Pierre Bayle Quotes
I am a good Protestant, and in the full sense of the term, for from the bottom of my soul, I protest against everything that is said, and everything that is done.
Des Maizeaux, Pierre. The Life of Mr. Peter Bayle. In Bayle, Pierre, The Dictionary Historical and Critical of Mr. Peter Bayle, J. J. and P. Knapton, 1734.
Lampooning the noble families of Scotland and the Earl of Glasgow:
The “experts” were scientists and science educators who had testified that Creationism, a notion that some religious Christians believe is a more valid explanation of the development of plants and animals than is Evolution, is a religious belief, not a science and should not be taught in a science curriculum. McLeroy believed that even in teaching science, scientific thinking and expertise should not be given more weight than religion in general and Christianity in particular. Some fundamentalist Protestants find Evolution distressing in that it contradicts the literal Biblical narrative. Other Protestants, Jews, and Catholics do not see anything in Evolution that conflicts with their spiritual view of God. They see Evolution as the mechanism that God created for the development of life. McLeroy was defeated in the next election after taking this anti scientific position, and was replaced with another fundamentalist Protestant—but one who did not believe that a particular Protestent, Christian view of the world which scientists generally reject should be taught as science in public schools.
Pierre Bayle was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. He is best known for his Historical and Critical Dictionary, whose publication began in 1697. Bayle was a notable advocate of religious toleration and his skeptical philosophy had a significant influence on the subsequent growth and development of the European Age of Enlightenment. Bayle is commonly regarded as a forerunner of the Encyclopédistes of the mid 18th century.
