Question on Voltaire and his religious views

by greatMalek

I'm almost done answering all the question in my study guide, this is the only one I couldn't answer

In The Philosophical Dictionary, what sort of religion and morality did Voltaire recommend? What did he say about how Jews and Christians had often behaved?

I'm thinking the religion was deism but am not sure. Also I have no idea what his views on Christians and Jews were.

ReasonShallPrevail

I find him to be a pantheist in all but name. Though he makes allusions to definitive beings, he describes a united, "bound" structure of the world that most would likely recognize as pantheism. He just likes to anthropomorphize, I think.

That said, if you were asked about his stance on an exam, I suggest that you do go with deism.

As for his opinion of Christianity and Judaism - Voltaire took many issues with the organized religions, chiefly due to his inherent rejection of the notion of the apparent supernatural (that is, he does not believe that something like the human "soul" could be seen and categorized, and you could very well argue that he questions the concept itself), but also due to their opposition to what most would consider the primary philosophies of the progressive intelligentsia of the time.

In terms of the actual people themselves - he thought them primitive at times, as their explanations for things that were beyond their understanding always defaulted to the supernatural, and they were far too willing to subject themselves to the authority of their prospective leaders, but he didn't outright detest or persecute them, as he usually addressed the issues rather than the people. In some ways, one could even argue that he thought them victims just as much as he thought them enemies of human progress.

Put simply, Voltaire disagrees with Christians and Jews not only on ideological grounds (reason versus superstition), but also on a practical basis (church opposed many of his political beliefs).


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