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Voltaire was a versatile and prolific writer, producing works in almost every literary form, including plays, poems, novels, essays, histories, and even scientific expositions. He wrote more than 20,000 letters and 2,000 books and pamphlets. [7] Voltaire was one of the first authors to become renowned and commercially successful internationally.
The Jesuit preacher Claude-Adrien Nonnotte spent much of his life opposing the view on Christianity that Voltaire had taken in the Essai.At first, he anonymously published Examen critique ou Réfutation du livre des moeurs ("Critical examination or refutation of the book of customs").
Voltaire attacked faith in a Christian God and the superstitions in the teachings of the Catholic Church, raising an element of doubt over many old practices of the Judeo-Christian tradition. He attempted to convince his readers that there were certain beliefs and teachings in Christianity which simply did not stand up to the test of reason.
In the 18th century, Deist philosophers such as Voltaire and Jean-Jacques Rousseau were critical of Christianity as a revealed religion. [4] With the Age of Enlightenment , Christianity was criticized by major thinkers and philosophers, such as Voltaire , David Hume , Thomas Paine , and the Baron d'Holbach . [ 5 ]
The author, Voltaire. The Dictionnaire philosophique (Philosophical Dictionary) is an encyclopedic dictionary published by the Enlightenment thinker Voltaire in 1764. The alphabetically arranged articles often criticize the Roman Catholic Church, Judaism, Islam, and other institutions.
Voltaire hints at the fact that Pascal, as a Jansenist, believed that only a small, and already predestined, portion of humanity would eventually be saved by God. Voltaire explained that no matter how far someone is tempted with rewards to believe in Christian salvation, the result will be at best a faint belief.
1. “Better is the enemy of good.” 2. “I cannot imagine how the clockwork of the universe can exist without a clockmaker.” 3. “Let us read, and let us dance; these two amusements will ...
Questions sur les Miracles, also known as Lettres sur les Miracles (Questions/Letters on miracles), is a series of pamphlets published by the French philosopher and author Voltaire. In these pamphlets Voltaire expresses many themes, including primarily his arguments against other recent pamphlets that had discussed religious miracles.