18. A thing is impossible, when it includes two ideas that mutually
destroy one another, and which can neither be conceived nor united in
thought. Conviction can be founded only upon the constant testimony
of our senses, which alone give birth to our ideas, and enable us to
judge of their agreement or disagreement. That, which exists necessarily,
is that, whose non-existence implies a contradiction. These principles,
universally acknowledged, become erroneous, when applied to the existence
of a God. Whatever has been hitherto said upon the subject, is either
unintelligible, or perfect contradiction, and must therefore appear
absurd to every rational man.


19. All human knowledge is more or less clear. By what strange fatality
have we never been able to elucidate the science of God? The most
civilized nations, and among them the most profound thinkers, are
in this respect no more enlightened than the most savage tribes and
ignorant peasants; and, examining the subject closely, we shall find,
that, by the speculations and subtle refinements of men, the divine
science has been only more and more obscured. Every religion has
hitherto been founded only upon what is called, in logic, _begging
the question_; it takes things for granted, and then proves, by
suppositions, instead of principles.


20. Metaphysics teach us, that God is a _pure spirit_. But, is
modern theology superior to that of the savages? The savages
acknowledge a _great spirit_, for the master of the world. The
savages, like all ignorant people, attribute to _spirits_ all the