A very few persons he was obliged to trust in order to get his writings printed, and but for that fact Baron d'Holbach would now only be known as a gentleman of great wealth, extensive benevolence, and uncommon liberality, as a man of profound learning and agreeable colloquial powers, as the bountiful friend of men of letters, as the soother of the distressed, as the protector of the miserable, and as the affectionate husband and father. So much of him we should have known; but that he was the author of those books which roused intolerant priests and corrupt magistrates, consistories and parliaments, monarchs and philosophers, the people and their oppressors,--that he was the Archimedes that thus moved the world,--would not have been known had he not employed another philosopher, by the name of Naigeon, to carry his manuscripts to Amsterdam, and to direct their printing by Marc-Michel Rey. It was Naigeon who carried the manuscript of the LETTERS TO EUGENIA to Holland, together with a number of others by the same author, which also appeared during the year 1768,--an eventful year in the history of Infidel progress. The _Letters_ were carefully revised by d'Holbach before they were sent to press. All the passages of a purely personal character were omitted, some new matter was incorporated, and some sentences were added purposely to keep the author and the lady he addressed in impenetrable obscurity. To raise the veil from a man of so much worth and genius, as well as to carry out his idea of doing good, is one of the reasons which have led to the present preparation and publication of this book.
Of the Sources of Credulity, and of the Motives which should lead to an Examination of Religion, Page 1
Of the Ideas which Religion gives us of the Divinity, 29
An Examination of the Holy Scriptures, of the Nature of the Christian Religion, and of the Proofs upon which Christianity is founded, 46
Of the fundamental Dogmas of the Christian Religion, 76
Of the Immortality of the Soul, and of the Dogma of another Life, 91
Of the Mysteries, Sacraments, and Religious Ceremonies of Christianity, 120
Of the pious Rites, Prayers, and Austerities of Christianity, 136
Of Evangelical Virtues and Christian Perfection, 154