by Jean Meslier
Moreover, if this God, whom they say is infinitely perfect, has no quality, or any tangible perfection, it’s therefore imperative that He must have only qualities and perfections that are universal and imperceptible, and that these supposed perfections must be infinite in Him. But I ask them, how they know and how can they know that there are invisible perfections and that those perfections are infinite in Him? For, since they are invisible and imperceptible, in any way, they can’t see them, or feel them, and consequently know them in any way; for it’s not by the senses that they know them, since they are, as they say, completely imperceptible and invisible. Nor are they known through reason; for right reason does not lead us to know that a being who is infinitely perfect neither has nor should have any perceptible qualities or perfections; it doesn’t inform us that all perceptible qualities and that all perfections are incompatible with the invisible perfections of a supremely perfect being. If, then, reason and the senses can’t show them, or inform them of what they say about the invisible perfections of their God, or of what they say about the invisible perfections of this supremely perfect being, it’s vain and baseless for them to say, they speak on this matter without knowing what they’re saying, and if they are talking without knowing what they’re saying, they certainly don’t deserve to be heard, as I’ve already said, and if they don’t deserve to be heard, far less do they deserve to be believed in what they say.
But far from Reason showing and teaching our God-cultists that what they say about the invisible perfections of their God and the incompatibility of the tangible qualities and the perfections of a supremely perfect being is true, far from that, I say, if they consulted their reason properly, it would readily show them that a being who would be absolutely perfect, would be supremely and perfectly loveable, and hence it would be perfect knowable. For, how would it perfectly loveable if it weren’t perfectly knowable? A good thing is only loveable to the extent that it is knowable, and it would in no way be loveable if it were completely unknowable. But, in the hypothesis of our God-cultists, the being who is supposed to be supremely perfect and who wouldn’t have in Himself any perceptible quality, or any visible perfection, would be in no way knowable: therefore, He would be in no way loveable, and if they would have Him perfectly loveable, then they must necessarily say that He is perfectly knowable, and if He is perfectly knowable in Himself, then He must have in Himself certain perceptible qualities and visible perfections, since He can only truly be known and distinguished from all other beings, who aren’t supremely perfect, by means of the qualities and perfections of this nature. Thus, far, as I’ve said, from reason showing the God-cultists that the visible qualities and perfections are incompatible with the allegedly invisible perfections of a supremely perfect being, they ought rather to show them that such perfections would be inseparable from His nature, if it truly were the case that such a supremely perfect, individual being somewhere. This is why, since no semblance of this supremely perfect being is found anywhere, there is no true reason or basis to believe that there is one, or that one is even possible.
I’m fully aware that our God-cultists, who affect more than anyone else to spiritual things and who make a show of discounting material and tangible things, in comparison with the lofty ideas, which they form in their imaginations, of spiritual and divine things, have no desire to attribute to the nature of their God any quality or any perfection which is visible or perceptible by any of the senses: they even think that it’s only for crude and carnal minds to imagine that a being who is infinitely perfect, as they think their God to be, must be some corporeal substance, composed, like others, of matter and form, no matter how noble, even, or excellent and perfect this matter and form might be; so that, as they say, their God is neither flesh nor bones, or anything that can be imagined; He has, as I’ve already said, neither body nor head, nor arms, nor legs, nor back, nor belly, He has no eyes, mouth, nose, or ear, He has no color or any shape, in the end, He is nothing that can be imagined of what is real and tangible; all that they can even think about Him, ends in the simple statement that, in general, He is an infinitely perfect being, a being of an incomprehensible nature, which surpassing all the senses and all understanding, and which, therefore, cannot be expressed by any words, or conceived by any thoughts. But do they not see, these doctors who are so intellectual and so subtle, do they not see that, by exalting the incomprehensible excellence of this supposedly divine nature, and by wanting to spiritualize and detach it from any material and tangible qualities, they destroy, they are actually destroying it, and that, by seeking to exaggerate all these supposedly divine perfections, they annihilate them; just as, by proving too much, they end up proving nothing, and by saying too much, they ruin all belief? For, what else are they saying when they say that a nature which is infinitely perfect has no body, form, shape, color, or anything thinkable or imaginable, except that there’s no such thing? What is it to say, of an infinitely perfect being, that it has neither color, nor shape, nor any perceptible beauty or good quality, and that it has no other perceptible perfection, but to say that it truly has no perfection at all? Indeed, what sort of idea can they have of a being which has neither body nor form? What sort of idea can they have of the beauty of a being which has neither any color nor any shape? What sort of idea can they have of the goodness of a being which does not make itself felt or perceived in any way? What sort of idea can they have of the wisdom of a being which has no mouth to speak, or a brain to think? What sort of idea can they have of the force and power of a being which has no movement to act and which can’t even move itself? What sort of idea can they have of the pleasure and contentment, or the happiness of a being which has no eyes to see, no tongue to taste, or ears to hear, or nose to smell, or hands to touch, or feet to walk? Clearly, not even our Christ-cultists, as spiritual as they may be, can form any true idea of what they claim to mean by terms like nature, beauty, goodness, wisdom, power and happiness, which they attribute to their God. So when they say that His nature is infinitely perfect, infinitely beautiful, infinitely good, infinitely wise, infinitely powerful, and infinitely blessed, they do not really know what they’re saying, because they don’t truly know anything about a nature that is bodiless and formless and without any extension; they don’t know what is a beauty which has no color or shape; they don’t know what a wisdom is which is brainless, or a force and power which cannot move itself; they don’t know what it is to see without eyes, hear without ears, or taste without a tongue, finally, they don’t know what it is to be happy without pleasure or joy, and when our God-cultists strip their God of all bodily form and all perceptible qualities or perfections, they destroy His character and annihilate all His supposedly infinite perfections.
That is how they deceive themselves and go astray in the vanity of their thoughts and, thinking they are growing wise, they go insane, I say insane, because, just as it would be a great folly to attribute Divinity to inanimate objects or irrational animals, or to weak and mortal men, as the Pagans once did, it’s also a great folly to attribute it, as our God-cultists presently do, to an imaginary being who has neither body nor form, and who lets Himself be despoiled at will of all qualities and all real and perceptible perfections, and who is, consequently, less than all that is real and perceptible. It truly requires little intelligence, or quite little usage of one’s mind, to believe things that are so far removed from reason and which are so ridiculous, absurd, and incredible. Our God-cultists have now escaped most of the errors of the Ancients on this subject, there is reason to hope that they will also someday escape the errors they now suffer from. We can already see in most of them a rather significant disposition for that, because they show well enough by their words, their ways, and all their behavior, that they don’t really believe in the mysteries of their Religion, or the most important lessons it presents to them, about how they should live, with respect to the great and magnificent promises, that it offers them, of the eternal rewards of a Paradise, if they do g
ood deeds, or with respect to the terrible punishments it threatens for wickedness. For if they were quite convinced, on both sides, of that their Religion teaches and what it requires them to believe on this subject, they would certainly live with more restraint and greater care than they do, otherwise they would be the most insane people in the world, to expose themselves, as they do every day, for things of so little consequence, to lose an eternally blissful life and incur the most cruel and fearsome eternal punishments imaginable; since, then, as we know that most of our God-cultists, those who are the first and principal among them, and even the first Ministers and the greatest Preachers of Religion don’t pay much heed to the duties of earning such great rewards by their good lives and good works, and never make any effort to avoid such terrible punishments, this is a clear indication that even they scarcely believe what they say and that even they aren’t convinced of these supposedly great and important truths, which they want others to accept.
But how, indeed, can people with even a smattering of wit and common sense, be truly convinced of things that are so far from right reason and any semblance of truth? Since reason, and nature too, naturally inspire the opposite sentiments in us. Our God-cultists promise us eternal rewards, if we live in virtue and if we religiously follow the rules, maxims, and principles of their Religion, and they make the supreme bliss and happiness of the supreme blessedness and the supreme happiness of men consist in the possession and enjoyment of these so-called rewards, which nobody will receive or even see, however, in this life, but only after death, in a time where we will be more[747], in a time where we will be destroyed and annihilated. Similarly, they threaten men with fearsome punishments in an eternal hell, if they live in vice and sin, if they do not firmly believe everything they say, and if they do not live according to the rules and principles, or the precepts of their Religion, and they make the supreme misery of men consist in the eternal suffering of the fearsome punishments of this supposed hell, that the most wicked and unworthy will never see, nevertheless, in this life, but only after they die, and at a time when, as I’ve said, they will no longer be, and where they will all be destroyed and, as it were, annihilated. In all honesty, how can anyone be convinced that one can still be truly happy or unhappy, when one will no longer be receptive to good and ill, and even when one will no longer be anything at all? For, to be convinced that a person will be happy or unhappy after death, is to persuade oneself that one will be happy or unhappy, when one will be no more. For, from the moment one dies, one begins to rot and to turn into rot and ashes, it is, I say, what experience clearly shows us every day. But our God-cultists have never, never seen experientially, that one can still feel good or ill post-mortem, they’ve never seen or perceived any of these great and magnificent rewards, which they flatter themselves that they will enjoy in heaven after their death; they’ve never seen anything either, or felt anything, or perceived these fearsome torments, by which they threaten the wicked and of which they say that they will be eternally punished in hell after death: everything they say about the good and evils of another supposed life is based on nothing but illusions, hollow fancies, and on imposture.
But, again, in what do they make this supposed supreme and charming blessedness consist, which they promise so confidently to those who are good? This must also be noted; for they make it a very unique sort of thing, and full of mysteries. They make it consist, as they say, in the vision and possession of God Himself, whom they say is their summum bonum, which vision or possession of this supposed summum bonum brings perfect happiness to all those who have the good fortune to see and possess Him. But let us consider just what this supposedly charming vision and possession of God really is or might be. Our God-cultists say, as I’ve noted, that their God is entirely spiritual in nature, i.e., of an intangible and immaterial nature, and therefore of a nature which is invisible, incorporeal, formless, without extension, without color, and without any shape. How, then, can they claim that their supreme blessedness will consist in seeing and possessing such a being as that? Is it possible to see and possess a being who is not visible, a being which has neither body, nor shape, nor any extension? Can one look upon a being who has neither color, nor shape, nor any extension? Certainly, that is inconceivable, that surpasses all imagination: it's like saying that their supreme happiness consists in seeing something that can’t be seen and possessing something that can’t be held or even touched; which is manifestly absurd, if we understand these terms in their proper and natural sense.
But, since we know that our God-cultists, and especially our Christ-cultists, who claim to be the only real true worshipers of the true God, make great efforts in professing that they are principally eager for the spirituality of His worship, and in spiritually interpreting all that relates to the mysteries, the maxims, and the ceremonies of their Religion, to better draw the mantle of this fine and specious pretext of spirituality over all the falsehoods and absurdities found in it, they have no interest in making their supreme blessedness consist in a vision and a real and physical possession of God. They would think it too demeaning and debasing to the glory, excellence, and ineffable grandeur of this supreme ineffable blessedness, if they made it consist in any sensual pleasure. They are convinced, or at least to persuade others that only vulgar and carnal minds would expect a state of sensual and carnal blessedness, as the Jews and Muslims do, who know of no other kind, but for those with a far more elevated kind of knowledge, and who aspire to goods that are infinitely greater than all those of the body and the senses, they have no wish, I say, to waste time by having blessedness consist in any pleasure of the senses. So when they say that their supreme happiness consists in the vision and possession of their God, they do not mean a physical vision, like that of the bodily eyes, but of a spiritual vision, which happens, they say, with the eyes of the soul; that is, by a very clear and perfect knowledge, that the soul has of the infinite beauties and perfections of this supreme being: for nor do they claim that the soul has any eyes but its own thoughts and its own knowledge. Firstly, when they speak of a possession of God, they don’t mean any sort of physical possession, since their God is not possessed by the body and there is nothing corporeal in Him; but they mean a spiritual possession of God, which is, they say, a completely perfect love of this supposed supreme good, which, they also say, has the effect in those souls which have the good fortune of possessing Him, a spiritual joy and contentment, which is infinitely superior to all the pleasures and contentment that could ever be received through the senses.
75. THE SUPREME BLESSEDNESS THAT OUR CHRIST-CULTISTS EXPECT IN HEAVEN WOULD BE, ACCORDING TO WHAT THEY SAY, ONLY AN IMAGINARY BLESSEDNESS.
That, it seems, is something beautiful and well-conceived; but nothing is vainer than all that, for if it were true, it would obviously follow that their supposed happiness would consist only in an imaginary blessedness, and not in a real and effective blessedness. As proof of this, according to what they say, seeing an object clearly and spiritually is nothing, as I’ve pointed out, but having very perfect ideas, thoughts, and knowledge about this object. Likewise, to spiritually possess an object is not also, as they say, anything but to love it perfectly, from which it follows that the more perfect our ideas, thoughts, and knowledge of an object are, the more spiritually we will also see it. But, to form ideas, thoughts, and knowledge that are more or less perfect about some object, which is not really and truly seen, are only acts of imaginations, and the love conceived for such an object, which is not seen and not really possessed, is only formed on the basis of ideas, thoughts, and knowledge that are formed about this object: thus, to see some object spiritually is nothing other than to see it by the mind and by the imagination: for I will make no distinction here between the mind, the intellect, and the imagination, or between ideas, thoughts, and imaginations, for all these terms properly refer to the same thing; the terms, for example, of mind, understanding, and imagination mean nothing other than the power or the faculty that men ha
ve of thinking, knowing, reasoning, and having some opinions, true or false, of what they conceive, and these terms of ideas, thoughts, and imaginations, properly mean nothing other than the acts of thoughts and knowledge, by which they perceive and know things, and by which they reason or form judgments, true or false, on what they think. Since our God-cultists recognize no vision of their God aside from the one done by thought and knowledge, which are acts of understanding, of mind, or imagination, and since they acknowledge no other possession of this same God except the one made by love, which is a natural effect of thought and knowledge, which the mind or the imagination has of an object, which appears good and loveable to it, and since, moreover, they make all their supreme happiness to consist in spiritually seeing and spiritually possessing their God, it naturally follows that their supposed blessedness would only be an imaginary blessedness, since it would be based on nothing but an imaginary vision and an imaginary possession of a good which is only imaginary.
And confirmation of this is the fact that our God-cultists explicitly say that beatitude does not consist in the pleasures of the senses, that it does not consist in the pleasures of drinking and eating, or in the joys of seeing with one’s eyes, or touching with one’s hands, any more than in the pleasure of hearing with one’s ears, but it is only in the peace and joys of the mind[748]. Non est enim, they say, regnum Dei esca et potus, sed justitia et pax et gaudium in spiritu sancto etc.
And where, please, do we get this mental peace and joy, if it doesn’t come from nothing that can touch the senses, as I just said? IT can only come from the imagination, and thus, their supreme felicity would consist, as I just said, in nothing but an imaginary blessedness, still, won’t they appreciate this vain pleasure of enjoying an imaginary blessedness after they die? For, to enjoy an imaginary blessedness, one must imagine oneself enjoying something and imagining oneself to be truly happy. But imagination stops at death, so how can the dead enjoy an imaginary blessedness, since they no longer have what it takes to form any thoughts, or any imagination, and they will be as if they had never existed? This is the state to which everyone will be reduced post-mortem, we all return to the state we were in before we were born, or prior to existing; and, just as we certainly had no thoughts, feelings, or imagination at that point, in the same way it’s certain that after death we will no longer think about anything, we will not feel anything, and we will not imagine anything anymore. Thus, it’s quite futile for our God-cultists and our Christ-cultists to flatter themselves with such blessedness after they die, since then they will not even have a mind to think of any blessedness; they have no reason to declaim or push so hard against this view, since it’s the explicit view of one of their sages, whose words they reverence as divine words.