o worship that of which it is impossible for
us to judge? To admire these same views, is it not admiring without
knowing wry? Admiration is always the daughter of ignorance. Men admire
and worship only what they do not understand.
XLVII.--ALL THE QUALITIES WHICH THEOLOGY GIVES TO ITS GOD ARE CONTRARY TO
THE VERY ESSENCE WHICH IT SUPPOSES HIM TO HAVE.
All these qualities which are given to God are not suited to a being
who, by His own essence, is devoid of all similarity to human beings. It
is true, they think to find this similarity by exaggerating the human
qualities with which they have clothed Divinity; they thrust them upon
the infinite, and from that moment cease to understand themselves. What
is the result of this combination of man with God, or of this
theanthropy? Its only result is a chimera, of which nothing can be
affirmed without causing the phantom to vanish which they had taken so
much trouble to conjure up.
Dante, in his poem of Paradise, relates that the Divinity appeared to
him under the figure of three circles, which formed an iris, whose
bright colors arose from each other; but having wished to retain its
brilliant light, the poet saw only his own face. In worshiping God, man
adores himself.
XLVIII.--CONTINUATION.
The slightest reflection suffices to prove to us that God can not have
any of the human qualities, virtues, or perfections. Our virtues and our
perfections are the results of our temperament modified. Has God a
temperament like ours? Our good qualities are our habits relative to the
beings in whose society we live. God, according to you, is a solitary
being. God has no one like Him; He does not live in society; He has no
need of any one; He enjoys a happiness which nothing can alter. Admit,
then, upon your own principles, that God can not possess what we call
virtues, and that man can not be virtuous in regard to Him.
XLIX.--IT IS ABSURD TO SAY THAT THE HUMAN RACE IS THE OBJECT AND THE END
OF CREATION.
Man, charmed with his own merits, imagines that it is but his own kind
that God proposed as the object and the end in the formation of the
universe. Upon what is this so flattering opinion based? It is, we are
told, upon this: that man is the only being endowed with an intelligence
which enables him to know the Divine nature, and to render to it homage
worthy of it. We are assured that God created the world for His own
glory, and that the human race was include
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