Fragments from Reimarus

"When still in their cradles, the children of men, like born slaves, are forced to enlist as soldiers under a particular little flag, so that if they eventually would free themselves from this bondage they can be accused and punished as deserters."

"The idea of God, as the most perfect of beings, existed full and warm in the heart of Reimarus, as we see by the following words:—'Far be it from Thee, great Judge of the World, most lovable, most kind, most charitable, most merciful God, to pronounce so unjust a sentence upon the poor creatures Thou hast created!'"

"'How would such conduct compare with that of the most perfect of men? How could the likeness of the most impure, the most malignant enemy of God and man, be represented in a more hideous form?'"—Ibid., p. 262.