During Voltaire’s terrestrial journey in his excerpt entitled “Religion”, Voltaire finds himself deep in contemplation, which leads to a dream where he encounters a history of Christianity. His illusory journey begins when he finds himself marveled at the creation of the Milky Way, “One must be blind not to be dazzled by this spectacle; one must be stupid not to recognize the author of it; one must be mad not to worship him.”(119) Voltaire’s Deism does not reject Christianity. He begins this passage on Religion claiming that there is reason to glorify that which made creation. His dream takes flight though and shows the underbelly of religion. Voltaire is taken by a guide, who leads him through fields of white bones. It is explained at each heap the reasons why these Christians died: Heresy, “metaphysical quarrels”, “religious wars”. The wreckage of Christian dogma was tangible. Voltaire was introduced to famous men of the past who had been persecuted by Christians for wrong believing. He engages is a lengthy conversation with Socrates who tells him that Priests were at the other end of the hemlock which he consumed.

Voltaire’s point is made clear, when the last individual he meets who is bleeding and torn open tells of his persecution story. He was beaten and killed for telling others to love. Voltaire inquires if it was based on a new belief or if he was trying to start a new religion, the man answered no. He followed the customs and rituals prescribed of his day, yet was killed. The gentleman was Jesus and Voltaire was successful in relaying his message of Christianity being an established body that did not follow the words of a man who taught love, but had grown to become based on power and wealth. The true glory of God was not to be found in church doctrine, but in stargazing.

“…Let us pardon reciprocally each other’s folly. That is the first law of nature”(129) In both “Religion” and “Tolerance”, Voltaire expresses the responsibility of humans to respect and love each other, The Golden Rule. In “Religion”, he bases this claim off of the teaching of Jesus, to love thy neighbor, he then comes back to give examples of Christians doing just the opposite. “But the government! But the Magistrates! But the princes!” (129) Voltaire is calling out officials who claim the sanctity of Christianity but lack the values. Deists, according to Holmes, would often believe in the ethical teachings of Jesus, but not his status as God. Voltaire goes as far as claiming that if we were to really adhere by Christian teachings, we should all be Jewish, because Jesus was. He is stripping away the ethereal to the real, what can be proved by reason and facts.

Voltaire in his work “Superstition” calls out this “ethereal” as magic, and magic leads to fanaticism. He names the sacraments of the Catholic Church as acts of superstition which are ultimately dangerous because they allow for people to be controlled and fanaticism to grow, which leads to misery. Voltaire though at times sounds “un religious”, in a way is claiming a new form of salvation; by living free of the bondage of dogma. Although Deist claimed to not be a new religion, it is an entirely new lens in which to view who God is and how he works, or does not, in the world.

François-Marie Arouet, more commonly known by his pen name Voltaire, was a French Enlightenment writer, historian, and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of political agendas. Voltaire was apart of the Deist movement which a belief in which God has created the universe but remains apart from it, permitting his creation to administer and stuard itself and all creation  through natural laws. Deism does not hold to the supernatural aspects of religion, like the idea that God gave his revelation through the Bible, but rather, it stresses the importance of ethical conduct/morality.

‘Voltaire was a towering intellect whose Enlightenment understanding of the world influenced his views of religion (and Christianity).’ (Dr. Reis). Through natural revelation Voltaire sees and understands just a part of the greatness of God. Natural revelation is the idea that everyone is without excuse to acknowledge the existence of God merely by the sight of nature. Nature could not simply appear by chance, it is too intricate and beautiful, it must have had a creator, that creator being God. Voltaire reminisces on a night where he was overcome with admiration and realization of the magnitude of nature and what he does not know. He references the amount of knowledge and wisdom it must take to be able to create such beautiful things that work in harmony together saying “I admired still more the intelligence which directs these vast forces. I said to myself: ‘One must be blind not to be dazzled by this spectacle; one must be stupid not to recognize the author of it; one must be mad not to worship Him.'”(The Portable Enlightenment Reader, pg 119). Voltaire says the obligation of all humans is to give tribute/worship to God since He created everything. The existence of God also dictates how Voltaire thinks humans should interact toward one another having an obligation to help those when we can and to not leave deads in our power undone for all are created by God, so therefore, have equal dignity and worth. Voltaire goes on a radical cosmic journey with a guide to where he speaks to multiple ‘Greats’ from history and they give him insight. Finally it is revealed to Voltaire that the one true religion, and Law for those in existence,for all is “Love God and your fellow creature as yourself”. (The Portable Enlightenment Reader, pg 124).

Voltaire’s world view focuses heavily on how people are treated in the socio-economical setting. When speaking about tolerance, Voltaire says “It is clear that the individual who persecutes a man, his brother, because he is not of the same opinion, is a monster.” (The Portable Enlightenment Reader, pg 129).