Better Gutenberg
Free, beautifully formatted public-domain ebooks

Superstition in All Ages

by Jean Meslier

213 sections · Download EPUB

Start reading ›
  1. 1Life of Jean Meslier by Voltaire
  2. 2Preface of the Author
  3. 3Common Sense — I — Apologue
  4. 4II — What Is Theology?
  5. 5III
  6. 6IV — Man Born Neither Religious nor Deistical
  7. 7V — It Is Not Necessary to Believe in a God, and the Most Reasonabl…
  8. 8VI — Religion Is Founded Upon Credulity
  9. 9VII — Every Religion Is an Absurdity
  10. 10VIII — The Notion of God Is Impossible
  11. 11IX — Origin of Superstition
  12. 12X — Origin of All Religion
  13. 13XI — In the Name of Religion Charlatans Take Advantage of the Weakn…
  14. 14XII — Religion Entices Ignorance by the Aid of the Marvelous
  15. 15XIII — Continuation
  16. 16XIV — There Would Never Have Been Any Religion If There Had Never B…
  17. 17XV — All Religion Was Born of the Desire to Dominate
  18. 18XVI — That Which Serves as a Basis for All Religion Is Very Uncertain
  19. 19XVII — It Is Impossible to Be Convinced of the Existence of God
  20. 20XVIII — Continuation
  21. 21XIX — The Existence of God Is Not Proved
  22. 22XX — To Say That God Is a Spirit, Is to Speak Without Saying Anythi…
  23. 23XXI — Spirituality Is a Chimera
  24. 24XXII — All Which Exists Springs From the Bosom of Matter
  25. 25XXIII — What Is the Metaphysical God of Modern Theology?
  26. 26XXIV — It Would Be More Rational to Worship the Sun Than a Spiritua…
  27. 27XXV — A Spiritual God Is Incapable of Willing and of Acting
  28. 28XXVI — What Is God?
  29. 29XXVII — Remarkable Contradictions of Theology
  30. 30XXVIII — To Adore God Is to Adore a Fiction
  31. 31XXIX — The Infinity of God and the Impossibility of Knowing the Div…
  32. 32XXX — It Is Neither Less nor More Criminal to Believe in God Than N…
  33. 33XXXI — The Belief in God Is Nothing but a Mechanical Habitude of Ch…
  34. 34XXXII — It Is a Prejudice Which Has Been Handed From Father to Chil…
  35. 35XXXIII — Origin of Prejudices
  36. 36XXXIV — How They Take Root and Spread
  37. 37XXXV — Men Would Never Have Believed in the Principles of Modern Th…
  38. 38XXXVI — The Wonders of Nature Do Not Prove the Existence of God
  39. 39XXXVII — The Wonders of Nature Explain Themselves by Natural Causes
  40. 40XXXVIII — Continuation
  41. 41XXXIX — The World Has Not Been Created, and Matter Moves by Itself
  42. 42XL — Continuation
  43. 43XLI — Other Proofs That Motion Is in the Essence of Matter, and Tha…
  44. 44XLII — The Existence of Man Does Not Prove That of God
  45. 45XLIII — However, Neither Man nor the Universe Is the Effect of Chance
  46. 46XLIV — Neither Does the Order of the Universe Prove the Existence o…
  47. 47XLV — Continuation
  48. 48XLVI — A Pure Spirit Can Not Be Intelligent, and to Adore a Divine…
  49. 49XLVII — All the Qualities Which Theology Gives to Its God Are Contr…
  50. 50XLVIII — Continuation
  51. 51XLIX — It Is Absurd to Say That the Human Race Is the Object and th…
  52. 52L — God Is Not Made for Man, nor Man for God
  53. 53Li — It Is Not True That the Object of the Formation of the Univers…
  54. 54LII — What Is Called Providence Is but a Word Void of Sense
  55. 55LIII — This Pretended Providence Is Less Occupied in Conserving Tha…
  56. 56LIV — No! The World Is Not Governed by an Intelligent Being
  57. 57LV — God Can Not Be Called Immutable
  58. 58LVI — Evil and Good Are the Necessary Effects of Natural Causes. Wh…
  59. 59LVII — The Vanity of Theological Consolations in the Troubles of Th…
  60. 60LVIII — Another Idle Fancy
  61. 61LIX — In Vain Does Theology Exert Itself to Acquit God of Man’s Def…
  62. 62LX — We Can Not Believe in a Divine Providence, in an Infinitely Go…
  63. 63LXI — Continuation
  64. 64LXII — Theology Makes of Its God a Monster of Nonsense, of Injustic…
  65. 65LXIII — All Religion Inspires but a Cowardly and Inordinate Fear of…
  66. 66LXIV — There Is in Reality No Difference Between Religion and the M…
  67. 67LXV — According to the Ideas Which Theology Gives of Divinity, to L…
  68. 68LXVII — Theology Is but a Series of Palpable Contradictions
  69. 69LXVIII — The Pretended Works of God Do Not Prove at All What We Cal…
  70. 70LXIX — The Perfection of God Does Not Show to Any More Advantage in…
  71. 71LXX — Theology Preaches the Omnipotence of Its God, and Continually…
  72. 72LXXI — According to All the Religious Systems of the Earth, God Wou…
  73. 73LXXII — It Is Absurd to Say That Evil Does Not Come From God
  74. 74LXXIII — The Foresight Attributed to God, Would Give to Guilty Men…
  75. 75LXXIV — Absurdity of the Theological Fables Upon Original Sin and U…
  76. 76LXXV — The Devil, Like Religion, Was Invented to Enrich the Priests
  77. 77LXXVI — If God Could Not Render Human Nature Sinless, He Has No Rig…
  78. 78LXXVII — It Is Absurd to Say That God’s Conduct Must Be a Mystery t…
  79. 79LXXIX — A God Who Punishes the Faults Which He Could Have Prevented…
  80. 80LXXX — Free Will Is an Idle Fancy
  81. 81LXXXI — We Should Not Conclude From This That Society Has Not the R…
  82. 82LXXXII — Refutation of the Arguments in Favor of Free Will
  83. 83LXXXIII — Continuation
  84. 84LXXXIV — God Himself, If There Was a God, Would Not Be Free; Hence…
  85. 85LXXXV — Even According to Theological Principles, Man Is Not Free O…
  86. 86LXXXVI — All Evil, All Disorder, All Sin, Can Be Attributed but to…
  87. 87LXXXVII — Men’s Prayers to God Prove Sufficiently That They Are Not…
  88. 88LXXXVIII — The Reparation of the Iniquities and the Miseries of Thi…
  89. 89XC — Redemption, and the Continual Exterminations Attributed to Jeh…
  90. 90XCI — How Can We Discover a Tender, Generous, and Equitable Father…
  91. 91XCII — The Life of Mortals, All Which Takes Place Here Below, Testi…
  92. 92XCIII — It Is Not True That We Owe Any Gratitude to What We Call Pr…
  93. 93XCIV — To Pretend That Man Is the Beloved Child of Providence, God’…
  94. 94XCV — Comparison Between Man and Animals
  95. 95XCVI — There Are No More Detestable Animals in This World Than Tyrants
  96. 96XCVII — Refutation of Man’s Excellence
  97. 97XCVIII — An Oriental Legend
  98. 98XCIX — It Is Foolish to See in the Universe Only the Benefactions o…
  99. 99C — What Is the Soul? We Know Nothing About It. If This Pretended S…
  100. 100CI — The Existence of a Soul Is an Absurd Supposition, and the Exis…
  101. 101CII — It Is Evident That the Whole of Man Dies
  102. 102CIII — Incontestable Proofs Against the Spirituality of the Soul
  103. 103CIV — The Absurdity of Supernatural Causes, Which Theologians Const…
  104. 104CV — It Is False That Materialism Can Be Debasing to the Human Race
  105. 105CVI — Continuation
  106. 106CVII — The Dogma of Another Life Is Useful but for Those Who Profit…
  107. 107CVIII — It Is False That the Dogma of Another Life Can Be Consoling…
  108. 108CIX — All Religious Principles Are Imaginary…
  109. 109CX — Every Religion Is but a System Imagined for the Purpose of Rec…
  110. 110CXI — Absurdity and Inutility of the Mysteries Forged in the Sole I…
  111. 111CXII — Continuation
  112. 112CXIII — Continuation
  113. 113CXIV — A Universal God Should Have Revealed a Universal Religion
  114. 114CXV — The Proof That Religion Is Not Necessary, Is That It Is Unint…
  115. 115CXVI — All Religions Are Ridiculed by Those of Opposite Though Equa…
  116. 116CXVII — Opinion of a Celebrated Theologian
  117. 117CXVIII — The Deist’s God Is No Less Contradictory, No Less Fanciful…
  118. 118CXIX — We Do Not Prove at All the Existence of a God by Saying That…
  119. 119CXX — All the Gods Are of a Barbarous Origin…
  120. 120CXXI — All Religious Ceremonies Bear the Seal of Stupidity or Barba…
  121. 121CXXII — The More Ancient and General a Religious Opinion Is, the Gr…
  122. 122CXXIII — Skepticism in the Matter of Religion, Can Be the Effect of…
  123. 123CXXIV — Revelation Refuted
  124. 124CXXV — Where, Then, Is the Proof That God Did Ever Show Himself to…
  125. 125CXXVI — Nothing Establishes the Truth of Miracles
  126. 126CXXVIII — Obscure and Suspicious Origin of Oracles
  127. 127CXXIX — Absurdity of Pretended Miracles
  128. 128CXXX — Refutation of Pascal’s Manner of Reasoning as to How We Shou…
  129. 129CXXXI — Even According to the Principles of Theology Itself, Every…
  130. 130CXXXII — Even the Blood of the Martyrs, Testifies Against the Truth…
  131. 131CXXXIII — The Fanaticism of the Martyrs, the Interested Zeal of Mis…
  132. 132CXXXIV — Theology Makes of Its God an Enemy of Common Sense and of…
  133. 133CXXXV — Faith Is Irreconcilable With Reason, and Reason Is Preferab…
  134. 134CXXXVI — How Absurd and Ridiculous Is the Sophistry of Those Who Wi…
  135. 135CXXXVII — How Pretend That Man Ought to Believe Verbal Testimony on…
  136. 136CXXXVIII — Faith Takes Root but in Weak, Ignorant, or Indolent Minds
  137. 137CXXXIX — To Teach That There Exists One True Religion Is an Absurdi…
  138. 138CXL — Religion Is Not Necessary to Morality and to Virtue
  139. 139CXLI — Religion Is the Weakest Restraint That Can Be Opposed to the…
  140. 140CXLII — Honor Is a More Salutary and a Stronger Check Than Religion
  141. 141CXLIV — Origin of the Most Absurd, the Most Ridiculous, and the Mos…
  142. 142CXLV — Religion Is Fatal to Politics; It Forms but Licentious and P…
  143. 143CXLVI — Christianity Extended Itself but by Encouraging Despotism,…
  144. 144CXLVII — The Only Aim of Religious Principles Is to Perpetuate the…
  145. 145CXLVIII — How Fatal It Is to Persuade Kings That They Have Only God…
  146. 146CLXIX — A Religious King Is a Scourge to His Kingdom
  147. 147CL — The Shield of Religion Is for Tyranny, a Weak Rampart Against…
  148. 148CLI — Religion Favors the Errors of Princes, by Delivering Them Fro…
  149. 149CLII — What Is an Enlightened Sovereign?
  150. 150CLIII — The Dominant Passions and Crimes of Priestcraft…
  151. 151CLIV — Charlatanry of the Priests
  152. 152CLV — Countless Calamities Are Produced by Religion, Which Has Tain…
  153. 153CLVI — Every Religion Is Intolerant, and Consequently Destructive o…
  154. 154CLVII — Abuse of a State Religion
  155. 155CLVIII — Religion Gives License to the Ferocity of the People by Le…
  156. 156CLIX — Refutation of the Argument, That the Evils Attributed to Rel…
  157. 157CLX — All Morality Is Incompatible With Religious Opinions
  158. 158CLXI — The Morals of the Gospel Are Impracticable
  159. 159CLXII — A Society of Saints Would Be Impossible
  160. 160CLXIII — Human Nature Is Not Depraved; and a Morality Which Contrad…
  161. 161CLXIV — Of Jesus Christ, the Priest’s God
  162. 162CLXV — The Dogma of the Remission of Sins Has Been Invented in the…
  163. 163CLXVI — The Fear of God Is Powerless Against Human Passions
  164. 164CLXVII — The Invention of Hell Is Too Absurd to Prevent Evil
  165. 165CLXVIII — Absurdity of the Morality and of the Religious Virtues Es…
  166. 166CLXIX — What Does That Christian Charity Amount to, Such as Theolog…
  167. 167CLXX — Confession, That Golden Mine for the Priests, Has Destroyed…
  168. 168CLXXI — The Supposition of the Existence of a God Is Not Necessary…
  169. 169CLXXII — Religion and Its Supernatural Morality Are Fatal to the Pe…
  170. 170CLXXIII — How the Union of Religion and Politics Is Fatal to the Pe…
  171. 171CLXXIV — Creeds Are Burdensome and Ruinous to the Majority of Nations
  172. 172CLXXV — Religion Paralyzes Morality
  173. 173CLXXVI — Fatal Consequences of Piety
  174. 174CLXXVII — The Supposition of Another Life Is Neither Consoling to M…
  175. 175CLXXVIII — An Atheist Has More Motives for Acting Uprightly, More C…
  176. 176CLXXIX — An Atheistical King Would Be Preferable to One Who Is Reli…
  177. 177CLXXX — The Morality Acquired by Philosophy Is Sufficient to Virtue
  178. 178CLXXXI — Opinions Rarely Influence Conduct
  179. 179CLXXXII — Reason Leads Men to Irreligion and to Atheism, Because Re…
  180. 180CLXXXIII — Fear Alone Creates Theists and Bigots
  181. 181CLXXXIV — Can We, or Should We, Love or Not Love God?
  182. 182CLXXXV — The Various and Contradictory Ideas Which Exist Everywhere…
  183. 183CLXXXVI — The Existence of God, Which Is the Basis of All Religion,…
  184. 184CLXXXVII — Priests, More Than Unbelievers, Act From Interest
  185. 185Clxxxviii — Pride, Presumption, and Corruption of the Heart Are Mor…
  186. 186CLXXXIX — Prejudices Are but for a Time, and No Power Is Durable Ex…
  187. 187CXC — How Much Power and Consideration the Ministers of the Gods Wo…
  188. 188CXCI — What a Happy and Great Revolution Would Take Place in the Un…
  189. 189CXCII — The Retraction of an Unbeliever at the Hour of Death, Prove…
  190. 190CXCIII — It Is Not True That Atheism Sunders All the Ties of Society
  191. 191CXCIV — Refutation of the Assertion That Religion Is Necessary for…
  192. 192CXCV — Every Rational System Is Not Made for the Multitude
  193. 193CXCVI — Futility and Danger of Theology. Wise Counsels to Princes
  194. 194CXCVII — Fatal Effects of Religion Upon the People and the Princes
  195. 195CXCVIII — Continuation
  196. 196CXCIX — History Teaches Us That All Religions Were Established by t…
  197. 197CC — All Religions, Ancient and Modern, Have Mutually Borrowed Thei…
  198. 198CCI — Theology Has Always Turned Philosophy From Its True Course
  199. 199CCII — -Theology Neither Explains nor Enlightens Anything in the Wo…
  200. 200CCIII — How Theology Has Fettered Human Morals and Retarded the Pro…
  201. 201CCIV — Continuation
  202. 202CCV — We Could Not Repeat Too Often How Extravagant and Fatal Relig…
  203. 203CCVI — Religion Is Pandora’s Box, and This Fatal Box Is Open
  204. 204Abstract of the Testament of John Meslier by Voltaire or, Sentiment…
  205. 205II — Of Miracles
  206. 206III — Similarity Between Ancient and Modern Miracles
  207. 207IV — Of the Falsity of the Christian Religion
  208. 208The Holy Scriptures
  209. 209VI — (2) The New Testament
  210. 210VII — Errors of Doctrine and of Morality
  211. 211Publisher’s Preface
  212. 212Prefatory Note by the Translator
  213. 213Preface of the Editor of the French Edition of 1830

← Back to Superstition in All Ages

Scroll to Top