In this little-known work by Voltaire (1694-1778)--now available in
English for the first time-- the famous French philosophe and
satirist presents a wide-ranging and acerbic survey of religion
throughout the world. Written toward the end of his life in 1769,
the work was penned in the same decade as some of his more famous
works--the Philosophical Dictionary, Questions on Miracles, and
Lord Bolingbroke's Important Examination--all of which questioned
the basic tenets of Christianity. Voltaire called himself a deist
and thus he professed belief in a supreme deity. But he was always
sharply critical of institutional Christianity, especially its
superstitions, the hypocrisy of its clergy, and its abuse of
political power. Both his deism and his critical attitude toward
Christianity are manifest in God and Human Beings, which is, in
effect, one of the first works of comparative religion. Comparing
Christianity to the more ancient belief systems of the Jews,
Hindus, Chinese, Greeks, Romans, Egyptians, Babylonians,
Phoenicians, and Arabs, he notes a common tendency to worship one
supreme god, despite the host of subordinate deities in many of
these religions. He also critiques the many superstitions and
slavish rituals in religion generally, but he emphasizes that in
this respect Christianity is no better than other faiths. Thus, the
clergy's claim that Christianity is God's supreme revelation to
humanity has no basis from an objective perspective. This first
English translation of a classic critique of religion includes an
introduction by writer, scholar, and editor S. T. Joshi, who wrote
the article on Voltaire in The New Encyclopedia of Unbelief (edited
by Tom Flynn). Anticipating many of the themes of the later Higher
Criticism and rationalist critiques of religion, this incisive,
witty treatise by the great French skeptic will be a welcome
addition to the libraries of anyone with an interest in the
philosophy of religion, intellectual history, or the Enlightenment.
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