Atheism: Voltaire's Vain Boasting And Error

Sermon Index ^ | March 7, 2014 | No attribution

[MeshugeMikey]

One day Voltaire said to a friend, "It took twelve ignorant fishermen to establish Christianity; I will show the world how one Frenchman can destroy it." Setting to his task, he openly ridiculed Sir Isaac Newton. One day Newton made a prophecy based on \reference{Dan. 12:4}{Daniel 12:4} and \reference{Nahum 2:4}{Nahum 2:4} when he said, "Man will some day be able to travel at the tremendous speed of 40 miles an hour."

Voltaire replied with, "See what a fool Christianity makes of an otherwise brilliant man, such as Sir Isaac Newton! Doesn't he know that if man traveled 40 miles an hour, he would suffocate and his heart would stop?" Twenty-five years after Voltaire died, his home was purchased by the Geneva Bible Society and became a Bible storage building, and his printing press was used to print an entire edition of the Bible. --Sunday School Times

[Westbrook]

I read somewhere that Voltaire went into eternity screaming that the demons were pulling on him.

[MeshugeMikey]

I do not doubt that at all,

[Usagi_yo]

Great mind, horrible horrible writer. Took me 12 years to read Candide on the toilet. One time I think I fell asleep and woke up on the floor (QUE: dramatization).

But great mind nonetheless. He certainly not the father of liberty, he’s more like the creepy uncle that wants you to sit on his lap, of liberty.

[MeshugeMikey]

Ive never read em as it were

I had just heard his quote about man suffocating at a speed in excess of 40 miles per hour...on a radio presentation...and realized it be the perfect weapon against anyone claiming that atheists were geniuses.

[elcid1970]

This Voltaire quote about dying at forty miles an hour sounds a bit apocryphal since a fast horse can attain that speed.

He was an interesting character and would surely have gone to the guillotine for his skepticism about human motivations had he lived to see the French Revolution.

[MuttTheHoople]

Voltaire's latest remark:

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! I'M BURNING IN HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Jacquerie]

<>. . . quote about man suffocating at a speed in excess of 40 miles per hour <>

It was clearly settled science. Wise men agreed. The deniers were dangerous right wingers.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

This is apocryphal for several reasons. First of all, the only sources for it are religious.

Second of all, before the French Revolution, when Voltaire lived, they did not use miles, but “lieue”, similar to a league, which existed in several variants: 10,000, 12,000, 13,200 and 14,400 French feet, about 3.25 km to about 4.68 km. (1 miles is 1.6 km.)

11 years after Voltaire died it was replaced with the meter.

Voltaire did live in England for three years, but in the time he was studying the works of Shakespeare, not English measurements.

Finally, though he did attend Newton’s funeral, the two never met while alive.

[dr_lew]

This Voltaire quote about dying at forty miles an hour sounds a bit apocryphal since a fast horse can attain that speed.

... yes, and it's just not up to the standards of "the rapier wit of Voltaire".

It seems to me this is an embellishment on the theme of The Sage and the Atheist ( Project Gutenberg. )

The closest thing to this that I see there is:

"What care I" returned Birton, "for two men's grimaces? How did Newton look, when he wrote his Commentary on the Apocalypse? Or Locke, when he wrote the Dialogue between a Parrot and the Prince Maurice?"

[huckfillary]

Just acquired a 1723 edition of Voltaire’s “La Henriade.” I’ll never read it because it’s in French. But I’ll always cherish it. Despite his flaws, Voltaire was the heart and soul of the Enlightenment. The fusion of Enlightenment rationalism, Whig ideology, and good ol’ Protestant self-reliance gave birth to the American Revolution and the United States. Unlike 18th century American thinkers who could express themselves freely, Voltaire and his philosophe compatriots took great risks in challenging the authorities.
I may not agree with all of his ideas, but I will always admire his courage, his lifelong willingness to challenge Church and State, and his joie de vivre.

[MeshugeMikey]

consensus science is older than I’d thought.../

[sasportas]

You sound like an atheist...deist, agnostic

[Gene Eric]

If not for the faith of another man, the Atheist would not exist.

Atheists are idiots.