A Memoir- the Testament

by Jean Meslier

  26. THE VANITY AND FALSENESS OF THE SUPPOSED PROMISES MADE BY GOD TO THE ANCIENT PATRIARCHS ABRAHAM, ISAAC, AND JACOB.

  But here is yet another plain proof of the falsehood of the above-mentioned supposedly divine revelations, namely, the non-fulfilment of the great and magnificent promises that accompanied the above-mentioned, supposedly divine revelations, for it is not credible that an omnipotent and infinitely good God would not desire, or would not intend to fulfil any promises He actually made, or which He had often repeated, and even confirmed with oaths, as He did. But it is clear and plainly manifest, according to the witness of the Histories, including that of their so-called Holy Books, that the promises discussed above, which are supposed to have been made by God Himself to the above-mentioned patriarchs, have never been fulfilled, etc…. To clearly see this lack of fulfilment of the promises, and the strength of this proof, we should note that these promises consist principally in three things[224]: 1) to make the posterity of the Patriarchs more numerous than all other peoples on Earth; for they expressly state that God would so multiply their descendants that they would be numerically equal to the stars in the sky, the grains of sand on the beach, and the particles of dust on the earth, and, consequently, that their posterity would be more numerous and powerful than all other peoples on earth; 2) to make this people, who would be of their race, the happiest, the holiest, and the most victorious of any people on earth; for these promises also state expressly that God would be their special protector, that he would bless them above all other peoples, that he would favor them especially with His graces, and that it would even be in their name that He would bless all the other nations on earth: they state that He would exalt their name, that He would raise them in praise, in honor, and in glory above all other nations, and finally, they state that God will make them victorious over all their enemies, that He would set them into flight and rout, and that He would extend their dominion from the West to the East, and from the North to the South. 3). These promises consist, on God’s part, of making His eternal covenant with their posterity, for they expressly state that God would make an eternal covenant with them, and that they would always possess the country that He gave them. But it is obvious that these supposed promises have never been fulfilled. First of all, it is certain that the Jewish people, or the people of Israel, which is the only one that can be considered as the descendants of the above-mentioned patriarchs Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the only one for which the above-mentioned promises could be fulfilled, has never been so numerous that it can have been numerically comparable to other peoples on earth, much less, consequently, to the grains of sand of the sea, or the particles of dust on the earth, and that this same people had, during the 2 or 3 hundred years of its residence in Egypt, multiplied so much, as it says in their History (which is, however, unreliable); nevertheless this multiplication was incapable of producing a number comparable to the grains of sand in the sea, or the particles of dust on earth; if this people truly had multiplied as it was supposed to have done, according to the above-mentioned, allegedly divine promises, then it would certainly take no less than the whole planet to contain it. And we can see that, when it was most numerous and flourishing, it never occupied more than small provinces of Palestine and its environs, which are almost nothing by comparison with the vast extent of a multitude of Provinces, Kingdoms, and flourishing Empires which are found all over the planet, and which would only be, by comparison with a single Kingdom of France, something like the Provinces of Champagne or Picardy, versus the entire French Kingdom. By which it is evident that this people has never been so numerous, nor has it ever been anything more than a very small people, compared with the other peoples on Earth; and thus, the supposedly divine promises about the prodigious and innumerable multiplication of this people have never been fulfilled. Secondly, they have also never been fulfilled as to the great and super-abundant blessings, by which they should be favored above all other peoples on earth. Although they may have won some victories over their enemies, ravaged their province, captured many of their cities, and even conquered or usurped, at the point of a sword, the provinces of Palestine and its environs, this still didn’t keep them having been the near-perpetual victims of their enemies, or from being reduced to miserable servitude. And although they were also, at certain times, living so peacefully and flourishing so much in the reign of some of their Kings, this didn’t save their kingdom from destruction, nor did it keep them from captivity, or save their nation from near complete destruction by the Roman army, under emperors Titus and Vespasian, and even now we can see that what remains of this miserable nation is considered as the vilest and most contemptible population on earth, having no dominion or superiority anywhere. And thus, it is clear from that angle, that the above-mentioned so-called divine promises were never fulfilled. Finally, third of all, there were also unfulfilled with respect to this eternal covenant which God once made with them, according to the above-mentioned promises, since we can’t presently find, nor could anyone in the past, any sure mark of this supposed covenant, but, on the contrary, it is plain to see that they are, after so many centuries, excluded from the possession of lands and countries that they claim were promised and given to them by God, to enjoy them forever. Omnem terram quant conspicis tibi dabo et semini tuo usque in sempiternum... Dabo tibi et semini tuo terram peregrinationis tuae omnem terram Chanaan in possessionem aeternam, ero Deus eorum[225]. And thus, these supposed promises, being of no effect nor fulfilment, as is obvious, it’s a clear sign of their falsehood, and consequently, it’s also a sure and evident proof that they never came from any God; which clearly proves, again, that the above-mentioned so-called sacred and divine books that contain them were never made under the inspiration of God, since they contain promises that are clearly false, and these books, which were not made under God's inspiration, can never serve as an sure witness of truth; and thus, it is sheer vanity for our Christians to try to use them as an infallible testimony, to prove the truth of their Religion.

  27. THE FOURTH PROOF OF THE FALSENESS OF THE RELIGIONS TAKEN FROM THE VANITY AND FALSENESS OF THE ALLEGED PROMISES AND PROPHECIES OF THE OLD TESTAMENT.

  Our Christ-cultists also include among the grounds for belief, and among the numerous proofs of the truth of their religion, the prophecies, which are, as they say, sure testimonies of the truth of the revelations or inspirations of God; since, they say, only God can certainly foresee and foresee the future so far before it comes, as are, they claim, the things predicted by the Prophets, who have heralded them so long prior to their happening. This supposed testimony of truth is what an Arch-Christ-cultist, an Apostle of Jesus Christ, speaks of. For this Apostle, after stating his belief, or at least what he thought he had seen and heard for the advantage and glory of his Master, added this testimony, as a firmer and surer testimony of what he said and what he thought he himself had seen and heard. “We have[226]”, he said to his companions, “the words of the Prophets, which are better grounded, stronger, and safer; you do well”, he told them, “to keep to these, as if by a lamp shining in darkness, until the day appears, since you know[227]”, he told them again, “that it was not by the will of men that prophecy was once brought; but it was by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit that holy men of God spoke.”

  So, let’s take a look at these supposed prophets, and these so-called holy men of God, who spoke by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, and whether we must pay them so much heed as our Christ-cultists claim. These men[228], strictly speaking, were certainly nothing but visionaries and fanatics, who acted and spoke according to the impressions and the raptures of their ruling passions, but who imagined that it was by the spirit of God that they acted and spoke, or rather, they were impostors who mimicked the Prophets, and who, to more easily deceive the ignorant and simple, boasted that they acted and spoke according to the spirit of God[229]; although they were fully aware that it wasn’t the spirit of God, but the spirit of lying and imposture that made them act and
speak. There is no doubt that both of these mental traits are present; for just as we find many acting like madmen without actually being insane, in the same way there were many who have aped the prophets in other ways, and who, on this point, mimicked what the supposed Prophets usually said and did; such that, if one of these supposed Prophets now came among us (even the most famous of the old Prophets), it’s a sure bet that we would treat them no better than visionaries and fanatics, or, as I’ve already said, as deceivers and impostors, who were only looking for easy marks. It would be a fine show nowadays to see such Prophets, it would be a wonder to hear them enunciating these Haec dicit Dominus; we would only laugh at them, and there’s no doubt that our Christ-cultists would also laugh at them, and they can’t deny that, among the so-called prophets of old, many were in fact visionaries and fanatics, or wicked impostors, who abused the name and purpose of God’s authority to deceive men, to for some other reason, by this deceptive artifice. This, I say, can’t be denied by our Christ-cultists, as can be seen clearly, in their supposedly divine and holy books, that many false prophets were among the people of Israel, who spoke in God’s name, who uttered the phrase Haec dicit Dominus with as much boldness and self-assurance as if their God had actually spoken to them, and had actually put words into their mouths. This can be seen clearly in the violent criticism made by some of these so-called prophets against others, that they were speaking falsely in the name of God[230], which criticism, so they say, came from God Himself. “The word of the Lord,” said one of these supposed Prophets,

  Came to me, saying: Hear the word of the Lord. So says the Lord God. Cursed be the insane prophets, who follow their own mind and who see nothing. Your prophets, Israel, are like ducks in the desert[231]; they have vain visions; they guess and prophesy lies, saying; the Lord has said so, even though the Lord never sent them, and never spoke to them; and nevertheless, they persist in assuring their lies. This is why, says the Lord, I will set my hand on these Prophets, who have only vain visions, and prophesy nothing but lies: they will not attend the council of my people, they will not be recorded in the archives of the House of Israel, and will have no part in the inheritance of their fathers, because they seduce my people and you will know by this, that I am the Lord God.[232]

  And another one said:

  The prophet and the priest are filthy and corrupt in their ways; I have found, says the Lord, the evils they cause in my house and among my people[233], I never sent them, but still they have gone forth, I never spoke to them, and still they prophesied[234]. I have seen the folly of the Prophets of Samaria, for they prophesy in the name of Baal, and thereby they deceive my people Israel[235]. And that of the Prophets of Jerusalem I have seen iniquities approaching adultery; they walk amid lies, they favor the wicked, they allow disorder and riot[236]. This is why none corrects their own vices and wickedness; they have all become as vicious and corrupt as those of Sodom and Gomorrah once were. This is why, so says the Lord of these wicked Prophets: I will feed them wormwood and they will drink bile, and I will lay waste to them, because it was the Prophets of Jerusalem who worked the iniquity, and by them came the corruption which has spread to all the Earth. A prophetis enim Jerusalem egressa est pollutio super omnem terram.[237]

  Look, according to the same Prophet[238], at the way God also spoke by his mouth:

  The Prophets prophesy falsely in my name: I did not send them, and I have not spoken to them; they proclaim only false visions and the deceptive seductions of their hearts. Therefore, thus says the Lord of these Prophets who prophesy in my name and whom I have not sent, they shall perish by the sword and by hunger. Hearken not to your Prophets[239], (referring to the people), do not listen to your dreamers, your soothsayers, nor your prognosticators, who prophesy nothing but lies, for I have not sent them, says God. They prophesy falsely in my name. Therefore, pay them no heed.

  He also gave them this same warning on another occasion: “Behold[240], so says the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel: Don’t be seduced by your Prophets, your soothsayers, which are among you, pay no heed to their vain dreams, because they prophesy falsely in my name, as I have never sent them.” And finally, the same Prophet[241], deploring the miserable destruction of Jerusalem, in his Lamentations, attributes the cause of its misfortune to these false Prophets in a way, saying: “Your Prophets had false and extravagant visions for you; they gave you false hopes and did not reveal your iniquity to you, to bring you to repentance, which might have saved you from your misery.” And Jesus Christ said pointedly to his Disciples[242], that false prophets would come, who would lead many astray, and would even perform great miracles and great wonders, to the extent that, if possible, they could bring the very Elect into error; this is why he warned them to be on guard against being misled. This is why the first authors of these supposedly divine Laws, knowing well that it was easy to take advantage of the name and authority of God to impose on the ignorant and the simple, and also seeing that others would come like themselves, wishing to do the same thing as them, calling themselves also the Prophets of the Lord, have ordained severe punishments for any who would undertake to act as Prophets and speak in the name of God, against what they had done and established. This is what Moses, the arch-prophet of the Jews, ordained in his law, which is considered divine; for there is a direct commandment to severely punish anyone who sets out to speak in the name of God and make prophecies.

  If a prophet arises among you[243] saying that he has had a dream or a vision and a divine revelation, leading you to serve and worship alien and unknown Gods, and if, to persuade you that what he says is true, he predicts some sign or miracle, which does come to pass as he predicted, give this prophet, this dreamer, or this visionary no credence, for God will only be permitting this to be, to try you and see if you truly love Him, with all your heart, and as for this Prophet, or this dreamer of dreams and visions, you will put him to death, you will not pardon him, you will have no pity on him, each of you will immediately cast a stone at him, and he will be immediately done away with, for he sought to lead you away from the service of your God.

  And elsewhere, the same law and the same Moses says: “The Lord will raise up another prophet like me, among your brethren”: this was his successor, Joshua; “you will listen to him,” he told them; now note how he has his God speaking to himself: “I will raise to them, from among their brethren, a prophet, like yourself; I will put my words in his mouth, and he will tell them what I’ve commanded him. Whoever refuses to heard what he will tell them in my name[244] will suffer my vengeance. But the Prophet who has the temerity to speak in my name and say what I have not commanded him to say, or who will speak in the name of some other God, will be put to death.” As for the manner in which these same books say that God spoke and made Himself known to His prophets, this is how they put it: God, having descended in a column of clouds, stood at the entry of the Tabernacle and, calling Aaron and his sister Miriam, He spoke to them, saying: “Hear my words. If there any Prophets of the Lord[245] among you, I, the Lord, will make myself known to them in a vision and will speak to them by dreams; it’s not so with my servant Moses, who is faithful in all my house, I speak to him face to face, and he truly sees me as I am, and not darkly or figuratively. Why, therefore, have you dared to speak against Moses, my servant?” It was also by a nighttime vision and a dream that He appeared to Abraham[246], when He commanded him to leave his own country; it was also by a nocturnal vision and a dream that He appeared to him[247], when He commanded him to go and sacrifice his son Isaac; and finally, it was also in this way that He appeared to him and told him to go to Egypt[248]; this is also how He spoke to Nathan and to Samuel[249]. Isaiah himself qualifies these prophecies with the term “vision”[250]. Jeremiah calls them false visions and deceptive divinations[251]. Ezekiel, Daniel, Hosea, and all the other supposed prophets call their prophecies visions, which they nearly always had by night, while sleeping. This is why it is recorded in Job[252] that God speaks by dreams in nightti
me visions, when sleep overcomes men, and they are sleeping in their beds, then is when He opens their ears and speaks to those He would instruct. And the great Paul[253], an elect vessel, when mentioning his rapture to Heaven, said that he didn’t know whether he was transported in the body or in the spirit, when he nevertheless saw and heard amazing things, which he wasn’t able to express in words. And as for the manner in which these supposed Prophets received and published their pretended divine visions and revelations, it was usually in the way, with the same rapture, the same grimaces and movements which are customarily seen in fanatics. The Priests or the Sybils, as well as all the other Prophets and Prophetesses of the Pagans, being seized by a kind of madness, utter, says Rocoles[254], their oracles with an impetuosity of voice and with violent contortions, like those of the possessed. It was the same with most of our supposed Prophets; for when this mania of wishing to prophesy seized them, they were as if in a rapture, and made unusual and ridiculous gestures and movements, like those of any true fanatic. We see a clear example of this in Saul, the first king of the Jews, and in those he sent one day to capture David, for this King, having sent archers to capture David to have him hanged, when they saw him among a troop of Prophets, who prophesied with Samuel at their head, the Spirit of the Lord, seized the archers, who suddenly began prophesying with the rest; which obliged Saul to send even more, to whom the same thing occurred, which made Saul furious and come to personally capture the man he wanted to hang. But when he got there he suddenly found himself seized by the spirit of God, and he took off his clothes, started walking like a madman, prophesying with the rest, and then, having fallen to the ground completely naked, he stayed this way all day and night; this led to a saying among the people: “What, has Saul also begun prophesying, Nun Saul inter prophetas? Are these not truly visions, actions, and raptures of fanatics? Yes, definitely, for only fanatics act so extravagantly, and everyone would say the same thing of these people if they still acted this way: and thus, these troops of Prophets were only troops of fanatics.