Superstition in all agesHolbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Religion
Superstition in all ages
Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'
Atheism
As there is no one religious denomination which does not pretend to be
truly founded upon the authority of God, and entirely exempt from all
the errors and impositions which are found in the others, it is for
those who purpose to establish the truth of the faith of their sect, to
show, by clear and convincing proofs, that it is of Divine origin; as
this is lacking, we must conclude that it is but of human invention, and
full of errors and deceptions; for it is incredible that an Omnipotent
and Infinitely good God would have desired to give laws and ordinances
to men, and not have wished them to bear better authenticated marks of
truth, than those of the numerous impostors. Moreover, there is not one
of our Christ-worshipers, of whatever sect he may be, who can make us
see, by convincing proofs, that his religion is exclusively of Divine
origin; and for want of such proof they have been for many centuries
contesting this subject among themselves, even to persecuting each other
by fire and sword to maintain their opinions; there is, however, not one
sect of them all which could convince and persuade the others by such
witnesses of truth; this certainly would not be, if they had, on one
side or the other, convincing proofs of Divine origin. For, as no one of
any religious sect, enlightened and of good faith, pretends to hold and
to favor error and falsehood; and as, on the contrary, each, on his
side, pretends to sustain truth, the true means of banishing all errors,
and of uniting all men in peace in the same sentiments and in the same
form of religion, would be to produce convincing proofs and testimonies
of the truth; and thus show that such religion is of Divine origin, and
not any of the others; then each one would accept this truth; and no
person would dare to question these testimonies, or sustain the side of
error and imposition, lest he should be, at the same time, confounded by
contrary proofs: but, as these proofs are not found in any religion, it
gives to impostors occasion to invent and boldly sustain all kinds of
falsehoods.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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