MEDITATION I.

...are said, they are most uncertain, and are rendered even more doubtful by the widely divergent testimonies of very learned men. We instead appeal to all those arguments drawn from the character, nature, and incentives of the Christian Religion to prove that the Christian Religion is far better suited to promoting the true happiness of mankind than that "Theology" (if indeed opinions stripped of all foundations of virtue and reverence for the Divinity are worthy of such a name). What of the fact that those very learned men, who think so highly of the moral theology of the Chinese original: "Sinentium", admit that a religion which rests upon the divine attributes and the will of the Divinity—as the Christian religion does—is more perfect than one that lacks these supports? (*)

This evil must be countered, yet in such a way that we use only lawful means, and those suited to diminishing and removing this evil.

V. Since it is clear from what has been said that this evil the spread of unbelief is not only creeping far and wide but also significantly hindering the progress of true Piety and the salvation of the human race, it is the duty of all who love truth and Piety—especially those equipped with solid Erudition and higher disciplines—to discern by what means that evil might be repelled, or at least diminished by reduction, if it cannot be entirely removed (which can hardly be hoped for with any appearance of truth). However, although all good and learned men easily agree that all powers of the intellect must be spent on suppressing this evil, they diverge as soon as they come to the matter itself or the method of confronting the evil. There are, for instance, those who think that books of this kind which attack Religion should be suppressed at their very birth, or, if they are published to the light of day, should be delivered to Vulcan original: "Vulcano"; an allusion to the Roman god of fire, meaning the books should be burned without delay; and that the authors themselves should immediately be either thrust into perpetual prisons or led to the stake. They argue that one must simultaneously abstain from the reading and refutation of such writings: for since the general points of Natural and Revealed Religion are admitted by the common consent of Christians, there is no need for learned men to exhaust themselves without necessity in confirming and defending these articles. Furthermore, they claim that human temperaments vary; that many are enticed by the reading of a refutation to seek out the

(*) How uncertain everything is that is said regarding the Theology of the Chinese is clear from those things written in our age by Very Distinguished Men: for example, Turnemine in the preface to the book of the Archbishop of Cambrai, Fénelon, on the existence of God; the celebrated Kortholt throughout the letters of Leibniz; our own celebrated Brucker in his History of Philosophy, Volume VII; the most excellent Mosheim in his Christian Ethics, Volume II; and many others. Even the illustrious Christian Wolff, easily the Prince of the philosophers of our age, although he thinks highly enough of the practical philosophy of the Chinese, nevertheless admits throughout his public Oration published on this subject that the Moral Theology of Christians is more excellent than Natural Theology; and that the latter, which is built upon the knowledge of the Divinity and His attributes, is to be preferred to the Ethics of the Chinese. See the notes sprinkled throughout the Oration.

ON THE CAUSES OF UNBELIEF.

books of the Unbelievers themselves; that men strive for what is forbidden; and that experience testifies that, after so many Apologies defenses of the faith for the truth of the Christian Religion published in our century, this evil has not been repressed, let alone removed, but has rather increased. Therefore, they say it is better if we warn everyone to beware of reading such books, and instead exhort them to have faith in the Christian Religion and the conclusions drawn from it, without being overly anxious about repelling the difficulties raised by Unbelievers, etc., etc. In this way, certain people are accustomed to argue with good intentions, concerning whom something must be noted before we proceed further.

And (1.) indeed it would be greatly desired that those who apply their minds to writing and publishing books would bring forth nothing but what is full of good fruit—that is, things that serve to promote Virtue, piety, and the salvation of all. It is to be wished that not only those books which declare war on the chief heads of Religion, but also those which harm good morals and corrupt the young (whose minds are soft like wax and most inclined to fulfilling the perverse desires of the soul), would be suffocated at their very birth. But since this can never be hoped for given the great number of luxuriating wits with which the Literary World is filled, and since there are very few who, when they set their mind to writing, are anxious for the glory of GOD and the promotion of true human virtue, we must see by what skill that which cannot be entirely prevented may be corrected. It is certainly argued in vain how the publication of such books might be hindered, and much more so how their reading can be prohibited once they are published. Among us, indeed, it is sufficiently provided for by public laws that such books are not published; but since we have no jurisdiction over other Nations, we cannot prevent them from being brought to us. It is well known that in England, the Netherlands original: "Belgio", and elsewhere, notwithstanding the decrees and censures of those in power, writings of this kind are committed to the presses, and the greed for profit with which many printers burn eludes all the cares of the Censors. Not even the leaders and defenders of that sacred Tribunal which goes by the name of the Inquisition can prevent the books of Unbelievers and Protestants from being bought and read everywhere: I do not see, therefore, how such pamphlets can be entirely kept away from Protestant gatherings, where greater liberty flourishes.

(2.) Nor shall we be much concerned about the punishments with which the publishers and authors of such pamphlets might be afflicted, since our only aim is to place the truth in safety and to uproot pestilential errors from minds deluded and captured by false opinions. It seems to us that the authors of such pamphlets should be considered as...