for the average student.

"Le Bon Sens" was privately printed in Amsterdam, and the author's name
was kept a profound secret; hence, Baron D'Holbach escaped persecution.




THE AUTHOR'S PREFACE


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. We have an example of this in Theology, a system
revered in all countries by a great number of men; an object regarded
by them as most important, and indispensable to happiness. An
examination of the principles upon which this pretended system
is founded, forces us to acknowledge, that these principles are
only suppositions, imagined by ignorance, propagated by enthusiasm
or knavery, adopted by timid credulity, preserved by custom which
never reasons, and revered solely because not understood.

In a word, whoever uses common sense upon religious opinions, and
will bestow on this inquiry the attention that is commonly given to
most subjects, will easily perceive that Religion is a mere castle
in the air. Theology is ignorance of natural causes; a tissue of
fallacies and contradictions. In every country, it presents romances
void of probability, the hero of which is composed of impossible
qualities. His name, exciting fear in all minds, is only a vague