A Memoir- the Testament

by Jean Meslier

  The Prophet Nahum said:

  Behold the feet of he who comes bringing you good news, and who proclaims peace to you. Celebrate, peoples of Judah, joyously celebrate your feasts and render solemn vows and praise to God: for He will no longer allow the wicked to come among you; they will all perish[297].

  The Prophet Zephaniah said:

  The remnant of the people of Israel will no longer commit iniquity, they will no longer speak lies and their mouth will no longer utter deceiving language, they will repose and will be sated in peace; nobody will dare to terrify them any more. Rejoice, O daughters of Zion, rejoice, daughters of Israel, rejoice with all your heart, and jump for joy, O daughters of Jerusalem, for the Lord has abolished the rigorous judgments against you, He has scattered all your enemies, you will no longer fear any coming evil, the Lord is in your midst, as an almighty God to save you, He will rejoice in you, He will cherish you, and bring joyful victory to you[298].

  The Prophet Zechariah said:

  Praise the Lord, rejoice, O daughters of Zion, for the Lord will come to dwell among you. Many nations will join the Lord, they will be His people, He will remain among you, He will sanctify Jerusalem, to make it His dwelling-place. Rejoice, O daughters of Zion, praise the Lord, daughters of Jerusalem, for a King comes to you, who will be just and who will be your savior, even if He is poor, and riding on an ass, (which was inappropriately added by...) He will dissipate the wars and will only speak peace to the nations, His power will extend forever, from one sea to the other, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. In that time, he says, living waters will come from Jerusalem; have of these to the Eastern sea, and the other half to the Western sea, and there will be Summer and Winter, and the Lord God will be King over all the earth, and his name will be the same everywhere. All the earth will be converted to the Lord, they will live peacefully, there will be no more curses, and Jerusalem will remain in safety[299].

  Thus says the Lord, I will save my people myself from the lands to the East and the West, I will bring them again, and I will dwell in the midst of Jerusalem, they will be my people and I will be their God, in truth and in justice. Take courage and be comforted, you who hear these words from the mouth of the Prophets; I will no longer do as before, when there were no rewards for men or beasts, no peace for those who went or came, everyone living in fear and trembling, when I let them persecute each other. No, for I will place a seed of peace everywhere for my people. The vine will bring forth its fruits, the earth will produce its goods, and to the same degree that I was ardent in afflicting them, when I was wrathful, so I will now be zealous to do them good. Just as you were under a curse, so will you now be under a blessing. Therefore, take courage, House of Judah and House of Israel, be comforted and fear nothing any longer[300].

  All these fine, magnificent promises and prophecies are manifestly false. And with respect to the Liberator and Savior which was promised, this is what the same supposed prophecies say about him. First, the Prophet Nathan said to King David:

  Thus says the Lord, when your days are over, and you are sleeping with your fathers, I will raise up your seed after you, and strengthen your kingdom, he will build me a house, and I will establish his throne and kingdom, to last until the end of time. I will be a father to him, and he will be a son to me; should he do anything amiss, I will correct him, as I did with Saul, he will be faithful in my house, his throne will stay strong forever, and his reign will be eternal[301].

  I have sworn to David by my holiness, and I will not lie. His seed will remain forever before me like a bright sun and a perfect moon[302]. The Lord will rule the whole earth, He will give the empire to His king, and exalt the power of his son Christ, He will preserve His saints and His elect, while the wicked are confused in darkness. The Lord will give the empire to the son of the King, that is, to Solomon, the son of King David, who is a type of Christ, He will save the poor and will humble all sinners, He will reign as long as the sun and moon remain, for all generations. Justice will begin with Him, and there will be an abundance of peace as long as the moon exists: He will have dominion from one sea to the other, and from the river to the ends of the earth. The Ethiopians will come to pay their respects to him, His enemies will be made to lick the ground. The Kings of Tharsis and the isles will offer him their presents. The kings of Arabia and Sheba will also give Him presents. All the kings of the earth will worship him, all nations will serve him, and the whole earth will be filled with the splendor of his majesty[303].

  The Lord has prepared the strength of his arms in the sight of all nations, and all the ends of the earth will see the salvation of your God. The Lord has sent redemption to His people, he made His covenant in perpetuity, and He will always remember His holy law from the Testament: Mandavit in aeternum Testamentum suum[304].

  And the Prophet Isaiah said:

  Unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given, he will have the rule of the empire, and his name will be admirable, the leader, the strong and powerful God, the father of the coming age, and the Prince of Peace. His empire will go on forever, and there will be no end to peace. He will be seated on the throne of David, he will reign in his kingdom, to strengthen it and establish it in justice, from here to eternity: this is what will the zeal of the Lord will do[305].

  A stem will come from the root of Jesse (i.e., the father of King David), the spirit of the Lord will rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of knowledge, the spirit of counsel and power, and of the fear of the Lord. He will not judge by the sight of his eyes or on the hearing of his ears, but he will judge in justice and truth. Justice will be the girdle of his loins and faithfulness will be the belt on his sides. The wolf will dwell with the lamb, the leopard will lie with the kid, the calf and the unicorn and other livestock that are fattened, will be together, so much so that a child will lead them… none will hurt, and none will harm in all my holy mountain[306].

  All these fine, magnificent promises and prophecies are manifestly false.

  Behold, the days are coming, says the Lord, when I will raise unto David a righteous seed, who will reign as King, as a wise king, who will do justice and judgment on earth. In that same time Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell in safety: this is the name he will be given, he will be called the Lord, our justice: for I will gather the remnant of my flock from all the lands where I will have driven them, I will bring them back to their land, there they will grow and multiply, I will give them shepherds to feed them, they will no longer fear anything and none of them will perish.

  Behold, the days come, says the Lord, when I will effectuate the good word I pronounced touching the house of Israel, and touching the house of Judah. In those days and in those times I will bring of David a seed of justice, who will exercise justice on earth. In those days Judah will be delivered, and Jerusalem will dwell in safety. And behold how he will be called: the Lord, our justice. For behold, the Lord says: the posterity of David will not fail, there will always be one to reign on the throne of the house of Israel. The priests and Levites will not be absent, they will always be there to offer me sacrifices, perfumes, and victims every day[307].

  I will save my people; they will no longer be prey, I will raise to my sheep a pastor who will take care of them, namely, my servant David, who will be their shepherd, and I will be their God, and my servant David will be their prince. I will make a pact with them, and I will do away with all the evil beasts of the earth, so that they will dwell in the deserts safely and will sleep safely in the deserts[308].

  In a short time I will trouble heaven and earth, sea and fire, and will trouble all nations, so that the Desire of all nations will come, and I will fill this house with glory, and the glory of this house will be greater than the first; (i.e., the temple of the Lord) I will bring peace to this place, says the Lord of Hosts[309].

  Now listen to Jesu, the high priest, you and your companions, for these are wise and prudent men. I will bring my servant from them. Behold a man whose name wil
l be the East, he will build a Temple to the Lord and will himself be full of majesty, he will be seated and will rule on his Throne, and there will be counsel of peace between the two. Rejoice, daughters of Zion, rejoice, daughters of Jerusalem, for behold your coming King, a just King, who will be your savior, he will be poor and seated on an ass; but he will dissipate war and will speak peace to the Nations and his power will extend from one sea to the other, and from the river to the ends of the earth[310].

  Behold, I send my angel and immediately the Lord whom you seek will enter His temple with the angel of the Covenant you wish for. Who can bring the day of His coming? And who might remain when He departs? For He will be seated like one who refines and purifies silver, He will cleanse the children of Levi; He will purify them like gold and silver, and they will offer sacrifices to the Lord in all justice and holiness. And then the offering of Judah and Jerusalem will be pleasant unto the Lord, as in former ages, and in ancient times[311].

  All these fine and magnificent promises and prophecies are manifestly false.

  I will soon bring justice, my deliverance will not be long in coming, my deliverance will be in Zion and in Jerusalem, where the seat of my glory is[312]. Behold what the Lord says. I will do away with this proverb, and it will no longer be applied to Israel: You say that the fulfilment of the promises is long in coming, that the days pass slowly, and that the time is always stretching out, and finally that the prophecies and promises are vain and will come to nothing. You will no longer say that, for the days of the fulfilment of my promises are near, they will not be delayed any longer: for there will no longer be vain visions or ambiguous prophecies among the children of Israel. For it is I myself, the Lord, who is speaking, and every word I have uttered will be executed, and will no longer be postponed; it will even be in your days that I will fulfill my promises, unbelieving as you are, says the Lord[313].

  These prophecies and promises are certainly quite clear and distinct, quite expressive, and which are more advantageous than one might expect for the people of Israel, that is, for the Jewish people and for the city of Jerusalem, which was their capital city. And if these promises and prophecies were actually true and had actually been realized, then this people or the Jewish nation would have been and still would be now, not only the most numerous, strong, and powerful people on earth, but they would also be the richest, most glorious, most blessed, happiest, and most victorious of any people.

  They would also be the wisest, most perfect, the holiest and most accomplished of all peoples, since they would all be pure and holy, and none among them would be impure, and none of them would do injustice or iniquity, that none of them would harm their neighbor, and none would even tell lies. Similarly, if all these promises and prophecies were true and were actually realized, the city of Jerusalem would have long since and still be the most famous, the most beautiful, the largest, richest, loveliest, most glorious, most victorious, happiest, and holiest of all cities in the world, since God would have chosen it Himself for the establishment of the throne of His glory and His holiness, that nothing impure and soiled would enter into it, and from all parts of the earth people would come bearing all sorts of goods and wealth in abundance.

  But as certain and evident as it is that these promises and prophecies are far from having been fulfilled, and that there is not even any certainty that they ever will be, it is equally sure and obvious that they are false, and consequently, that those who invented and forged them were, as I said, nothing but visionaries and fanatics, who only spoke as moved by their passions, or impostors who wanted to amuse the masses in this way, and impose on them, to deceive and seduce them.

  28. THE FALSENESS OF THE SUPPOSED PROMISES OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

  The same thing applies to the promises and the alleged prophecies contained in our so-called Holy Gospels, and we must apply the same judgment to those who first advanced them. I will share them here, word for word, as they appear in said Gospels. 1) An angel, having appeared in a dream to a man called Joseph, the, at least putative, father of Jesus Christ, son of Mary. The angel told him: Joseph, son of David, fear not to take Mary for your wife, for what is born in her is the product[314] of the Holy Spirit. She will bear you a son whom you will call Jesus, because it will be he who will deliver his people of their sins. This Angel told Mary:

  Fear not, for you have found favor before God. I declare to you that you will even conceive in bosom and bring forth a son and name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the son of the Most High, the Lord God will give Him the throne of David his father, he will reign forever in the house of Jacob, and his kingdom will have no end[315].

  Jesus began to preach, saying:

  Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is nigh[316], do not trouble yourself, asking what will we eat or what will we drink, or what we’ll wear, for your heavenly Father knows that all these things are necessary: seek first the kingdom, therefore, of God and righteousness, and all these things shall be added unto you[317].

  He also told his disciples: “Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, and the door is opened to whoever knocks. Who among you”, he told the people, “would give a stone to his son, when asked for bread, or if asked for a fish, would give him a snake? And if you, evil as you are,” he continues, “nevertheless know how to give what is good to your children, how much more will your Heavenly Father, who is in Heaven, be able to give true goods to whoever asks Him for them?[318]” “Rather, wherever you go,” he told his Apostles, “preach that the Kingdom of Heaven is nigh, give health to the sick, raise the dead, heal the lepers, drive out devils”[319].

  “The Son of man,” he said, referring to himself, “will send his angels, who will remove from his kingdom all those who are disgraceful all those who commit iniquity, and will cast them into the furnace of fire, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous,” he said, “will shine like the Sun in the Kingdom of their Father[320]. As for me,” Jesus Christ told his Apostle Peter, “I tell you that you are Peter and that on this stone I will build my church, and that the gates of hell will not prevail against it. I will give you,” he told him, “the keys to the kingdom of heaven, all that you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and all you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven[321].”

  “The Son of man,” as Jesus Christ called himself, “will come with his angels in the glory of his Father, and he will give to each according to his works[322].” And “Verily I say to you, that among those who are here, some will not die, without having seen the son of man coming in his kingdom[323]. When there wherever two or three people gathered together in my name”, said Jesus Christ, “I am among them.” “Verily, I say,” he told his Apostles, “that on the day of regeneration, when the son of man shall sit upon the throne of his majesty, you who have followed me will set on 12 thrones to judge the 12 tribes of Israel and whoever has left, for my sake, his house, or brothers, sisters, father, mother, wife, children, or lands, he will receive a hundred times as much in this life and he will have eternal life[324].” All these fine and magnificent promises and prophecies are manifestly false.

  “You know,” said Jesus Christ to his Apostles, “that the kings and princes of the Gentiles lord it over them and treat them according to authority; but as for you,” he said, “you will not do likewise. He among you who will be the greatest, let him be your servant and whoever would be first among you must be last and the servant of all[325].”

  He also said that

  Many will come in my name saying, I am the Christ, and will deceive many… Many false prophets will also arise, who will seduce many people and because the iniquity will be increased, the charity of many will grow cold… This Gospel of the Kingdom will be preached in all the earth, as a witness to the nations, and then the end will come… The affliction of those days will be so great that its like was never seen from the beginning of the world. In those days, false Christs will arise, and false prophets who will perform such
great miracles and wonders that even the Elect, if possible, would be led astray. After those days, the sun will grow dark, the moon will not give its light, the stars will fall from the sky, and the powers of heaven will be shaken; in this moment all the tribes on earth will bemoan their misfortune, they will see the Son of Man coming in the clouds, with a great power and a great majesty; he will send his angels who, with the sound of the trumpet, will gather all the elect, from the 4 corners of the world, and from one side of heaven to the other. When you see all these things, know that the Son of Man is near and that he is at the door, and that your Redemption is near, for I say unto you that this generation shall not pass, without all these things happening. Heaven and earth will pass away but my words will never pass without having their effect. As for the day and moment when it will happen, nobody knows, not even the angels of heaven, but my Father alone knows[326].

  “Behold,” he said after his resurrection, “I am with you always, until the end of time[327], whatever you ask for with faith in prayer, will be given to you.” He also told them: “Trust in God, for I say unto you, that whosoever shall say to this mountain, ‘Move away from here, and cast yourself into the sea!’ provided he has no hesitation in his heart, but believe that whatsoever he commands will be done, it will be granted him. Therefore, I tell you,” he continued, “that whatever it may be that you ask for in the prayer of faith, you will obtain it[328].”