Author Description

Voltaire waged a 40-year campaign on two fronts - the Catholic Church on one hand, and a growing tendency to atheism on the other. He considered atheism both erroneous and dangerous, writing that "the finest tribute we can give to our God is to take His defense without anger". These letters, articles, stories and poems are the result. These 16 texts have been newly translated from French, several in their first-ever English translation:-A chapter on God's existence from "A Treatise on Metaphysics"-A chapter on God's existence from "Elements of the Philosophy of Newton"-"A Poem on the Disaster in Lisbon", with Preface (poetry)-"The Cabals: A Call for Peace" (poetry)-"An Epistle to the Author of the New Book: 'The Three Impostors'" (poetry)-Articles from 'The Philosophical Dictionary': "Atheist", "Atheism", "God", "Matter"-An article from 'Questions on the Encyclopedia': "God"-"A Homily on Atheism" (a speech)-"The Theists' Profession of Faith" (a manifesto for deism)-A Letter to the Marquis de Villevieille, Aug. 26, 1768-A Letter to Prince William of Prussia, Nov. 28, 1770-"Memmius' Letters to Cicero" (a fictional correspondence)-"The Story of Johnny: A Wise Man and an Atheist" (a novella)