ДЕЛ II
Том VI
БЕСМРТНОСТА НА
ДУШАТА ДОКАЖАНА ПРЕКУ МОРАЛНИТЕ ЗАКОНИ И ЧУВСТВАТА
Глава V. Опасноста и некорисноста на атеизмот
There are two classes of atheists
totally distinct from each other: the one composed of those who are consistent
in their principles, declaring without hesitation that there is no God,
consequently no essential difference between good and evil, and that the world
belongs to those who possess the greatest strength or the most address; the
other embraces those good people of the system – the hypocrites of infidelity;
absurd characters, a thousand times more dangerous than first, and who, with a
feigned benevolence, would indulge in every excess to support their pretensions;
they would call you brother, while
cutting your throat; the words morality and humanity are continually on their
lips: they are trebly culpable, for to the vices of the atheist they add the
intolerance of the sectary and the self-love of the author.
These men pretend that atheism is
not destructive either of happiness or virtue, and that there is no condition
in which it is not profitable to be an infidel as a pious Christian; a position
which it may be not amiss to examine.
If a thing ought to be esteemed
in proportion to its greater or less utility, atheism must be very
contemptible, for it is of use to nobody.
Let us survey the human life; let
us begin with the poor and the unfortunate, as they constitute the majority of
mankind. Say, countless families of indigence, is it to you that atheism is
serviceable? I wait for reply; but not a single voice is raised in its behalf.
But what do I hear? A hymn of hope mingled with sighs ascending to the throne
of the Lord! These are believers. Let us pass on to the wealthy.
It would seem that the man who is
comfortably situated in this world can have no interest in being an atheist.
How soothing to him must be the reflection that his days will be prolonged
beyond the present life! With what despair would he quit this world if he
conceived that he was parting from happiness forever! In vain would fortune
heap her favors upon him; they would only serve to inspire him with the great
horror of annihilation. The rich man may likewise rest assured that religion
will enhance his pleasures, by mingling with them an ineffable satisfaction;
his heart will not be hardened, nor will he be cloyed with enjoyment, which is
the natural result of a long series of prosperity. Religion prevents aridity of
heart, as is intimated in her ceremonial. The holy oil which she uses in the
consecration of authority, of youth and of death, teaches us that they are not
destined to a moral or eternal sterility.
Will the soldier who marches
forth to battle – that child of glory – be an atheist? Will he who seeks an
endless life consent to perish forever? Appear upon your thundering clouds, ye
countless Christian warriors, now hosts of heaven! Appear! From your exalted
abode, from the holy city, proclaim to heroes of our day that the brave man is
not wholly consigned to the tomb, and that something more of him survives than
an empty name.
All the great generals of
antiquity were remarkable for their piety. Epaminondas, the deliverer of his
country, had the character of the most religious man; Xenophon, that
philosophic warrior, was a pattern of piety; Alexander, the everlasting model
of conquerors, gave himself out to be the son of Jupiter. Among the Romans, the
ancient consuls of the Republic, a Cincinnatus, a Fabius, a Papirius Cursor, a
Paulus Emilius, a Scipio, placed all their reliance on the deity of the
Capitol; Pompey marched to battle imploring the divine assistance; Cesar
pretended to be of celestial descent; Cato, his rival, was convinced of the
immortality of the soul; Brutus, his assassin, believed in the existence of
supernatural powers; and Augustus, his successor, reigned only in the name of
the gods.
In modern times, was that valiant
Sicambrian, the conqueror of Rome and of the
Gauls, an unbeliever, who, falling at he feet of the priest, laid the
foundation of the empire of France ?
Was St. Louis ,
the arbiter of kings, - revered by infidels themselves – an unbeliever? Was the
valorous Du Guesclin, whose coffin was sufficient for the capture of cities, -
the Chevalier Bayard, without fear and without reproach, - the old Constable de
Montmorency, who recited his beads in the camp, - were those men without
religion? But, more wonderful still, was the great Turenne, whom Bossuet
brought back to the bottom of the Church, an unbeliever?
No character is more admirable
than that of the Christian hero. The people whom he defends look up to him as a
father; he protects husbandman and the produce of his fields; he is an angel of
war sent by God to mitigate the horrors of that scourge. Cities open their gates
at the mere report of his justice; ramparts fall before his virtue; he is
beloved by the soldier, he is idolized by nations; with the courage of the
warrior he combines the charity of the gospel; his conversation is impressive
and instructing; his words are full of simplicity; you are astonished to find
such gentleness in a man accustomed to live in the midst of dangers. Thus the
honey is hidden under the rugged bark of an oak which has braved the tempest of
ages. We may safely conclude that in no respect whatever is atheism profitable
for the soldier.
Neither can we perceive that it
would be more useful in the different states of nature than in the conditions
of society. If the moral system is wholly founded on the doctrine of the
existence of God, and the immortality of the soul, a father, a son, the
husband, the wife can have no interest in being unbelievers. Ah! How is it
possible, for instance, to conceive that a woman can be an atheist? What will
support this frail reed if religion does not sustain her? The feeblest being in
the nature, ever on the eve of death exposed to the lost of her charms, who
will save her, if her hopes be not extended beyond an ephemeral existence? For
the sake of her beauty alone, woman ought to be pious. Gentleness, submission,
suavity, tenderness, constitute part of the charms which the Creator bestowed
on our first mother, and to charms of this kind philosophy is a mortal foe.
Shall woman, who is naturally
prone to mystery, who takes delight in concealment, who never discloses more
than half of her grace and her thoughts, whose mind can be conjectured but not
known, who as a mother and a maiden is full of secrets, who seduces chiefly by
her ignorance, from Heaven formed for virtue and most mysterious sentiments,
modesty and love, - shall woman, renouncing the engaging instinct of her sex,
presume, with rash and feeble hand, to withdraw the thick veil which conceals the
Divinity? Whom doth she think to please by this effort, alike absurd and
sacrilegious? Does she hope, by mingling her foolish impiety and frivolous
metaphysics with the imprecations of a Spinoza and the sophistry of a Bayle, to
give us a high opinion of her genius? Assuredly she has no thoughts of
marriage; for what sensible man would unite himself for life to an impious
partner?
The infidel wife seldom has any
idea of her duties: she spends her days either in reasoning on virtue without
practicing its precepts, or in the enjoyment of the tumultuous pleasures of the
world. Her mind vacant and her heart unsatisfied, life becomes a burden to her;
neither the thought of God, nor any domestic cares, afford her happiness.
But the day of vengeance
approaches. Time arrives, leading Age by hand. The Spectre with silver hair and
icy hands plants himself on the threshold of the female atheist; she perceives
him and shrieks around. Who now will hear her voice? Her husband? She has none;
long, very long has he withdrawn from the theatre of his dishonor. Her
children? Ruined by an impious education and by maternal example, they concern
themselves not about their mother. If she surveys the past, she beholds a
pathless waste; her virtues have left no traces behind them. For the first
time, her saddened thoughts turn toward heaven, and she begins to thinks how
much more consolatory it would have been to have a religion. Unavailing regret!
The crowning punishment of atheism in this world is to desire faith without
being able to acquire it. When, at the term of her career, she discovers the
delusions of a false philosophy, - when annihilation, like appalling meteor,
begins to appear above the horizon of death, - she would fain return to God;
but it is too late! The mind hardened by incredulity, rejects all convictions.
Oh! What a frightful solitude appears before her, when God and man retire at
once from her view! She dies, this unfortunate woman – expiring in the arms of
a hireling nurse, or of some man, perhaps, who turns with disgust from her
protracted sufferings. A common coffin now encloses all that remains of her. At
the funeral, we see no daughter overpowered with grief, no sons-in-law or
grandchildren in tears, forming, with the blessing of the people and the hymns
of religion, so worthy an escort for the mother of a family. Perhaps only a
son, who is unknown, and who knows not himself the dishonorable secret of his
birth, will happen to meet the mournful convoy, and will inquire the name of
the deceased, whose body is about to be cast to the worms, to which it had been
promised by the atheist herself!
How different is the lot of
religious woman! Her days are replete with joy; she is respected, beloved by
her husband, her children, her household; all place unbounded confidence in
her, because they are firmly convinced of the fidelity of one who is faithful
to her God. The faith of this Christian is strengthened by her happiness, and
her happiness by her faith; she believes in God because she is happy, and she
is happy because she believes in God.
It is enough for a mother to look
upon her smiling infant to be convinced of the reality of supreme felicity. The
bounty of Providence
is most signally displayed in the cradle of man. What affecting harmonies!
Could they be only the effects of inanimate matter? The child is born, the
breast fills; the little guest has no teeth that can wound the maternal bosom:
he grows, the milk becomes more nourishing; he is weaned, and the wonderful
fountain ceases to flow. This woman, before so weak, has all at once acquired
such strength, as enables her to bear fatigues which a robust man could not possibly
endure. What is that awakens her at midnight, at the very moment when her
infant is ready to demand the accustomed repast? Whence comes that address
which she never before possessed? How she handles the tender flow without
hurting it! Her attentions seem to be the fruit of the experience of her whole
life, and yet this is her first-borne! The slightest noise terrified the
virgin: where are the embattled armies, the thunders, the perils, capable of
appalling the mother? Formerly, this woman required delicate food, elegant
apparel, and a soft couch; the least breath of air incommoded her; now, a crust
of bread, a common dress, a handful of straw, are sufficient; nor wind, nor
rain, scarcely makes any impression, while she has in her breast a drop of milk
to nourish her son and in her tattered garments a corner to cover him.
Such being the state of things, he
must be extremely obstinate who would not espouse the cause in behalf of which
not only reason finds the most numerous evidences, but to which morals,
happiness and hope, nay, even instinct itself, and all the desires of the soul,
naturally impel us; for if it were true as it is false, that the understanding
keeps the balance even between Good and atheism, still it is certain that it
would be preponderate much in favor of the former; for, besides, half of his
reason, man puts the whole weight of his heat into the scale of the Deity.
Of this truth you will be
thoroughly convinced if you examine the very different manner in which atheism
and religion proceed in their reasoning.
Religion adduces none but general
proofs; she founds her judgment only on the harmony of the heavens and the
immutable laws of the Universe; she views only the graces of nature, the
charming instincts of animals, and their exquisite conformities with man.
Atheism sets before you nothing
but hideous exceptions; it sees naught but calamities, unhealthy marshes,
destructive volcanoes, noxious animals; and, as if it were anxious to conceal
itself in mire, it interrogates the reptiles and insects that they may furnish
it with proofs against God.
Religion speaks only of the
grandeur and beauty of man. Atheism is continually setting the leprosy and
plague before our eyes.
Religion derives her reasons from
the sensibility of the soul, from the tenderest attachments of life, from
filial piety, conjugal love, and maternal affection.
Atheism reduces every thing to
the instinct of the brute, and, as the first argument of its system, displays
to you a heart that naught is capable of moving.
Religion assures us that our
affections shall have an end; she comforts us, she dries out our tears, she
promises us another life.
On the contrary, in the
abominable worship of atheism, human woes are the incense, death is the priest,
a coffin is an altar, and annihilation is the Deity.
***
Глава VI. Заклучоци околу доктрините на Христијанството. – Казните и наградите во
идниот живот. – Елисеј на древните луѓе.
...
(“THE GENIUS OF CHRISTINAITY or The Spirit and Beauty of the
Christian religion” by Viscount de CHATEAUBRIAND; New York, Howard Fertig inc.
– 1976; first published in English in 1856)
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