De tribus impostoribus; Rationalism; Spinoza, Benedictus de, 1632-1677
In the last article of the work "Naudiana," which is a rhapsodical
compound of blunders and falsehood, there are some confused references
to "The Three Impostors." The author asserts that Ramus had attributed
it to Postel; nothing whatever can be found in the writings of Ramus
to establish this. Postel was a singular visionary. Henry Stephanus
relates that he had been heard to say, that out of the three religions,
the Jewish, the Christian, and the Mahometan, a good one might be
made. However, in no part of his work does he call in question the
mission of Moses, or the divinity of Christ; neither does he venture
to maintain in exact terms that the devout Venetian Hospitaller,
whom he calls "his mother Jeanne," would be the Redeemer of women,
as Christ had been the Redeemer of men. After explaining that in
men there is a masculine part, the animus, and a feminine part, the
anima, he has the absurdity to add that both parts were corrupted
by sin and that "his mother Jeanne" might restore the feminine as
Christ had restored the masculine. The book in which he utters this
absurdity was printed at Paris in 1553, and is by no means so rare but
that copies may easily be found. From it we can gather that he would
have published the other works also, if it had been true that he had
reached this pitch of blasphemy. So far from this being the case,
he writes (1543) that the book was written by Michael Servetus;
and long afterwards he does not scruple to avenge himself on his
Huguenot calumniators, by accusing them, in a letter addressed to
Masius, (1563) of having themselves printed the work at Caen: "this
infamous commentary or discourse against Moses, Christ, and Mahomet,
was lately printed at Cæn, by those who profess themselves the keenest
supporters of the Calvinistic doctrines. [16]" In the same chapter of
"Naudiana," mention is made of one Barnaud, but in terms so perplexed
that little can be drawn from them except that he had seen an octavo
work of 98 pages, printed in 1613, entitled "The Geneva Booby." It
did not bear where it had been printed, neither was the author's
name given. Perhaps it might have been written by Henri de Sponde,
afterwards Bishop of Pamier; who says, that at that period there lived
a physician named Barnaud an Arian, who had composed this treatise. Now
this would make it of a comparatively recent date. The only sensible
article in "Naudiana" is towards its conclusion, where Naude, a man
of vast experience as a bibliologist, is made to declare that he had
never seen the work alluded to, that he did not believe such a work
had ever been printed, and that he considered every thing which had
been said on this subject as mere invention and fable.
To this list may be added that notable atheist Julius Cæsar Vanini,
burned at Toulouse under the name of Lucilius Vaninus, who was accused
of having circulated this vile work in France some years before he
was put to death.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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