By chance I downloaded a book onto my kindle. It is called Superstion in All Ages 1732 – Common Sense.
http://www.amazon.com/Superstition-All-Ages-1732-ebook/dp/B00631UEFQ/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1321549154&sr=1-2It was written by Baron d'Holbach under the pseudonym John Meslier and the point is to wreck the idea of god. It does. But it does not do this in a well structured argument. He argues like an automatic shotgun - a shotgun-machine gun. The chapters are more or less single paragraph arguments which can have multiple points and overlap each other. It is like reading Hitchens’ early 18th century predecessor. From some of the first chapters:
II. – What is Theology?
There is a science which has for its object only incomprehensible things. Unlike all others, it occupies itself but with things unseen. Hobbes calls it “the kingdom of darkness.” In this land all obey laws opposed to those which men acknowledge in the world they inhabit. In this marvelous region light is but darkness, evidence becomes doubtful or false, the impossible becomes credible, reason is an unfaithful guide, and common sense changed to delirium. This science is named Theology, and this Theology is a continual insult to human reason.
VI. – Religion is founded upon credulity.
We are told that Divine qualities are not of a nature to be grasped by limited minds. The natural consequence of this principle ought to be that the Divine qualities are not make to employ limited minds; but religion assures us that limited minds should never lose sight of this inconceivable being, whose qualities can not be grasped by them: from which we see that religion is the art of occupying limited minds with that which is impossible for them to comprehend.
Highly entertaining and has some arguments and observations I’ve never seen before. I highly recommend this book. I thought it was free on my Kindle, but the Amazon site shows $3.34 for the price. Still, worth it.
