would that person be considered a defender or a destroyer of Christianity???
What do you think???
2007-11-19 12:54:45 · 7 answers · asked by hmm... 1 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
well.. since Jack the Giant Killer is wondering why the heck i brought him up...
in history class, my teacher was discussing with us of this essay Voltaire wrote on religion. and then, for some reason, i randomly thought up of this question, afterschool. i dont know why it didnt hit me before... but yea...
thats the whole reason why i brought voltaire.
2007-11-19 15:01:35 · update #1
I love me some Voltaire.
In his Essay on General History and on the Customs and the Character of Nations Voltaire slams belief in the supernatural and denounces religion and the power of the clergy. However, he made a point to let it be known that he believed in the existence of God.
A phrase he often used ecrasons l'infame ("let us crush the infamous one") referred to any form of religion that persecutes non-adherents or that constitutes fanaticism.
So he would be most likely a deist or maybe a defender of Christ. However, he would be an opponent of Christianity or any other religions that held so much power.
In his book Candide, he decries the woes brought onto the world in the name of religion. One of the main characters in this work was Pangloss, thus my name.
I love a Voltaire question, so you get a star!
2007-11-19 13:00:28 · answer #1 · answered by Pangloss (Ancora Imparo) AFA 7 · 2⤊ 0⤋
I love me some Voltaire, too, just like Pangloss (LOL), and there are LOTS of people today who think & write in a similar vein, in large part because people like François-Marie Arouet, Thomas Hobbes, Bertrand Russell and Thomas Paine came before and stood up & spoke uncommonly good "common sense". In a sense, Voltaire contributed to the political atmosphere that allowed for the development of the "American idea", and in turn that idea cultivates & allows people to reach the same logical conclusions he reached about life, liberty, human nature and cooking ladies buttocks!
The most "Voltaire-like" among us are those who defend Christians rights to think what they think, but abhor any attempts to impose those beliefs by force onto others...
2007-11-20 09:14:37 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Voltaire was a defender of free speech and the right to free speech. So I think that in days like today the church in less of an enemy of free speech then the government.
"I don't agree with a word you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
Voltaire
2007-11-19 13:01:36 · answer #3 · answered by Tchelo 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
One thing to consider is that Christianity in the 1700s isn't the same as it is today. 18th century Christianity was still reforming itself from previous centuries of bloodshed and was becoming more tolerant. Much of what Voltaire wrote was in this context.
2007-11-23 09:32:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well Voltaire was not a defender of Christianity-he actually mocked God.
Most people have already forgotten Voltaire, why do you bring him up?
2007-11-19 12:59:07 · answer #5 · answered by Poor Richard 5 · 0⤊ 1⤋
What about Richard Dawkins? Voltaire was just another in a long line of men from Cain to the present day who attempt to chip away at God's majesty and yet crumble to earth like the dust from which they were formed and are forgotten...
2007-11-19 13:01:22 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 2⤊ 1⤋
Voltaire cared about human beings. And their wellbeing. The same as Christ. Whether he was a Christian or not is irrelevant.
2007-11-19 13:03:03 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋