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God & Human Beings
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.
183 pages, Paperback
First published May 4, 2010
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Voltaire
9,473 books5,005 followersComplete works (1880) : https://archive.org/details/oeuvresco...
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
In 1694, Age of Enlightenment leader Francois-Marie Arouet, known as Voltaire, was born in Paris. Jesuit-educated, he began writing clever verses by the age of 12. He launched a lifelong, successful playwriting career in 1718, interrupted by imprisonment in the Bastille. Upon a second imprisonment, in which Francois adopted the pen name Voltaire, he was released after agreeing to move to London. There he wrote Lettres philosophiques (1733), which galvanized French reform. The book also satirized the religious teachings of Rene Descartes and Blaise Pascal, including Pascal's famed "wager" on God. Voltaire wrote: "The interest I have in believing a thing is not a proof of the existence of that thing." Voltaire's French publisher was sent to the Bastille and Voltaire had to escape from Paris again, as judges sentenced the book to be "torn and burned in the Palace." Voltaire spent a calm 16 years with his deistic mistress, Madame du Chatelet, in Lorraine. He met the 27 year old married mother when he was 39. In his memoirs, he wrote: "I found, in 1733, a young woman who thought as I did, and decided to spend several years in the country, cultivating her mind." He dedicated Traite de metaphysique to her. In it the Deist candidly rejected immortality and questioned belief in God. It was not published until the 1780s. Voltaire continued writing amusing but meaty philosophical plays and histories. After the earthquake that leveled Lisbon in 1755, in which 15,000 people perished and another 15,000 were wounded, Voltaire wrote Poème sur le désastre de Lisbonne (Poem on the Lisbon Disaster): "But how conceive a God supremely good/ Who heaps his favours on the sons he loves,/ Yet scatters evil with as large a hand?"
Voltaire purchased a chateau in Geneva, where, among other works, he wrote Candide (1759). To avoid Calvinist persecution, Voltaire moved across the border to Ferney, where the wealthy writer lived for 18 years until his death. Voltaire began to openly challenge Christianity, calling it "the infamous thing." He wrote Frederick the Great: "Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world." Voltaire ended every letter to friends with "Ecrasez l'infame" (crush the infamy — the Christian religion). His pamphlet, The Sermon on the Fifty (1762) went after transubstantiation, miracles, biblical contradictions, the Jewish religion, and the Christian God. Voltaire wrote that a true god "surely cannot have been born of a girl, nor died on the gibbet, nor be eaten in a piece of dough," or inspired "books, filled with contradictions, madness, and horror." He also published excerpts of Testament of the Abbe Meslier, by an atheist priest, in Holland, which advanced the Enlightenment. Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary was published in 1764 without his name. Although the first edition immediately sold out, Geneva officials, followed by Dutch and Parisian, had the books burned. It was published in 1769 as two large volumes. Voltaire campaigned fiercely against civil atrocities in the name of religion, writing pamphlets and commentaries about the barbaric execution of a Huguenot trader, who was first broken at the wheel, then burned at the stake, in 1762. Voltaire's campaign for justice and restitution ended with a posthumous retrial in 1765, during which 40 Parisian judges declared the defendant innocent. Voltaire urgently tried to save the life of Chevalier de la Barre, a 19 year old sentenced to death for blasphemy for failing to remove his hat during a religious procession. In 1766, Chevalier was beheaded after being tortured, then his body was burned, along with a copy of Voltaire's Philosophical Dictionary. Voltaire's statue at the Pantheon was melted down during Nazi occupation. D. 1778.
Voltaire (1694-1778), pseudónimo de François-
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April 8, 2023If for nothing else, this is a great survey of world religions. Brahmins, Chinese Taoism, Chaldeans, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Persians, Arabs, Jews and more. The central theme is that every civilization has had a supreme being, whether it be Jupiter, Zeus, or God. Voltaire presents a slew of arguments and documented contradictions in Jewish religion, but, contrary to popular belief, Voltaire is not an atheist. He himself believes in God. This entire treatise is merely a prompt to spark the dormant intellect of what he calls Nonthinkers.
September 8, 2020
I wish I was as satisfied with this work as Voltaire is self-satisfied writing lines such as "Almost all the ancient ceremonies were established on mistakes" (pg. 37) or "All the metaphysicians, all the theologians of antiquity were necessarily charlatans who could not be understood" (pg. 130).
If after reading ancient Vedic literature, Voltaire finds "only tiring ceremonies and mystical ideas of contemplation and the union with God" (pg. 31), I'm convinced he was the one not to understand. This is right before he calls Hindus "hollow-brained" for the custom of holding a cow's tail before death, a practice not unlike the Greek or Roman use of coins on the eyes of the dead for assistance in the afterlife.
It is unclear to me why Jesus was not subjected to the same vitriol as Moses was either. Voltaire writes that, "I propose keeping in the morality of Jesus everything that conforms to universal reason... Morality comes from God; it is uniform everywhere. Theology comes from men; it is different and ridiculous everywhere" (pg. 149). His definition of "universal reason" is obscure and he spends significant passages asserting that Jewish morality is barbaric - so how is that uniform with his conception of morality?
His survey of ancient religions is also full of inaccuracies such as the Therapeutae being a Jewish sect, the Roman Goddess Vesta originating as the Zoroasterian sacred fire, and dismissal of the Chinese folk religion in China.
Voltaire also has a habit of viewing any instance of a religious tradition or idea with a more primordial version as invalidating to the idea. This is evident when he dismisses Plato's ideas by claiming they originated in Orpheus.
If after reading ancient Vedic literature, Voltaire finds "only tiring ceremonies and mystical ideas of contemplation and the union with God" (pg. 31), I'm convinced he was the one not to understand. This is right before he calls Hindus "hollow-brained" for the custom of holding a cow's tail before death, a practice not unlike the Greek or Roman use of coins on the eyes of the dead for assistance in the afterlife.
It is unclear to me why Jesus was not subjected to the same vitriol as Moses was either. Voltaire writes that, "I propose keeping in the morality of Jesus everything that conforms to universal reason... Morality comes from God; it is uniform everywhere. Theology comes from men; it is different and ridiculous everywhere" (pg. 149). His definition of "universal reason" is obscure and he spends significant passages asserting that Jewish morality is barbaric - so how is that uniform with his conception of morality?
His survey of ancient religions is also full of inaccuracies such as the Therapeutae being a Jewish sect, the Roman Goddess Vesta originating as the Zoroasterian sacred fire, and dismissal of the Chinese folk religion in China.
Voltaire also has a habit of viewing any instance of a religious tradition or idea with a more primordial version as invalidating to the idea. This is evident when he dismisses Plato's ideas by claiming they originated in Orpheus.
October 13, 2015
This is one of my favorite works by Voltaire, and it's wonderful to find it available in English at last, though it probably was, in extracts at least, in the 18th century. Brought out three years after his "Philosophical Dictionary" became a best-seller, including in America, and while the theologians were still enraged over it, Voltaire marshals all the arguments on where our "Christian" beliefs and dogmas really came from, how much they differ from Jesus,' lists all the massacres committed in his name (in a very very conservative estimate) and other frauds committed by the power-hungry in the church. It is a treasure trove of information for the layman, very succinctly written and limpidly clear.
And though it's true that 18th century writers almost never provided the footnotes or references we're used to today, Voltaire does often cite his sources (including specific Bible verses) and an attentive read often clues you in on where you can find out more.
And though it's true that 18th century writers almost never provided the footnotes or references we're used to today, Voltaire does often cite his sources (including specific Bible verses) and an attentive read often clues you in on where you can find out more.
June 6, 2013
Brilliant, a total eye-opener. I realised that we in the modern world have lost a wealth of knowledge to the mists of time. So much about the origins of society and religion are forgotten in our modern helter-skelter existence. Voltaire exhibits a knowledge of the ancient world that shames me.
January 18, 2016
Last sentence in the book "Yes, we want a religion, but a simple one, wise, august, less unworthy of God and made more for us; in a word, we want to serve 'God and human beings.'"
October 21, 2021
The book is an interesting review of the origins of Judaism and Christianity and the known historical accounts of contemporary events, interleaved with comments on various aspects of those religions and, to a lesser extent, other religions - all, of course, from the perspective of a very well-read late-18th-century intellectual, best known as the author of famed sendup of philosophical optimism, 'Candide'.
As such, it's mainly of interest to Voltaire fans and for its historical interest, though he expresses some arguments, claims and debunkings that I hadn't encountered before, and I wondered to what extent they would still hold up in a 21st-century debate between critics and defenders of those faiths. It is quite repetitive, with the same points being made, relatively minor bad folk scolded, etc., sometimes in three or four different places. I suppose it was written in odd moments and never got much editing. But his witty(ish) style and reasonable approach make it not too dull to read, and the chapters are short, which I always appreciate.
I found the translation a bit annoying in places, all the more because for the most part it reads pretty well; but presumably Mr Shreve, a language teacher in Paris, has a couple of hobby horses, including an intrusive preference for "like" over more formally normal alternatives such as "as", "in the same way as", etc. Example: "In this theogony everything starts with chaos like with the Phoenicians and Persians". A comma would have been nice, too. Also he consistently misspells "principal" as "principle", an odd mistake for a language teacher. Perhaps he does that on purpose too. Even the title is translated anachronistically: A literal "God and Men" would have been more faithful. Still, I don't want to be too snarky; as I said, it's mostly pretty well done and we owe him, as it's apparently the first English translation.
Anyway, interesting, not brilliant, but worth a look if you have any interest in the author or the theme.
As such, it's mainly of interest to Voltaire fans and for its historical interest, though he expresses some arguments, claims and debunkings that I hadn't encountered before, and I wondered to what extent they would still hold up in a 21st-century debate between critics and defenders of those faiths. It is quite repetitive, with the same points being made, relatively minor bad folk scolded, etc., sometimes in three or four different places. I suppose it was written in odd moments and never got much editing. But his witty(ish) style and reasonable approach make it not too dull to read, and the chapters are short, which I always appreciate.
I found the translation a bit annoying in places, all the more because for the most part it reads pretty well; but presumably Mr Shreve, a language teacher in Paris, has a couple of hobby horses, including an intrusive preference for "like" over more formally normal alternatives such as "as", "in the same way as", etc. Example: "In this theogony everything starts with chaos like with the Phoenicians and Persians". A comma would have been nice, too. Also he consistently misspells "principal" as "principle", an odd mistake for a language teacher. Perhaps he does that on purpose too. Even the title is translated anachronistically: A literal "God and Men" would have been more faithful. Still, I don't want to be too snarky; as I said, it's mostly pretty well done and we owe him, as it's apparently the first English translation.
Anyway, interesting, not brilliant, but worth a look if you have any interest in the author or the theme.
July 18, 2024
Voltaire, Voltaire, Voltaire…You are me.
Such an influential and impactful essay-novella! I absolutely agree with his statements and beliefs, as it’s the foundation of mine, yet until my first read I didn’t grasp how to articulate everything. Whenever anyone asks why I believe in humanism and such, I’ll simply pull out a few lines from Voltaire and explain away. Oh gosh, I don’t think I’d be the person I am today if not for reading this novella out of sheer curiosity as a fifteen year old.
Such an influential and impactful essay-novella! I absolutely agree with his statements and beliefs, as it’s the foundation of mine, yet until my first read I didn’t grasp how to articulate everything. Whenever anyone asks why I believe in humanism and such, I’ll simply pull out a few lines from Voltaire and explain away. Oh gosh, I don’t think I’d be the person I am today if not for reading this novella out of sheer curiosity as a fifteen year old.
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July 4, 2024Bullshit, as everything written in period of so called Enligtenment(my ass-as Hegel said) fuck you all stupid fucks.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 3, 2015
Writing in the 18th century, Voltaire takes the existence of God and the brutal hypocrisy of theology as equally obvious. In God and Human Beings he compares Christianity to religions of antiquity to reveal the gospels as plagiarized nonsense co-opted by church authorities to serve their own ends. Voltaire's polemical book went as far as it could in his time given that Darwin wouldn't explain the origins of biological complexity for another century. I found myself wishing the two had been contemporaries.
October 3, 2015
I only read about 3/4 of this book. I found some of it interesting, but superficial. It was clearly never intended to be a scholarly publication. Still, I think the essays should have better supported with more detail and more citations.
September 10, 2015
I wouldn't recommend this translation, personally. I don't feel it captures Voltaire's usual lyrical use of the language.
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