"THE MOST CONTROVERSIAL BOOK OF ALL TIMES"
Another century and there will be no bible on earth! – Voltaire
Francois-Marie Arouet known by his pen name “Voltaire” was a French enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit, his attacks on the established Catholic Church, and his advocacy of freedom of religion, freedom of speech, and separation of church and state. (Google)
Voltaire’s opinion of the Christian bible was mixed. He lived his life full of objections in bible and religious dogma created by so-called religious people. He also rejected the biblical Adam and Eve story and many bible contradictions.
In LA Bible enfin expliquee. He stated the following approach to lay reading of the Bible.
“It is the characteristics of fanatics who read the Holy Scriptures to tell themselves: God killed, so I must kill; Abraham lied, Jacob deceived, Rachel stole; so I must steal, deceive, and lie. But wretch, you are neither Rachel, nor Jacob, nor Abraham, nor God; you are just a mad fool, and the popes who forbade the reading of the Bible is extremely wise.”
In my stand, as I read his autobiography a while ago, I can say that Voltaire is not an Atheist but an Anti-Christian Deist. He really hates the bible and religion but the interesting part of his life is before of his deathbed experience --
"Voltaire expected that within fifty years of his lifetime there would not be one Bible in the world. His house is now a distribution center for Bibles in many languages." – Corrie Ten boom
What a co-incidence.