Quote#Time
It was after the Babylonish captivity that the Jews knew the dogma of…
Quote byBaron d'Holbach · 1723–1789
Commonly attributed — not confirmed in an authoritative edition. Cited on Wikiquote to: Ecce Homo.
English (original)
It was after the Babylonish captivity that the Jews knew the dogma of another life, and the resurrection, which they learned of the Persian disciples of Zoroaster. In the time of Jesus, that dogma was not even generally received. The Pharisees admitted it, and the Sadducees rejected.
— Baron d'Holbach
More from Baron d'Holbach
Savage and furious nations, perpetually at war, adore, under diverse names, some God, conformable to their ideas, that is to say, cruel, carnivorous, selfish, blood-thirsty.
All children are born Atheists; they have no idea of God.
If the ignorance of nature gave birth to such a variety of gods, the knowledge of this nature is calculated to destroy them.
When we examine the opinions of men, we find that nothing is more uncommon, than common sense; or, in other words, they lack judgment to discover plain truths, or to reject absurdities, and palpable contradictions.
It is thus superstition infatuates man from his infancy, fills him with vanity, and enslaves him with fanaticism.
Pascal proves nothing in favour of Religion, unless that a man of genius may be foolish on some subjects, and is but a child, when he is weak enough to listen to his prejudices.