming the +victims. + +In the hands of an enlightened government the priests would become the +most useful of citizens. Could men with rich stipends from the State, +and relieved of the care of providing for their own subsistence, do +anything better than to instruct themselves in order to be able to +instruct others? Would not their minds be better satisfied in +discovering truth than in wandering in the labyrinths of darkness? Would +it be any more difficult to unravel the principles of man's morals, than +the imaginary principles of Divine and theological morals? Would +ordinary men have as much trouble in understanding the simple notions of +their duties, as in charging their memories with mysteries, +unintelligible words, and obscure definitions which are impossible for +them to understand? How much time and trouble is lost in trying to teach +men things which are of no use to them. What resources for the public +benefit, for encouraging the progress of the sciences and the +advancement of knowledge, for the education of youth, are presented to +well-meaning sovereigns through so many monasteries, which, in a great +number of countries devour the people's substance without an equivalent. +But superstition, jealous of its exclusive empire, seems to have formed +but useless beings. What advantage could not be drawn from a multitude +of cenobites of both sexes whom we see in so many countries, and who are +so well paid to do nothing. Instead of occupying them with sterile +contemplations, with mechanical prayers, with monotonous practices; +instead of burdening them with fasts and austerities, let there be +excited among them a salutary emulation that would inspire them to seek +the means of serving usefully the world, which their fatal vows oblige +them to renounce. Instead of filling the youthful minds of their pupils +with fables, dogmas, and puerilities, why not invite or oblige the +priests to teach them true things, and so make of them citizens useful +to their country? The way in which men are brought up makes them useful +but to the clergy, who blind them, and to the tyrants, who plunder them. + + + + +CXCII.--THE RETRACTION OF AN UNBELIEVER AT THE HOUR OF DEATH, PROVES +NOTHING AGAINST INCREDULITY. + +The adherents of credulity often accuse the unbelievers of bad faith +because they sometimes waver in their principles, changing opinions +during sickness, and retracting them at the hour of death. When the body +is diseased, the faculty of reasoning is generally disturbed also. The +infirm and decrepit man, in approaching his end, sometimes perceives +himself that reason is leaving him, he feels that prejudice returns. +There are diseases which have a tendency to lessen courage, to make +pusillanimous, and to enfeeble the brain; there are others which, in +destroying the body, do not affect the reason. However, an unbeliever +who retracts in sickness, is not more rare or more extraordinary than a +devotionist who permits himself, while in health, to neglect the duties +that his religion prescribes for him in the most formal manner. + +Cleomenes, King of Sparta, having shown little respect for the Gods +during his reign, became superstitious in his last days; with the view +of interesting Heaven in his favor, he called around him a multitude of +sacrificing priests. One of his friends expressing his surprise, +Cleomenes said: "What are you astonished at? I am no longer what I was, +and not being the same, I can not think in the same way." + +The ministers of religion in their daily conduct, often belie the +rigorous principles which they teach to others, so that the unbelievers +in their turn think they have a right to accuse them of bad faith. If +some unbelievers contradict, in sight of death or during sickness, the +opinions which they entertained in health, do not the priests in health +belie opinions of the religion which they hold? Do we see a great +multitude of humble, generous prelates devoid of ambition, enemies of +pomp and grandeur, the friends of poverty? In short, do we see the +conduct of many Christian priests corresponding with the austere +morality of Christ, their God and their model? + + + + +CXCIII.--IT IS NOT TRUE THAT ATHEISM SUNDERS ALL THE TIES OF SOCIETY. + +Atheism, we are told, breaks all social ties. Without belief in God, +what becomes of the sacredness of the oath? How can we bind an atheist +who can not seriously attest the Deity? But does the oath place us under +stronger obligations to the engagements which we make? Whoever dares to +lie, will he not dare to perjure himself? He who is base enough to +violate his word, or unjust enough to break his promises in contempt of +the esteem of men, will not be more faithful for having taken all the +Gods as witnesses to his oaths. Those who rank themselves above the +judgments of men, will soon put themselves above the judgments of God. +Are not princes, of all mortals, the most prompt in taking oaths, and +the most prompt in violating them? + + + + +CXCIV.--REFUTATION OF THE ASSERTION THAT RELIGION IS NECESSARY FOR THE +MASSES. + +Religion, they tell us, is necessary for the masses; that though +enlightened persons may not need restraint upon their opinions, it is +necessary at least for the common people, in whom education has not +developed reason. Is it true, then, that religion is a restraint for the +people? Do we see that this religion prevents them from intemperance, +drunkenness, brutality, violence, frauds, and all kinds of excesses? + +Could a people who had no idea of the Deity, conduct itself in a more +detestable manner than many believing people in whom we see dissolute +habits, and the vices most unworthy of rational beings? Do we not see +the artisan or the man of the people go from his church and plunge +headlong into his usual excesses, persuading himself all the while that +his periodical homage to God gives him the right to follow without +remorse his vicious practices and habitual inclinations? If the people +are gross and ignorant, is not their stupidity due to the negligence of +the princes who do not attend to the public education, or who oppose the +instruction of their subjects? Finally, is not the irrationality of the +people plainly the work of the priests, who, instead of interesting them +in a rational morality, do nothing but entertain them with fables, +phantoms, intrigues, observances, idle fancies, and false virtues, upon +which they claim that everything depends? + +Religion is, for the people, but a vain attendance upon ceremonies, to +which they cling from habit, which amuses their eyes, which enlivens +temporarily their sleepy minds, without influencing the conduct, and +without correcting their morals. By the confession even of the ministers +at the altars, nothing is more rare than the interior and spiritual +religion, which is alone capable of regulating the life of man, and of +triumphing over his inclinations. In good faith, among the most numerous +and the most devotional people, are there many capable of understanding +the principles of their religious system, and who find them of +sufficient strength to stifle their perverse inclinations? + +Many people will tell us that it is better to have some kind of a +restraint than none at all. They will pretend that if religion does not +control the great mass, it serves at least to restrain some individuals, +who, without it, would abandon themselves to crime without remorse. No +doubt it is necessary for men to have a restraint; but they do not need +an imaginary one; they need true and visible restraints; they need real +fears, which are much better to restrain them than panic terrors and +idle fancies. Religion frightens but a few pusillanimous minds, whose +weakness of character already renders them little to be dreaded by their +fellow-citizens. An equitable government, severe laws, a sound morality, +will apply equally to everybody; every one would be forced to believe in +it, and would feel the danger of not conforming to it. + + + + +CXCV.--EVERY RATIONAL SYSTEM IS NOT MADE FOR THE MULTITUDE. + +We may be asked if atheism can suit the multitude? I reply, that every +system which demands discussion is not for the multitude. What use is +there, then, in preaching atheism? It can at least make those who +reason, feel that nothing is more extravagant than to make ourselves +uneasy, and nothing more unjust than to cause anxiety to others on +account of conjectures, destitute of all foundation. As to the common +man, who never reasons, the arguments of an atheist are no better suited +to him than a philosopher's hypothesis, an astronomer's observations, a +chemist's experiments, a geometer's calculations, a physician's +examinations, an architect's designs, or a lawyer's pleadings, who all +labor for the people without their knowledge. + +The metaphysical arguments of theology, and the religious disputes which +have occupied for so long many profound visionists, are they made any +more for the common man than the arguments of an atheist? More than +this, the principles of atheism, founded upon common sense, are they not +more intelligible than those of a theology which we see bristling with +insolvable difficulties, even for the most active minds? The people in +every country have a religion which they do not understand, which they +do not examine, and which they follow but by routine; their priests +alone occupy themselves with the theology which is too sublime for them. +If, by accident, the people should lose this unknown theology, they +could console them selves for the loss of a thing which is not only +entirely useless, but which produces among them very dangerous +ebullitions. + +It would be very foolish to write for the common man or to attempt to +cure his prejudices all at once. We write but for those who read and +reason; the people read but little, and reason less. Sensible and +peaceable people enlighten themselves; their light spreads itself +gradually, and in time reaches the people. On the other hand, those who +deceive men, do they not often take the trouble themselves of +undeceiving them? + + + + +CXCVI.--FUTILITY AND DANGER OF THEOLOGY. WISE COUNSELS TO PRINCES. + +If theology is a branch of commerce useful to theologians, it has been +demonstrated to be superfluous and injurious to the rest of society. The +interests of men will succeed in opening their eyes sooner or later. The +sovereigns and the people will some day discover the indifference and +the contempt that a futile science deserves which serves but to trouble +men without making them better. They will feel the uselessness of many +expensive practices, which do not at all contribute to public welfare; +they will blush at many pitiful quarrels, which will cease to disturb +the tranquillity of the States as soon as they cease to attach any +importance to them. + +Princes! instead of taking part in the senseless contentions of your +priests, instead of espousing foolishly their impertinent quarrels, +instead of striving to bring all your subjects to uniform opinions, +occupy yourselves with their happiness in this world, and do not trouble +yourselves about the fate which awaits them in another. Govern them +justly, give them good laws, respect their liberty and their property, +superintend their education, encourage them in their labors, reward +their talents and their virtues, repress their licentiousness, and do +not trouble yourselves upon what they think about objects useless to +them and to you. Then you will no longer need fictions to make +yourselves obeyed; you will become the only guides of your subjects; +their ideas will be uniform about the feelings of love and respect which +will be your due. Theological fables are useful but to tyrants, who do +not understand the art of ruling over reasonable beings. + + + + +CXCVII.--FATAL EFFECTS OF RELIGION UPON THE PEOPLE AND THE PRINCES. + +Does it require the efforts of genius to comprehend that what is beyond +man, is not made for men; that what is supernatural, is not made for +natural beings; that impenetrable mysteries are not made for limited +minds? If theologians are foolish enough to dispute about subjects which +they acknowledge to be unintelligible to themselves, should society take +a part in their foolish quarrels? Must human blood flow in order to give +value to the conjectures of a few obstinate visionists? If it is very +difficult to cure the theologians of their mania and the people of their +prejudices, it is at least very easy to prevent the extravagances of the +one and the folly of the other from producing pernicious effects. Let +each one be allowed to think as he chooses, but let him not be allowed +to annoy others for their mode of thinking. If the chiefs of nations +were more just and more sensible, theological opinions would not disturb +the public tranquillity any more than the disputes of philosophers, +physicians, grammarians, and of critics. It is the tyranny of princes +which makes theological quarrels have serious consequences. When kings +shall cease to meddle with theology, theological quarrels will no longer +be a thing to fear. + +Those who boast so much upon the importance and usefulness of religion, +ought to show us its beneficial results, and the advantages that the +disputes and abstract speculations of theology can bring to porters, to +artisans, to farmers, to fishmongers, to women, and to so many depraved +servants, with whom the large cities are filled. People of this kind are +all religious, they have implicit faith; their priests believe for them; +they accept a faith unknown to their guides; they listen assiduously to +sermons; they assist regularly in ceremonies; they think it a great +crime to transgress the ordinances to which from childhood they have +been taught to conform. What good to morality results from all this? +None whatever; they have no idea of morality, and you see them indulge +in all kinds of rogueries, frauds, rapine, and excesses which the law +does not punish. The masses, in truth, have no idea of religion; what is +called religion, is but a blind attachment to unknown opinions and +mysterious dealings. In fact, to deprive the people of religion, is +depriving them of nothing. If we should succeed in destroying their +prejudices, we would but diminish or annihilate the dangerous confidence +which they have in self-interested guides, and teach them to beware of +those who, under the pretext of religion, very often lead them into +fatal excesses. + + + + +CXCVIII.--CONTINUATION. + +Under pretext of instructing and enlightening men, religion really holds +them in ignorance, and deprives them even of the desire of understanding +the objects which interest them the most. There exists for the people no +other rule of conduct than that which their priests indicate to them. +Religion takes the place of everything; but being in darkness itself, it +has a greater tendency to misguide mortals, than to guide them in the +way of science and happiness. Philosophy, morality, legislation, and +politics are to them enigmas. Man, blinded by religious prejudices, +finds it impossible to understand his own nature, to cultivate his +reason, to make experiments; he fears truth as soon as it does not agree +with his opinions. Everything tends to render the people devout, but all +is opposed to their being humane, reasonable, and virtuous. Religion +seems to have for its object only to blunt the feeling and to dull the +intelligence of men. + +The war which always existed between the priests and the best minds of +all ages, comes from this, that the wise men perceived the fetters which +superstition wished to place upon the human mind, which it fain would +keep in eternal infancy, that it might be occupied with fables, burdened +with terrors, and frightened by phantoms which would prevent it from +progressing. Incapable of perfecting itself, theology opposed +insurmountable barriers to the progress of true knowledge; it seemed to +be occupied but with the care to keep the nations and their chiefs in +the most profound ignorance of their true interests, of their relations, +of their duties, of the real motives which can lead them to prosperity; +it does but obscure morality; renders its principles arbitrary, subjects +it to the caprices of the Gods, or of their ministers; it converts the +art of governing men into a mysterious tyranny which becomes the scourge +of nations; it changes the princes into unjust and licentious despots, +and the people into ignorant slaves, who corrupt themselves in order to +obtain the favor of their masters. + + + + +CXCIX.--HISTORY TEACHES US THAT ALL RELIGIONS WERE ESTABLISHED BY THE AID +OF IGNORANCE, AND BY MEN WHO HAD THU EFFRONTERY TO STYLE THEMSELVES THE +ENVOYS OF DIVINITY. + +If we take the trouble to follow the history of the human mind, we will +discover that theology took care not to extend its limits. It began by +repeating fables, which it claimed to be sacred truths; it gave birth to +poesy, which filled the people's imagination with puerile fictions; it +entertained them but with its Gods and their incredible feats; in a +word, religion always treated men like children, whom they put to sleep +with tales that their ministers would like still to pass as +incontestable truths. If the ministers of the Gods sometimes made useful +discoveries, they always took care to hide them in enigmas and to +envelope them in shadows of mystery. The Pythagorases and the Platos, in +order to acquire some futile attainments, were obliged to crawl to the +feet of the priests, to become initiated into their mysteries, to submit +to the tests which they desired to impose upon them; it is at this cost +that they were permitted to draw from the fountain-head their exalted +ideas, so seducing still to all those who admire what is unintelligible. +It was among Egyptian, Indian, Chaldean priests; it was in the schools +of these dreamers, interested by profession in dethroning human reason, +that philosophy was obliged to borrow its first rudiments. Obscure or +false in its principles, mingled with fictions and fables, solely made +to seduce imagination, this philosophy progressed but waveringly, and +instead of enlightening the mind, it blinded it, and turned it away from +useful objects. The theological speculations and mystical reveries of +the ancients have, even in our days, the making of the law in a great +part of the philosophical world. Adopted by modern theology, we can +scarcely deviate from them without heresy; they entertain us with aerial +beings, with spirits, angels, demons, genii, and other phantoms, which +are the object of the meditations of our most profound thinkers, and +which serve as a basis to metaphysics, an abstract and futile science, +upon which the greatest geniuses have vainly exercised themselves for +thousands of years. Thus hypotheses, invented by a few visionists of +Memphis and of Babylon, continue to be the basis of a science revered +for the obscurity which makes it pass as marvelous and Divine. The first +legislators of nations were priests; the first mythologists and poets +were priests; the first philosophers were priests; the first physicians +were priests. In their hands science became a sacred thing, prohibited +to the profane; they spoke only by allegories, emblems, enigmas, and +ambiguous oracles--means well-suited to excite curiosity, to put to work +the imagination, and especially to inspire in the ignorant man a holy +respect for those whom he believed instructed by Heaven, capable of +reading the destinies of earth, and who boldly pretended to be the +organs of Divinity. + + + + +CC.--ALL RELIGIONS, ANCIENT AND MODERN, HAVE MUTUALLY BORROWED THEIR +ABSTRACT REVERIES AND THEIR RIDICULOUS PRACTICES. + +The religions of these ancient priests have disappeared, or, rather, +they have changed their form. Although our modern theologians regard the +ancient priests as impostors, they have taken care to gather up the +scattered fragments of their religious systems, the whole of which does +not exist any longer for us; we will find in our modern religions, not +only the metaphysical dogmas which theology has but dressed in another +form, but we still find remarkable remains of their superstitious +practices, of their theurgy, of their magic, of their enchantments. + +Christians are still commanded to regard with respect the monuments of +the legislators, the priests, and the prophets of the Hebrew religion, +which, according to appearances, has borrowed from Egypt the fantastic +notions with which we see it filled. Thus the extravagances invented by +frauds or idolatrous visionists, are still regarded as sacred opinions +by the Christians! + +If we but look at history, we see striking resemblances in all +religions. Everywhere on earth we find religious ideas periodically +afflicting and rejoicing the people; everywhere we see rites, practices +often abominable, and formidable mysteries occupying the mind, and +becoming objects of meditation. We see the different superstitions +borrowing from each other their abstract reveries and their ceremonies. +Religions are generally unformed rhapsodies combined by new Doctors of +Divinity, who, in composing them, have used the materials of their +predecessors, reserving the right of adding or subtracting what suits or +does not suit their present views. The religion of Egypt served +evidently as a basis for the religion of Moses, who expunged from it the +worship of idols. Moses was but an Egyptian schismatic, Christianity is +but a reformed Judaism. Mohammedanism is composed of Judaism, of +Christianity, and of the ancient religion of Arabia. + + + + +CCI.--THEOLOGY HAS ALWAYS TURNED PHILOSOPHY FROM ITS TRUE COURSE. + +From the most remote period theology alone regulated the march of +philosophy. What aid has it lent it? It changed it into an +unintelligible jargon, which only had a tendency to render the clearest +truth uncertain; it converted the art of reasoning into a science of +words; it threw the human mind into the aerial regions of metaphysics, +where it unsuccessfully occupied itself in sounding useless and +dangerous abysses. For physical and simple causes, this philosophy +substituted supernatural causes, or, rather, causes truly occult; it +explained difficult phenomena by agents more inconceivable than these +phenomena; it filled discourse with words void of sense, incapable of +giving the reason of things, better suited to obscure than to enlighten, +and which seem invented but to discourage man, to guard him against the +powers of his own mind, to make him distrust the principles of reason +and evidence, and to surround the truth with an insurmountable barrier. + + + + +CCII.---THEOLOGY NEITHER EXPLAINS NOR ENLIGHTENS ANYTHING IN THE WORLD OR +IN NATURE. + +If we would believe the adherents of religion, nothing could be +explicable in the world without it; nature would be a continual enigma; +it would be impossible for man to comprehend himself. But, at the +bottom, what does this religion explain to us? The more we examine it, +the more we find that theological notions are fit but to perplex all our +ideas; they change all into mysteries; they explain to us difficult +things by impossible things. Is it, then, explaining things to attribute +them to unknown agencies, to invisible powers, to immaterial causes? Is +it really enlightening the human mind when, in its embarrassment, it is +directed to the "depths of the treasures of Divine Wisdom," upon which +they tell us it is in vain for us to turn our bold regards? Can the +Divine Nature, which we know nothing about, make us understand man's +nature, which we find so difficult to explain? + +Ask a Christian philosopher what is the origin of the world. He will +answer that God created the universe. What is God? We do not know +anything about it. What is it to create? We have no idea of it! What is +the cause of pestilences, famines, wars, sterility, inundations, +earthquakes? It is God's wrath. What remedies can prevent these +calamities? Prayers, sacrifices, processions, offerings, ceremonies, +are, we are told, the true means to disarm Celestial fury. But why is +Heaven angry? Because men are wicked. Why are men wicked? Because their +nature is corrupt. What is the cause of this corruption? It is, a +theologian of enlightened Europe will reply, because the first man was +seduced by the first woman to eat of an apple which his God had +forbidden him to touch. Who induced this woman to do such a folly? The +Devil. Who created the Devil? God! Why did God create this Devil +destined to pervert the human race? We know nothing about it; it is a +mystery hidden in the bosom of the Deity. + +Does the earth revolve around the sun? Two centuries ago a devout +philosopher would have replied that such a thought was blasphemy, +because such a system could not agree with the Holy Book, which every +Christian reveres as inspired by the Deity Himself. What is the opinion +to-day about it? Notwithstanding Divine Inspiration, the Christian +philosophers finally concluded to rely upon evidence rather than upon +the testimony of their inspired books. + +What is the hidden principle of the actions and of the motions of the +human body? It is the soul. What is a soul? It is a spirit. What is a +spirit? It is a substance which has neither form, color, expansion, nor +parts. How can we conceive of such a substance? How can it move a body? +We know nothing about it. Have brutes souls? The Carthusian assures you +that they are machines. But do we not see them act, feel, and think in a +manner which resembles that of men? This is a pure illusion, you say. +But why do you deprive the brutes of souls, which, without understanding +it, you attribute to men? It is that the souls of the brutes would +embarrass our theologians, who, content with the power of frightening +and damning the immortal souls of men, do not take the same interest in +damning those of the brutes. Such are the puerile solutions which +philosophy, always guided by the leading-strings of theology, was +obliged to bring forth to explain the problems of the physical and moral +world. + + + + +CCIII.--HOW THEOLOGY HAS FETTERED HUMAN MORALS AND RETARDED THE PROGRESS +OF ENLIGHTENMENT, OF REASON, AND OF TRUTH. + +How many subterfuges and mental gymnastics all the ancient and modern +thinkers have employed, in order to avoid falling out with the ministers +of the Gods, who in all ages were the true tyrants of thought! How +Descartes, Malebranche, Leibnitz, and many others have been compelled to +invent hypotheses and evasions in order to reconcile their discoveries +with the reveries and the blunders which religion had rendered sacred! +With what prevarications have not the greatest philosophers guarded +themselves even at the risk of being absurd, inconsistent, and +unintelligible whenever their ideas did not correspond with the +principles of theology! Vigilant priests were always ready to extinguish +systems which could not be made to tally with their interests. Theology +in every age has been the bed of Procrustes upon which this brigand +extended his victims; he cut off the limbs when they were too long, or +stretched them by horses when they were shorter than the bed upon which +he placed them. + +What sensible man who has a love for science, and is interested in the +welfare of humanity, can reflect without sorrow and pain upon the loss +of so many profound, laborious, and subtle heads, who, for many +centuries, have foolishly exhausted themselves upon idle fancies that +proved to be injurious to our race? What light could have been thrown +into the minds of many famous thinkers, if, instead of occupying +themselves with a useless theology, and its impertinent disputes, they +had turned their attention upon intelligible and truly important +objects. Half of the efforts that it cost the genius that was able to +forge their religious opinions, half of the expense which their +frivolous worship cost the nations, would have sufficed to enlighten +them perfectly upon morality, politics, philosophy, medicine, +agriculture, etc. Superstition nearly always absorbs the attention, the +admiration, and the treasures of the people; they have a very expensive +religion; but they have for their money, neither light, virtue, nor +happiness. + + + + +CCIV.--CONTINUATION. + +Some ancient and modern philosophers have had the courage to accept +experience and reason as their guides, and to shake off the chains of +superstition. Lucippe, Democritus, Epicurus, Straton, and some other +Greeks, dared to tear away the thick veil of prejudice, and to deliver +philosophy from theological fetters. But their systems, too simple, too +sensible, and too stripped of wonders for the lovers of fancy, were +obliged to surrender to the fabulous conjectures of Plato, Socrates, and +Zeno. Among the moderns, Hobbes, Spinoza, Bayle, and others have +followed the path of Epicurus, but their doctrine found but few votaries +in a world still too much infatuated with fables to listen to reason. + +In all ages one could not, without imminent danger, lay aside the +prejudices which opinion had rendered sacred. No one was permitted to +make discoveries of any kind; all that the most enlightened men could do +was to speak and write with hidden meaning; and often, by a cowardly +complaisance, to shamefully ally falsehood with truth. A few of them had +a double doctrine--one public and the other secret. The key of this last +having been lost, their true sentiments often became unintelligible and, +consequently, useless to us. How could modern philosophers who, being +threatened with the most cruel persecution, were called upon to renounce +reason and to submit to faith--that is to say, to priestly authority--I +say, how could men thus fettered give free flight to their genius, +perfect reason, or hasten human progress? It was but in fear and +trembling that the greatest men obtained glimpses of truth; they rarely +had the courage to announce it; those who dared to do it have generally +been punished for their temerity. Thanks to religion, it was never +permitted to think aloud or to combat the prejudices of which man is +everywhere the victim or the dupe. + + + + +CCV.--WE COULD NOT REPEAT TOO OFTEN HOW EXTRAVAGANT AND FATAL RELIGION +IS. + +Every man who has the boldness to announce truths to the world, is sure +to receive the hatred of the priests; the latter loudly call upon the +powers that be, for assistance; they need the assistance of kings to +sustain their arguments and their Gods. These clamors show the weakness +of their cause. + +"They are in embarrassment when they cry for help." + +It is not permitted to err in the matter of religion; on every other +subject we can be deceived with impunity; we pity those who go astray, +and we have some liking for the persons who discover truths new to us. +But as soon as theology supposes itself concerned, be it in errors or +discoveries, a holy zeal is kindled; the sovereigns exterminate; the +people fly into frenzy; and the nations are all stirred up without +knowing why. Is there anything more afflicting than to see public and +individual welfare depend upon a futile science, which is void of +principles, which has no standing ground but imagination, and which +presents to the mind but words void of sense? What good is a religion +which no one understands; which continually torments those who trouble +themselves about it; which is incapable of rendering men better; and +which often gives them the credit of being unjust and wicked? Is there a +more deplorable folly, and one that ought more to be abated, than that +which, far from doing any good to the human race, does but blind it, +cause transports, and render it miserable, depriving it of truth, which +alone can soften the rigor of fate? + + + + +CCVI.--RELIGION IS PANDORA'S BOX, AND THIS FATAL BOX IS OPEN. + +Religion has in every age kept the human mind in darkness and held it in +ignorance of its true relations, of its real duties and its true +interests. It is but in removing its clouds and phantoms that we may +find the sources of truth, reason, morality, and the actual motives +which inspire virtue. This religion puts us on the wrong track for the +causes of our evils, and the natural remedies which we can apply. Far +from curing them, it can but multiply them and render them more durable. + +Let us, then, say, with the celebrated Lord Bolingbroke, in his +posthumous works: "Theology is the Box of Pandora; and if it is +impossible to close it, it is at least useful to give warning that this +fatal box is open." + +***** + +I believe, my dear friends, that I have given you a sufficient +preventative against all these follies. Your reason will do more than my +discourses, and I sincerely wish that we had only to complain of being +deceived! But human blood has flowed since the time of Constantine for +the establishment of these horrible impositions. The Roman, the Greek, +and the Protestant churches by vain, ambitious, and hypocritical +disputes have ravaged Europe, Asia, and Africa. Add to these men, whom +these quarrels murdered, the multitudes of monks and of nuns, who became +sterile by their profession, and you will perceive that the Christian +religion has destroyed half of the human race. + +I conclude with the desire that we may return to Nature, whose declared +enemy the Christian religion is, and which necessarily instructs us to +do unto others as we would wish them to do unto us. Then the universe +will be composed of good citizens, just fathers, obedient children, +tender friends. Nature has given us this Religion, in giving us Reason. +May fanaticism pervert it no more! I die filled with these desires more +than with hope. + +ETREPIGNY, March 15, 1732 + +JOHN MESLIER + + + + + +ABSTRACT OF THE TESTAMENT OF JOHN MESLIER + +By Voltaire; + +OR, SENTIMENTS OF THE CURATE OF ETREPIGNY ADDRESSED TO HIS PARISHIONERS. + + + + +I.--OF RELIGIONS. + +As there is no one religious denomination which does not pretend to be +truly founded upon the authority of God, and entirely exempt from all +the errors and impositions which are found in the others, it is for +those who purpose to establish the truth of the faith of their sect, to +show, by clear and convincing proofs, that it is of Divine origin; as +this is lacking, we must conclude that it is but of human invention, and +full of errors and deceptions; for it is incredible that an Omnipotent +and Infinitely good God would have desired to give laws and ordinances +to men, and not have wished them to bear better authenticated marks of +truth, than those of the numerous impostors. Moreover, there is not one +of our Christ-worshipers, of whatever sect he may be, who can make us +see, by convincing proofs, that his religion is exclusively of Divine +origin; and for want of such proof they have been for many centuries +contesting this subject among themselves, even to persecuting each other +by fire and sword to maintain their opinions; there is, however, not one +sect of them all which could convince and persuade the others by such +witnesses of truth; this certainly would not be, if they had, on one +side or the other, convincing proofs of Divine origin. For, as no one of +any religious sect, enlightened and of good faith, pretends to hold and +to favor error and falsehood; and as, on the contrary, each, on his +side, pretends to sustain truth, the true means of banishing all errors, +and of uniting all men in peace in the same sentiments and in the same +form of religion, would be to produce convincing proofs and testimonies +of the truth; and thus show that such religion is of Divine origin, and +not any of the others; then each one would accept this truth; and no +person would dare to question these testimonies, or sustain the side of +error and imposition, lest he should be, at the same time, confounded by +contrary proofs: but, as these proofs are not found in any religion, it +gives to impostors occasion to invent and boldly sustain all kinds of +falsehoods. + +Here are still other proofs, which will not be less evident, of the +falsity of human religions, and especially of the falsity of our own. +Every religion which relies upon mysteries as its foundation, and which +takes, as a rule of its doctrine and its morals, a principle of errors, +and which is at the same time a source of trouble and eternal divisions +among men, can not be a true religion, nor a Divine Institution. Now, +human religions, especially the Catholic, establish as the basis of +their doctrine and of their morals, a principle of errors; then, it +follows that these religions can not be true, or of Divine origin. I do +not see that we can deny the first proposition of this argument; it is +too clear and too evident to admit of a doubt. I pass to the proof of +the second proposition, which is, that the Christian religion takes for +the rule of its doctrine and its morals what they call faith, a blind +trust, but yet firm, and secured by some laws or revelations of some +Deity. We must necessarily suppose that it is thus, because it is this +belief in some Deity and in some Divine Revelations, which gives all the +credit and all the authority that it has in the world, and without which +we could make no use of what it prescribes. This is why there is no +religion which does not expressly recommend its votaries to be firm in +their faith. ["Estate fortes in fide!"] This is the reason that all +Christians accept as a maxim, that faith is the commencement and the +basis of salvation, that it is the root of all justice and of all +sanctification, as it is expressed at the Council of Trent.--Sess. 6, +Ch. VIII. + +Now it is evident that a blind faith in all which is proposed in the +name and authority of God, is a principle of errors and falsehoods. As a +proof, we see that there is no impostor in the matter of religion, who +does not pretend to be clothed with the name and the authority of God, +and who does not claim to be especially inspired and sent by God. Not +only is this faith and blind belief which they accept as a basis of +their doctrine, a principle of errors, etc., but it is also a source of +trouble and division among men for the maintenance of their religion. +There is no cruelty which they do not practice upon each other under +this specious pretext. + +Now then, it is not credible that an Almighty, All-Kind, and All-Wise +God desired to use such means or such a deceitful way to inform men of +His wishes; for this would be manifestly desiring to lead them into +error and to lay snares in their way, in order to make them accept the +side of falsehood. It is impossible to believe that a God who loved +unity and peace, the welfare and the happiness of men, would ever have +established as the basis of His religion, such a fatal source of trouble +and of eternal divisions among them. Such religions can not be true, +neither could they have been instituted by God. But I see that our +Christ-worshipers will not fail to have recourse to their pretended +motives for credulity, and that they will say, that although their faith +and belief may be blind in one sense, they are nevertheless supported by +such clear and convincing testimonies of truth, that it would be not +only imprudence, but temerity and folly not to surrender one's self. +They generally reduce these pretended motives to three or four leading +features. The first, they draw from the pretended holiness of their +religion, which condemns vice, and which recommends the practice of +virtue. Its doctrine is so pure, so simple, according to what they say, +that it is evident it could spring but from the sanctity of an +infinitely good and wise God. + +The second motive for credulity, they draw from the innocence and the +holiness of life in those who embraced it with love, and defended it by +suffering death and the most cruel torments, rather than forsake it: it +not being credible that such great personages would allow themselves to +be deceived in their belief, that they would renounce all the advantages +of life, and expose themselves to such cruel torments and persecutions, +in order to maintain errors and impositions. Their third motive for +credulity, they draw from the oracles and prophecies which have so long +been rendered in their favor, and which they pretend have been +accomplished in a manner which permits no doubt. Finally, their fourth +motive for credulity, which is the most important of all, is drawn from +the grandeur and the multitude of the miracles performed, in all ages, +and in every place, in favor of their religion. + +But it is easy to refute all these useless reasonings and to show the +falsity of all these evidences. For, firstly, the arguments which our +Christ-worshipers draw from their pretended motives for credulity can +serve to establish and confirm falsehood as well as truth; for we see +that there is no religion, no matter how false it may be, which does not +pretend to have a sound and true doctrine, and which, in its way, does +not condemn all vices and recommend the practice of all virtues; there +is not one which has not had firm and zealous defenders who have +suffered persecution in order to maintain their religion; and, finally, +there is none which does not pretend to have wonders and miracles that +have been performed in their favor. The Mohammedans, the Indians, the +heathen, as well as the Christians, claim miracles in their religions. +If our Christ-worshipers make use of their miracles and their +prophecies, they are found no less in the Pagan religions than in +theirs. Thus the advantage we might draw from all these motives for +credulity, is found about the same in all sorts of religions. This being +established, as the history and practice of all religions demonstrate, +it evidently follows that all these pretended motives for credulity, +upon which our Christ-worshipers place so much value, are found equally +in all religions; and, consequently, can not serve as reliable evidences +of the truth of their religion more than of the truth of any other. The +result is clear. + +Secondly. In order to give an idea of the resemblance of the miracles of +Paganism to those of Christianity, could we not say, for example, that +there would be more reason to believe Philostratus in what he recites of +the life of Apollonius than to believe all the evangelists in what they +say of the miracles of Jesus Christ; because we know, at least that +Philostratus was a man of intelligence, eloquence, and fluency; that he +was the secretary of the Empress Julia, wife of the Emperor Severus, and +that he was requested by this empress to write the life and the +wonderful acts of Apollonius? It is evident that Apollonius rendered +himself famous by great and extraordinary deeds, since an empress was +sufficiently interested in them to desire a history of his life. This is +what can not be said of Jesus Christ, nor of those who have furnished us +His biography, for they were but ignorant men of the common people, poor +workmen, fishermen, who had not even the sense to relate consistently +the facts which they speak of, and which they mutually contradict very +often. In regard to the One whose life and actions they describe, if He +had really performed the miracles attributed to Him, He would have +rendered Himself notable by His beautiful acts; every one would have +admired Him, and there would be statues erected to Him as was done for +the Gods; but instead of that, He was regarded as a man of no +consequence, as a fanatic, etc. Josephus, the historian, after having +spoken of the great miracles performed in favor of his nation and his +religion, immediately diminishes their credibility and renders it +suspicious by saying that he leaves to each one the liberty of believing +what he chooses; this evidently shows that he had not much faith in +them. It also gives occasion to the more judicious to regard the +histories which speak of this kind of things as fabulous narrations. +[See Montaigne, and the author of the "Apology for Great Men."] All that +can be said upon this subject shows us clearly that pretended miracles +can be invented to favor vice and falsehood as well as justice and +truth. + +I prove it by the evidence of what even our Christ-worshipers call the +Word of God, and by the evidence of the One they adore; for their books, +which they claim contain the Word of God, and Christ Himself, whom they +adore as a God-made man, show us explicitly that there are not only +false prophets--that is to say, impostors--who claim to be sent by God, +and who speak in His name, but which show as explicitly that these false +prophets can perform such great and prodigious miracles as shall deceive +the very elect. [See Matthew, chapter xxiv., verses 5, 21-27.] More than +this, all these pretended performers of miracles wish us to put faith +only in them, and not in those who belong to an opposite party. + +On one occasion one of these pretended prophets, named Sedecias, being +contradicted by another, named Michea, the former struck the latter and +said to him, pleasantly, "By what way did the Spirit of God pass from me +to you?" + +But how can these pretended miracles be the evidences of truth? for it +is clear that they were not performed. For it would be necessary to +know: Firstly, If those who are said to be the first authors of these +narrations truly are such. Secondly, If they were honest men, worthy of +confidence, wise and enlightened; and to know if they were not +prejudiced in favor of those of whom they speak so favorably. Thirdly, +If they have examined all the circumstances of the facts which they +relate; if they know them well; and if they make a faithful report of +them. Fourthly, If the books or the ancient histories which relate all +these great miracles have not been falsified and changed in course of +time, as many others have been? + +If we consult Tacitus and many other celebrated historians, in regard to +Moses and his nation, we shall see that they are considered as a horde +of thieves and bandits. Magic and astrology were in those days the only +fashionable sciences; and as Moses was, it is said, instructed in the +wisdom of the Egyptians, it was not difficult for him to inspire +veneration and attachment for himself in the rustic and ignorant +children of Jacob, and to induce them to accept, in their misery, the +discipline he wished to give them. That is very different from what the +Jews and our Christ-worshipers wish to make us believe. By what certain +rule can we know that we should put faith in these rather than in the +others? There is no sound reason for it. There is as little of certainty +and even of probability in the miracles of the New Testament as in those +of the Old. + +It will serve no purpose to say that the histories which relate the +facts contained in the Gospels have been regarded as true and sacred; +that they have always been faithfully preserved without any alteration +of the truths which they contain; since this is perhaps the very reason +why they should be the more suspected, having been corrupted by those +who drew profit from them, or who feared that they were not sufficiently +favorable to them. + +Generally, authors who transcribe this kind of histories, take the right +to enlarge or to retrench all they please, in order to serve their own +interests. This is what even our Christ-worshipers can not deny; for, +without mentioning several other important personages who recognized the +additions, the retrenchments, and the falsifications which have been +made at different times in their Holy Scriptures, their saint Jerome, a +famous philosopher among them, formally said in several passages of his +"Prologues," that they had been corrupted and falsified; being, even in +his day, in the hands of all kinds of persons, who added and suppressed +whatever they pleased; so, "Thus there were," said he, "as many +different models as different copies of the Gospels." + +In regard to the books of the Old Testament, Esdras, a priest of the +law, testifies himself to having corrected and completed wholly the +pretended sacred books of his law, which had partly been lost and partly +corrupted. He divided them into twenty-two books, according to the +number of the Hebraic letters, and wrote several other books, whose +doctrine was to be revealed to the learned men alone. If these books +have been partly lost and partly corrupted, as Esdras and St. Jerome +testify in so many passages, there is then no certainty in regard to +what they contain; and as for Esdras saying he had corrected and +compiled them by the inspiration of God Himself there is no certainty of +that, since there is no impostor who would not make the same claim. All +the books of the law of Moses and of the prophets which could be found, +were burned in the days of Antiochus. The Talmud, considered by the Jews +as a holy and sacred book, and which contains all the Divine laws, with +the sentences and notable sayings of the Rabbins, of their +interpretation of the Divine and of the human laws, and a prodigious +number of other secrets and mysteries in the Hebraic language, is +considered by the Christians as a book made up of reveries, fables, +impositions, and ungodliness. In the year 1559 they burned in Rome, +according to the command of the inquisitors of the faith, twelve hundred +of these Talmuds, which were found in a library in the city of Cremona. +The Pharisees, a famous sect among the Jews, accepted but the five books +of Moses, and rejected all the prophets. Among the Christians, Marcion +and his votaries rejected the books of Moses and the prophets, and +introduced other fashionable Scriptures. Carpocrates and his followers +did the same, and rejected the whole of the Old Testament, and contended +that Jesus Christ was but a man like all others. The Marcionites +repudiated as bad, the whole of the Old Testament, and rejected the +greater part of the four Gospels and the Epistles of St. Paul. The +Ebionites accepted but the Gospel of St. Matthew, rejecting the three +others, and the Epistles of St. Paul. The Marcionites published a Gospel +under the name of St. Matthias, in order to confirm their doctrine. The +apostles introduced other Scriptures in order to maintain their errors; +and to carry out this, they made use of certain Acts, which they +attributed to St. Andrew and to St. Thomas. + +The Manicheans wrote a gospel of their own style, and rejected the +Scriptures of the prophets and the apostles. The Etzaites sold a certain +book which they claimed to have come from Heaven; they cut up the other +Scriptures according to their fancy. Origen himself, with all his great +mind, corrupted the Scriptures and forged changes in the allegories +which did not suit him, thus corrupting the sense of the prophets and +apostles, and even some of the principal points of doctrine. His books +are now mutilated and falsified; they are but fragments collected by +others who have appeared since. The Ellogians attributed to the heretic +Corinthus the Gospel and the Apocalypse of St. John; this is why they +reject them. The heretics of our last centuries reject as apocryphal +several books which the Roman Catholics consider as true and sacred--such +as the books of Tobias, Judith, Esther, Baruch, the Song of the Three +Children in the Furnace, the History of Susannah, and that of the Idol +Bel, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus, the first and second book of +Maccabees; to which uncertain and doubtful books we could add several +others that have been attributed to the other apostles; as, for example, +the Acts of St. Thomas, his Circuits, his Gospel, and his Apocalypse; +the Gospel of St. Bartholomew, that of St. Matthias, of St. Jacques, of +St. Peter and of the Apostles, as also the Deeds of St. Peter, his book +on Preaching, and that of his Apocalypse; that of the Judgment, that of +the Childhood of the Saviour, and several others of the same kind, which +are all rejected as apocryphal by the Roman Catholics, even by the Pope +Gelasee, and by the S. S. F. F. of the Romish Communion. That which most +confirms that there is no foundation of truth in regard to the authority +given to these books, is that those who maintain their Divinity are +compelled to acknowledge that they have no certainty as a basis, if +their faith did not assure them and oblige them to believe it. Now, as +faith is but a principle of error and imposture, how can faith, that is +to say, a blind belief, render the books reliable which are themselves +the foundation of this blind belief? What a pity and what insanity! But +let us see if these books have of themselves any feature of truth; as, +for example, of erudition, of wisdom, and of holiness, or some other +perfections which are suited only to a God; and if the miracles which +are cited agree with what we ought to think of the grandeur, goodness, +justice, and infinite wisdom of an Omnipotent God. + +There is no erudition, no sublime thought, nor any production which +surpasses the ordinary capacities of the human mind. On the contrary, we +shall see on one side fabulous tales similar to that of a woman formed +of a man's rib; of the pretended terrestrial Paradise; of a serpent +which spoke, which reasoned, and which was more cunning than man; of an +ass which spoke, and reprimanded its master for ill-treating it; of a +universal deluge, and of an ark where animals of all kinds were +inclosed; of the confusion of languages and of the division of the +nations, without speaking of numerous other useless narrations upon low +and frivolous subjects which important authors would scorn to relate. +All these narrations appear to be fables, as much as those invented +about the industry of Prometheus, the box of Pandora, the war of the +Giants against the Gods, and similar others which the poets have +invented to amuse the men of their time. + +On the other hand we will see a mixture of laws and ordinances, or +superstitious practices concerning sacrifices, the purifications of the +old law, the senseless distinctions in regard to animals, of which it +supposes some to be pure and others to be impure. These laws are no more +respectable than those of the most idolatrous nations. We shall see but +simple stories, true or false, of several kings, princes, or +individuals, who lived right or wrong, or who performed noble or mean +actions, with other low and frivolous things also related. + +From all this, it is evident that no great genius was required, nor +Divine Revelations to produce these things. It would not be creditable +to a God. + +Finally, we see in these books but the discourses, the conduct, and the +actions of those renowned prophets who proclaimed themselves especially +inspired by God. We will see their way of acting and speaking, their +dreams, their illusions, their reveries; and it will be easy to judge +whether they do not resemble visionaries and fanatics much more than +wise and enlightened persons. + +There are, however, in a few of these books, several good teachings and +beautiful maxims of morals, as in the Proverbs attributed to Solomon, in +the book of Wisdom and of Ecclesiastes; but this same Solomon, the +wisest of their writers, is also the most incredulous; he doubts even +the immortality of the soul, and concludes his works by saying that +there is nothing good but to enjoy in peace the fruits of one's labor, +and to live with those whom we love. + +How superior are the authors who are called profane, such as Xenophon, +Plato, Cicero, the Emperor Antoninus, the Emperor Julian, Virgil, etc., +to the books which we are told are inspired of God. I can truly say that +the fables of Aesop, for example, are certainly more ingenious and more +instructive than all these rough and poor parables which are related in +the Gospels. + +But what shows us that this kind of books is not of Divine Inspiration, +is, that aside from the low order, coarseness of style, and the lack of +system in the narrations of the different facts, which are very badly +arranged, we do not see that the authors agree; they contradict each +other in several things; they had not even sufficient enlightenment or +natural talents to write a history. + +Here are some examples of the contradictions which are found among them. +The Evangelist Matthew claims that Jesus Christ descended from king +David by his son Solomon through Joseph, reputed to be His father; and +Luke claims that He is descended from the same David by his son Nathan +through Joseph. + +Matthew says, in speaking of Jesus, that, it being reported in Jerusalem +that a new king of the Jews was born, and that the wise men had come to +adore Him, the king Herod, fearing that this pretended new king would +rob him of his crown some day, caused the murder of all the new-born +children under two years, in all the neighborhood of Bethlehem, where he +had been told that this new king was born; and that Joseph and the +mother of Jesus, having been warned in a dream by an angel, of this +wicked intention, took flight immediately to Egypt, where they stayed +until the death of Herod, which happened many years afterward. + +On the contrary, Luke asserts that Joseph and the mother of Jesus lived +peaceably during six weeks in the place where their child Jesus was +born; that He was circumcised according to the law of the Jews, eight +days after His birth; and when the time prescribed by the law for the +purification of His mother had arrived, she and Joseph, her husband, +carried Him to Jerusalem in order to present Him to God in His temple, +and to offer at the same time a sacrifice which was ordained by God's +law; after which they returned to Galilee, into their town of Nazareth, +where their child Jesus grew every day in grace and in wisdom. Luke goes +on to say that His father and His mother went every year to Jerusalem on +the solemn days of their Easter feast, but makes no mention of their +flight into Egypt, nor of the cruelty of Herod toward the children of +the province of Bethlehem. In regard to the cruelty of Herod, as neither +the historians of that time speak of it, nor Josephus, the historian who +wrote the life of this Herod, and as the other Evangelists do not +mention it, it is evident that the journey of those wise men, guided by +a star, this massacre of little children, and this flight to Egypt, were +but absurd falsehoods. For it is not credible that Josephus, who blamed +the vices of this king, could have been silent on such a dark and +detestable action, if what the Evangelist said had been true. + +In regard to the duration of the public life of Jesus Christ, according +to what the first three Evangelists say, there could be scarcely more +than three months from the time of His baptism until His death, +supposing He was thirty years old when He was baptized by John, +according to Luke, and that He was born on the 25th of December. For, +from this baptism, which was in the year 15 of Tiberius Caesar, and in +the year when Anne and Caiaphas were high-priests, to the first Easter +following, which was in the month of March, there was but about three +months; according to what the first three Evangelists say, He was +crucified on the eve of the first Easter following His baptism, and the +first time He went to Jerusalem with His disciples; because all that +they say of His baptism, of His travels, of His miracles, of His +preaching, of His death and passion, must have taken place in the same +year of His baptism, for the Evangelists speak of no other year +following, and it appears even by the narration of His acts that He +performed them consecutively immediately after His baptism, and in a +very short time, during which we see but an interval of six days before +his Transfiguration; during these six days we do not see that He did +anything. We see by this that He lived but about three months after His +baptism, from which, if we subtract the forty days and forty nights +which He passed in the desert immediately after His baptism, it would +follow that the length of His public life from His first preaching till +His death, would have lasted but about six weeks; and according to what +John says, it would have lasted at least three years and three months, +because it appears by the Gospel of this apostle, that, during the +course of His public life He might have been three or four times at +Jerusalem at the Easter feast which happened but once a year. + +Now if it is true that He had been there three or four times after His +baptism, as John testifies, it is false that He lived but three months +after His baptism, and that He was crucified the first time He went to +Jerusalem. + +If it is said that these first three Evangelists really mean but one +year, but that they do not indicate distinctly the others which elapsed +since His baptism; or that John understood that there was but one +Easter, although he speaks of several, and that he only anticipated the +time when he repeatedly tells us that the Easter feast of the Jews was +near at hand, and that Jesus went to Jerusalem, and, consequently, that +there is but an apparent contradiction upon this subject between the +Evangelists, I am willing to accept this; but it is certain that this +apparent contradiction springs from the fact, that they do not explain +themselves in all the circumstances that are noted in the narration +which they make. Be that as it may, there will always be this inference +made, that they were not inspired by God when they wrote their +biographies of Christ. + +Here is another contradiction in regard to the first thing which Jesus + +Christ did immediately after His baptism; for the first three +Evangelists state, that He was transported immediately by the Spirit +into the desert, where He fasted forty days and forty nights, and where +He was several times tempted by the Devil; and, according to what John +says, He departed two days after His baptism to go into Galilee, where +He performed His first miracle by changing water into wine at the +wedding of Cana, where He found Himself three days after His arrival in +Galilee, more than thirty leagues from the place in which He had been. + +In regard to the place of His first retreat after His departure from the +desert, Matthew says that He returned to Galilee, and that leaving the +city of Nazareth, He went to live at Capernaum, a maritime city; and +Luke says, that He came at first to Nazareth, and afterward went to +Capernaum. + +They contradict each other in regard to the time and manner in which the +apostles followed Him; for the first three say that Jesus, passing on +the shore of the Sea of Galilee, saw Simon and Andrew his brother, and +that He saw at a little distance James and his brother John with their +father, Zebedee. John, on the contrary, says that it was Andrew, brother +of Simon Peter, who first followed Jesus with another disciple of John +the Baptist, having seen Him pass before them, when they were with their +Master on the shores of the Jordan. + +In regard to the Lord's Supper, the first three Evangelists note that +Jesus Christ instituted the Sacrament of His body and His blood, in the +form of bread and wine, the same as our Roman Christ-worshipers say; and +John does not mention this mysterious sacrament. John says that after +this supper, Jesus washed His apostles' feet, and commanded them to do +the same thing to each other, and relates a long discourse which He +delivered then. But the other Evangelists do not speak of the washing of +the feet, nor of the long discourse He gave them then. On the contrary, +they testify that immediately after this supper, He went with His +apostles upon the Mount of Olives, where He gave up His Spirit to +sadness, and was in anguish while His apostles slept, at a short +distance. They contradict each other upon the day on which they say the +Lord's Supper took place; because on one side, they note that it took +place Easter-eve, that is, the evening of the first day of Azymes, or of +the feast of unleavened bread; as it is noted (1) in Exodus, (2) in +Leviticus, and (3) in Numbers; and, on the other hand, they say that He +was crucified the day following the Lord's Supper, about midday after +the Jews had His trial during the whole night and morning. Now, +according to what they say, the day after this supper took place, ought +not to be Easter-eve. Therefore, if He died on the eve of Easter, toward +midday, it was not on the eve of this feast that this supper took place. +There is consequently a manifest error. + +They contradict each other, also, in regard to the women who followed +Jesus from Galilee, for the first three Evangelists say that these +women, and those who knew Him, among whom were Mary Magdalene, and Mary, +mother of James and Joseph, and the mother of Zebedee's children, were +looking on at a distance when He was hanged and nailed upon the cross. +John says, on the contrary, that the mother of Jesus and His mother's +sister, and Mary Magdalene were standing near His cross with John, His +apostle. The contradiction is manifest, for, if these women and this +disciple were near Him, they were not at a distance, as the others say +they were. + +They contradict each other upon the pretended apparitions which they +relate that Jesus made after His pretended resurrection; for Matthew +speaks of but two apparitions: the one when He appeared to Mary +Magdalene and to another woman, also named Mary, and when He appeared to +His eleven disciples who had returned to Galilee upon the mountain where +He had appointed to meet them. Mark speaks of three apparitions: The +first, when He appeared to Mary Magdalene; the second, when He appeared +to His two disciples, who went to Emmaus; and the third, when He +appeared to His eleven disciples, whom He reproaches for their +incredulity. Luke speaks of but two apparitions the same as Matthew; and +John the Evangelist speaks of four apparitions, and adds to Mark's +three, the one which He made to seven or eight of His disciples who were +fishing upon the shores of the Tiberian Sea. + +They contradict each other, also, in regard to the place of these +apparitions; for Matthew says that it was in Galilee, upon a mountain; +Mark says that it was when they were at table; Luke says that He brought +them out of Jerusalem as far as Bethany, where He left them by rising to +Heaven; and John says that it was in the city of Jerusalem, in a house +of which they had closed the doors, and another time upon the borders of +the Tiberian Sea. + +Thus is much contradiction in the report of these pretended apparitions. +They contradict each other in regard to His pretended ascension to +heaven; for Luke and Mark say positively that He went to heaven in +presence of the eleven apostles, but neither Matthew nor John mentions +at all this pretended ascension. More than this, Matthew testifies +sufficiently that He did not ascend to heaven; for he said positively +that Jesus Christ assured His apostles that He would be and remain +always with them until the end of the world. "Go ye," He said to them, +in this pretended apparition, "and teach all nations, and be assured +that I am with you always, even unto the end of the world." Luke +contradicts himself upon the subject; for in his Gospel he says that it +was in Bethany where He ascended to heaven in the presence of His +apostles, and in his Acts of the Apostles (supposing him to have been +the author) he says that it was upon the Mount of Olives. He contradicts +himself again about this ascension; for he notes in his Gospel that it +was the very day of His resurrection, or the first night following, that +He ascended to heaven; and in the Acts of the Apostles he says that it +was forty days after His resurrection; this certainly does not +correspond. If all the apostles had really seen their Master gloriously +rise to heaven, how could it be possible that Matthew and John, who +would have seen it as well as the others, passed in silence such a +glorious mystery, and which was so advantageous to their Master, +considering that they relate many other circumstances of His life and of +His actions which are much less important than this one? How is it that +Matthew does not mention this ascension? And why does Christ not explain +clearly how He would live with them always, although He left them +visibly to ascend to heaven? It is not easy to comprehend by what secret +He could live with those whom He left. + +I pass in silence many other contradictions; what I have said is +sufficient to show that these books are not of Divine Inspiration, nor +even of human wisdom, and, consequently, do not deserve that we should +put any faith in them. + + + + +II.--OF MIRACLES. + +But by what privilege do these four Gospels, and some other similar +books, pass for Holy and Divine more than several others, which bear no +less the title of Gospels, and which have been published under the name +of some other apostles? If it is said that the reputed Gospels are +falsely attributed to the apostles, we can say the same of the first +ones; if we suppose the first ones to be falsified and changed, we can +think the same of the others. Thus there is no positive proof to make us +discern the one from the other; in spite of the Church, which assumes to +deride the matter, it is not credible. + +In regard to the pretended miracles related in the Old Testament, they +could have been performed but to indicate on the part of God an unjust +and odious discrimination between nations and between individuals; +purposely injuring the one in order to especially favor the other. The +vocation and the choice which God made of the Patriarchs, Abraham, +Isaac, and Jacob, in order to make for Himself of their posterity a +people which He would sanctify and bless above all other peoples of the +earth, is a proof of it. But it will be said God is the absolute master +of His favors and of His benefits; He can grant them to whomsoever He +pleases, without any one having the right to complain or to accuse Him +of injustice. This reason is useless; for God, the Author of nature, the +Father of all men, ought to love them all alike as His own work, and, +consequently, He ought to be equally their protector and their +benefactor; giving them life, He ought to give all that is necessary for +the well-being of His creatures. + +If all these pretended miracles of the Old and of the New Testament were +true, we could say that God would have had more care in providing for +the least good of men than for their greatest and principal good; that +He would have punished more severely trifling faults in certain persons +than He would have punished great crimes in others; and, finally, that +He would not have desired to show Himself as beneficent in the most +pressing needs as in the least. This is easy enough to show as much by +the miracles which it is pretended that He performed, as by those which +He did not perform, and which He would have performed rather than any +other, if it is true that He performed any at all. For example, it is +claimed that God had the kindness to send an angel to console and to +assist a simple maid, while He left, and still leaves every day, a +countless number of innocents to languish and starve to death; it is +claimed that He miraculously preserved during forty years the clothes +and the shoes of a few people, while He will not watch over the natural +preservation of the vast quantities of goods which are useful and +necessary for the subsistence of great nations, and that are lost every +day by different accidents. It is claimed that He sent to the first +beings of the human race, Adam and Eve, a devil, or a simple serpent, to +seduce them, and by this means ruin all men. This is not credible! It is +claimed, that by a special providence, He prevented the King of Gerais, +a Pagan, from committing sin with a strange woman, although there would +be no results to follow; and yet He did not prevent Adam and Eve from +offending Him and falling into the sin of disobedience--a sin which, +according to our Christ-worshipers was to be fatal, and cause the +destruction of the human race. This is not credible! + +Let us come to the pretended miracles of the New Testament. They +consist, as is pretended, in this: that Jesus Christ and His apostles +cured, through the Deity, all kinds of diseases and infirmities, giving +sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, speech to the dumb, making the +lame to walk, curing the paralytics, driving the devils from those who +were possessed, and bringing the dead to life. + +We find several of these miracles in the Gospels, but we see a good many +more of them in the books that our Christ-worshipers have written of the +admirable lives of their saints; for in these lives we nearly everywhere +read that these pretended blessed ones cured diseases and infirmities, +expelled the devils wherever they encountered them, solely in the name +of Jesus or by the sign of the cross; that they controlled the elements; +that God favored them so much that He even preserved to them His Divine +power after their death, and that this Divine power could be +communicated even to the least of their clothing, even to their shadows, +and even to the infamous instruments of their death. It is said that the +shoe of St. Honorius raised a dead man on the sixth of January; that the +staff of St. Peter, that of St. James, and that of St. Bernard performed +miracles. The same is said of the cord of St. Francis, of the staff of +St. John of God, and of the girdle of St. Melanie. It is said that St. +Gracilien was divinely instructed as to what he ought to believe and to +teach, and that he, by the influence of his prayer, removed a mountain +which prevented him from building a church; that from the sepulchre of +St. Andrew flowed incessantly a liquor which cured all sorts of +diseases; that the soul of St. Benedict was seen ascending to Heaven +clothed with a precious cloak and surrounded by burning lamps; that St. +Dominic said that God never refused him anything he asked; that St. +Francis commanded the swallows, swans, and other birds to obey him, and +that often the fishes, rabbits, and the hares came and placed themselves +on his hands and on his lap; that St. Paul and St. Pantaleon, having +been beheaded, there flowed milk instead of blood; that the blessed +Peter of Luxembourg, in the first two years after his death (1388 and +1389), performed two thousand four hundred miracles, among which +forty-two dead were brought to life, not including more than three +thousand other miracles which he has performed since; that the fifty +philosophers whom St. Catherine converted, having all been thrown into a +great fire, their whole bodies were afterward found and not a single +hair was scorched; that the body of St. Catherine was carried off by +angels after her death, and buried by them upon Mount Sinai; that the +day of the canonization of St. Antoine de Padua, all the bells of the +city of Lisbon rang of themselves, without any one knowing how it was +done; that this saint being once near the sea-shore, and calling the +fishes, they came to him in a great multitude, and raised their heads +out of the water and listened to him attentively. We should never come +to an end if we had to report all this idle talk; there is no subject, +however vain, frivolous, and even ridiculous, on which the authors of +these "LIVES OF THE SAINTS" do not take pleasure in heaping miracles +upon miracles, for they are skillful in forging absurd falsehoods. + +It is certainly not without reason that we consider these things as +lies; for it is easy to see that all these pretended miracles have been +invented but by imitating the fables of the Pagan poets. This is +sufficiently obvious by the resemblance which they bear one to another. + + + + +III.--SIMILARITY BETWEEN ANCIENT AND MODERN MIRACLES. + +If our Christ-worshipers claim that God endowed their saints with power +to perform the miracles related in their lives, some of the Pagans claim +also that the daughters of Anius, high-priest of Apollo, had really +received from the god Bacchus the power to change all they desired into +wheat, into wine, or into oil, etc.; that Jupiter gave to the nymphs who +took care of his education, a horn of the goat which nursed him in his +infancy, with this virtue, that it could give them an abundance of all +they wished for. + +If our Christ-worshipers assert that their saints had the power of +raising the dead, and that they had Divine revelations, the Pagans had +said before them that Athalide, son of Mercury, had obtained from his +father the gift of living, dying, and coming to life whenever he wished, +and that he had also the knowledge of all that transpired in this world +as well as in the other; and that Esculapius, son of Apollo, had raised +the dead, and, among others, he brought to life Hyppolites, son of +Theseus, by Diana's request; and that Hercules, also, raised from the +dead Alceste, wife of Admetus, King of Thessalia, to return her to her +husband. + +If our Christ-worshipers say that Christ was miraculously born of a +virgin, the Pagans had said before them that Remus and Romulus, the +founders of Rome, were miraculously born of a vestal virgin named Ilia, +or Silvia, or Rhea Silvia; they had already said that Mars, Argus, +Vulcan, and others were born of the goddess Juno without sexual union; +and, also, that Minerva, goddess of the sciences, sprang from Jupiter's +brain, and that she came out of it, all armed, by means of a blow which +this god gave to his own head. + +If our Christ-worshipers claim that their saints made water gush from +rocks, the Pagans pretend also that Minerva made a fountain of oil +spring forth from a rock as a recompense for a temple which had been +dedicated to her. + +If our Christ-worshipers boast of having received images from Heaven +miraculously, as, for example, those of Notre-Dame de Loretto, and of +Liesse and several other gifts from Heaven, as the pretended Holy Vial +of Rheims, as the white Chasuble which St. Ildefonse received from the +Virgin Mary, and other similar things: the Pagans boasted before them of +having received a sacred shield as a mark of the preservation of their +city of Rome, and the Trojans boasted before them of having received +miraculously from Heaven their Palladium, or their Idol of Pallas, which +came, they said, to takes its place in the temple which they had erected +in honor of this Goddess. + +If our Christ-worshipers pretend that Jesus Christ was seen by His +apostles ascending to Heaven, and that several of their pretended saints +were transported to Heaven by angels, the Roman Pagans had said before +them, that Romulus, their founder, was seen after his death; that +Ganymede, son of Troas, king of Troy, was transported to Heaven by +Jupiter to serve him as cup-bearer that the hair of Berenice, being +consecrated to the temple of Venus, was afterward carried to Heaven; +they say the same thing of Cassiope and Andromedes, and even of the ass +of Silenus. + +If our Christ-worshipers pretend that several of their saints' bodies +were miraculously saved from decomposition after death, and that they +were found by Divine Revelations, after having been lost for a long +time, the Pagans say the same of the holy of Orestes, which they pretend +to have found through an oracle, etc. + +If our Christ-worshipers say that the seven sleeping brothers slept +during one hundred and seventy-seven years, while they were shut up in a +cave, the Pagans claim that Epimenides, the philosopher, slept during +fifty-seven years in a cave where he fell asleep. + +If our Christ-worshipers claim that several of their saints continued to +speak after losing the head, or having the tongue cut out, the Pagans +claim that the head of Gambienus recited a long poem after separation +from his body. + +If our Christ-worshipers glorify themselves that their temples and +churches are ornamented with several pictures and rich gifts which show +miraculous cures performed by the intercession of their saints, we also +see, or at least we formerly saw in the temple of Esculapius at +Epidaurus, many paintings of miraculous cures which he had performed. + +If our Christ-worshipers claim that several of their saints have been +miraculously preserved in the flames without having received any injury +to their bodies or their clothing, the Pagans claim that the Holy women +of the temple of Diana walked upon burning coals barefooted without +burning or hurting their feet, and that the priests of the Goddess +Feronie and of Hirpicus walked in the same way upon burning coals in the +fires which were made in honor of Apollo. + +If the angels built a chapel for St. Clement at the bottom of the sea, +the little house of Baucis and of Philemon was miraculously changed into +a superb temple as a reward of their piety. If several of their saints, +as St. James and St. Maurice, appeared several times in their armies, +mounted and equipped in ancient style, and fought for them, Castor and +Pollux appeared several times in battles and fought for the Romans +against their enemies; if a ram was miraculously found to be offered as +a sacrifice in the place of Isaac, whom his father Abraham was about to +sacrifice, the Goddess Vesta also sent a heifer to be sacrificed in the +place of Metella, daughter of Metellus: the Goddess Diana sent a hind in +the place of Iphigenie when she was at the stake to be sacrificed to +her, and by this means Iphigenie was saved. + +If St. Joseph went into Egypt by the warning of an angel, Simonides, the +poet, avoided several great dangers by miraculous warnings which had +been given to him. + +If Moses forced a stream of water to flow from a rock by striking it +with his staff, the horse Pegasus did the same: by striking a rock with +his foot a fountain issued. + +If St. Vincent Ferrier brought to life a dead man hacked into pieces, +whose body was already half roasted and half broiled, Pelops, son of +Tantalus king of Phrygia, having been torn to pieces by his father to be +sacrificed to the Gods, they gathered all the pieces, joined them, and +brought them to life. + +If several crucifixes and other images have miraculously spoken and +answered, the Pagans say that their oracles have spoken and given +answers to those who consulted them, and that the head of Orpheus and +that of Policrates gave oracles after their death. + +If God revealed by a voice from Heaven that Jesus Christ was His Son, as +the Evangelists say, Vulcan showed by the apparition of a miraculous +flame, that Coceculus was really his son. + +If God has miraculously nourished some of His saints, the Pagan poets +pretend that Triptolemus was miraculously nourished with Divine milk by +Ceres, who gave him also a chariot drawn by two dragons, and that +Phineus, son of Mars, being born after his mother's death, was +nevertheless miraculously nourished by her milk. + +If several saints miraculously tamed the ferocity of the most cruel +beasts, it is said that Orpheus attracted to him, by the sweetness of +his voice and by the harmony of his instruments, lions, bears, and +tigers, and softened the ferocity of their nature; that he attracted +rocks and trees, and that even the rivers stopped their course to listen +to his song. + +Finally, to abbreviate, because we could report many others, if our +Christ-worshipers pretend that the walls of the city of Jericho fell by +the sound of their trumpets, the Pagans say that the walls of the city +of Thebes were built by the sound of the musical instruments of +Amphion; the stones, as the poets say, arranging themselves to the +sweetness of his harmony; this would be much more miraculous and more +admirable than to see the walls demolished. + +There is certainly a great similarity between the Pagan miracles and our +own. As it would be great folly to give credence to these pretended +miracles of Paganism, it is not any the less so to have faith in those +of Christianity, because they all come from the same source of error. It +was for this that the Manicheans and the Arians, who existed at the +commencement of the Christian Era, derided these pretended miracles +performed by the invocation of saints, and blamed those who invoked them +after death and honored their relics. + +Let us return at present to the principal end which God proposed to +Himself, in sending His Son into the world to become man; it must have +been, as they say, to redeem the world from sin and to destroy +entirely the works of the pretended Devil, etc. This is what our +Christ-worshipers claim also, that Jesus Christ died for them according +to His Father's intention, which is plainly stated in all the pretended +Holy Books. What! an Almighty God, who was willing to become a mortal +man for the love of men, and to shed His blood to the last drop, to save +them all, would yet have limited His power to only curing a few diseases +and physical infirmities of a few individuals who were brought to Him; +and would not have employed His Divine goodness in curing the +infirmities of the soul! that is to say, in curing all men of their +vices and their depravities, which are worse than the diseases of their +bodies! This is not credible. What! such a good God would desire to +preserve dead corpses from decay and corruption; and would not keep from +the contagion and corruption of vice and sin the souls of a countless +number of persons whom He sought to redeem at the price of His blood, +and to sanctify by His grace! What a pitiful contradiction! + + + + +IV.--OF THE FALSITY OF THE CHRISTIAN RELIGION. + +Let us proceed to the pretended visions and Divine Revelations, upon +which our Christ-worshipers establish the truth and the certainty of +their religion. + +In order to give a just idea of it, I believe it is best to say in +general, that they are such, that if any one should dare now to boast of +similar ones, or wish to make them valued, he would certainly be +regarded as a fool or a fanatic. + +Here is what the pretended Visions and Divine Revelations are: + +God, as these pretended Holy Books claim, having appeared for the first +time to Abraham, said to him: "Get thee out of thy country, and from thy +kindred and from thy father's house, into a land that I will show thee." +Abraham, having gone there, God, says the Bible, appeared the second +time to him, and said, "Unto thy seed will I give this land," and there +builded he an altar unto the Lord, who appeared unto him. After the +death of Isaac, his son, Jacob going one day to Mesopotamia to look for +a wife that would suit him, having walked all the day, and being tired +from the long distance, desired to rest toward evening; lying upon the +ground, with his head resting upon a few stones, he fell asleep, and +during his sleep he saw a ladder set upon the earth, and the top of it +reached to Heaven; and beheld the angels of God ascending and descending +on it. And behold, the Lord stood above it, and said: "I am the Lord, +God of Abraham thy father, and the God of Isaac; the land whereon thou +liest, to thee will I give it, and to thy seed. And thy seed shall be as +the dust of the earth, and thou shalt spread abroad to the west and to +the east, and to the north and to the south and in thee and in thy seed +shall all the nations of the earth be blessed. And behold, I am with +thee and will keep thee in all places whither thou goest, and will bring +thee again into this land: for I will not leave thee until I have done +that which I have spoken to thee of." And Jacob awaked out of his sleep, +and he said: "Surely the Lord is in this place, and I knew it not." And +he was afraid, and said: "How dreadful is this place! this is none other +than the house of God, and this is the gate of Heaven." And Jacob rose +up early in the morning, and took the stone that he had put for his +pillow, and set it up for a pillar, and poured oil on the top of it, and +made at the same time a vow to God, that if he should return safe and +sound, he would give Him a tithe of all he might possess. + +Here is yet another vision. Watching the flocks of his father-in-law, +Laban, who had promised him that all the speckled lambs produced by his +sheep should be his recompense, he dreamed one night that he saw all the +males leap upon the females, and all the lambs they brought forth were +speckled. In this beautiful dream, God appeared to him, and said: "Lift +up now thine eyes and see that the rams which leap upon the cattle are +ring-streaked, speckled, and grizzled; for I have seen all that Laban +does unto thee. Now arise, get thee out from this land, and return unto +the land of thy kindred." As he was returning with his whole family, and +with all he obtained from his father-in-law, he had, says the Bible, a +wrestle with an unknown man during the whole night, until the breaking +of the day, and as this man had not been able to subdue him, He asked +him who he was. Jacob told Him his name; and He said: "Thy name shall be +called no more Jacob, but Israel; for as a prince hast thou power with +God and with men, and hast prevailed." + +This is a specimen of the first of these pretended Visions and Divine +Revelations. We can judge of the others by these. Now, what appearance +of Divinity is there in dreams so gross and illusions so vain? As if +some foreigners, Germans, for instance, should come into our France, +and, after seeing all the beautiful provinces of our kingdom, should +claim that God had appeared to them in their country, that He had told +them to go into France, and that He would give to them and to their +posterity all the beautiful lands, domains, and provinces of this +kingdom which extend from the rivers Rhine and Rhone, even to the sea; +that He would make an everlasting alliance with them, that He would +multiply their race, that He would make their posterity as numerous as +the stars of Heaven and as the sands of the sea, etc., who would not +laugh at such folly, and consider these strangers as insane fools! + +Now there is no reason to think otherwise of all that has been said by +these pretended Holy Patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, in regard to +the Divine Revelations which they claim to have had. As to the +institution of bloody sacrifices, the Holy Scriptures attribute it to +God. As it would be too wearisome to go into the disgusting details of +this kind of sacrifices, I refer the reader to Exodus. [See chapters +xxv., xxvii., xxyiii., and xxix.] + +Were not men insane and blind to believe they were honoring God by +tearing into pieces, butchering, and burning His own creatures, under +the pretext of offering them as sacrifices to Him? And even now, how is +it that our Christ-worshipers are so extravagant as to expect to please +God the Father, by offering up to Him the sacrifice of His Divine Son, +in remembrance of His being shamefully nailed to a cross upon which He +died? Certainly this can spring only from an obstinate blindness of +mind. + +In regard to the detail of the sacrifices of animals, it consists but in +colored clothing, blood, plucks, livers, birds' crops, kidneys, claws, +skins, in the dung, smoke, cakes, certain measures of oil and wine, the +whole being offered and infected by dirty ceremonies as filthy and +contemptible as the most extravagant performances of magic. What is most +horrible of all this is, that the law of this detestable Jewish people +commanded that even men should be offered up as sacrifices. The +barbarians, whoever they were, who introduced this horrible law, +commanded to put to death any man who had been consecrated to the God of +the Jews, whom they called Adonai: and it is according to this execrable +precept that Jephthah sacrificed his daughter, and that Saul wanted to +sacrifice his son. + +But here is yet another proof of the falsity of these revelations of +which we have spoken. It is the lack of the fulfillment of the great and +magnificent promises by which they were accompanied, for it is evident +that these promises never have been fulfilled. + +The proof of this consists in three principal points: + +Firstly. Their posterity was to be more numerous than all the other +nations of the world. + +Secondly. The people who should spring from their race were to be the +happiest, the holiest, and the most victorious of all the people of the +earth. + +Thirdly. His covenant was to be everlasting, and they should possess +forever the country He should give them. Now it is plain that these +promises-never were fulfilled. + +Firstly. It is certain that the Jewish people, or the people of +Israel--which is the only one that can be regarded as having descended +from the Patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the only ones to whom +these promises should have been fulfilled--have never been so numerous +that it could be compared with the other nations of the earth, much less +with the sands of the sea, etc., for we see that in the very time when +it was the most numerous and the most flourishing, it never occupied +more than the little sterile provinces of Palestine and its environs, +which are almost nothing in comparison with the vast extent of a +multitude of flourishing kingdoms which are on all sides of the earth. + +Secondly. They have never been fulfilled concerning the great blessings +with which they were to be favored; for, although they won a few small +victories over some poor nations whom they plundered, this did not +prevent them from being conquered and reduced to servitude; their +kingdom destroyed as well as their nation, by the Roman army; and even +now the remainder of this unfortunate nation is looked upon as the +vilest and most contemptible of all the earth, having no country, no +dominion, no superiority. + +Finally, these promises have not been fulfilled in respect to this +everlasting covenant, which God ought to have fulfilled to them; because +we do not see now, and we have never seen, any evidence of this +covenant; and, on the contrary, they have been for many centuries +excluded from the possession of the small country they pretended God had +promised that they should enjoy forever. Thus, since these pretended +promises were never fulfilled, it is certain evidence of their falsity; +which proves, plainly, that these pretended Holy Books which contain +them were not of Divine inspiration. Therefore it is useless for our +Christ-worshipers to pretend to make use of them as infallible testimony +to prove the truth of their religion. + + + + +THE HOLY SCRIPTURES. + + + + +V.--(1) OF THE OLD TESTAMENT. + +Our Christ-worshipers add to their reasons for credulity and to the +proofs of the truth of their testimony, the prophecies which are, as +they pretend, sure evidences of the truth of the revelations or +inspirations of God, there being no one but God who could predict future +events so long before they came to pass, as those which have been +predicted by the prophets. + +Let us see, then, who these pretended prophets are, and if we ought to +consider them as important as our Christ-worshipers pretend they are. +These men were but visionaries and fanatics, who acted and spoke +according to the impulsions of their ruling passions, and who imagined +that it was the Spirit of God by which they spoke and acted; or they +were impostors who feigned to be prophets, and who, in order to more +easily deceive the ignorant and simple-minded, boasted of acting and +speaking by the Spirit of God. I would like to know how an Ezekiel would +be received who should say that God made him eat for his breakfast a +roll of parchment; commanded him to be tied like an insane man, and lie +three hundred and ninety days upon his right side, and forty days upon +his left, and commanded him to eat man's dung upon his bread, and +afterward, as an accommodation, cow's dung? I ask how such a filthy +statement would be received by the most stupid people of our provinces? + +What can be yet a greater proof of the falsity of these pretended +prophecies, than the violence with which these prophets reproach each +other for speaking falsely in the name of God, reproaches which they +claim to make in behalf of God. All of them say, "Beware of the false +prophets!" as the quacks say, "Beware of the counterfeit pills!" How +could these insane impostors tell the future? No prophecy in favor of +their Jewish nation was ever fulfilled. The number of prophecies which +predict the prosperity and the greatness of Jerusalem is almost +innumerable; in explanation of this, it will be said that it is very +natural that a subdued and captive people should comfort themselves in +their real afflictions by imaginary hopes--as a year after King James was +deposed, the Irish people of his party forged several prophecies in +regard to him. + +But if these promises made to the Jews had been really true, the Jewish +nation long ago would have been, and would still be, the most numerous, +the most powerful, the most blessed, and the most victorious of all +nations. + + + + +VI.--(2) THE NEW TESTAMENT. + +Let us examine the pretended prophecies which are contained in the +Gospels. + +Firstly. An angel having appeared in a dream to a man named Joseph, +father, or at least so reputed, of Jesus, son of Mary, said unto him: + +"Joseph, thou son of David fear not to take unto thee Mary thy wife, for +that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Ghost. And she shall bring +forth a Son, and thou shalt call His name JESUS; for He shall save His +people from their sins." This angel said also to Mary: + +"Fear not, Mary, for thou hast found favor with God. And behold, thou +shalt conceive in thy womb and bring forth a Son, and shalt call His +name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the +Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto Him the throne of His father +David. And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever; and of His +kingdom there shall be no end!" Jesus began to preach and to say: + +"Repent, for the kingdom of Heaven is at hand. Take no thought for your +life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink, nor yet for your body +what ye shall put on. Is not the life more than meat, and the body than +raiment, for your Heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these +things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and +all these things shall be added unto you." + +Now, let every man who has not lost common sense, examine if this Jesus +ever was a king, or if His disciples had abundance of all things. This +Jesus promised to deliver the world from sin. Is there any prophecy +which is more false? Is not our age a striking proof of it? It is said +that Jesus came to save His people. In what way did He save it? It is +the greatest number which rules any party. For example, one dozen or two +of Spaniards or Frenchmen do not constitute the French or Spanish +people; and if an army of a hundred and twenty thousand men were taken +prisoners of war by an army of enemies which was stronger, and if the +chief of this army should redeem only a few men, as ten or twelve +soldiers or officers, by paying their ransom, it could not be claimed +that he had delivered or redeemed his army. Then, who is this God who +has been sacrificed, who died to save the world, and leaves so many +nations damned? What a pity! and what horror! + +Jesus Christ says that we have but to ask and we shall receive, and to +seek and we shall find. He assures us that all we ask of God in His name +shall be granted, and that if we have faith as a grain of mustard-seed, +we could by one word remove mountains. If this promise is true, nothing +appears impossible to our Christ-worshipers who have faith in Jesus. +However, the contrary happens. If Mohammed had made the promises to his +votaries that Christ made to His, without success, what would not be +said about it. They would cry out, "Ah, the cheat! ah, the impostor!" +These Christ-worshipers are in the same condition: they have been blind, +and have not even yet recovered from their blindness; on the contrary, +they are so ingenious in deceiving themselves, that they pretend that +these promises have been fulfilled from the beginning of Christianity; +that at that time it was necessary to have miracles, in order to +convince the incredulous of the truth of religion; but that this +religion being sufficiently established, the miracles were no longer +necessary. Where, then, is their proof of all this? + +Besides, He who made these promises did not limit them to a certain +time, or to certain places, or to certain persons; but He made them +generally to everybody. The faith of those who believe, says He, shall +be followed by these miracles; "They shall cast out devils in My name, +they shall speak in divers tongues, they shall handle serpents," etc. + +In regard to the removal of mountains, He positively says that "whoever +shall say to a mountain: 'Be thou removed, and be thou cast into the +sea;' it shall be done;" provided that he does not doubt in his heart, +but believes all he commands will be done. Are not all these promises +given in a general way, without restriction as to time, place, or +persons? + +It is said that all the sects which are founded in errors and imposture +will come to a shameful end. But if Jesus Christ intends to say that He +has established a society of followers who will not fall either into +vice or error, these words are absolutely false, as there is in +Christendom no sect, no society, and no church which is not full of +errors and vices, especially the Roman Church, although it claims to be +the purest and the holiest of all. It was born into error, or rather it +was conceived and formed in error; and even now it is full of delusions +which are contrary to the intentions, the sentiments, or the doctrine of +its Founder, because it has, contrary to His intention, abolished the +laws of the Jews, which He approved, and which He came Himself, as He +said, to fulfill and not to destroy. It has fallen into the errors and +idolatry of Paganism, as is seen by the idolatrous worship which is +offered to its God of dough, to its saints, to their images, and to +their relics. + +I know well that our Christ-worshipers consider it a lack of +intelligence to accept literally the promises and prophecies as they are +expressed; they reject the literal and natural sense of the words, to +give them a mystical and spiritual sense which they call allegorical and +figurative; claiming, for example, that the people of Israel and Judea, +to whom these promises were made, were not understood as the Israelites +after the body, but the Israelites in spirit: that is to say, the +Christians which are the Israel of God, the true chosen people that by +the promise made to this enslaved people, to deliver it from captivity, +it is understood to be not the corporal deliverance of a single captive +people, but the spiritual deliverance of all men from the servitude of +the Devil, which was to be accomplished by their Divine Saviour; that by +the abundance of riches, and all the temporal blessings promised to this +people, is meant the abundance of spiritual graces; and finally, that by +the city of Jerusalem, is meant not the terrestrial Jerusalem, but the +spiritual Jerusalem, which is the Christian Church. + +But it is easy to see that these spiritual and allegorical meanings +having only a strange, imaginary sense, being a subterfuge of the +interpreters, can not serve to show the truth or the falsehood of a +proposition, or of any promises whatever. It is ridiculous to forge such +allegorical meanings, since it is only by the relations of the natural +and true sense that we can judge of their truth or falsehood. A +proposition, a promise, for example, which is considered true in the +proper and natural sense of the terms in which it is expressed, will not +become false in itself under cover of a strange sense, one which does +not belong to it. By the same reasoning, that which is manifestly false +in its proper and natural sense, will not become true in itself, +although we give it a strange sense, one foreign to the true. + +We can say that the prophecies of the Old Testament adjusted to the New, +would be very absurd and puerile things. For example, Abraham had two +wives, of which the one, who was but a servant, represented the +synagogue, and the other one, his lawful wife, represented the Christian +Church; and that this Abraham had two sons, of which the one born of +Hagar, the servant, represented the Old Testament; and the other, born +of Sarah, the wife, represented the New Testament. Who would not laugh +at such a ridiculous doctrine? + +Is it not amusing that a piece of red cloth, exhibited by a prostitute +as a signal to spies, in the Old Testament is made to represent the +blood of Jesus Christ shed in the New? If--according to this manner of +interpreting allegorically all that is said, done, and practiced in the +ancient law of the Jews--we should interpret in the same allegorical way +all the discourses, the actions, and the adventures of the famous Don +Quixote de la Mancha, we would find the same sort of mysteries and +ridiculous figures. + +It is nevertheless upon this absurd foundation that the whole Christian +religion rests. Thus it is that there is scarcely anything in this +ancient law that the Christ-worshiping doctors do not try to explain in +a mystical way to build up their system. The most false and the most +ridiculous prophecy ever made is that of Jesus, in Luke, where it is +pretended that there will be signs in the sun and in the moon, and that +the Son of Man will appear in a cloud to judge men; and this is +predicted for the generation living at that time. Has it come to pass? +Did the Son of Man appear in a cloud? + + + + +VII.--ERRORS OF DOCTRINE AND OF MORALITY. + +The Christian Apostolical Roman Religion teaches, and compels belief, +that there is but one God, and, at the same time, that there are three +Divine persons, each one being God. This is absurd; for if there are +three who are truly God, then there are three Gods. It is false, then, +to say that there is but one God; or if this is true, it is false to say +that there are really three who are God, for one and three can not be +claimed to be one and the same number. It is also said that the first of +these pretended Divine persons, called the Father, has brought forth the +second person, which is called the Son, and that these first two persons +together have produced the third, which is called the Holy Ghost, and, +nevertheless, these three pretended Divine persons do not depend the one +upon the other, and even that one is not older than the other. This, +too, is manifestly absurd; because one thing can not receive its +existence from another thing without some dependence on this other; and +a thing must necessarily exist in order to give birth to another. If, +then, the Second and the Third persons of Divinity have received their +existence from the First person, they must necessarily depend for their +existence on this First person, who gave them birth, or who begot them, +and it is necessary also that the First person of the Divinity, who gave +birth to the two other persons, should have existed before them; because +that which does not exist can not beget anything. Nevertheless, it is +repugnant as well as absurd to claim that anything could be begotten +or born without having had a beginning. Now, according to our +Christ-worshipers, the Second and Third persons of Divinity were +begotten and born; then they had a beginning, and the First person had +none, not being begotten by another; it therefore follows necessarily +that one existed before the other. + +Our Christ-worshipers, who feel these absurdities and can not avoid them +by any good reasoning, have no other resource than to say that we must +ignore human reason and humbly adore these sublime mysteries without +wishing to understand them; but that which they call faith is refuted +when they tell us that we must submit; it is telling us that we must +blindly believe that which we do not believe. Our Christ-worshipers +condemn the blindness of the ancient Pagans, who worshiped several +Gods; they deride the genealogy of those Gods, their birth, their +marriages, and the generating of their children; yet they do not observe +that they themselves say things which are much more ridiculous and +absurd. + +If the Pagans believed that there were Goddesses as well as Gods, that +these Gods and Goddesses married and begat children, they thought of +nothing, then, but what is natural; for they did not believe yet that +the Gods were without body or feeling; they believed they were similar +to men. Why should there not be females as well as males? It is not more +reasonable to deny or to recognize the one than the other; and supposing +there were Gods and Goddesses, why should they not beget children in the +ordinary way? There would be certainly nothing ridiculous or absurd in +this doctrine, if it were true that their Gods existed. But in the +doctrine of our Christ-worshipers there is something absolutely +ridiculous and absurd; for besides claiming that one God forms Three, +and that these Three form but One, they pretend that this Triple and +Unique God has neither body, form, nor face; that the First person of +this Triple and Unique God, whom they call the Father, begot of Himself +a Second person, which they call the Son, and which is the same as His +Father, being, like Him, without body, form, or face. If this is true, +why is it that the First one is called Father rather than mother, or the +Second called Son rather than daughter? For if the First one is really +father instead of mother, and if the Second is son instead of daughter, +there must be something in both of these two persons which causes the +one to be father rather than mother, and the other to be son rather than +daughter. Now who can assert that they are males and not females? But +how should they be rather males than females, as they have neither body, +form, nor face? That is not an imaginable thing, and destroys itself. No +matter, they claim chat these two Persons, without body, form, or face, +and, consequently, without difference of sex, are nevertheless Father +and Son, and that they produced by their mutual love a third person, +whom they called the Holy Ghost, who has, like the other two, no body, +no form, and no face. What abominable nonsense! + +As our Christ-worshipers limit the power of God the Father to begetting +but one Son, why do they not desire that this Second person, and the +Third, should have the same power to beget a Son like themselves? If +this power to beget a son is perfection in the First person, it is, +then, a perfection and a power which does not exist in the Second and in +the Third person. Thus these two Persons, lacking a perfection and a +power which is found in the First one, they are consequently not equal +with Him. If, on the contrary, they say that this power to beget a son +is no perfection, they should not attribute it, then, to the First +person any more than to the other two; for we should attribute +perfections only to an absolutely perfect being. Besides, they would not +dare to say that the power to beget a Divine person is not a perfection; +and if they claim that this First person could have begotten several +sons and daughters, but that He desired but this only Son, and that the +two other persons did not desire to beget any others, we could ask them, +firstly, from whence they know this, for we do not see in their +pretended Holy Scriptures that any One of these Divine personages +reveals any such assertions; how, then, can our Christ-worshipers know +anything about it? They speak but according to their ideas and to their +hollow imaginations. Secondly, we could not avoid saying, that if these +pretended Divine personages had the power of begetting several children, +and did not wish to make use of it, the consequence would be that this +Divine power was ineffectual. It would be entirely without effect in the +Third person, who did not beget or produce any, and would be almost +without effect in the two others, because they limited it. Then this +power of begetting or producing an unlimited number of children would +remain idle and useless; it would be inconsistent to suppose this of +Divine Personages, One of whom had already produced a Son. + +Our Christ-worshipers blame and condemn the Pagans because they +attribute Divinity to mortal men, and worship them as Gods after their +death; they are right in doing this. But these Pagans did only what our +Christ-worshipers still do in attributing Divinity to their Christ; +doing which, they condemn themselves also, because they are in the same +error as these Pagans, in that they worship a man who was mortal, and so +very mortal that He died shamefully upon a cross. + +It would be of no use for our Christ-worshipers to say that there was a +great difference between their Jesus Christ and the Pagan Gods, under +the pretense that their Christ was, as they claim, really God and man at +the same time, while the Divinity was incarnated in Him, by means of +which, the Divine nature found itself united personally, as they say, +with human nature; these two natures would have made of Jesus Christ a +true God and a true man; this is what never happened, they claim, in the +Pagan Gods. + +But it is easy to show the weakness of this reply; for, on the one hand, +was it not as easy to the Pagans as to the Christians, to say that the +Divinity was incarnated in the men whom they worshiped as Gods? On the +other hand, if the Divinity wanted to incarnate and unite in the human +nature of their Jesus Christ, how did they know that this Divinity would +not wish to also incarnate and unite Himself personally to the human +nature of those great men and those admirable women, who, by their +virtue, by their good qualities, or by their noble actions, have +excelled the generality of people, and made themselves worshiped as Gods +and Goddesses? And if our Christ-worshipers do not wish to believe that +Divinity ever incarnated in these great personages, why do they wish to +persuade us that He was incarnated in their Jesus? Where is the proof? +Their faith and their belief; but as the Pagans rely on the same proof, +we conclude both to be equally in error. + +But what is more ridiculous in Christianity than in Paganism, is that +the Pagans have generally attributed Divinity but to great men, authors +of arts and sciences, and who excelled in virtues useful to their +country. But to whom do our God-Christ-worshipers attribute Divinity? To +a nobody, to a vile and contemptible man, who had neither talent, +science, nor ability; born of poor parents, and who, while He figured in +the world, passed but for a monomaniac and a seditious fool, who was +disdained, ridiculed, persecuted, whipped, and, finally, was hanged like +most of those who desired to act the same part, when they had neither +the courage nor skill. About that time there were several other +impostors who claimed to be the true promised Messiah; amongst others a +certain Judas, a Galilean, a Theodorus, a Barcon, and others who, under +this vain pretext, abused the people, and tried to excite them, in order +to win them, but they all perished. + +Let us pass now to His discourses and to some of His actions, which are +the most singular of this kind: "Repent," said He to the people, "for +the kingdom of Heaven is at hand; believe these good tidings." And He +went all over Galilee preaching this pretended approach of the kingdom +of Heaven. As no one has seen the arrival of this kingdom of Heaven, it +is evident that it was but imaginary. But let us see other predictions, +the praise, and the description of this beautiful kingdom. + +Behold what He said to the people: + +The kingdom of Heaven is likened unto a man who sowed good seed in his +field. But while he slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the +wheat, and went his way. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto +treasure hidden in a field, the which, when a man has found, he hideth +again, and for joy thereof goes and sells all that he has, and buys that +field. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like unto a merchantman seeking +goodly pearls, who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and +sold all he had, and bought it. Again, the kingdom of Heaven is like +unto a net that was cast into the sea, and gathered of every kind; +which, when it was full, they drew to shore, and sat down and gathered +the good into vessels, but cast the bad away. It is like a grain of +mustard-seed, which a man took and sowed in his field which, indeed, is +the least of all seeds, but when it is grown it is the greatest among +herbs, etc. + +Is this a language worthy of a God? We will pass the same judgment upon +Him if we examine His actions more closely. Because, firstly, He is +represented as running all over a country preaching the approach of a +pretended kingdom; Secondly, as having been transported by the Devil +upon a high mountain, from which He believed He saw all the kingdoms of +the world; this could only happen to a visionist; for it is certain, +there is no mountain upon the earth from which He could see even one +entire kingdom, unless it was the little kingdom of Yvetot, which is in +France; thus it was only in imagination that He saw all these kingdoms, +and was transported upon this mountain, as well as upon the pinnacle of +the temple. Thirdly, when He cured the deaf-mute, spoken of in St. Mark, +it is said that He placed His fingers in the ears, spit, and touched his +tongue, then casting His eyes up to Heaven, He sighed deeply, and said +unto him: "Ephphatha!" Finally, let us read all that is related of Him, +and we can judge whether there is anything in the world more ridiculous. + +Having considered some of the silly things attributed to God by our +Christ-worshipers, let us look a little further into their mysteries. +They worship one God in three persons, or three persons in one God, and +they attribute to themselves the power of forming Gods out of dough, and +of making as many as they want. For, according to their principles, they +have only to say four words over a certain quantity of wine or over +these little images of paste, to make as many Gods of them as they +desire. What folly! With all the pretended power of their Christ, they +would not be able to make the smallest fly, and yet they claim the +ability to produce millions of Gods. One must be struck by a strange +blindness to maintain such pitiable things, and that upon such vain +foundation as the equivocal words of a fanatic. Do not these blind +theologians see that it means opening a wide door to all sorts of +idolatries, to adore these paste images under the pretext that the +priests have the power of consecrating them and changing them into Gods? + +Can not the priests of the idols boast of having a similar ability? + +Do they not see, also, that the same reasoning which demonstrates the +vanity of the gods or idols of wood, of stone, etc., which the Pagans +worshiped, shows exactly the same vanity of the Gods and idols of paste +or of flour which our Christ-worshipers adore? By what right do they +deride the falseness of the Pagan Gods? Is it not because they are but +the work of human hands, mute and insensible images? And what kind of +Gods are those which we preserve in boxes for fear of the mice? + +What are these boasted resources of the Christ-worshipers? Their +morality? It is the same as in all religions, but their cruel dogmas +produced and taught persecution and trouble. Their miracles? But what +people has not its own, and what wise men do not disdain these fables? +Their prophecies? Have we not shown their falsity? Their morals? Are +they not often infamous? The establishment of their religion? but did +not fanaticism begin, and has not intrigue visibly sustained this +edifice? The doctrine? but is it not the height of absurdity? + +End Of The Abstract By Voltaire. + + + + +PUBLISHER'S PREFACE. + +By translating into both the English and German languages Le Bon Sens, +containing the Last Will and Testament of the French curate JEAN +MESLIER, Miss Anna Knoop has performed a most useful and meritorious +task, and in issuing a new edition of this work, it is but justice to +her memory [Miss Knoop died Jan. 11, 1889.] to state that her +translation has received the endorsement of our most competent critics. + +In a letter dated Newburyport, Mass., Sep. 23, 1878, Mr. James Parton, +the celebrated author, commends Miss Knoop for "translating Meslier's +book so well," and says that: + +"This work of the honest pastor is the most curious and the most +powerful thing of the kind which the last century produced. . . . . +Paine and Voltaire had reserves, but Jean Meslier had none. He keeps +nothing back; and yet, after all, the wonder is not that there should +have been one priest who left that testimony at his death, but that all +priests do not. True, there is a great deal more to be said about +religion, which I believe to be an eternal necessity of human nature, +but no man has uttered the negative side of the matter with so much +candor and completeness as Jean Meslier." + +The value of the testimony of a catholic priest, who in his last moments +recanted the errors of his faith and asked God's pardon for having +taught the catholic religion, was fully appreciated by Voltaire, who +highly commended this grand work of Meslier. He voluntarily made every +effort to increase its circulation, and even complained to D' Alembert +"that there were not as many copies in all Paris as he himself had +dispersed throughout the mountains of Switzerland." [See Letter 504, +Voltaire to D'Alembert] He earnestly entreats his associates to print +and distribute in Paris an edition of at least four or five thousand +copies, and at the suggestion of D'Alembert, made an abstract or +abridgment of The Testament "so small as to cost no more than five +pence, and thus to be fitted for the pocket and reading of every +workman." [Letter 146, from D'Alembert.] + +The Abbé Barruel claims in his Memoirs [See History of Jacobinism by the +Abbé Barruel, 4 vols. 8 VO, translated by the Hon. Robert Clifford, F. +R. S., and printed in London in 1798. The learned Abbé defines +Jacobinism as "the error of every man who, judging of all things by the +standard of his own reason, rejects in religious matters every authority +that is not derived from the light of nature. It is the error of every +man who denies the possibility of any mystery beyond the limits of his +reason, of every one who, discarding revelation in defence of the +pretended rights of Reason, Equality, and Liberty, seeks to subvert the +whole fabric of the Christian religion." B. 4.] to detect in the +writings of Voltaire and of the leading Encyclopedists, a conspiracy not +only against the Altar but also against the Throne. He severely +denounces the "Last Will of Jean Meslier,--that famous Curate of +Etrepigni,--whose apostasy and blasphemies made so strong an impression +on the minds of the populace," and he styles the plan of D'Alembert for +circulating a few thousand copies of the Abstract of the Will, as a "base +project against the doctrines of the Gospel." [Ibid, page 145] He even +asserts his belief that: + +"The Jacobins will one day declare that all men are free, that all men +are equal; and as a consequence of this Equality and Liberty they will +conclude that every man must be left to the light of reason. That every +religion subjecting man's reason to mysteries, or to the authority of +any revelation speaking in God's name, is a religion of constraint and +slavery; that as such it should be annihilated in order to reestablish +the indefeasible rights of Equality and Liberty as to the belief or +disbelief of all that the reason of man approves or disapproves: and +they will call this Equality and Liberty the reign of Reason and the +empire of Philosophy." [History of Jacobinism, page 51.] + +The results which the Abbé Barruel so clearly foresaw have at length +been realized. The labors of the Jacobins have not been in vain, and the +Revolution they incited has restored France to the government of the +people! + +"With ardent hope for the future," says President Carnot in his +centennial address, May 5, 1889, "I greet in the palace of the monarchy +the representatives of a nation that is now in complete possession of +herself, that is mistress of her destinies, and that is in the full +splendor and strength of liberty. The first thoughts on this solemn +meeting turn to our fathers. The immortal generation of 1789, by dint +of courage and many sacrifices, secured for us benefits which we must +bequeath to our sons as a most precious inheritance. Never can our +gratitude equal the grandeur of the services rendered by our fathers to +France and to the human race. . . . The Revolution was based upon the +rights of man. It created a new era in history and founded modern +society." + +This is literally true. The freethinkers of France have taught mankind +the doctrines of Liberty, Equality, and Fraternity. They have taught the +dignity of human reason, and the sacredness of human rights. They have +broken the bondage of the altar, and severed the shackles of the throne; +and it is to be regretted that at the centennial celebration held in +this city on April 30th, 1889, the appointed orator [See the Centennial +Address of the Hon. Chauncey M. Depew.] did not realize the grandeur of +the occasion, and did not, like Carnot, pay a just tribute to our +allies, the reformers of Europe, as well as to the fathers of the +republic. But the people of America will remember what the politician +has forgotten. They will remember the names and deeds of their foreign +benefactors as well as of the American patriots of '76. When they recall +the illustrious Europeans who fought for our liberties they will +remember the name of Lafayette; when they think of the Declaration of +Independence they will not forget the name of Thomas Jefferson; and when +they speak of "the times that tried men's souls" they will recall with +gratitude the name of Thomas Paine. + +Although the ecclesiastical conclave at Rome claims the power of working +miracles in defiance of Nature's laws, yet with or without miracles, +they have never answered the simple arguments advanced by Jean Meslier; +although they claim to hold the keys of Paradise, and bind on earth the +souls that are to be bound in heaven, yet year by year their waning +power refutes their senseless boast; although they boldly assert the +dogma of popish infallibility, yet the loss of the temporal power once +wielded by Rome, and the death of each succeeding pontiff, attest both +the Pope's fallibility and the Pope's mortality. Indeed, the successor +of St. Peter is but human--the sacred college at Rome is but mortal; and +faith and dogma cannot forever resist the influence of light and +knowledge. The power of Catholicism is surely declining throughout +Europe; and if it has become aggressive in our American cities, is it +not because the friends of freedom have forgotten the well-known axiom +that "eternal vigilance is the price of liberty"? + +PETER ECKLER. + +New York, May 21, 1889. + + + + +PREFATORY NOTE BY THE TRANSLATOR + +Some years ago a copy of John Meslier fell into my hands. I was struck +with the simple truthfulness of his arguments, and the thought never +left me of the happy change that would be produced all over the world +when the religious prejudices should be dispelled, and when all the +different nations and sects would unite and lend each other a friendly +hand. + +Since I had the opportunity of hearing the speeches and lectures of +liberal men, it has seemed to me that the time has come for this work of +John Meslier to be appreciated, and I concluded to translate it into the +language of my adopted country, presuming that many would be happy to +study it. + +In this faith I offer it now to the public, and I hope that the name of +John Meslier will be honored as one of the greatest benefactors of +humanity. + +ANNA KNOOP. + + + + +PREFACE OF THE EDITOR OF THE FRENCH EDITION OF 1830. + +It is said that truth is generally revealed by dying lips. When men full +of health and enjoying all the pleasures of life, exert themselves +without ceasing, to excite minds and to take advantage of their +fanaticism by wearing the mask of religion, it will not be without +interest or importance to know what other men, invested with the same +ministry, have taught under the impulse of a conscience quickened by the +approach of the final hour. Their confessions are more valuable because +they carry with them the spirit of contrition. It is then that the +truth, which is no longer obscured by narrow passions and sordid +interests, presents itself in all its brilliancy, and imposes upon him +who has kept it hidden during his life, the duty, and even the +necessity, of unveiling it fully at his death. It is then that human +speech, losing in a measure its terrestrial nature, becomes persuasive +and convincing. + +We know this fact of a celebrated preacher who in the beginning of the +Revolution stood in the same pulpit which we are pleased to call the +pulpit of truth, and with his hand upon his heart declared that till +then he had taught only falsehood. He did more; he implored his +parishioners to forgive him for the gross errors in which he had kept +them, and congratulated them upon having at last arrived at a period +when it was permitted to establish the empire of reason upon the ruins +of prejudice. Times have changed very much, it is true; however, so long +as the press shall be able to combat the fatal errors of religious +fanaticism, and perhaps even to some extent prevent its violence, it +will be the duty of every friend of humanity to reproduce continually +the full retractions which opposed the sincerity and conscience of the +dying to the bad faith and hypocritical avidity of the living. Guided by +this intention, and ashamed to see the human race, in a land just freed +from the yoke of prejudice, give birth to a disgraceful juggling which +will terminate in dominating authority, and associate itself with the +persecutions of which our incredulous or dissenting ancestors were the +sad victims, we believe it useful to reprint the last lessons of a +priest--an honest man--bequeathed to his fellow-citizens and to posterity. +The service we render to Philosophy will be so much the greater when we +can consider as immutable, perpetual, permanent, and ready to appear in +the hour of need, the edition which we are preparing of "COMMON SENSE, +BY THE PRIEST JEAN MESLIER, AND HIS DYING CONFESSION." + +To do justice to these two works, to which we have added analytical +notes, which will greatly facilitate our researches, we will limit +ourselves by giving the imposing approbation of two philosophers of the +eighteenth century--Voltaire and d'Alembert. They certainly understood +much better the sublimity of evangelical morality, and spoke of it in a +manner more worthy of its author, than did those who deified it to +profit by its divinity, and who abused so cruelly the ignorance and +barbarity of the first centuries, to establish, in the interest of their +fortunes and power, so many base prejudices, so many puerile and +superstitious practices. + +Here is what Voltaire and d'Alembert thought of the curate Meslier and +of his work. Their letters are presented here in order to excite +curiosity and convince the judgment: + + +VOLTAIRE TO D'ALEMBERT. + +FERNEY, February, 1762. + +They have printed in Holland the Testament of Jean Meslier. I trembled +with horror in reading it. The testimony of a priest, who, in dying, +asks God's pardon for having taught Christianity, must be a great weight +in the balance of Liberals. I will send you a copy of this Testament of +the anti-Christ, because you desire to refute it. You have but to tell +me by what manner it will reach you. It is written with great +simplicity, which unfortunately resembles candor. + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE SAME. + +FERNEY, February 25, 1762. + +Meslier also has the wisdom of the serpent. He sets an example for you; +the good grain was hidden in the chaff of his book. A good Swiss has +made a faithful abstract and this abstract can do a great deal of good. +What an answer to the insolent fanatics who treat philosophers like +libertines. What an answer to you, wretches that you are, this testimony +of a priest, who asks God's pardon for having been a Christian! + + +D'ALEMBERT'S ANSWER. + +PARIS, March 31, 1762. + +A misunderstanding has been the cause, my dear philosopher, that I +received but a few days since the work of Jean Meslier, which you had +sent almost a month ago. I waited till I received it to write to you. It +seems to me that we could inscribe upon the tombstone of this curate: +"Here lies a very honest priest, curate of a village in Champagne, who, +in dying, asks God's pardon for having been a Christian, and who has +proved by this, that ninety-nine sheep and one native of Champagne do +not make a hundred beasts." I suspect that the abstract of his work is +written by a Swiss, who understands French very well, though he affects +to speak it badly. This is neat, earnest, and concise, and I bless the +author of the abstract, whoever he may be. "It is of the Lord to +cultivate the vine." After all, my dear philosopher, a little longer, +and I do not know whether all these books will be necessary, and whether +man will not have enough sense to comprehend by himself that three do +not make one, and that bread is not God. The enemies of reason are +playing a very foolish part at this moment, and I believe that we can +say as in the song: + +"To destroy all these people +You should let them alone." + +I do not know what will become of the religion of Christ, but its +professors are in false garb. What Pascal, Nicole, and Arnaud could not +do, there is an appearance that three or four absurd and ignorant +fanatics will accomplish. The nation will give this vigorous blow +within, while she is doing so little outside, and we will put in the +abbreviated chronological pages of the year 1762: "This year France lost +all its colonies and expelled the Jesuits." I know nothing but powder, +which with so little apparent force, could produce such great results. + + +VOLTAIRE TO D'ALEMBERT. + +DELICES, July 12, 1762. + +It appears to me that the Testament of Jean Meslier has a great effect; +all those who read it are convinced; this man discusses and proves. He +speaks in the moment of death, at the moment when even liars tell the +truth fully. This is the strongest of all arguments. Jean Meslier is to +convert the world. Why is his gospel in so few hands? How lukewarm you +are at Paris! You hide your light under a bushel! + + +D'ALEMBERT'S ANSWER. + +PARIS, July 31, 1762. + +You reproach us with lukewarmness, but I believe I have told you already +that the fear of the fagot is very cooling. You would like us to print +the Testament of Jean Meslier and distribute four or five thousand +copies. The infamous fanaticism, for infamous it is, would lose little +or nothing, and we should be treated as fools by those whom we would +have converted. Man is so little enlightened to-day only because we had +the precaution or the good fortune to enlighten him little by little. If +the sun should appear all of a sudden in a cave, the inhabitants would +perceive only the harm it would do their eyes. The excess of light would +result only in blinding them. + + +D'ALEMBERT TO VOLTAIRE. + +PARIS, July 9, 1764. + +Apropos, they have lent me that work attributed to St. Evremont, and +which is said to be by Dumarsais, of which you spoke to me some time +ago; it is good, but the Testament of Meslier is still better! + + +VOLTAIRE TO D'ALEMBERT. + +FERNEY, July 16, 1764. + +The Testament of Meslier ought to be in the pocket of all honest men; a +good priest, full of candor, who asks God's pardon for deceiving +himself, must enlighten those who deceive themselves. + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE COUNT D'ARGENTAL. + +AUX DELICES, February 6, 1762. + +But no little bird told me of the infernal book of that curate, Jean +Meslier; a very important work to the angels of darkness. An excellent +catechism for Beelzebub. Know that this book is very rare; it is a +treasure! + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE SAME. + +AUX DEUCES, May 31, 1762. + +It is just that I should send you a copy of the second edition of +Meslier. In the first edition they forgot the preface, which is very +strange. You have wise friends who would not be sorry to have this book +in their secret cabinet. It is excellent to form youthful minds. The +book, which was sold in manuscript form for eight Louis-d'or, is +illegible. This little abstract is very edifying. Let us thank the good +souls who give it gratuitously, and let us pray God to extend His +benedictions upon this useful reading. + + +VOLTAIRE TO D'AMILAVILLE. + +AUX DEUCES, February 8, 1762. + +My brother shall have a Meslier soon as I shall have received the order; +it would seem that my brother has not the facts. Fifteen to twenty years +ago the manuscript of this work sold for eight Louis-d'or; it was a very +large quarto. There are more than a hundred copies in Paris. Brother +Thiriot understands the facts. It is not known who made the abstract, +but it is taken wholly, word for word, from the original. There are +still many persons who have seen the curate Meslier. It would be very +useful to make a new edition of this little work in Paris; it can be +done easily in three or four days. + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE SAME. + +FERNEY, December 6, 1762. + +But I believe there will never be another impression of the little book +of Meslier. Think of the weight of the testimony of one dying, of a +priest, of a good man. + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE SAME. + +FERNEY, July 6, 1764. + +Three hundred Mesliers distributed in a province have caused many +conversions. Ah, if I was assisted! + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE SAME. + +FERNEY, September 29, 1764. + +There are too few Mesliers and too many swindlers. + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE SAME. + +AUX DELICES, October 8, 1764. + +Names injure the cause; they awaken prejudice. Only the name of Jean +Meslier can do good, because the repentance of a good priest in the hour +of death must make a great impression. This Meslier should be in the +hands of all the world. + + +VOLTAIRE TO MADAM DE FLORIAN. + +AUX DELICES, May 20, 1762. + +My dear niece, it is very sad to be so far from you. Read and read again +Jean Meslier; he is a good curate. + + +VOLTAIRE TO THE MARQUIS D'ARGENCE. + +March 2, 1763. + +I have found a Testament of Jean Meslier, which I send you. The +simplicity of this man, the purity of his manners, the pardon which he +asks of God, and the authenticity of his book, must produce a great +effect. I will send you as many copies as you want of the Testament of +this good curate. + + +VOLTAIRE TO HELVETIUS. + +AUX DEUCES, May 1, 1763. + +They have sent me the two abstracts of Jean Meslier. It is true that it +is written in the style of a carriage-horse, but it is well suited to +the street. And what testimony! that of a priest who asks pardon in +dying, for having taught absurd and horrible things! What an answer to +the platitudes of fanatics who have the audacity to assert that +philosophy is but the fruit of libertinage! + + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg's Superstition In All Ages (1732), by Jean Meslier + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SUPERSTITION IN ALL AGES (1732) *** + +***** This file should be named 17607-8.txt or 17607-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/1/7/6/0/17607/ + +Produced by Gary Klein + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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