All the revealed religions which we see in the world are filled with
mysterious dogmas, unintelligible principles, of incredible miracles, of
astonishing tales which seem imagined but to confound reason. Every
religion announces a concealed God, whose essence is a mystery;
consequently, it is just as difficult to conceive of His conduct as of
the essence of this God Himself. Divinity has never spoken to us but in
an enigmatical and mysterious way in the various religions which have
been founded in the different regions of our globe. It has revealed
itself everywhere but to announce mysteries, that is to say, to warn
mortals that it designs that they should believe in contradictions, in
impossibilities, or in things of which they were incapable of forming
any positive idea.
The more mysteries a religion has, the more incredible objects it
presents to the mind, the better fitted it is to please the imagination
of men, who find in it a continual pasturage to feed upon. The more
obscure a religion is, the more it appears divine, that is to say, in
conformity to the nature of an invisible being, of whom we have no idea.
It is the peculiarity of ignorance to prefer the unknown, the concealed,
the fabulous, the wonderful, the incredible, even the terrible, to that
which is clear, simple, and true. Truth does not give to the imagination
such lively play as fiction, which each one may arrange as he pleases.
The vulgar ask nothing better than to listen to fables; priests and
legislators, by inventing religions and forging mysteries from them,
have served them to their taste. In this way they have attracted
enthusiasts, women, and the illiterate generally. Beings of this kind
resign easily to reasons which they are incapable of examining; the love
of the simple and the true is found but in the small number of those
whose imagination is regulated by study and by reflection. The
inhabitants of a village are never more pleased with their pastor than
when he mixes a good deal of Latin in his sermon. Ignorant men always
imagine that he who speaks to them of things which they do not
understand, is a very wise and learned man. This is the true principle
of the credulity of nations, and of the authority of those who pretend
to guide them.