Religion As Corrupted In Voltaire's 'Candide'
Candide
Voltaire said in a letter to Fredrick the Great, “Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.” Clearly, Voltaire believes that religion is a sham. Voltaire made multiple attacks against the Catholic Church. Voltaire’s satire, Candide, explains why we do not live in the “best of all possible worlds.” This optimistic idea from the character Pangloss, is torn apart by the people and concatenations in Candide’s journey. Candide encounters many issues with corrupt and hypocritical religious leaders performing profound acts according to their religions. These flaws in religion are evident in the problem of evil, which suggests that god does not really exist. Through the characters, …show more content…
Three major hypocritical religious leaders in Candide are The Grand Inquisitor, Pope Urban X and the Jesuit priest. The Grand Inquisitor is an important figure in the Portuguese Catholic Church. The Grand Inquisitor wanted to buy Cunegonde from Don Issachar. He was staring at Cunegonde during mass. The Grand Inquisitor has unmartial relations on his mind during church. As a man of God, prostitution is morally wrong. The Grand inquisitor’s behavior shows that he thinks he is above the rule because he has money. In Chapter eleven, the old woman revealed herself as the daughter of Pope Urban X. This shows hypocrisy in religion. A pope is the leader of his religious world and is supposed to be celibate. The pope went against his vow of chastity. This justifies Voltaire’s belief that religion is hypocritical. Lastly, the Jesuit priest, the baron, has homosexual tendencies. He was convicted for bathing with a Muslim man. According to the Hebrew Bible homosexuality is a sin. This man of God does not find the wrong in this profound behavior. These are all religious leaders who participate in sinful acts against God and their religion. They are creating a mockery out of God’s words and
Voltaire said in a letter to Fredrick the Great, “Christianity is the most ridiculous, the most absurd, and bloody religion that has ever infected the world.” Clearly, Voltaire believes that religion is a sham. Voltaire made multiple attacks against the Catholic Church. Voltaire’s satire, Candide, explains why we do not live in the “best of all possible worlds.” This optimistic idea from the character Pangloss, is torn apart by the people and concatenations in Candide’s journey. Candide encounters many issues with corrupt and hypocritical religious leaders performing profound acts according to their religions. These flaws in religion are evident in the problem of evil, which suggests that god does not really exist. Through the characters, …show more content…
Three major hypocritical religious leaders in Candide are The Grand Inquisitor, Pope Urban X and the Jesuit priest. The Grand Inquisitor is an important figure in the Portuguese Catholic Church. The Grand Inquisitor wanted to buy Cunegonde from Don Issachar. He was staring at Cunegonde during mass. The Grand Inquisitor has unmartial relations on his mind during church. As a man of God, prostitution is morally wrong. The Grand inquisitor’s behavior shows that he thinks he is above the rule because he has money. In Chapter eleven, the old woman revealed herself as the daughter of Pope Urban X. This shows hypocrisy in religion. A pope is the leader of his religious world and is supposed to be celibate. The pope went against his vow of chastity. This justifies Voltaire’s belief that religion is hypocritical. Lastly, the Jesuit priest, the baron, has homosexual tendencies. He was convicted for bathing with a Muslim man. According to the Hebrew Bible homosexuality is a sin. This man of God does not find the wrong in this profound behavior. These are all religious leaders who participate in sinful acts against God and their religion. They are creating a mockery out of God’s words and