This volume brings together many of Voltaire's most controversial reflections on religion and philosophy. In "Le Philosophe ignorant" Voltaire summarises his doubts about the philosophers of his age and theories of systematization, seeking to show the limits of metaphysics. "L'Examen important de milord Bolingbroke" is a polemical work which uses the excuse of being a 'translation' of a letter from the English Lord Bolingbroke to diffuse Voltaire's own radical views. "Andre Destouches a Siam" is a satirical dialogue between a French musician and a Siamese bureaucrat, presenting a 'utopian' society in which the justice system is arbitrary, based on archaic traditions and religious fanaticism. "Les Questions de Zapata" was published as a pamphlet, purportedly by a professor of theology in Salamanca, on the inconsistencies of the Old and New Testament.

En 1767-1768 Voltaire ecrit plusieurs fois aux autorites francaises, pour tenter d'ameliorer le sort du Pays de Gex, ou pour defendre sa reputation d'historiographe du roi. Il encourage Catherine II dans son projet de reforme de la legislation russe, en particulier par rapport a l'abolition du servage. Pour lui, la situation des sujets du pape n'est guere differente de celle des paysans russes: les uns 'serfs d'esprit', les autres 'serfs de corps'. Il escompte avec plaisir l'invasion par les rois de France et de Naples de plusieurs territoires du pape.

In this period, Voltaire began serious study on Christian antiquity and early Church history, and particularly on the 'hidden' or apocryphal texts. In "Collection d'anciens evangiles", he brings together his researches, in preparation for his significant "Questions sur l'Encyclopedie" articles 'Evangile' and 'Christianisme'. This was a point in Voltaire's life where he began to give free rein to his dissatisfaction with the Church: its claims to exclusivity, intolerance, cruelty and arrogant triumphalism. In "Dieu et les hommes" he attempts to contest the Church's historical importance and spiritual primacy in integrating Christianity into a larger historical and religious context.