If the ignorance of nature gave birth to such a variety of gods, the knowledge of this nature is calculated to destroy them. - Baron d'Holbach

It must be acknowledged, that the impossibility of comprehending the doctrine of Jesus furnishes a good reason for denying that it can be divine. It cannot be conceived why a God, sent to instruct men, should never distinctly explain himself. No Pagan oracle employed terms more ambiguous, than the divine missionary chosen by Providence to enlighten nations.

We are all just cogs in a machine, doing what we were always meant to do, with no actual volition. (1770)

the miracles of the messiah were calculated to convince those only who did not [Pg 82]see them. Thus it is, that these miracles are believed at present by people who would not credit those performed in their presence.