A Memoir- the Testament

by Jean Meslier

  And who, for example, among our Christ-cultists, even the most religious and highly recommended among them, could command the mountains to move from here to there, or the trees to be uprooted and cast into the sea, who among them would dare to claim that they see the effect and fulfillment of their commandments? To be sure, nobody with a drop of good sense would venture such a claim. And yet, their God and their Almighty Christ positively told them that if they only had faith the size of a mustard seed, then nothing would be impossible to them, that if they said to a mountain: move from here to there, that it would indeed move where they said, and that, if they said to a tree: uproot yourself and be planted in the sea, that it would obey them. Similarly, he told them that those who believe in him would drive out demons in his name, that they would speak various languages, that they would touch snakes without being hurt, that they would drink poison and receive no harm, that, in the end, they would restore health to the sick, by simply laying hands on them, and that, by doing all these wonders, they would give a certain proof of the truth of their Faith and of the truth of the promises of their Christ. But by the same token, if they can’t perform these wonders, this is a sure proof that they lack faith, and that they don’t really believe that the above promises are false. If they lack faith, why do they not have this faith? And why don’t they believe, these clumsy faithful ones? Since it would be so glorious and advantageous for them to believe and perform such great and amazing things. But if they pretend to have faith, but still can’t perform these marvels, then they have to recognize the vanity and falseness of these promises, and confess that they have been duped.

  If Muhammad, for example, made similar promises to his followers, and they failed to see any better realization of them than our Christ-cultists do, the latter wouldn’t fail to cry: ‘Ah-ha! That scoundrel! That impostor! What fools they are to believe in such an impostor! They themselves fall victim to the same thing, for so long now; and they’re still in this situation, whether or not they wish to, or are even able to recognize and confess their mistake and their blindness. And, given they ingenuity in self-deception, they are even content to stay and solidify themselves in their errors, reasonably saying that the above-mentioned promises have their effect and fulfilment in the beginnings of Christianity, since it was then necessary for there to be miracles, to convince infidels and unbelievers of the truth of the Christian religion; but that, once their religion was locked into place, the above-mentioned miracles were no longer necessary and there was no further need for God to grant His faithful believers the power to perform miracles. Which doesn’t mean, according to their view, that the above-mentioned promises weren’t completely true, since they were already sufficiently fulfilled. But what do they know, if they have ever been fulfilled, they may well want to believe it, but they can’t produce any sure testimony of the fact, as I’ve shown above. Besides, he who made said promises hasn’t restricted them to a certain time, or a certain place, or to certain people, but he made them general and without restriction as to time, place, or people. The faith of those who believe, he said, will be followed by these miracles, and they will drive out demons in my name, they will speak various languages, they will touch snakes without danger, if they drink poison, it will do them no harm, and they will heal the sick, by simply laying hands on them[373]. And, speaking of prayer, he positively states that he will do whatever is asked, in his name, of his Father[374]. If two among you, he said, agree on earth, whatever they ask, they will obtain it[375]. He who asks, receives, he adds. But if you, who are evil, are nevertheless able to give good things to your children, how much more, he says, will your Heavenly Father gladly give to those who ask[376]? And with respect to the moving of mountains, he positively states that anyone will say to a mountain: move from here and be cast into the sea, provided he doesn’t hesitate in his heart, but believes that all he commands will be done, it will be granted to him, and that, no matter what be asked in prayer, with faith, it will be obtained, etc.[377] These are indeed universal promises; it is obvious that they come without restrictions as to time, place, or individuals, they only ask for the presence of faith: therefore, to be true, they must be true in their entire extent, i.e., without restriction as to time, place, or individuals, and consequently, to be true, they must have their effect and fulfilment with respect to anyone who has faith and asks, in the name of Jesus Christ, and as it is obvious that they presently have their effect nowhere, and that nobody would even dare to try to see their effect, without risking shame and confusion, it is also obvious that they are false.

  7) Jesus Christ said to his disciples that he would give them the key to the kingdom of Heaven, and that all they bound on earth would be bound in heaven[378]. Since nobody can go to Heaven to check on what’s happening there, and since these supposed keys to the Kingdom of Heaven, and this supposed power of binding or loosing, which Christ mentions, are only imaginary keys and an imaginary power, or a spiritual power, as our Christ-cultists put it, there is no impostor or fanatic who can’t also make similar promises; but it is also easy to discover the vanity of this. Also, the vanity of these other promises that the same Christ made to his disciples, of having them drink and eat at his table, when he had come into his Kingdom[379], of seating them on 12 thrones to judge the 12 tribes of Israel and that he promised to all those who leave, for love of him, their father, mother, brothers, sisters, wives, children, houses, lands, and other inheritances, of giving them 100 times more[380]. Where he also promised to give eternal life to those who follow his word[381], or who would eat, as he said, his flesh and drink his blood, and that he would resurrect them at the last day, etc.[382] As he puts off the fulfilment of all these fine promises to an indeterminate time, which is long in coming, and to the time of an alleged new regeneration, which will clearly never come, there is also no impostor or fanatic who couldn’t easily make similar promises; but it is also easy by this to show the vanity thereof, since they destroy themselves.

  8) Jesus Christ said to his disciples that he founded his Church on the stone, that it would remain forever, and that the gates of Hell would never prevail against it[383]. If, by these words, he meant that his sect would always exist, and that it will never be destroyed, this will be seen with the passage of time: for, although it’s already existed for a long time, this is no sure proof that it will always exist, men will not always be as stupid and blind as they are, on the subject of Religion; they might open their eyes someday, and perhaps recognize, even late in the day, that this was their mistake: and if that does happen, then they will indignantly and scornfully reject that which they most religiously worshiped, and then all these sects of errors and impostures will meet their shameful end. But if, by these words, we are only to understand that he founded and established a sect, or society of followers who will never fall into vice, or error, then these words are absolutely false; since there is no sect in Christianity, or in any society and Church, which is not full of errors and vices, and principally the sect or society of the Roman Church, although it calls itself the purest and holiest of all; but it fell into error a long time ago, since, I say, it’s fallen into error, it is born there, it has been conceived and formed there, and even now there it is, even in errors, which are manifestly contrary to the intention and views and the doctrine of its Founder, since it has, against his plans and intentions, abolished the laws of the Jews, which he approved of, and that he had come, as he himself said, to fulfill and not to destroy it, and that it fell into the errors and idolatries of paganism, as is clearly seen by the idolatrous cult it paid to its God of dough, to His saints, to their images, and to their relics.

  Consider what a savant and judicious Author[384] says on this subject:

  Jesus, the Son of Mary, was a descendant of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He was raised under the Law of Moses, which he never violated. “Never imagine”, he said during his time on Earth, “that I came to ruin the law of Moses, I came instead to perfect it[385].” His Apostles did the sam
e thing, and in all things, they strictly observed the established precepts. The first Christians acted the same way. They even observed the Jewish sabbath, not counting the first day of the week, which was assigned for the public celebration of their mysteries. They abstained from the blood of strangled beasts, polluted meats, and those which were sacrificed to Idols.

  This is what was determined and decreed in their first council, which they held at Jerusalem, where the first Apostle of Jesus Christ, named Peter, presided. It seemed right to the Holy Spirit and to us, they say, to impose no other burden on you, than these necessary things, that is, to abstain from meat sacrificed to the idols, from the blood of the animals and beasts which are strangled, and from fornication, from which things you will do well to keep yourselves[386]. The same author continues:

  They didn’t have, in their churches, either images or paintings, neither chapels nor oratories. They observed, finally, all the necessary purifications and they all worshiped a single God. Things are quite different now, and the Roman Church follows very different principles. It breaks Christ’s formal declaration and positive statement that he came to abolish the law, and set the world at liberty, that we can today regale ourselves with the blood of butchered animals, with the same liberty that we use with the milk of living animals, eating the flesh of pigs and other abominable meats, and being thereby no more criminal than if we age lambs and other clean animals, which are permitted by the law of God. How can that be harmonized, or how can a reasonable person accept this? It is not surprising to see so many libertines and atheists in the world, when Christianity is a tissue of palpable contradictions. You will reply the way these theologians usually do, that during the first period, the Apostles and other Christians observed the law of Moses, for fear of offending the Jews, who had embraced the Christian Faith, and who would have found it distasteful if there had been a move away from the Statutes of the House of Jacob; but that after the Gospel was preached all over the Earth, and a great number of pagans had entered the Church, it was found no better to offend all the other Christians for a nation as negligible as the Jewish one, and to impose a yoke on them to which they were unaccustomed, and which might have led them to abandon Christianity itself, rather than put up with such a burden. The Church, then, to facilitate as far as possible the conversion of the Roman empire, which included most of the earth, accommodated its laws, its precepts, its morals, and the ceremonies of Religion to the spirit and fashion of those times. And, as the Pagans ate whatever they liked, they were made to understand that this was in keeping with the will of Jesus Christ, who had come to deliver men from the slavery and servitude of the Mosaic superstitions. It was by the same condescension that the use of images and paintings were introduced into the Church: the priestly robes, the ornaments on the altars, the candles, the lamps, the incense, the flowerpots and other religious niceties were only based on the models received from the Priests of Jupiter, Apollo, Venus, Diana, and other pagan divinities. Hence the Feasts of the Gods and Goddesses were changed into the feasts of the saints, and the temples, previously consecrated to the Sun, to the Moon, and the stars, were rededicated to the Apostles and the martyrs[387]. Even the Pantheon, or the Temple of all the Gods, which was at Rome, was, over time and thanks to the skill of the Ecclesiastics, changed into a Church, which is consecrated to all the saints. It seemed, in brief, that Christianity was, in many things, only a disguised paganism. Again, it was needful to think that it was a pious fraud, to attract willy-nilly, so many millions of sinners to the Church’s bosom… In which it can truly be said that the Roman Church as done no less to paganize Christians, than it did to Christianize pagans. The Ethiopian Church is a living witness against it; for the Christians of Ethiopia have observed from all antiquity, and even from the times of the Apostles, this part of the law of Moses, which relates to purity and impurity, and which prescribes the choices we should make of meats, which are permissible to eat, and forbidding those which are prohibited by this Law of Moses. That is why there are, in that country, more Jews who have converted to the Christian Faith, than in all the rest of the world. The Christians of the East are, it seems, less blameworthy than the Roman Christians; for, although they’re less strict in their observance than those of Ethiopia, the laws of purity and impurity of meats and liquids, etc., still, they don’t eat blood, or anything that was strangled. Their ecclesiastics abstain from all sorts of flesh, during the whole course of their lives, they observe many purifications and holy ways of life. But the Roman Christians dive like pigs into all manner of filth and can never be unpersuaded that they are the only true Catholics, the only Elect of God, and the only people on earth, who are in the royal path to heaven. I don’t know what to think about that, there is no reason to expect the Jews to convert without the prior removal of these obstacles. Who wouldn’t laugh at the stupidity of men, who pay divine respects to a garden scarecrow, a tree, a pig, a dog, a horse, a snake, etc., or the first thing one sees in the morning, like the Laplanders and so many other idolaters. But, on the other hand, who could help but cry at the sight of people to profess to believe the law of Moses and that of the Messiah, both of whom preached the unit of a God, people who boast of having the purest and holiest Religion on Earth (i.e., the Roman Christians), who could, I repeat, help but weep at the sight of these people worshiping wood and stone, paintings and images, nails, rags, bones, hairs, bits of old wood, and, in general, everything the astute priests offer them as worthy of their admiration?

  All these errors and abuses are easy to notice in the Roman Church, they are totally at odds with the first institution of the Christian Religion, and also contrary to the institution of Jesus Christ himself, its first founder, such that, if not with respect to the vices, or with respect to the errors and abuses, that he said that the gates of Hell could never prevail against his Church, or against what he established, his promise turns out glaringly false with respect to the Roman Church, since it teaches many errors and many abuses which he himself would have condemned. And presently it is also false to see that it is not infallible in its doctrine, since it now condemns, in the constitution called Unigenitus, that which it received and made obligatory in the past, the doctrine that it previously received, that it previously established in its councils and decrees, and which is formally contained in its supposedly holy and sacred books.

  9) Jesus Christ said[388]: Behold, the hour comes when all those who are in the sepulchers or tombs will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear it, will have life. This was said nearly 2,000 years ago, and consequently 2,000 years have passed since this hour should have come, but it hasn’t yet. Therefore, it was quite false for him to say: “Behold, the hour is coming”, since this hour has not come yet, and there is no reason to think that it should, either anytime soon, or that it will ever come.

  10) The same Jesus Christ[389] said to his disciples that they didn’t need to worry about what to say, or what replies they should give, when they were led before Judges and Governors, or even before Kings, because he would then give them, he said, wisdom and words their enemies could neither resist nor contradict. If this promise had had its effect, they would have easily convinced, with their wisdom and by the force of their arguments and words, all those who wished to stand against them. But there is no evidence, either in their speeches or their writings, that they ever convinced by arguing, any of their enemies, or even any unbeliever; there is no evidence, I repeat, or any indication anywhere of this divine wisdom, or even any reasoning power capable of persuading anyone who is wise and enlightened; on the contrary, we find that they themselves were always confounded and were always regarded with indignation and contempt, as miserable fanatics. This is also why they suffered persecution, as is seen in all the histories[390].

  11) Jesus Christ said to his disciples that he was the light of the world, who gave light to every man who comes into the world, and that he who followed him would not walk in darkness; but still, nobody sees any other light whi
ch gives light to men, other than that of the Sun, which however does nothing to help the blind. It’s said in St. John that he would give to all those who believe in him the power to become the children of God, who care not born, as he puts it, of the will of the flesh, or blood, or the will of man, but who are born of God. Where are they, these divine children of God, who are born in such a divine manner, without the cooperation of man? Indeed, we can see none but those who come by the natural path of flesh and blood.

  12) Jesus Christ said that he was the way, the truth, and the life[391], that he was the resurrection itself, that he who believed in him would never die[392]. He also said that if any kept his word, he would never die[393]. Therefore, we must think that nobody has ever kept his word, or truly believed in him, including his most faithful disciples, since nobody from those times or the intervening centuries has failed to die, and we see daily examples of men who believe in him dying, without any of them being able to escape or avoid death. But how might he have been able to prevent any man from dying, since he himself was unable to stay alive or avoid death? Where, then, is the truth of all these promises? Who can fail to chuckle when hearing them, and seeing how ineffectual they are? If their truth can’t be shown, it must be concluded that they are absolutely false and even completely ridiculous.

  To say that these words and these sorts of promises should be understood in their spiritual sense, and that they are true in this spiritual sense, although they are not true in the literal sense of the words themselves, is sheer illusion, since this supposed spiritual sense is only a forged and imaginary sense, which can be applied and used at will on all sorts of subjects, like the sandal of Theracunes, which fit everyone’s feet, since there are no promises or propositions so false, so absurd, or so ridiculous that aren’t susceptible to a spiritual, allegorical, or figurative sense, if one only wants to find a few spiritual and imaginary truths there, like those which our Christ-cultists claim to find in the words and promises of their Christ, so well that since the spiritual sense which they give to them is a purely imaginary sense, the truths they claim to find there are only imaginary truths, to which it would be ridiculous to pay any attention. Besides, since the above-mentioned promises and words are no truer in the attributed spiritual sense than in the natural and literal sense of the words, it follows that they are as false in one sense as in the other.