SECTION V
Chapter 14  - The "Enlightenment"

  "Belief in the supernatural flourishes in the beginning, and again in
  the collapse, of a civilization, when life is insecure and apparently
  dependent upon hidden forces demanding worship and sacrifice.  When
  social order is restored and a confident economy spreads security, a
  growing minority ignores the supernatural, and a minority of that
  minority seeks understanding through science, history and philosophy..."

                                   --Will Durant


  Sometimes called the "Age of Intelligence" or the "Age of Reason", the
Enlightenment is often seen as a reaction to over a century of suffering
from religious fanatical wars. With it, came a new sense that one should
use RATIONAL INQUIRY as opposed to ONLY FAITH, in one's search for truth.
This leaning TOWARDS reason and AWAY from St Augustine's doctrine of
Original Sin (which stressed man's incapacity to improve his worthless
condition), also gradually brought forth the novel concept that people
should NOT be imprisoned or killed for their beliefs. Instead it was
proposed that men had "natural rights" against imprisonment or torture
by authoritarian bodies for holding non-orthodox beliefs.

How the Enlightenment Became a Strong Force in England

  During the times of Queen Elizabeth and King James, the Protestants
splintered into a large number of sects--including Anglicans, Puritans,
Catholics, Anabaptists, Lollards, Quakers, etc.

   Anglicans represented the official Protestant sect of England going
back to the times of King Henry VIII and Elizabeth. The liturgy of the
Church was found in the English Book of Common Prayer. William Laud, who
was appointed archbishop of Canterbury in 1633, had greatly angered Puritans
by his harsh methods used to enforce compliance. For example Alexander
Leighton, a dedicated Puritan was sentenced to be whipped, his ears cropped,
his nose slit, and his forehead branded for his religious views. In addition
he was fined and imprisoned. (Bainton, op cit., p 398)

  The Puritans, who were similar to Calvinists in their doctrines, attacked
the Anglican church for its vestiges of "popery"--preferring instead a
simple service devoid of all religious ceremonies not specifically mentioned
in the Scriptures.  They were angered when James I recommended sports and
games on Sunday, instead of strictly interpreting the sabbath as a day of
rest.

  Presbyterians also despised the Anglican Book of Common Prayer because
they found it too similar to Catholicism.  The rituals of the church
called for a wafer (instead of the Scripture's description of ordinary
bread), and for the kneeling at communion.  In addition, the Prayer Book
included religious holidays--such as Christmas, Lent, Ash Sunday, and
Easter--which were seen as pagan. The Book of Commons also called for
a marriage ring as a visible sign of the marriage sacrament. Presbyterians,
like the Lutherans--did not hold marriage to be one of the sacraments of
the church.  When Archbishop Laud issued an order for the clergy in Scotland
to conduct their services according to the Book of Common Law in 1637,
a riot broke out in Edinburgh.

  The Baptists arose from a group of Protestant Independents that were
living in exile in Holland.  Under the leadership of Thomas Helwys, they
determined that infant baptism was wrong, and that it was their duty to
God to bear witness for their faith before the world.  They returned to
London where they founded the Baptist Church of England.  Baptists, along
with Quakers, pushed for the separation of Church from State and for
religious freedoms.

  Quakers began as a movement in northern England after their founder,
George Fox (1624-91), experienced a profound religious revelation. Fox
believed that every human has the original spark of light from God within
him--which the individual can tap into, to discern for themselves divine
truths. By emphasizing the Spirit within each person, Quakers taught that
there was no need for priests, sacraments, or even a sanctuary--as man
could now directly communicate with God himself. Quakers, disagreed with
ALL the rituals in the English Book of Commons.  Then as now, Quakers were
commanded to be pacifists--and thus never take arms up in a war.  Like the
Baptists, the Quakers believed that plurality of religion was good and
according to God's own Will.  Quakers were heavily persecuted in England,
and some were executed because of their opposition to such Anglican doctrines
as the existence of the Trinity. (See Section IX, Chapter 4)

   Unitarians derived their name from their belief in the unity or
"oneness" of God--the deity. Unitarians generally did not regard Jesus
as divine, but as a great religious and moral leader.  Unitarians often
traced their roots back as far as the heretical Arian sect of the early
Christian church--which questioned the doctrine of the Trinity.  Michael
Servetus is sometimes considered the first unitarian.  He was burned at the
stake in Geneva in 1553 upon the orders of John Calvin, for his heretical
views that Jesus was not divine.  According to Servetus, there is only one
God. Jesus was a human through which God's spirit operated to propound great
moral and ethical judgments. Unitarian beliefs were further developed by
Laelius and Faustus Socinus in the Netherlands, Poland, and Hungary--and by
John Biddle and Joseph Priestly in England.

  Before the eighteenth century, unitarians were very few in number. This
was possibly related to the criminal penalties-- including burning at the
stake--given to "heretics" who did not profess belief in the Trinity. It
is known that fear of public censure kept some individuals from expressing
their non-orthodox views.  (For example, Isaac Newton wrote a critical
analysis of verse I John 5:7 which lays down the doctrine of the Trinity.
Newton concluded that he believed the verse to be spurious. His tract entitled
"An Historical Account of Two Notable Corruptions of the Scriptures, in a
Letter to a Friend", was not published during his lifetime.)

  The last heretic in England to be burned, was charged with disbelief
in the Trinity. Afterwards, deists such as Unitarians were typically
imprisoned, instead of executed.

  There were other sects too--Independents, not to mention a large number of
even smaller sects. By now, if any one religious group wanted to take complete
hold over the country, it would plunge the whole country into a civil war.

Toleration in England

  The English people opted instead for pragmatism. In 1689,  the first
Toleration Act was passed by Parliament--which is regarded as one of the
milestones in the struggle for religious liberty. By the early 1700's, the
English Parliament had repealed a number of religious conformity acts, no
longer making it against the law for example, to miss Church services on
Sunday.  (Other statues, however remained on the books. For example, it
remained unlawful to make donations in England to the Unitarian Church until
the Dissenters' Chapels Act of 1844).

  Thus, rather than to try to impose ONE religion over all of England, the
novel idea took hold in England to try and TOLERATE other religious sects
other than just one's own. Dissenters received relatively light legal
punishments--such as being disallowed from public office, or barred from
receiving degrees at universities. (Many could circumvent even this punishment
by compromising to take Communion in the Anglican Church at least one in
their lifetimes).

How Religious Toleration was "Good" Business

  Actually it was "good" business to allow religious toleration.  Holland
had been one of the most prosperous AND tolerant countries during the 16th
and 17th centuries. Whereas Jews were expelled out of many countries in
Europe, Holland had opened up its borders to them and other persecuted religious
groups.  Holland's thriving business was seen by many to be the result of
its tolerant atmosphere for diverse religious groups.  During the 1650's,
Oliver Cromwell readmitted Jews to England after centuries of expulsion--
largely in recognition of their skill as businessmen and merchants.

  Voltaire wrote a century later, how the desire for profit brought men of
diverse religious backgrounds together in cooperation:

  "Go into the London Stock Exchange--a more respectable place than many
   a court--and you will see representatives from all nations gathered
   together for the utility of men.  Here Jew, Mohammedan and Christian
   deal with each other as though they were all of the same faith, and
   only apply the word infidel to people who go bankrupt.  Here the
   Presbyterian trusts the Anabaptist and the Anglican accepts a promise
   from the Quaker.  On leaving these peaceful and free assemblies some
   go to the Synagogue and others for a drink...and everybody is happy."

Growth of English Philosophy and Science

  English philosophy AND science thrived in such a free and open environment.
During this time, Sir Isaac Newton (1642-1726) developed important basic
principles in calculus and physics which revolutionized mathematics and
science-- forming an important foundation on which other sciences could
build. Newton's success in applying the "scientific" method, helped, in
turn, to inspire other scientists all over Europe to make new discoveries.
(For example, chemistry made important advances with Robert Boyle's discovery
of the relationship between gas volume and pressure.  In Italy, Volta and
Galvani made important discoveries in the areas of batteries and electricity.
Benjamin Franklin, in America, proved the connection between lightning and
electricity, and invented the lightening rod.)

    The English Royal Society was chartered in 1662. The French Academy was
formed in 1666.  Through the existence of these and other academic groups in
other countries, scientific information became organized through respectable
bodies, which published their findings. Observatories and museums were
constructed.--Paris and Greenwich observatories were founded in the 1660's
and 1670's and the Oxford Museum was established in 1683. This popularized
science and in turn, stimulated more scientific research.  The effect of the
new science, helped to engender a climate of toleration.--For while most of
the new scientists were religious, many belonged to different Christian sects.
Science encouraged one to put aside  one's personal opinions, in the common
pursuit and betterment of human knowledge and understanding.

John Locke's Use of Reason and his "Natural" Rights of Man

   The champion for the new philosophy that would promote both science AND
religious toleration, was the Englishman John Locke (1632-1704).  In his 
LETTER CONCERNING TOLERATION, Locke passionately argued that "liberty of 
conscience is every man's natural right." Indeed, governments should not be 
given powers to interfere with the rights of individuals, UNLESS:

(1) they violate the natural rights of OTHERS, or
(2) "they break the public peace of societies."

    Locke's philosophy laid down the groundwork for the modern concepts of
"natural rights" of man, religious tolerance, government by consent, and the
right to overthrow a corrupt and tyrannical government. American Fathers,
such as Thomas Jefferson and James Madison, borrowed heavily from Locke when
drafting the Constitution of the United States of America. Voltaire was also
a great fan of John Locke.

  In his AN ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN UNDERSTANDING (1690), Locke wrote of the
importance of employing reason in determining the truth.  He began by
observing that most individuals are not really seekers of truth:

  "[T]here is nobody in the commonwealth of learning who does not profess
  himself a lover of truth...And yet for all this, one may truly say, there
  are very few lovers of truth for truth's sake, even among those who 
  persuade themselves that they are so."

  How, asked Locke, might one detect a true lover of truth? According to
Locke, anyone who propounds truths must do so ONLY AFTER TESTING THEM FIRST,
as one would any scientific proposition. This philosophy, of stressing 
PHYSICAL experience and  evidence as the true source of knowledge (as 
opposed to revelation and rational deduction) is known as "Empiricism".
(The word "empiricism" is derived from the Greek word "en peira", meaning 
in trial, or experiment).

  Locke acknowledged that the natural sciences cannot give 100% accurate 
knowledge.--However careful reasoning, combined with mathematical and logical 
analyses, could increase the probability of attaining true knowledge.

  To Locke, reason is more reliable than revelation. Using faith, we may
"believe" something to be true--however through reason and the use of our
senses we "know" something to be true. For example, Christians "believe"
that Moses wrote the story of the Flood because they accept this upon faith.
However, if everyone had actually SEEN Moses write this account, then their
conviction that this was true, would be even stronger.

  This does not necessarily invalidate revelation: For in those areas where
reason cannot help us in adducing their truth  (such as the immortality
of the soul), revelation should be trusted--where it appears reasonable
to do so.

  It will be recalled that during early medieval times, faith replaced reason
in viewing the world around us.  During the late Middle Ages, Scholastic
philosophers (such as Thomas Aquinas) reintroduced reason back into
philosophy--on the condition that its role was SUBORDINANT to revelation!
Beginning with the Renaissance and culminating in the Enlightenment,
philosophers such as Locke now suggested that REASON should be seen as
superior to revelation.

  Locke went so far as to suggest that revelation should not be trusted,
if this goes against "our clear intuitive knowledge". Locke reasoned that
one cannot rely on one's FEELINGS that a revelation is from God, because:

  "if strength of persuasion be the light which must guide us; I ask
   how shall any one distinguish between the delusions of Satan, and
   the inspirations of the Holy Ghost?" (Locke, ESSAY CONCERNING HUMAN
UNDERSTANDING, ed., Alexander Campbell Fraser (Oxford: Clarendon Press,
1894), Vol. II, p. 416,p 429)

  Locke believed in God. He argued God's existence could be logically
deduced, since purely random events "could never produce that order, harmony
and beauty which are to be found in nature."  To Locke, the existence of a
human intelligent mind was further proof of God's existence.

  Although Locke could rationally deduce God's existence through reason, he
found that the rest of Christian doctrine could not be so easily proved.
This was, instead, dependent on revelation.  Locke argued in his THE
REASONABLENESS OF CHRISTIANITY, that the only beliefs required in order
to be a Christian (and participate in salvation) was to believe that Jesus
is the Son of God. After this, all other doctrines were arbitrary systems
developed by men-- not God. To Locke, it was precisely AFTER men departed
from this most basic tenet of Christianity-- grafting unnatural doctrines
onto it, and forcibly requiring all society to submit to it-- that Europe
sank into it current sad state of religious hatred, persecutions, and wars.

  (Locke nevertheless did NOT believe in toleration for Catholics as
he saw them as a political, military threat that was dedicated against the
cause of religious truth. Nor did he support atheists because the "taking
away of God...even in thought, dissolves all.")

  John Locke denied charges that he was a deist. However the philosophy he
promoted, was almost entirely deistic in nature--as he cut back religious
dogma to its bare minimum. The bishop of Worchester complained to Locke
that his writings had allowed "enemies of our faith to take up your new way
of ideas as an effectual battery, ... [as opposed to] the mysteries of the
Christian faith."  The bishop was later to be proven correct in this
observation.

  It was during this time, that deism grew into a powerful force within
England's intellectual community--impacting Christians and non-Christians
alike.

Deism

   Known also as "Natural Religion", Deism was the school of thought that
propounded the existence of a Supreme Intelligence who created the universe--
but then sat back and let it develop on its own, subject only to the laws of
nature. Deists pictured God as a giant clockmaker who wound up his mechanical
universe and then took a trip away from earth--leaving His creation to basically
run on its own. Deists typically discounted the belief in miracles and special
revelation--believing science to be the appropriate tool for discovering the
Deity's laws of the Universe. Deists also believed in the power of reason to
reform society and to maximize happiness.  It was during this time that England
broke from the Augustinian model of an authoritarian-based Christian society--
replacing it largely with a religious humanistic society based on toleration
and a belief in the natural rights of man.

   When some deistic writers became too eminent to be imprisoned, the English
parliament enacted the statue of  William III, (1698) which instead applied
mild penalties (such as barring public office, etc) to apostate Christians.

  Some deistic writers wrote in such a way as to technically avoid punishment
under the statues, but while still getting their point across.  For example,
Edward Gibbon, in alluding to the gospels' miraculous portents upon Jesus'
death on the cross--wrote in his DECLINE AND FALL OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE:

  "Under the reign of Tiberius, the whole earth, or at least a celebrated
  province of the Roman empire, was involved in a preternatural darkness of
  three hours.  Even this miraculous event, which ought to have excited the
  wonder, curiosity, and the devotion of mankind, passed without notice in
  an age of science and history."

   Newton, Locke, and Milton are often considered by historians to be the
champions of the Enlightenment in England. (Thomas Paine, Benjamin Franklin,
and Thomas Jefferson would later help bring the Enlightenment to America.)
While the Enlightenment had its roots in English science and philosophy, it
expanded out into other areas within Europe as well.  During this time, while
English society largely reconciled science to religion within the liberal
atmosphere of the times, France and on the rest of the mainland Europe
remained under an ultra-conservative State who joined forces with an
all-powerful authoritarian church to impose great hardships on its people.

  Probably no man did more to expose the injustices of these times, and to
bring the age of the Enlightenment into France and Germany-- than Voltaire.
For this reason, the Enlightenment has been referred to by some historians,
as the "Age of Voltaire."

Voltaire

  Voltaire, whose real name was Francois Marie Arouet, was born in Paris,
France in 1694. When he was a teenager, King Louis IV (the "Sun" king) had
died, and France was ruled by a Regent, while waiting for the young king
Louis XVI to come of age.

  Brilliant in wit and verse, Voltaire's outspoken and outrageous humor got
him into trouble with the authorities, even as a young man living in Paris.
An example of Voltaire's early wit can be seen in the following: One year,
the Regent, in an effort to cut mounting expenses,  sold half of all the
horses in the royal stables.  Commenting on this action, Voltaire observed
how much more sensible it would have been if the Regent had instead,
dismissed half the royal asses that lived in the court!

    Francois Arouet found himself in the Bastille prison at the age of twenty
one, after having written barbed satires on the Regent. It was during his time
in the Bastille that he took up the penname of Voltaire and began to seriously
write poetry.  Voltaire wrote HENRIADE, an epic poem on the life of Henry of
Navarre. The poem became popular, and was hailed by some critics as the
greatest epic in the French language (although it was later banned for its
unflattering references to clerics).

  After roughly a year, the Regent freed the young poet from prison--even
giving him a small pension.  Voltaire wrote back to the Regent, gratuitously
thanking him for taking care of his room and board during the last year.
However, he requested permission to take care of his OWN food and lodging
in the future--as he preferred the discomforts of his own home, as compared
to the "comforts" of the Bastille.

   Once out of prison, Voltaire began writing plays. As his popularity
grew, Voltaire became the darling of the French aristocracy--who made him
a regular guest at their social functions and parties. Voltaire spent some
eight years in this mode, whereby he polished his skills as a master in
wit and conversation.

    Voltaire once again got into trouble--this time, when he was invited as 
a guest at the Duc de Sully's chateau. Upon hearing Voltaire speak at his
dinner table, the Duc asked who the brash young man was.  Overhearing his 
question, Voltaire quickly defended himself, saying, "My Lord, he is one 
who does not carry a great name, but wins respect for the name he has."  
Angered by Volaire's impertinence, the Duc arranged for Voltaire to be 
roughened up the next night. (Still, he cautioned his men not to "hit his 
head" as " something good may come out of that yet.")

  The next day, Voltaire, limping and smarting from his wounds, walked
up to Rohan in the theater, and demanded a duel. Rohan appealed to
his cousin, who was the Minister of Police for help--and Voltaire once
more found himself back in the Bastille.  He was released from the
Bastille, upon condition that he would leave France. It was under
these circumstances, that Voltaire spent the next three years (1726-29)
in England.

Voltaire in England

  In England, Voltaire, though all the while grumbling about the illogical
grammar and spelling of English--quickly mastered his newly acquired language.
He also fell in love with English society and culture.  Voltaire had arrived
in England when an exceptionally liberal government was in power.  To Voltaire,
the contrast with his native France could not be greater. For the English
people were free to speak and write what they pleased--which encouraged men
to THINK for themselves. There were no divine rights of kings-- and the
parliament wielded as much power, if not more, than the king himself. Also,
there was nothing comparable to the Bastille, where anyone could be locked
up without due cause or without a trial. Even religion was decentralized--
there were some thirty Christian sects operating freely, with no pope to
suppress their beliefs.  Voltaire was especially fascinated by the Quakers--
who were (in Voltaire's opinion) the only sect to actually behave like good
Christians!

  The intellectual climate in England mirrored the political and
religious freedom that Voltaire saw all around him. England was clearly
going through a Renaissance of learning.  Many philosophers and writers
were espousing deistic views on the use of reason over blind faith. John 
Locke (1632-1704) had written his ESSAY ON THE HUMAN UNDERSTANDING in 1689,
without reference to a divine order in nature.

  In 1726, (and within a year upon his arrival to England), the great
Isaac Newton had died.  Voltaire watched in fascination as the entire
British nation went into mourning as if it had lost a king.  Great crowds
thronged the funeral procession that led its popular great scientist to his
burial place in Westminster Abbey. Newton was loved by many in even the
religious establishment--as his calculus had made it possible to calculate
the forces through which the great Mover had set the universe into motion.

  (Note:
  Like Voltaire, Newton was a deist.   Newton apparently entertained
Unitarian beliefs concerning the Holy Trinity and other Christian doctrines.
He made an extensive study on early Christian writings, and came to the
conclusion that Arius, (the fourth century Christian theologian who was
proclaimed a heretic at the Council of Nicea) had held the correct view of
the Trinity. Interestingly, according to Conduitt's record, Newton must have
felt strongly regarding his unitarian views--as he refused to accept the
sacrament of the church upon his deathbed. This was considered to be so
shocking that this was kept a secret the first fifty years, and his early
biographers never mentioned it. (John D. Barrow, THE WORLD WITHIN THE WORLD,
Oxford Univ. Press, 1990, p75))

  To Voltaire, the adoration paid to Sir Isaac Newton was symbolic of
the virtues of English government and science. Just a generation earlier,
scientists were sometimes suspected of being in league with the Devil
(as the legendary, fictional character Dr. Faustus had dramatized). Yet
by the time of Isaac Newton, this had all changed. Newton was adored by
the public as the greatest intellect since Archimedes and da Vinci--
possibly the greatest scientist to have ever lived! The poet Alexander
Pope wrote admiringly of Newton's great scientific insights in verse:
"Nature and Nature's Laws lay hid in Night; God said, Let Newton be:
and all was Light".

  During his lifetime, Newton had almost single-handedly demolished the old
sacred assumptions of medieval science--developing in its place a firm
foundation of mathematics and science, on which others after him could build
upon.  It was the English Enlightenment that had helped make Newton great.
While other great scientists before him-- such as Copernicus, Bruno, and
Galileo-- had been condemned for their discoveries, Newton had thrived in a
free atmosphere of English society that revered knowledge over dogma.

  Voltaire returned to France, after receiving permission from the Regent.
At first he returned to his former lifestyle in the aristocratic salons in 
France. However, Voltaire had to flee again from Paris after his LETTER ON 
THE ENGLISH (which he had written in England praising English political 
liberty and intellect while denouncing French tyranny and bondage) was 
published without his permission. Voltaire took up residence for some time 
with the brilliant Marquis de Chatelet, a married woman whose older husband 
was away from his chateau most of the time and was indeed most accommodating 
of this arrangement. (French social morals were permissive of such arrangements 
during these times-- provided that they were "tastefully" conducted). Voltaire 
never married, but instead had a succession of mistresses--(the latter being 
a common practice, going back at least as far as Charlemagne).

  It was around this time in his life that Voltaire began to write some of
his funniest comedies. Following are some excerpts taken from MICROMEGAS,
ZADIG, and CANDIDE:

  *MICROMEGAS is the name of an inhabitant from Sirius who was half a
million feet tall (in scale to the large star Sirius)  He meets an inhabitant
from the planet Saturn, who is a mere fifteen thousand feet tall--and
together they go romping in space upon the tail of a comet.

  When the aliens landed on earth, they waded in the Mediterranean, which
only came up to their heels.  The Sirian asked the Saturnian how old his
race lived, to which he replied

  "Alas, a mere trifle;...very few on our globe survive 15,000 years.  So
   you see that in a manner we begin to die the very moment we are born:
   our existence is no more than a point, our duration an instant, and our
   globe an atom.  Scarce do we begin to learn a little when death intervenes
   before we can profit by experience."  When they saw a ship, the Sirian
   picked it up and placed it on his thumbnail for closer examination. This
   created great consternation among its human passengers. "The chaplains of
   the ship repeated exorcisms, the sailors, swore, and the philosophers
   formed a system".

The Sirian then bent down his head and addressed the tiny humans inside:

  "O ye intelligent atoms, in whom the Supreme Being hath been pleased to
   manifest his omniscience and power, without doubt your joys on the earth
   must be pure and exquisite; for being unencumbered with matter, and--to
   all appearance--little else than soul, you must spend your lives in the
   delights of pleasure and reflection, which are the true enjoyments of a
   perfect spirit.  True happiness I have nowhere found; but certainly here
   it dwells."

  Instead, the space creatures learn from a philosopher aboard the ship, that
earthlings have been embroiled in religious wars. As he tells them:

 "...at this very moment, while I am speaking, there are 100,000 animals
  of our own species, covered with hats, slaying an  equal number of their
  fellow-creatures who wear turbans; at least they  are either slaying or
  being slain; and this has usually been the case all over the earth from
  time immemorial."

  The aliens were unimpressed:

  "Miscreants!" cried the indignant Sirian; "I have a good mind to take two
  or three steps, and trample the whole nest of such ridiculous assassins
  under my feet."

  "Don't give yourself the trouble," replied the philosopher; "they are
  industrious enough in securing their own destruction.  At the end of ten
  years the hundredth part of these wretches will not survive...Besides, the
  punishment should not be inflicted upon them, but upon those sedentary and
  slothful barbarians who, from their palaces, give orders for murdering a
  million of men, and then solemnly thank God for their success."

  The conversation with the philosopher is cut short, by the appearance of
a theologian who informs the space creatures that they and all the planets
and suns were created solely for the sake of earth's humans.  At this point,
the Sirian and Saturnian laugh so hard that they drop the ship.  It falls in
the pocket of the Saturnian's breeches. He picks it up and places it back on
the water.  The Sirian and Saturian quickly leave the earth, concluding that
most of its inhabitants are insane.

  *In ZADIG, Voltaire writes of a fictional Babylonian philosopher named
Zadig who was "as wise as it is possible for men to be". "[H]e knew as much
of metaphysics as hath ever been known in any age,--that is little or nothing
at all." At one point in his adventures, after defending his beloved Semire,
he was wounded in his left eye:

  "A messenger was dispatched to Memphis for the great Egyptian physician 
  Hermes, who came with a numerous retinue.  He visited Zadig, and declared 
  that the patient would lose his eye.  He even foretold the day and hour 
  when this fatal event would happen. "Had it been the right eye," said he, 
  "I could easily have cured it; but the wounds of the left eye are incurable." 
  All Babylon lamented the fate of Zadig, and admired the profound knowledge 
  of Hermes.  In two days the abscess broke of its own accord, and Zadig was 
  perfectly cured.  Hermes wrote a book to prove that it ought not to have 
  healed.  Zadig did not read it."

  * In ZAIRE, Voltaire takes the viewpoint of a Moslem girl who is grateful 
that she was not born as an Indian or a Christian where she would be 
worshiping a "false God":

  "Custom and law alone, applied in early youth,
  Have caused me to believe that Islam is the truth,
  I see it all, the bent of children's education,
  Makes their belief and thoughts cherished by the nation.
  Were I an Indian, a false God I should fear,
  A Christian girl in France, a faithful Moslem here.

  * Voltaire's most famous work Candide, was composed in 1751, over a
period of three days.  The Seven Years War had broken out only months
before in France and England. Voltaire believed the slaughter and
devastation of Europe-- effectively fought to win "a few acres of snow" in
Canada-- to be sheer madness.  He seethed with anger at the cockeyed
and religious optimism of Leibnitz who contended that we lived in "the 
best of all possible worlds".  The following are some excerpts from 
Voltaire's reply to Leibnitz and his followers, speaking through his 
fictional character, Candide:

  Candide was a pupil of the learned Pangloss: "Pangloss was professor
of metaphysicotheologicocosmonigology... "It is demonstrable," said he, "
"that all is necessarily for the best end.  Observe that the nose has
been formed to bear spectacles...legs were visibly designed for stockings...
stones were designed to construct castles...pigs were made so that we
might have pork all the year around.  Consequently, they who assert that
all is well have said a foolish thing; they should have said all is for
the best."

  Terrible misfortunes happen to Candide. At one point he is captured, but
then escapes on a ship to Lisbon where he runs into Professor Pangloss.
There, the  Professor tells how a Baron and Baroness were murdered and
their castle destroyed. Yet, Candide sees good in this because "private
misfortune makes the general good, so that the more private misfortunes
there are, the greater is the general good."

  Candide experiences another series of misfortunes.  He heads to Paraguay in
the New World to escape the Inquisition.  Looking around him in Paraguay, he
stops briefly to observe how here "the Jesuit Fathers possess all, and the
people nothing; it is a masterpiece of reason and justice." In a Dutch colony 
he meets a black man with one hand, one leg, wearing rags for clothes.  He is 
told "When we work at the sugar canes and the mill snatches hold of a finger, 
they cut off a hand; and when we try to run away, they cut off a leg...This 
is the price at which you eat sugar in Europe."

  Candide finds gold, only to have it stolen from him.  Heading back to
Bordeaux on a ship, he starts a conversation with an old sage, named Martin:

  "Do you believe," said Candide, "that men have always massacred one
  another as they do today, that they have always been liars, cheats, 
  traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, 
  drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, 
  debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites and fools?"

  "Do you believe," said Martin, "that hawks have always eaten pigeons
  when they have found them?"

  "Without doubt", said Candide.

  "Well then" said Martin, "if hawks have always had the same character,
  why should you imagine that men have changed theirs?"

  "Oh!" said Candide, "there is a vast deal of difference, for free will--"
   And reasoning thus they arrived at Bordeaux."

  After another series of mishaps and adventures, Candide determines to
settle down on a farm in Turkey.  The story ends with Candide and his
teacher Pangloss reviewing their previous experiences in terms of living
in the "best of all possible worlds". According to Professor Pangloss:

  "There is a concatenation of events in this best of all possible worlds:
  for if you had not been kicked out of a magnificent castle:...if you had not
  been put into the Inquisition; if you had not walked over America;...
  if you had not lost all your gold;...you would not be here eating
  preserved citrons and pistachio-nuts."

  "All that is very well," answered Candide; "but let us cultivate our
  garden."

  (The book concludes on these classic lines.)

1755 Earthquake in Lisbon

  On November 1, 1755, there was a massive earthquake in Lisbon, Portugal,
which registered at magnitude 9.0--the largest earthquake in recorded history.
The earthquake completely demolished the city of Lisbon and killed some
estimated 50-60 thousand people. At the time Lisbon was a wealthy city, and
the principal headquarters of the Inquisition. The earthquake struck on All
Saint's Day.--Therefore even more people had died because so many were at
Church praying during Mass.

  Various theologians and philosophers scrambled to put together explanations
as to WHY God had ordained such a tragedy.  The Anglican Bishop William
Warburton asserted that the Lisbon earthquake "displayed God's glory in its
fairest colors." John Wesley attributed the disaster to "sin"--or "that curse
that was brought upon the earth by the original transgression of Adam and Eve."
Protestant theologians, in general, liked to attribute the devastation of
the earthquake as caused by the wickedness or sins of the Lisbon residents.
Catholic theologians had more difficulty understanding why the Protestant
cities had not ALSO succumbed to the wrath of God--and were therefore more
at a loss to describe what was the true meaning of the earthquake.

  The Jesuit Gabriel Malagrida (once a favorite among Portuguese royalty)
DID attribute the earthquake to the sins of the Lisbon residents:

    "Learn, O Lisbon, that the destroyers of our houses, palaces,
    churches, and convents, the cause of death of so many people and
    of the flames that devoured such vast treasures, are your abominable
    sins, and not comets, stars vapors and exhalations, and similar
    natural phenomena.  Tragic Lisbon is now a mound of ruins. Would
    that it were less difficult to think of some method of restoring the
    place; but it has been abandoned, and the refugees from the city live
    in great despair. As for the dead, what a great harvest of sinful souls
    such disasters send to Hell!

   It is scandalous to pretend the earthquake was just a natural event,
   for if that be true, there is no need to repent and try to avert the
   wrath of God, and not even the Devil himself could invent a false idea
   more likely to lead us all to irreparable ruin. Holy people had
   prophesied the earthquake was coming, yet the city continued in its
   sinful ways without a care for the future...God undoubtedly wishes to
   exercise His love and mercy, but be sure that wherever we are, He is
   watching scourge in hand.

      The Marques de Pombal (the man responsible for rebuilding Lisbon),
was furious that Gabriel Malagrida accused the Catholic residents of Lisbon
of being sinful and therefore deserving of the Earthquake.  The Spanish
Inquisition agreed with him--and pronounced Malagrida a heretic.  Malagrida
was publicly executed by the Inquisition via strangulation at the torchlight
end of an "auto-da-fe." (Charles Officer & Jake Page, TALES OF THE EARTH,
PAROXYSMS AND PERTURBATIONS OF THE BLUE PLANET, Oxford University Press, New
York/Oxford, 1993, pp 53-55)

   Various philosophers joined in the fray to explain the "cause" of the
Lisbon earthquake.  The philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau (1712-1778) argued
that the earthquake was a just punishment from God for people abandoning the
natural, pure life of the country for the artificial, sensuous pleasures
of the cities. Rousseau insisted that fewer people would have died if people
still lived in villages. A deist, Rousseau stressed the necessity of
maintaining faith in the goodness of God, even when faced with tragedy--that
if we look towards the long term, as opposed to the short term, that things
actually appear to make sense. Alexander Pope had likewise argued in his
THE ESSAY ON MAN, that generally "there are no evils", and if there existed
any particular evils, they existed for the "general good".

  This group liked to quote the famous German mathematician and philosopher,
Gottfried Leibnitz (1646-1716), when he said, that any evil that existed
MUST be necessary, because God would have ONLY created "the best of all
possible worlds". (This implied of course, that the Lisbon earthquake and
all its suffering must have had been necessary--ie had some hidden divine
purpose behind it.)

  Voltaire was outraged! To those who declared that Lisbon must have been
punished for their sins, Voltaire argued that no one had ever proven that
there were any MORE sinners in Lisbon than say Paris.  Yet Lisbon was in
shambles, while Parisians danced and made merry.  Even if one assumed that
the population in Lisbon were dreadful sinners--why were innocent babies and
children ALSO killed in the devastation?

  Regarding moralists such as Leibnitz who had argued that we live in the
"best of all worlds", Voltaire's pen was even more blunt:

   "One would find it hard to imagine how the laws of movement caused
   such frightful disasters in the BEST OF POSSIBLE WORLDS... I flatter
   myself that at least the reverend father Inquisitors have been crushed
   like the others. That ought to teach men not to persecute each other,
   for while a few holy scoundrels burn a few fanatics, the earth swallows
   up one and all."

Voltaire's History of Civilization

 Before Voltaire, history was comprised of a succession of monotonous detailed
facts and events on kings, nations and wars.  Voltaire undertook the goal to
search beyond mere historical trivia to instead uncover unifying themes that
dealt with movements and forces. According to Voltaire, "My object is the
history of the human mind, and not a mere detail of petty facts; nor am I
concerned with the history of great lords...; but I want to know what were
the steps by which men passed from barbarism to civilization."

  The result was his ESSAY ON THE MORALS AND THE SPIRIT OF THE NATIONS FROM
CHARLEMAGNE TO LOUIS XIII, which established a "scientific" approach to
history and is often considered the "first philosophy of history". (Will
Durant, THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY, P 169) In it, Voltaire abandoned supernatural
explanations in discussing historical trends and movements. He also enraged
the clergy by taking the position (later picked up by writers such as Gibbon)
that the rapid conquest of Christianity over paganism in Rome caused its
disintegration as a civilization and made it then an easy prey to immigrating
and invading barbarians. (Ibid) Voltaire also had the audacity to downplay
the importance of Judaic-Christian history, by including the histories and
religions of China, India, and Persia--and thus indicating nonChristian
societies also played an important role in world history.  The King of
France responded by banishing Voltaire from France.

   Exiled from France in 1758, Voltaire bought a home in Ferney, Switzerland,
which was conveniently close to the border of France (in case he got into
trouble with the Swiss authorities.) A wealthy man from earlier "speculative"
business enterprises, Voltaire spent his own money improving the community--
He repaired roads, built houses, and encouraged improved agricultural
techniques.  The townspeople were so grateful for his concern over the 
community,
that they renamed their town Ferney-Voltaire.

The Encyclopedists

  Voltaire's writings became extremely popular during his lifetime. However, 
unlike in England where the government had moved in moderation towards the 
direction of the Reformation, French kings and the aristocracy remained 
entrenched in their insistence on the divine right of kings. With the 
extremism on the far right whose excesses included the massacre of the 
Huguenots, some French intellectuals went to the far left during this time-- 
and completely rebelled against the religion of their fathers to espouse 
atheism. Denis Diderot (1713-84) declared that belief in God was inextricably 
tied to bondage to an aristocracy:" men will never be free till the last king 
is strangled with the entrails of the last priest."

  According to Baron d'Holback (1723-89) "If we go back to the beginning,
we shall find that ignorance and fear created the gods; that fancy,
enthusiasm or deceit adorned or disfigured them; that weakness worships
them; that credulity preserves them; and that custom respects and tyranny
supports them in order to make the blindness of men serve its own interests."

  Diderot and d'Alembert published a large ENCYCLOPEDIE containing these
views, which was largely suppressed by the Church.  In it, they propounded
that man's intellect was the ultimate test of all truth and goodness. And
that once man's reason was freed from its superstitions, then it would
only be a matter of a few generations before society would move towards a
new utopia.

  Voltaire joined in for some time with the Encyclopedists, although he
believed it necessary to redefine some of their positions.  He wrote his
own PHILOSOPHIC DICTIONARY, where he directed his talents towards philosophy.
Like Bacon, Descartes and Locke before him, Voltaire claimed in it to
have started off with a clean slate. Later, he rejected all previous systems,
stating that he suspected that every leader of a sect in philosophy "has
been a little of a quack." "The further I go, the more I am confirmed in
the idea that systems of metaphysics are for philosophers what novels are
for women." "It is only charlatans who are certain. We know nothing of
first principles.  It is truly extravagant to define god, angels and minds,
and to know precisely why God formed the world, when we do not know why we
move our arms at will.  Doubt is not a very agreeable state, but certainty
is a ridiculous one." (quoted from Will Durant's THE STORY OF PHILOSOPHY,
p 177).

  As he was growing old, Voltaire wrote how he would like to believe in
immortality, but reasoned that it was unlikely:

  "Nobody thinks of giving an immortal soul to the flea; why then to an
  elephant, or a monkey, or my valet?... A child dies in its mother's womb,
  just at the moment when it has received a soul.  Will it rise again
  fetus, or boy, or man? To rise again--to be the same person that you were--
  you must have your memory perfectly fresh and present; for it is memory 
  that makes your identity.  If your memory be lost, how will you be the
  same man?...Why do mankind flatter themselves that they alone are gifted
  with a spiritual and immortal principle?...Perhaps from their inordinate
  vanity.  I am persuaded that if a peacock could speak he would boast of his
  soul, and would affirm that it inhabited his magnificent tail."

  Voltaire also at first rejected the idea that the people must BELIEVE in
immortality to be good citizens, citing that the early Hebrews did not
believe in immortality during the times of Moses when they believed they
were his "chosen people".  Also, there were numerous atheists and agnostics
too, such as Spinoza whose lives were exemplary in terms of virtue and
morality.

  Voltaire later came to change his mind on the subject. Looking around him
he felt that "for the common people [belief in] a rewarding and avenging God"
was perhaps a necessity. When asked if a society of atheists could survive,
he answered "Yes, if they are also philosophers." However, as only a minority
of people were philosophers, it was good for the people to have a religion,
as this kept them acting more moral.-- Indeed, Voltaire asserted:

  "I want my lawyer, my tailor, and  my wife to believe in God; so I imagine,
   I shall be less robbed and less deceived."

and,

  "If God did not exist it would be necessary to invent him."  

and

  "I begin to put more store on happiness and life than on truth".
  (Ibid quoting Pellissier, 172 and Correspondence, Sept 11, 1738)

  In his DICTIONARY, under the article "God", Voltaire argued that
belief in God is good, and that it is instead the INSTITUTION of religion that
is bad:

  "You yourself say that belief in God...has kept some men from crime;
  this alone suffices me.  When this belief prevents even ten assassinations,
  ten calumnies, I hold that all the world should embrace it.  Religion,
  you say, has produced countless misfortunes; say rather the superstition
  which reigns on our unhappy globe.  This is the cruelest enemy of the pure
  worship due to the Supreme Being.  Let us detest this monster which has
  always torn the bosom of its mother; those who combat it are the benefactors
  of the human race; it is a serpent which chokes religion in its embrace; we
  must crush its head without wounding the mother whom it devours."

 Voltaire apparently did not have a high regard for the large number of
uneducated peasants he saw around him.  Not only did he see religion
necessary as a CIVILIZING force, he also did not advocate universal
suffrage--as he feared the spectacle of mob rule.  (That is, he favored
a constitutional form of monarchy, which guaranteed natural rights to its
individuals, including freedom of religion.)

   Voltaire rejected atheism so thoroughly that some of the Encyclopedists
turned against him.  Voltaire justified his deistic beliefs in a letter
that he wrote to Diderot:

  "I confess that I am not of the opinion of Saunderson, who denies a God
  because he was born sightless. I am, perhaps, mistaken; but in his place
  I should recognize a great Intelligence who had given me so many substitutes
  for sight; and perceiving, on reflection, the wonderful relations between
  all things, I should have suspected a Workman infinitely able. If it is
  very presumptuous to divine WHAT He is, and WHY He has made everything that
  exists, so it seems to me very presumptuous to deny THAT He exists."
  (Ibid, p 182)

   Although Voltaire believed in an almighty God, he believed Christianity
to be a human invention--which the priests had transformed into a doctrine
that promoted superstition and tyranny. To Voltaire, it preached love to
disarm the people, so that they could be enslaved by unscrupulous power
hungry priests. Voltaire believed the Quakers to be an exception! They were
THE only example of a good Christian sect, as they lived without benefit of
clergy, sacraments, or creed--but were instead guided by their Inner Light
to love and obey the God of the Universe.

  In his DICTIONARY, Voltaire further laid down his deistic beliefs in an
all powerful Being who does not get involved in the day to day activities
of mankind.  A character named Sister Fessue tells how she loves her sparrow
so much and that how she believed it would have died if she had not said
"nine Ave-Marias to obtain his cure".  A metaphysician joins in the
conversation to tell her that "I cannot believe that God has occupied
himself so much with your sparrow, pretty as it is; I pray you to believe
that He has other things to attend to." After Sister Fessue begins to accuse
the metaphysician of being a heretic for not believing in Providence, he
explains:

  "I believe in a general Providence, dear Sister, which has laid down
   from all eternity the law that governs all things, like light from the
   sun; but I believe not that a particular Providence changes the economy
   of the world for your sparrow." (DICTIONARY, "Providence")

  While acknowledging that individually atheists were often gentle and
moral-- Voltaire feared that if atheistic governments ever took power,
they would turn out to be as tyrannical as the Christian "superstition".
(Edward L. Ericson, THE FREE MIND THROUGH THE AGES, p 87).  Voltaire
believed that deism, on the other hand, represented a rational middle
ground between these two polarized fanatical systems.