A Short History of Freethought: Ancient and Modern |
Contents
| 215 | |
| 216 | |
| 224 | |
| 225 | |
| 262 | |
| 270 | |
| 296 | |
| 302 | |
| 39 | |
| 44 | |
| 49 | |
| 55 | |
| 57 | |
| 58 | |
| 59 | |
| 63 | |
| 70 | |
| 76 | |
| 79 | |
| 80 | |
| 82 | |
| 84 | |
| 85 | |
| 87 | |
| 90 | |
| 97 | |
| 111 | |
| 112 | |
| 128 | |
| 131 | |
| 136 | |
| 171 | |
| 179 | |
| 188 | |
| 202 | |
| 208 | |
| 209 | |
| 210 | |
| 212 | |
| 214 | |
| 324 | |
| 337 | |
| 355 | |
| 356 | |
| 362 | |
| 370 | |
| 375 | |
| 376 | |
| 395 | |
| 405 | |
| 407 | |
| 408 | |
| 409 | |
| 410 | |
| 411 | |
| 412 | |
| 413 | |
| 414 | |
| 415 | |
| 416 | |
| 425 | |
| 426 | |
| 428 | |
| 429 | |
| 430 | |
| 434 | |
| 435 | |
| 436 | |
| 438 | |
| 439 | |
| 442 | |
Other editions - View all
Common terms and phrases
alike ancient Arab argument Atheism Averroes belief Bishop Buddhism Catholic Cent century Christian Church cited civilisation clergy clerical creed criticism cults culture Deism deistic Deists deities Descartes Diogenes Laërtius doctrine dogma Dugat early England English essay ethical Europe faith France freethinking Freethought French Geschichte Gieseler Gods Greece Greek Grote Hebrew heresy heretics Hist History influence Inquisition intellectual Introd Irenæus Islam Italian Italy Jews K. O. Müller Khalifs Koran Kuenen Laërt later literary literature Max Müller modern monotheism monotheistic moral Mosheim Motazilites Müller natural orthodox Owen Pagan pantheistic Paulicians persecution Persian philosophy political popular practice priestly priests professed prophets Protestant Protestantism rationalism rationalistic reason Reformation religion religious Renaissance Renan Roman Saracens Sayce scepticism scientific sect seems Semites Sokrates spirit superstition teaching theology things thought Tiele treatise Ueberweg unbelief whole worship writing
Popular passages
Page 311 - Believe it, my good friend, to love truth, for truth's sake, is the principal part of human perfection in this world, and the seed-plot of all other virtues ; and, if I mistake not, you have as much of it as ever I met with in any body.
Page 377 - Socrates, wherein there are many instances of the same method. I was charm'd with it, adopted it, dropt my abrupt contradiction and positive argumentation, and put on the humble inquirer and doubter. And being then, from reading Shaftesbury and Collins, become a real doubter in many points of our religious doctrine, I found this method safest for myself and very embarrassing to those against whom I used it; therefore I took a delight in it...
Page 58 - They are only men of education, who, without a certain livelihood, are able to maintain a fixed heart. As to the people, if they have not a certain livelihood, it follows that they will not have a fixed heart. And if they have not a fixed heart, there is nothing which they will not do, in the way of self-abandonment, of moral deflection, of depravity and of wild license. When they thus have been involved in crime, to follow them up and punish them; — this is to entrap the people.
Page 432 - It goes without saying that the maintenance of peace and security in society requires a religion. For this purpose any religion will do. I lack a religious nature, and have never believed in any religion. I am thus open to the charge that I am advising others to be religious, when I am not so. Yet my conscience does not permit me to clothe myself with religion, when I have it not at heart.
Page 377 - I had believed that the last retreat of monkish darkness, bigotry, and abhorrence of those advances of the mind which had carried the other States a century ahead of them.
Page 380 - I would advise you, therefore, not to attempt unchaining the tiger, but to burn this piece before it is seen by any other person...
Page 33 - In no religion are we so constantly reminded of our own as in Buddhism, and yet in no religion has man been drawn away so far from the truth as in the religion of Buddha. Buddhism and Christianity are indeed the two opposite poles with regard to the most essential points of religion : Buddhism ignoring all feeling of dependence on a higher power, and therefore denying the very existence of a supreme Deity...
Page 5 - Freethought may be defined as a conscious reaction against some phase or phases of conventional or traditional doctrine in religion — on the one hand, a claim to think freely, in the sense not of disregard for logic but of special loyalty to it, on problems to which the past course of things has given a great intellectual and practical importance ; on the other hand, the actual practice of such thinking.
Page 55 - To give one's self earnestly,' said he, ' to the duties due to men, and, while respecting spiritual beings, to keep aloof from them, may be called wisdom2.
Page 378 - If by religion we are to understand sectarian dogmas, in which no two of them agree, then your exclamation on that hypothesis is just, ' that this would be the best of all possible worlds, if there were no religion in it.