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==Voltaire on Religion==

==Voltaire on Religion==

Voltaire was very critical of religion, and has been variously categorized as an [[atheist]] or an [[agnostic]], though in reality he was a [[deist]]. A death-bed admonition to a priest attempting to convert him that "Now is no time to be making new enemies" has also been misconstrued as meaning he was a [[satanist]], though evidence exists to show he was truly a [[deist]]. <ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pv/Voltaire.html</ref> <ref>http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/volthrrck.htm</ref> <ref>http://newhumanist.org.uk/836</ref> Although he was a deist, Voltaire actually described himself as a ''theist''. <ref>Copleston, Frederick. ''A History of Philosophy Volume 6: Modern Philosophy: From The French Enlightenment to Kant''. Print. 1993. Page 23</ref>

Voltaire was very critical of religion, and has been variously categorized as an [[atheist]] or an [[agnostic]], though in reality he was a [[deist]]. A death-bed admonition to a priest attempting to convert him that "Now is no time to be making new enemies" has also been misconstrued as meaning he was a [[satanist]], though evidence exists to show he was truly a [[deist]].<ref>http://www.adherents.com/people/pv/Voltaire.html</ref><ref>http://www.positiveatheism.org/hist/volthrrck.htm</ref><ref>http://newhumanist.org.uk/836</ref> Although he was a deist, Voltaire actually described himself as a ''theist''.<ref>Copleston, Frederick. ''A History of Philosophy Volume 6: Modern Philosophy: From The French Enlightenment to Kant''. Print. 1993. Page 23</ref>

===Judaism and Christianity===

===Judaism and Christianity===

In his ''Philosophical Dictionary,'' he fantasizes a conversation in which he asks a spirit, implied to be [[Jesus]], "Tell me if there have been peoples other than the [[Christians]] and the [[Jews]] in whom zeal and religion wretchedly transformed into fanaticism, have inspired so many horrible cruelties." The spirit replies "Yes, the [[Muslim|Mohammedans]] were sullied with the same inhumanities, but rarely; and when one asked amman, pity, of them, and offered them tribute, they pardoned. As for the other nations there has not been one right from the existence of the world which has ever made a purely religious war." Voltaire concludes by stating that he accepts Jesus as his only master, endorsing a simplified version of Christianity obeying the tenets of the Golden Rule but none of the dogma present in his era's churches. <ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volrelig.html</ref>

In his ''Philosophical Dictionary,'' he fantasizes a conversation in which he asks a spirit, implied to be [[Jesus]], "Tell me if there have been peoples other than the [[Christians]] and the [[Jews]] in whom zeal and religion wretchedly transformed into fanaticism, have inspired so many horrible cruelties." The spirit replies "Yes, the [[Muslim|Mohammedans]] were sullied with the same inhumanities, but rarely; and when one asked amman, pity, of them, and offered them tribute, they pardoned. As for the other nations there has not been one right from the existence of the world which has ever made a purely religious war." Voltaire concludes by stating that he accepts Jesus as his only master, endorsing a simplified version of Christianity obeying the tenets of the Golden Rule but none of the dogma present in his era's churches.<ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volrelig.html</ref>

Voltaire also erected a Church in his hometown of Ferney (now Ferney-Voltaire) with the inscription "Deo erexit VOLTAIRE" ("Erected to God by VOLTAIRE").<ref>http://www.quielire.fr/elections_municipales_33947_commune_de_ferney_voltaire.html</ref> He had, however, created a blueprint for the infiltration and destruction of Christianity from within, according to Timothy Dwight.<ref>The Duty of Americans at the Present Crisis by Timothy Dwight, July 4, 1798<br />

Voltaire also erected a Church in his hometown of Ferney (now Ferney-Voltaire) with the inscription "Deo erexit VOLTAIRE" ("Erected to God by VOLTAIRE").<ref>http://www.quielire.fr/elections_municipales_33947_commune_de_ferney_voltaire.html</ref> He had, however, created a blueprint for the infiltration and destruction of Christianity from within, according to Timothy Dwight.<ref>The Duty of Americans at the Present Crisis by Timothy Dwight, July 4, 1798<br />

The real vice of a civilized republic is in the [[Turkish]] fable of the dragon with many heads and the dragon with many tails. The many heads hurt each other, and the many tails obey a single head which wants to devour everything."  

The real vice of a civilized republic is in the [[Turkish]] fable of the dragon with many heads and the dragon with many tails. The many heads hurt each other, and the many tails obey a single head which wants to devour everything."  

<ref> http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volstate.html</ref>

<ref>http://history.hanover.edu/texts/voltaire/volstate.html</ref>

==Voltaire's decline and death==

==Voltaire's decline and death==

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[[category:French Philosophers]]

[[Category:French Philosophers]]

[[Category:Deists]]

[[Category:Deists]]

[[Category:Enlightenment]]

[[Category:Enlightenment]]