by Jean Meslier
But it is obvious that neither these promises of protection to the righteous, nor the terrible threats of punishment against the wicked are carried out; for it’s also clear that the wicked are far from always being punished the way they deserve: far from it, every day presents us with an infinity of good and innocent people being wretchedly oppressed, who perish in their innocence, without any reward for their virtue, and on the other hand we see countless examples every day of ungodly wicked men who exult in their malice and die in peace, without any punishment for their crimes and their wickedness, and therefore there is no infinitely perfect being, who can reward the righteous and punish the wicked, according to their deserts. For if there were such a being, He would not fail to execute these promises with regard to the former as well as the latter. Could it be possible that a supremely good and supremely good being to remain always indifferent to the complaints, tears, and groans of so many good and innocent poor wretches, who so devoutly, so urgently, and so affectionately call on Him and cry out to Him every day in their prayers, and who so pitifully call Him to their aid? Might it be possible for Him to refuse to show favor to any of them, and to abandon them to perish without any assistance? Would it be possible for an omnipotent being to not care about being feared by the wicked, and to always suffer their pride, their blasphemies, their impiety, without punish them as they deserve? That is unimaginable. If God truly is as our God-cultists and our Christ-cultists say, then let Him show Himself, let Him take up His own defense, let Him avenge Himself on His enemies, and those who bring contempt on His laws and His commandments. Exurgat Deus et dissipentur inimici ejus. Psalm 67:4. Baal est Deus vindicet semetipsum. Jud. 6:31.
If this being, who is supposed to be infinitely perfect, showed Himself to men in all His beauty, then everyone would love Him perfectly, for the will naturally loves what is good; similarly, if He strictly punished all the wicked and the guilty, then everyone would fear and be cautious about doing evil, and perhaps nobody would even be so bold as to want to do any wicked deed at all; that, if He punished all the wicked and all the guilty, it wouldn’t even be necessary to punish them as must to make all men wiser and better than they are. If, for example, thunder only ever fell on the heads of the wicked and the guilty, this would be enough to make all sinners quake, and nobody would be brazen enough for wickedness; for we naturally fear death and punishment too much to risk them too readily; and it is surely the impunity of vices and crimes that makes men as bold and stubborn as they are in their malice and wickedness: nor can our God-cultists deny this, because even their so-called Holy Scriptures say so. The children of men, they say, see wickedness go unpunished, and they see that they can commit the same crimes a hundred times again without any punishment, therefore, they say, they indulge without any fear in all manner of vice and wickedness. “This,” says the same holy Scripture, “leads to another vanity, which is no less pitiful than it is detestable, and which is no less deserving pity than of indignation: it is,” it says, “that often the righteous are seen to suffer from countless miseries and are treated with such indignity and disgrace as if they had committed the crimes of the wicked, while at the same time we often see the ungodly living in joy and honor, with as much confidence as if they had all the merit of the righteous,” which is certainly a true vanity and abuse completely unworthy of the goodness, wisdom and justice of an all-powerful and infinitely perfect God. Et enim, says this Scripture[773], quia non profertur cito contra malos sententia, absque timore ullo filii hominum perpretrant mala… Et ist alia vanitas quae sit supra terram. Sunt justi quibus mala proveniunt quasi opera egerint impiorum, et sunt impii qui ita securi sunt quasi justorum facta habeant, sed hoc vanissimum judico. And the most upsetting and the worst thing under heaven, is, says the same Holy Scripture, that all things come equally to everyone: the same accidents, it says, happen to the good and the wicked, to the good and clean and the impure, those who sacrifice and those who despise sacrifices; as the good is, so is the wicked, he who swears as he who fears to take an oath. And this, says the same Scripture, is what leads men to fill their hearts with malice, and to despise everything[774]. Hoc est pessimum inter omnia quae fiunt sub sole quia eadem cunctis eveniunt justo et impio, bono et malo, mundo et immundo, immolanti victimas et sacrificia contemnenti, sicut bonus et peccator sic, ut perjurus ila et ille qui verum dejurat, unde et corda filiorum hominum implentur malitia et contemtu in vita sua.
The God-cultists, unable to withstand the force and evidence of this argument, have subtly decided to say that, if their God does not always reward the virtue and good works of the righteous on Earth, and if He doesn’t always punish the vices and crimes of the wicked in this world, He will not fail to do so in another life, where He will not fail to reward the just abundantly and will not fail to severely punish the wicked. But, aside from the fact that this supposed other life is only an illusion and a pure fiction of the human mind, which loves to trick both itself and others, I say that this interpretation and this response is manifestly contrary to the testimony of their own Scriptures, which I’ve just cited, which only mention a divine and visible protection for the righteous, and only speak of visible punishments of His justice against the wicked. It’s not credible that these Scriptures would only speak of the rewards and punishments of another life: for this would mean falsifying all the promises and all the threats ever made about the rewards of the just and the punishments of the wicked, since these supposed rewards and punishments in another life are only imaginary rewards, just like this supposed other life itself, of which our Christ-cultists speak so often and pretend to care so much about. The vanity of these fine, supposed promises is shown very clearly in their so-called Holy Books; such that we really should be shocked that they’re able to consider them divine books and also flatter themselves with such a vain hope as to live again after they are no more.
This is how these so-called Holy Books speak on this subject. What advantage, they say, can the wise man expect above an insane man, i.e., what benefit can the good man have above a wicked man? To pass into a better life after this one? It would be better, these books say, than to desire that which one doesn’t know, because it’s vanity and presumption of the mind to latch onto what one doesn’t know[775]. Quid habet amplius sapiens a stulto et quid pauper nisi ut pergat illuc ubi est vita? Melius est videre quod cupias quam desiderare quod nescias; sed et hoc vanitas et proesumtio spiritus. It is already, then, according to the doctrine of these so-called holy books, misleading vanity and presumption to expect in another life, and consequently there is no reward, except in this present life. Let’s continue; there are the righteous and the wise, say these same books, there are the righteous and the wise who live religiously in virtue and the practice of all sorts of good works, however, say these same books, nobody knows if they are worthy of love or hate, because all remains amid the uncertainty of a future time. There’s no reason to think there’s any difference between the righteous and the ungodly, between the good and the wicked, between the pure and the impure, or between he who piously offers sacrifices and he who despises them; for the same good or bad events come to both, to the good and the wicked, to perjurers and the honest; which is, say these same books, a very unfortunate and very bad thing for men: because when men see that all things happen equally to the good and the bad, they neglect virtue and are easily led to all sorts of vices and wickedness, after which they go to the grave. Nobody, say these books, can always live, or even hope to always be able to do so. A living dog, as they say, is better than a dead lion. That is to say that the vilest and most miserable animal you can find, provided it’s alive, is better than the largest and most powerful Lord in the world, when he’s dead. And the reason they give is, according to the same books, because at least the living know they will die, they know they must die, but the dead know nothing any longer, and await no further reward, because they are a state of complete oblivion about everything, they no longer have any feeling of hatred, love, or envy, all is o
ver for them, and they have no more part in what goes on in life[776]. Melior est canis vivus leone mortuo, viventes enim sciunt se esse morituros, mortui vero nihil noverunt amplius nec habent ultra mercedem… amor quoque et odium et invidiae simul perierunt, nec habent partem in hoc saeculo. Go, say these same books to their reader, go and peaceably drink and eat the fruit of your labors with your friends enjoy the pleasures and satisfactions of life with the one you love, for that is your lot, that is all the good you can expect in life: for, in the tomb where you are going, there is no more knowledge or sensation for you[777]. Vade ergo et comede in loetitia panem tuum et bibe cum gaudio vinum tuum. Perfruere vita cum uxore quam diligis... Hoec est enim pars tua in vita et in labore tuo quo laboras sub sole, quia nec opus nec ratio nec sapientia, nec scientia erunt apud inferos quo tu properas.
This is one of the clearest and most convincing testimonies anyone could wish for, of the error of our superstitious God-cultists and our superstitious Christ-cultists concerning any alleged punishments in another life, which they falsely teach to the ignorant masses; since, even according to the doctrine of their wisest sage, which I’ve just shared, the dead expect no reward, they have no knowledge, nor any feelings, and that the best thing for the living to do is to drink and eat in peace of the fruits of their labor, and to peaceably enjoy the pleasures and satisfactions of life with the one you love, and that this is all they can hope to share by way of the goods of life, this is a clear proof that there is no other life than this and that he believed in no other, and consequently, that there is no reward to expect or punishment to fear in another life. Since, then, the righteous so often die without any reward for their virtue or their good works, and since the wicked so often die without receiving the punishment they deserved for their crimes and wickedness, it follows that there is no sovereign justice for the former or the latter, and therefore that there is no infinitely perfect being. For, if there really were such a being, who was infinitely perfect, He would be perfectly just, and if He were perfectly just, He would reward the good and punish the wicked: and, since we clearly see that the good are not always rewarded and that the wicked are not always punished, this is a clear proof that there is no God, nor an infinitely perfect being to reward the former and punish the latter. Here’s another argument.
77. IF THERE WERE SOME DIVINITY WHO WISHED TO BE LOVED, WORSHIPED, AND SERVED BY MEN, HE WOULDN’T FAIL TO MAKE HIMSELF, AT LEAST, SUFFICIENTLY WELL KNOWN TO THEM, AND TO MAKE HIS WILL SUFFICIENTLY WELL-KNOWN.
If there were truly some Divinity or some infinitely perfect being, who wanted to be worshiped and loved by men, both reason and justice, and even duty, would demand that this supposedly infinitely perfect being must make Himself manifest or at least sufficiently well known to all those by whom He would be loved, worshiped, and served. Similarly, reason, justice, and duty demand that this same infinitely perfect being must make manifest, or at least sufficiently well known, His intentions and His will: for it would be ridiculous for any being endowed with understanding and reason to expect to be loved without at least making itself adequately well known. Equally, it would be ridiculous and completely unjust for a Master or a Lord to expect to be served and obeyed without at least expressing his intentions and will; for if there were any Master or Lord capable of demanding such a thing from his servants or subjects, without making himself adequately well-known to them and without making his intentions and his will adequately well known to them, surely, he would only be seen as a fool and a madman. And if this Master or Lord took this folly to such an excess as to severely punish or have punished one of his servants or subjects for failing to do what he wanted them to do, he would be thought the most unjust and the most brutal and the cruelest ruler in the world. It would be quite hard to imagine that any man could ever attain such a level of insanity or inhumanity as to intend such a thing; with all the more reason would it be unworthy to think that a God or an infinitely perfect being could be capable of meaning to do so. However, it clearly follows that if there truly were, as I’ve said, some Divinity or some infinitely perfect being, who wished to be loved and worshiped by men, then reason, justice, and even duty would demand that this infinitely perfect being must make Himself at least sufficiently well known to men and to make His intentions and will sufficiently well known to them. All those propositions are as clear and obvious as the light of day at noon.
But it is evident that this alleged Divinity has not made Himself sufficiently known to men and that He has also failed to make His intentions and will known; for if He had done so, it is sure that nobody would be ignorant about it, that nobody would deny it, and that nobody would question His existence, and there wouldn’t be so much disputation as there has been among men, with respect to His supposed existence. Since, then, so many of them have been ignorant about this, so many who deny it, so many who question His existence, so many who would like to know it but are unable to do so, and finally, so many who connect it and attribute it, whether to mortal men, or to filthy and vile animals, or to inanimate beings, or to mute idols, who are possessed neither of motion nor sensation, and who themselves imagine that it is, believe it without seeing and without knowing it, this is a clear proof that it has not make itself known to men at all. Equally, too, it (this supposed Divinity) doesn’t make its intentions and will sufficiently known to men, for if it made them sufficiently well known, they would all be certain and assured of what they should do to please Him, they would all agree about believing in the same truths and would conform in the same rites, and thus there wouldn’t be so much disputation and diversity of opinion as there is about the precepts, the mysteries, and the ceremonies of their supposedly holy and divine laws, and they wouldn’t have any reason to hate each other, or persecute each other with fire and bloodshed, as they do every day for the maintenance and defense of so many false opinions, which are mutually contradictory.
Since, then, it’s plain as day and nobody sees, even after many thousands of years, that men have been unable to come to any agreement concerning their beliefs on the principal points of their Religion, or conformity to the same forms of worship, and they never cease to hate and cruelly persecute each other, each to uphold the mysteries, precepts, and ceremonies of their supposedly divine laws, and each of them even believe that, by doing so, they render their gods the highest possible service, is a clear proof that there is no Divinity who truly and sufficiently makes His intentions and will known to men. For if there were one capable of actually making His will known, it’s not credible that it would always leave men in such a miserable and unhappy state of ignorance and error about its will, since they all claim to fight for its honor and glory, and they all believe they’re doing what is right when each of them follows and upholds, at the expense and at the peril of their property and lives, the ordinances and ceremonies of their Religion.
If, for example, those people who were avid for the glory and the service of their Prince, fell into disputes and dissensions concerning the interpretation of the will of their Prince, and affecting the execution of his orders, some saying: this is how the King ordains and what he means, and others saying: no, that’s not what he wants and what he means, and, if these disputes and dissensions led the people to take arms against each other, to fight, kill, butcher, and burn each other on the pretext of the interests of their Prince, and faithfully carrying out His ordinances, as they believe right, what would the King or Prince do in this situation? If he were a good and wise Prince, the moment he heard of such a division among his people and subjects and of its cause, he would certainly provide a clear interpretation of his orders and make his intentions and wishes clear, and by this means he would immediately bring an end to all the disturbances and divisions, and would restore, as it were in a single moment, peace and unity among his subjects. But if he were an insane, cynical, and wicked Prince, who enjoyed watching them fight and tear each other for love of him, he would let them carry on, he wouldn’t say a word, and wouldn’t even trouble him
self to declare his will to them, or have it declared to them explicit terms.
Thus, all men, who are unfortunately in a situation similar to that of those people I just mentioned; they are in mutual dispute and debate about the laws and ordinances of their God, they all claim to worship and serve the true God. All of them even claim to worship and serve and follow His true intentions and will; the former say that He wants to be worshiped and served in a certain way, others say that He wants to be worshipped in a certain other way: others maintain that all of these are mistaken and that it's in a totally different way that He wants to be worshiped and served, while others have still other views, finally, all men are divided into a thousand, and perhaps more than a thousand sorts of different views concerning the laws and the ceremonies of their Religion. Even those who profess the same religion don’t always agree on all the main points of their doctrine: which leads to a ridiculous multitude of various sorts of subjects; for many thousands of years they have waged war on each other and persecuted each other with fire and bloodshed, for the love and glory of their God, and on this fine pretext of defending and religiously upholding His laws and ordinances. However, no God has ever appeared who put an end to these dire divisions and these horrible disorders, or who took it upon himself to bring peace to men by making Himself clearly known, or by declaring His intentions and will to them clearly, as our God-cultists say, that there is a Divinity who wants to be religiously served and worshiped by men.
