A Memoir- the Testament

by Jean Meslier

  And so, we find enormous similarities in the miracles claimed by both sides, i.e., those of our Christ-cultists and those of the pagans.

  There is certainly no more plausibility on either side, and as it would be nonsensical to for us to believe now in these so-called miracles of paganism, it would be equally stupid to trust in those of Christianity, since both of them come from the same principle of errors, illusions and untruth. This is also why the Manicheans and the Arians who, closer to the beginnings of Christianity, mocked these supposed miracles made by the invocation of saints, and criticized those who invoked them after their death, and who honored their relics. It seems that Fénélon, the former Archbishop of Cambrai, never paid any attention to these pretended miracles, and that he himself never believed in them, since he didn’t bother to say anything about them in his book, on the existence of God: for, since he claimed to give, in this book, the strongest possible proofs in favor God’s existence, and since he didn’t even mention this subject, which should have been one of the strongest proofs we have, if these miracles really were completely true and certain, since, as I say, he failed to mention them, this is a strong indication that he gave no credence at all to what’s said of these supposed miracles.

  21. NONE OF THEM ARE ANY TRUER THAN THE REST.

  Now, to better reveal the vanity, falseness, and absurdity of these supposed miracles of Christianity, let us examine them a little closer, and we'll see if they relate to the principal aim which a supreme good, a supreme wisdom, and a supreme power would have in mind in performing them; and whether it’s credible that it truly meant to restrict itself to carrying out such a menial thing, to do such miracles in favor of men. But to judge this matter properly, we must note and always keep in mind what our Christ-cultists themselves regard as the principal foundation of all their doctrine and of all their religion: for it is on this foundation that we must now apply our reason, to judge soundly whether their alleged miracles truly do relate to the main purpose which a supreme Goodness, a supreme Wisdom, and a supreme Power should have in mind in performing them, and whether it is credible that He would propose to restrict Himself to such a small matter, namely, to perform such miracles as these. For, if these supposed miracles don't relate perfectly to the main purpose that He would or should propose for Himself, and if it is not credible that He should intend to restrict Himself to this, then it is also incredible that He actually performed them.

  And here is the principal foundation of all their doctrine, of all their belief, and all the religion of our Christ-cultists: they pose as their principal foundation that their Jesus Christ, whom they call their divine savior, is an all-powerful God, the eternal son of an omnipotent God, and who, by an abundance of love and infinite Goodness for mankind, wished to become human too, like them, to redeem them, as they put it, and to save all of them, i.e., to deliver all of them from sin and eternal damnation, which they say that all mankind deserves because of their sins, especially because of the disobedience of their first Father Adam, and not only to deliver all men from sin and the above-mentioned eternal damnation, but also to reconcile them perfectly and to restore them to good standing with God, their all-powerful Father, and to procure for all of them again, after this life, an eternal happiness and a state of blessedness in Heaven. And this, as they say, is what their Jesus Christ did in fact do, by giving his life for all men, and dying shamefully on a cross for their salvation. It’s on this basis that one of their Gospels[165] claims that Jesus Christ himself said that God his Father “so loved the world that he gave his own unique son, so that all who would believe in him would not perish, but have eternal life.” “For it was not”, he adds, “to condemn the world that God sent his Son into the world, but rather for the world to be saved by him[166].” “I am”, he said, “the good Shepherd, and a good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep; I will give my life for my sheep, for I have come so that they might have life and have it more abundantly.” And elsewhere he says again[167], that he came to seek and save that which was lost[168]. And, as all men were lost, according to the doctrine of our Christ-cultists, it was also, according to their principle, to save them all, that he came to the world. It is on this same principal basis of their Doctrine that it says in their so-called Holy Gospels that[169] Jesus Christ was he who removed the sins of the world, and that he came to destroy the works of the world[170] and that he came to destroy the works of the Demon, which are nothing other than the sins and all manner of malice and iniquity. This is why it’s said elsewhere in their so-called holy books that the grace[171] of Jesus Christ, their savior, has been revealed to all men, to teach them to renounce impiety and the evil desires of the age, to live in this world soberly, righteously, and religiously, while waiting for the coming in glory of Jesus Christ, their great God, and for the salvation of their souls, who, they say, delivered himself for the sake of all, to redeem them from their sins and to purify them from them, to form by himself a people who would be dear to him and zealous in doing good. And in another part in these same books, it is said again that this same Jesus Christ has loved his church, that is, his people, gave himself up for its sake[172], to sanctify it, purifying it with the waters of baptism, along with the word of life, in order to be made glorious, spotless, and without wrinkle, and without having any fault in it, but rather for it to be holy and spotless. This is why we sing every day, in our so-called Holy Mysteries, these pretty words of the slogan of our Faith: Qui propter nos homines et nostram salutem descendit de coelis, along with these: Qui tollit peccata mundi suscipe deprecationem nostram.

  That being the case, it is clear that the main purpose their God and their savior Jesus Christ must have in mind, the first in sending his divine Son into the world, and the second in becoming a human among men, their main objective, I say, in this must have been to save the world, as they say; and for that, their main purpose must have also been, as it’s said, to take away the sins of the world, and to completely destroy the works of the Demon, i.e., to completely get rid of all vices, malice, and wickedness on earth; their main objective would have also been, as they also say, to sanctify a people for themselves, to make it spotless and without any wrinkles, i.e., without any vice or flaw. And finally, which amounts to the same thing, their main purpose or intention would have been to save souls by delivering them from the miserable state of sin, by redeeming them from eternal damnation, and procuring for them an eternally happy life in Heaven. Our Christ-cultists cannot deny that those must be the main objectives their Divine savior Jesus Christ had in mind in becoming human like them, and submitting to death, as they say he did, for love of them; they cannot, as I say, deny that this was his main purpose and the main intention of God his Father, since it is stated so clearly in their supposedly holy books.

  But there is no effect, no plausibility in this supposed redemption of men, there is no semblance that sin was taken from the world, as it should have been, nor even that the quantity thereof has been diminished at all, on the contrary, it seems rather that it has increased and that it might increase even more every day, as men seem to be getting more vicious and wicked every day, and there seems to be a deluge of vice and iniquity in the world; nor can the Christ-cultists even boast of being more holy, wise, virtuous, and sober in their government or morals than other peoples on earth; and finally, there is no indication that there will be any more souls saved, or even less reprobates than there were prior to the supposed redemption, since there are no more who take the path to Heaven, and to fewer who opt for the path to Hell, as the Christ-cultists say, if it’s true that vice is the path to Hell, and that of virtue truly is the way to Heaven. Thus, it is obviously the case that these so-called miracles don’t relate in any way to the main purpose which the supposed supreme Kindness and the supposedly supreme Wisdom of an omnipotent God ought to have in performing them. And it is far from credible that an almighty God who is as good and wise as they suppose would wish to limit Himself to doing so little for the salvation of
those He would have come to save, to sanctify them and make them happy forever.

  Really? An omnipotent, infinitely good, infinitely wise God, who became a mortal human for love of humanity, and who even meant to shed the last drop of His blood to save all humanity, wanted to limit himself and limit His power, his kindness, and his wisdom to heal only a few diseases and a couple of bodily infirmities, which only affect a few people, and a few of the weak who had been presented to Him; but He had no intention of using His omnipotence, his divine Kindness, and his supreme Wisdom in truly healing all the diseases and all the afflictions of their souls, i.e., healing all men from their vices and their disorders, which are worse than bodily diseases! That is not credible. Really? An omnipotent God, so good and so wise, wanted to miraculously preserve dead bodies from al decay, and all corruption of vice, but He had no intention of using His Omnipotence and His Wisdom to preserve from the contagion and corruption of vice and sin, the souls of an infinity of people, whom He came to redeem at the price of his blood, and that he came to sanctify by His grace! That’s far from credible. What? An omnipotent God, so good and so wise, wanted to restore sight to certain blind people, hearing to certain deaf people, speech to certain mutes, making some of the lame walk again, and healing certain paralytics, but He didn’t even try to enlighten sinners with the light of His grace, as our Christ-cultists call it, but He didn’t even seek to strengthen weak sinners of the omnipotent support of His grace; he wouldn’t even have sought to really get them out of the errors and mistakes of their vices, to happily lead them in the ways of virtue and make them walk straight in the way of His divine commandments! That is not credible. Really, again? An omnipotent God, who is so good and so wise, would have sought by a totally particular favor, to resurrect a few dead people, restoring them to a mortal life for a little while, but he didn’t think, then or now, to preserve an infinite number of souls from eternal death, whom He would have created for heaven, whom He meant to redeem with His blood, and whom He would have sanctified by His graces! That’s not credible! What! An omnipotent God, so good and so wise, would certainly have tried to miraculously pull or save some people from shipwreck at sea or who are drowning in a river, but He had no intention, then or now, to pull or save from the shipwreck of Hell an infinite number of souls which miserably sink there every day, according to Christ-cultists! That is not credible. What! An omnipotent God, so good and so wise, would have, by a special grace, preserves the bodies of His Saints, even their clothes, even their bristles and hair, from being hurt by fire, amid infernos and flames, but He didn’t care, then or now, about saving from the eternal flames of Hell an infinite number of souls that He would have redeemed at the price of his blood! That’s not credible at all. For, as their Apostle Saint Paul says, if a God didn’t even spare His own son, and He meant to hand him over to them, for their full salvation, then how could He, having given them His own son, also refuse to give them everything necessary for their salvation, and if this supposedly divine son did indeed wish to give his life for the salvation of men, then how could he then refuse them any favor or other blessing? That’s not credible. Really, again: why would an omnipotent God miraculously make all the bells ring by themselves, now in one city, now in another, to pay tribute to the death or the burial of a few dead bodies; why would He use His omnipotence to miraculously fill, with a little bread and a few fishes, a few thousand people’s bellies who were following Him; why would He use His omnipotence to miraculously attract wild animals, birds, and even fish from the sea or the rivers, to come and listen to the preaching of one of his saints? And finally, in short, why would He use His omnipotence in countless other vain and whimsical matters or occasions to alter the order and course of nature, while simultaneously refusing, then and now, to do anything in particular to procure and effectively perform the conversion and sanctification of so many thousands and even millions of sinners, who would praise Him and bless Him eternally in heaven, if He had wished or even deigned to look favorably on them, that is, if He had wished or only deigned to touch their hearts in a benignant manner, and charitably open the eyes of their minds to lead them to know and love their true good. It is not credible that an omnipotent, infinitely good, and infinitely wise God would ever act this way with men, whom He supposedly loved so much that He gave his blood and life for them; it is not credible that He would neglect the principal aim of His plans, and instead pay attention to a few wispy, auxiliary parts of it, which is what the supposedly miraculous healings of certain bodily infirmities, or other supposed miracles of that sort really are, which are ultimately of very minor consequence. Would He really descend from Heaven, and come to earth, only or mainly in order to heal a few sick people from bodily discomforts? Would He have come only and mainly to give sight to the a few blind people? To make a few deaf people hear again? To make a few mutes speak again? To let a few cripples and a few paralytics walk again? Would He come only and mainly to restore bodily health to a few sick people, and to raise a few dead men? Would He come only or mainly to keep a few dead bodies from rotting, and to miraculously make a few bells ring by themselves? And finally, would He come only and mainly to keep clothes, bristles, and hairs from being burned in raging flames? And so on with all those vain and ridiculous miracles to which so much attention is nevertheless paid? Would He come only for that? Shouldn’t it rather have been to heal all mankind from all the maladies and all infirmities of their souls, as well as of their bodies? Shouldn’t rather have been to liberate all of them from slavery to vice and sin? To make all of them wise and virtuous, and to sanctify all of them? Since He would have come to redeem and save them all? He once said, this so-called divine savior, once said that he felt compassion for those who followed him, when they had nothing to eat, “if I send them home like this, they will faint on the way,” and to spare them such suffering, he was desirous, our Christ-cultists say, to perform a miracle by his omnipotence, by miraculously multiplying some loaves of bread to fill all their bellies, and keep them from falling on the road in their weakened condition, meanwhile he neither did nor does he now express any desire to perform similar miracles, by his omnipotent grace, to sanctify all sinners and save all of them. So, he sees them weak and infirm every day, but has no interest in giving them strength by the efficacious help of his omnipotent grace, to keep them from falling into vice and sin? So, he sees them falling daily by the thousands into the fearsome flames of Hell, but has no compassion about losing them, such a horrible, fearsome loss as that? This is not credible at all, it cancels itself out, it is completely unworthy to think such a thing of a Being who is infinitely good and infinitely wise.