ON LOVE; PART MCDXX
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FIRST IS THE GREAT COMMANDMENTS: “The first of all the commandments is, Hear, O Israel; The Lord our God is one Lord: And thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength: this is the first commandment. And the second is like, namely this, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. There is none other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).
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WHAT THEN IS LOVE? In a general sense love is benevolence, good will; that disposition of heart which inclines men to think favorably of their fellow men, and to do them good. In a theological sense, it includes supreme love to God, and universal good will to men. While this IS from an older definition of Charity, which IS rendered in the King James Bible from the same Greek word agape which IS generally rendered as Love, we should amend our own definition here to include the idea that in the reality of Love a man will accord to ALL men ALL things that he would accord to himself and to say that Love IS our thoughts and attitude of the equality of ALL men regardless of their outward nature or appearance…that ALL ARE equally children of Our One God.
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PLUS THE EVER IMPORTANT AND HIGH IDEAL TAUGHT TO US BY THE CHRIST: “Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them” (Matthew 7:12).
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We ended the last essay with some thoughts on the similarity of two spiritual ideas: “believing in” or “believing on” the Master and following Him. Our point IS that while millions upon millions testify that they “believe in” and follow the Lord Jesus, few Truly understand just what these words mean. We have shown in many essays that the ideas of faith and believing according to doctrines ARE nebulous ideas that exist in a non-verifiable way for most ALL ‘believers‘ and as a way that engenders a degree of comfort against the uncertainty of death. Jesus however paints a different picture of this idea of believing as He ties this sense of faith to believing without doubt to the reality of KNOWING spiritually. For us it can be NO other way as it IS in this KNOWING that one can move the mountain, plant the “sycamine tree” in the sea and DO those “greater works” which the Master promises saying “Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do“. Common sense tells us that the doctrinal sense of believing CAN NOT have this result as it IS written and to answer this the “doctrines of men” (Colossians 2:22) have interpreted the Master’s words into a diluted message designed to bring people to Christ. That Jesus’ words ARE finished in most bible translations with a ‘reason’ for this as “because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12) DOES NOT lend to nor take away the reality of these “greater works“; in the context of this chapter Jesus message IS that He IS going. We should note that Jesus, as the Christ, tells us that “the words that I speak unto you I speak not of myself: but the Father that dwelleth in me, he doeth the works” (John 14:10) and it IS “the Father“, individualized in the Spirit of a man, that will DO those “greater works“. We must remember here that while the apostles ARE spiritually alive in this world, that they ARE still bound by the capacity of their finite human minds and while John may have understood the deeper realities about which he writes, his approach IS to DO so in words that can be understood and accepted by others. We should also understand that the apostles ARE NOT clear on the deeper spiritual matters as they ask questions for which Jesus believes that they already KNOW the answers; we get a glimpse of this in His saying “whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” to which an apostle says “we know not whither thou goest; and how can we know the way?” (John 14:4, 5). Perhaps we can imply here that the Jesus adding “because I go unto my Father” IS to show them that they should NOT rely upon His presence for Truth but rather upon the Christ Within to which He also alludes saying “ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you” (John 14:20).
The reality behind the idea that we can DO “greater works” even in His physical absence IS the crux of the message in this verse but we must understand that the nebulous doctrinal idea of believing will NOT allow men to be such DOERS. It IS from the usage of the idea of “believing in” and “believing on” that Vincent developed his commentary which tells us clearly that: To believe in, or on, is more than mere acceptance of a statement. It is so to accept a statement or a person as to rest upon them, to trust them practically; to draw upon and avail one’s self of all that is offered to him in them. Hence to believe on the Lord Jesus Christ is not merely to believe the facts of His historic life or of His saving energy as facts, but to accept Him as Savior, Teacher, Sympathizer, Judge; to rest the soul upon Him for present and future salvation, and to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4. It IS in the words that we have bolded that we find the reality of Truly “believing in” the Master; anything short of striving to DO this leaves us in the realm of those nebulous doctrinal ideas of faith and believing. Earlier we called such believing and faith a non-verifiable way for most ALL ‘believers‘; in the teachings of many denominations and sects their ideas of faith and believing ARE used to garner carnal things. Men ARE taught to pray and to believe in faith that their prayers will be answered as failures to attain whatsoever one prayed for ARE seen in terms of ‘too little faith’ or perhaps wrong faith; such failures ARE also seen as that what IS prayed for IS NOT in God’s will or that one must have patience as God’s timing IS NOT as men would expect. When however we come to see faith and believing in terms of keeping His words and that striving to DO so can unlock men’s ability to KNOW some measure of the Truth, we can then see that it IS ONLY in our ability to accept and adopt His precepts and example as binding upon the life4 that the rewards of our trifecta can become our realization. Repeating the Master’s words that ARE our trifecta we read:
- “If ye continue in my word, then are ye my disciples indeed; And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:31-32).
- “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21).
- “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him. Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot, Lord, how is it that thou wilt manifest thyself unto us, and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him, If a man love me, he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings: and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me” (John 14:21-24).
In the trifecta we should see the fullness of the spiritual rewards that can come to everyman as that KNOWING that IS the ‘reward‘ for keeping His words. That men ARE taught to pray for things in this world based in carnal interpretations of spiritual precepts IS unfortunate especially since the Master and His apostles DO teach against this intermingling of the spiritual and the carnal. The doctrines of men DO NOT teach the truth of such ideas as “treasures in heaven” versus “treasures upon earth” (Matthew 6:20, 19) as they interpret the Lord’s words carnally. The doctrines of men DO NOT teach the depth of the idea that men should “seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness” as they misinterpret the following idea that “all these things shall be added unto you“. Most align His words here with the examples provided by Jesus: food and drink and raiment while interpreting His words to extend to things of this world in general. The reality here IS that the Master IS telling us to “take no thought for your life” (Matthew 6:25) as a precept that IS based in the Great Commandment where one must focus upon the things of God “with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind, and with all thy strength” (Mark 12:30). Few Truly understand these things even through the apostles’ amplifying and clarifying messages as “the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would” (Galatians 5:17). Paul also tells us that “to be carnally minded is death; but to be spiritually minded is life and peace. Because the carnal mind is enmity against God: for it is not subject to the law of God, neither indeed can be” (Romans 8:6-7). James gives us a more corporate view saying “know ye not that the friendship of the world is enmity with God? whosoever therefore will be a friend of the world is the enemy of God” (James 4:4). The whole of the New Testament gives us instruction on the focus of our lives but unfortunately it IS the carnal desires of men that have reigned for the last 2000 years as men have ‘purposefully’ diluted and changed the words of scripture to allow themselves the ‘luxury’ of living as men in this world. Most ALL never see that it IS this focus on the self and the things of the self that ARE the cause of the prejudices and animosities, the contentiousness that leads to strife both individually and corporately. And should we look deeper into this we can then likely see that it IS this sense of focus that IS the subject teaching of most every world religion which, because most ALL DO NOT understand their precepts, ARE considered illegitimate by the Christian.
As we have said in the past, the way that the “doctrines of men” dilute and change the Truths of scripture IS a universal problem in this world. We could say that every doctrine that IS spawned in the minds of men contributes to the ‘eradication’ of the Truths that ARE yet there in men’s sacred texts yet increasingly go unseen. There IS NO better example of this than our trifecta which IS Jesus’ words, words which He traces back to the Father, to God Himself, saying that “the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me“. In our trifecta we have the reality of discipleship and the acquiring of the Truth with a cited cost yet many Christians will claim their discipleship based in the idea of being a ‘learner’, a common definition, without paying that cost. The same IS True for the reality of “the Truth“, the One Truth that reveals the hidden mysteries. Millions upon millions claim that they have that Truth but they too have NOT paid the cost which IS simply put by the Master as “If ye continue in my word“, an idea that has been totally supplanted by the “doctrines of men“. And we should NOT forget what Jesus tells us regarding doctrines and men as He says to the Jews “This people honoureth me with their lips, but their heart is far from me. Howbeit in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Mark 7:6,7). It IS in the ‘religious’ cleverness of men that they have laid off these words as applying ONLY to the Jews and while many may even realize that they too have created such doctrines that rise in opposition to His words, they continue to hold to the same sense of tradition as did the Jews. Perhaps it IS this realization that must be first embraced by the Christian seeker before he can break away from his doctrinal approach to the Lord as did many Jews 2000 years ago. As history tells us most were NOT convinced by the Master’s words nor by His miracles and while many Christians look toward the return of the Christ to this world, few there ARE that would recognize Him among the “false prophets” that encumber the Truth of religion today. Even the measure that Jesus shows us saying that “Ye shall know them by their fruits” has become untenable in a world where the very idea of fruits IS misplaced and ill-conceived. This saying and Jesus’ closing words on this subject “by their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:15, 16, 20) apply to prophets and teachers, both True and false, and it IS ONLY by the spiritual fruits of their lives that the differences can be KNOWN. Here we should try to understand that should Jesus return today He would likely treat the doctrinal Christian world in much the same way as He treated the Jews centuries ago and perhaps with ever more disdain because they DO use His name to justify their own versions of what He called “the commandments of men“.
We should remember that the Apostle Paul shows us the idea of “the commandments of men” in his words on “another gospel: Which is not another” promulgated by “some that trouble you, and would pervert the gospel of Christ” (Galatians 1:6, 7). Should we combine this idea with others from Paul as that “there are contentions among you” we can perhaps see a trend that began then and has progressed to the state of the church today. These contentions were NOT between the teachers cited, Paul, Apollos and Cephas but rather among those taught by them, among those that carried on their interpretations of the teachers’ words. It IS early in this dynamic that Paul asks “Is Christ divided” (1 Corinthians 1:11, 12, 13) and today, some 2000 years later, we DO still have that divided Christ; divided into denominations and sects that quibble with each other and which have spawned an increasing number of new divisions over recent centuries. It IS in the idea of “another gospel: Which is not another” that we find the reality that the gospel IS “not another” because it continues to be centered around the Christ while it IS another because it paints both Jesus and His teachings quite differently and generally NOT with the reality of His words in mind. The result IS of course “the commandments of men“, created in vanity and by the machinations of men who sought to mold the new religion according to their carnal ideas of Life. It IS to this creation and maintenance of the many versions of “another gospel” that the Master’s words should be heard saying that “in vain they do worship me” to the Christian world and to ALL who DO as did the Jews; ALL that ARE “teaching for doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:9). After 2000 years however there ARE few if any that will admit their culpability in this expression of vanity, a vanity that tells men that they ARE right and righteous despite the broad array of approaches to the Lord that their “commandments of men” set forth throughout the history of the church. This vanity IS men’s “bondage of corruption” which Vincent defines for us saying that it IS: a perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4. The irony here IS that Christianity IS intended to bring men closer to the Lord and while it may DO so in men’s minds the reality IS that it IS that perishable and decaying condition which makes men ever more separate from God.
Throughout Christian history men have applied their Christianity to many barbarous and superstitious views of Life; from the first Holy Wars to the Crusades to the Reformation Wars men have sought to eliminate any religious views other than their own while maintaining that their causes were righteous. While this may be a simplistic view of the causes of religious wars, it IS somewhat accurate in describing the inner motivation that set them in motion and in some parts of the world the lessons to be taught by these wars has NOT yet been taken to heart. In Christian terms we need to look back ONLY a few decades to The Troubles, also KNOWN as Northern Ireland conflict, and while many DO NOT see this as a religious war, the opposition was rather clearly Catholics versus Protestants. To be sure there IS yet today much animosity and prejudice regarding the religions and practices of others and we should try to see that the Christian IS much to blame for the resultant incivility as many outwardly proclaim that ALL other religions except theirs IS a false religion and that ONLY the Christian IS ‘saved‘. The basis of this Christian claim IS but the result of “another gospel” that has taken a single saying by the Master, one that IS grossly misunderstood and used out of context, and turned into a rallying cry that IS a major cause of division in the world today. Add to this the way that there IS still division fomenting in the Christian world between denominations, sects and what the mainstream calls cults. The single grossly misunderstood, saying IS of course Jesus’ words spoken to His disciples alone in a rather unique context where He tells them “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6) These words represent Jesus’ answer spoken directly to the Apostle Thomas in answer to his question and we should remember here that the apostles DO NOT completely understand what IS happening. Nor DO they understand the why or to where the Master IS leaving them and this after He tells them “whither I go ye know, and the way ye know” (John 14:6, 5). We should try to see that Jesus KNOWS that they DO KNOW where and the way but in the minds of the apostles this KNOWING IS NOT yet realized, accepted nor comprehended; the complexity of bringing such spiritual revelation to the carnal minds of men seemingly bewilders them. Jesus’ answer IS a direct response to Thomas question and was never intended to be the guiding Light of a religious movement that sought to use His words to as a way of separate themselves from other religions or from the secular world. In his First Epistle the Apostle John offers us some insight into the reality of the Master’s being “the way, the truth, and the life” and how that this applies NOT to the person of Jesus but rather to His role as the Christ, as the anointed of God of whom Paul tells us that “in him dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily” (Colossians 2:9).
John’s words reveal for us his understanding of the dynamics of being the Christ and how that this appellation IS NOT His name as church doctrines have made it to be. He DOES this by revealing for us our likeness to Him saying that “Herein is our love made perfect, that we may have boldness in the day of judgment: because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). We should understand two things here; first that the idea of judgement day IS a doctrinal idea that IS built around Jewish tradition and some words from the Master and His apostles that ARE construed to reference a judgement to be faced by men sometime after death; a judgement where one ‘stands’ before the Lord to find out his ability to go to heaven. Second IS that the Greek word krisis DOES NOT mean judgement per se but rather IS made so by implication and here this the implied meaning based in doctrinal view. Strong’s tells us that krisis IS a: decision (subjectively or objectively, for or against)9a while Vines tells us that krisis: denotes the process of investigation, the act of distinguishing and separating9b; in neither of these defining ideas DO we see the doctrinal view of judgement. Thayer’s gives us that krisis IS: a separating, sundering, separation; a trial, contest and then selection before going fully into scriptural references and doctrinal ideas. Without the doctrinal idea of judgement day attached to John’s words, we can better explore his intent which in the end IS clearly to show us our likeness to the Master through the words “Herein is our love made perfect….because as he is, so are we in this world” (1 John 4:17). Our perfect Love IS then based in our likeness to the Lord and we should we bring this idea to Jesus’ saying “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” and John’s earlier words saying “God is love; and he that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God, and God in him“, we can then see that “God is love” and that God IS perfect; it IS in our likeness that “our love” can be “made perfect“. It IS in our ability to have that perfect Love that we can then have that parrhesia which IS rendered as boldness in the King James Bible and as confidence, ideas of fearlessness and courage by others. The point here should be understood in regard to the way that the Christ that ‘anoints‘ Jesus IS the same as the Christ Within that can ‘anoint‘ everyman as his expression in this world becomes that “perfect love” which IS the subject of the apostle’s next verse saying “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear: because fear hath torment. He that feareth is not made perfect in love” (1 John 4:18). Can we see the role of confidence here as a better choice for parrhesia? While it IS a scriptural Truth that “as he is, so are we in this world” this must become the realization and the expression of a man; it IS in this realization and expression of Love that we can have that confidence in our own expressions of Truth based in our own decisions on our own day of such realization. It IS Love that separates the “false prophets” from those that ARE expressing the “fruit of the Spirit” which IS our expression of agape. The alternative IS that we remain in our vanity, we remain in our perishable and decaying condition, separate from God, and pursuing false ends4.
Carrying this point further we should see that in the idea that “as he is, so are we in this world” we too have a part in being “the way, the truth, and the life“, both in our own lives and in our relationship to others through agape. Vincent, quoting Thomas Kempis, tells us: “Without the way there is no going; without the truth there is no knowing; without the life there is no living. I am the way which thou shouldst pursue; the truth which thou shouldst believe; the life which thou shouldst hope for“ (Thomas a Kempis, “Imitation of Christ,” 3 56)4. It IS the Christ Within that combines with the man in the world to become the True likeness of the Master and this combining IS through his realization of the Truth that comes according to the first part of our trifecta. This IS the Way which revolves around our KNOWING and we should try to see that this KNOWING IS of the Truth. We find the Way in keeping His words which leads us to the Truth and it IS in this Truth that we Truly live according to the Master’s many words on Life. Perhaps the point IS made in Jesus’ saying “Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat: Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it” (Matthew 7:13-14). In the end, it IS the Christ that IS “the way, the truth, and the life” corporately while individually it IS the Christ Within that serves the same purpose. Aside from John’s telling us of our likeness to the Master, a likeness that we read about in the stories of Peter, Paul and perhaps John, we should also look at the very nature of the man Jesus that IS behind John’s telling us “Behold, what manner of love the Father hath bestowed upon us, that we should be called the sons of God: therefore the world knoweth us not, because it knew him not. Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, when he shall appear, we shall be like him; for we shall see him as he is. And every man that hath this hope in him purifieth himself, even as he is pure” (1 John 3:1-3). We should understand first and foremost that the apostle IS NOT writing to the average man who may ‘believe‘ in the Lord; he IS rather writing to the man that DOES “purifieth himself, even as he is pure” which IS his revelation of his Christ likeness. The greater point here IS that “now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be” although we should presume that John DOES have such understanding.
The question here IS what IS the man that IS among the True “sons of God” the man that expresses Christ likeness? The answer, while NOT clear to the average man, IS found in the alternate rendering of the Greek word phaneroo which IS rendered here as appear but defined in terms of manifestation. Again we should understand the subject as the Christ and in this we can perhaps see the idea of His manifestation in us; that when we can manifest the Christ Within we can then see the Christ, “see him as he is” as John tells us. Here again we should see the point from our trifecta where we read in the third part that “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me: and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father, and I will love him, and will manifest myself to him“. While much of the church teaches that it IS in being ‘saved‘ according to doctrinal precepts that Christ “will manifest myself to him” in a seemingly automatic response, this belief DOES NOT comport with the reality of Jesus’ words nor the complexity of the Apostle John’s words from his First Epistle. In simple Truth men must eschew “the works of the flesh” which ARE NOW manifest in him according to Paul’s words and embrace the “the fruit of the Spirit” through the manifestation of agape, of Love, in his mortal Life. It IS the manifestation and expression of agape in one’s Life that IS the ONLY sign that the Christ IS manifest according to Jesus’ words that tell us that it IS “He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them” that will have NOT ONLY the manifestation of the Christ but also the Father as we read that “my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him” from our trifecta. In this we have the Path to the Father, to the Truth of the Spirit, of which everyman IS part and parcel. In this we have the Way which we should try to see in human terms as our focus upon the Christ through the Christ Within, a focus that brings with it our striving to keep His words. In this we have the Truth that comes to us in our focus on the Christ Within, in our striving to “continue in my word” as Jesus tells us. And in this we have the Life, the spiritual Life that springs to the surface of our worldly expression according to the Master’s words saying “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” Matthew 10:39). As we close today we repeat our selection from Paul’s Epistle to the Galatians where the expanded meaning of ALL of this IS encapsulated as the apostle tells us that “all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” and while the common reference to the law IS the laws of Moses, we should expand on the idea to be ALL that IS in accord with “the way, the truth, and the life” which IS the Path to the Father and our ultimate goal as men in this world. Repeating our selection we read:
“for, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even in this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. But if ye bite and devour one another, take heed that ye be not consumed one of another. This I say then, Walk in the Spirit, and ye shall not fulfil the lust of the flesh. For the flesh lusteth against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh: and these are contrary the one to the other: so that ye cannot do the things that ye would. But if ye be led of the Spirit, ye are not under the law. Now the works of the flesh are manifest, which are these; Adultery, fornication, uncleanness, lasciviousness, Idolatry, witchcraft, hatred, variance, emulations, wrath, strife, seditions, heresies, Envyings, murders, drunkenness, revellings, and such like: of the which I tell you before, as I have also told you in time past, that they which do such things shall not inherit the kingdom of God. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, Meekness, temperance: against such there is no law. And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts. If we live in the Spirit, let us also walk in the Spirit“.
Galatians 5:13-25
What Paul IS outlining for the Galatians IS their Path back from “another gospel: Which is not another“, their Path away from the pre-doctrinal ideas of men; ideas that according to the apostle “pervert the gospel of Christ“. While we DO NOT KNOW if in his Lifetime Paul imagined what would become of the reality of “the gospel of Christ“, what would happen to the Master’s simple equation for True salvation. To say the least however he DID foresee the problems that were encumbering the Galatians as well as the Corinthians to whom he wrote concerning what he saw as the division of Christ as the people broke into camps around their particular groups teachers. While Paul identifies himself, Apollos and Cephas as such teachers whose words were used to create these divisions, the root cause of his concern that they were dividing Christ IS NOT in the teaching but rather in the acceptance of the teaching. We must presume that Paul DID NOT set out to create what has become the many divisions of Christianity and from the fullness of his written words this IS an easy presumption. We should be able to see the way that his words on the message of the Christ that revolves around the Great Commandments were deemed too harsh and then interpreted into ideas that fit with the willingness of men. This IS a point predicted in a way by the Master who KNOWS that the ultimate Truth would NOT be accepted by men just as the Truth of the law was NOT accepted by the Jews. And should we see that in the writing of the Old Testament it was this lack of acceptance that has come through in both the Pentateuch and the historical journey of the Israelites we could perhaps understand the ease with which Truth IS changed. It IS against this changed Truth that the Master rails and it IS likely with Jesus’ historical view of the Jews in mind that He tells us such things as that we must “Strive to enter in at the strait gate: for many, I say unto you, will seek to enter in, and shall not be able” (Luke 13:24). We should understand that those that “shall not be able” ARE the same as those that choose to enter in at the wide gate, in at the more ‘popular’ broad way which Matthew shows us above and we should try to see that while He came to the world of men that His objective was ever to find the “few there be that find it“; the few that find the Truth in His words of Truth and Love.
We will continue with our thoughts in the next post.
- 4 Word Studies in the New Testament; Marvin R Vincent D.D. 2nd edition
- 9 Thayer’s Greek Lexicon on blueletterbible.org
- 9a The New Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible on blueletterbible.org
- 9b Vine’s Expository Dictionary on blueletterbible.org
Those who walk on the well-trodden path always throw stones at those who are showing a new road.
Voltaire, Writer and Philosopher
