"If a prophecy is to be called infallible, I fairly demand that it should state beforehand legibly, clearly, and distinctly that which no man could previously have known, and that the same should thereafter take place at the time appointed, but that it should not take place because it has been predicted. If, however, such a prophecy can only be verified through allegorical interpretations of words and interpretation of words and things; if it be only composed of dark and dubious words, and the expressions it contains are commonplace, vague, and uncertain; if the matter was thought probable, or was foreseen by human cunning; if it occurs because it was predicted; if the words used refer to some other matter and are only applied to the prophecy by a quibble; if it is only written down after the event has occurred; if a prophetic book or passage is given out to be older than it is; or lastly, if the thing predicted does not take place at all, then the prophecy is either doubtful or false."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
pp. 76–77
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Hermann_Samuel_Reimarus
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Hermann Samuel Reimarus
Hermann Samuel Reimarus (22 December 1694, Hamburg – 1 March 1768, Hamburg), was a German philosopher and writer of the Enlightenment who is remembered for his Deism, the doctrine that human reason can arrive at a knowledge of God and ethics from a study of nature and our own internal reality, thus eliminating the need for religions based on revelation. He denied the supernatural origin of Christianity, and is credited by some with initiating historians' investigation of the historical Jesus.
27 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Hermann Samuel Reimarus →
Related Quotes
"Each person has his religion and sect impressed upon him as a child, merely as a prejudice, through memorized formula…"
"Jesus left us nothing in writing; everything that we know of his teaching and deeds is contained in the writings of h…"
"[Jesus] was born a Jew and intended to remain one."
"[It is] evident that Jesus in no way intended to abolish this Jewish religion and introduce a new one in its place. F…"
"The apostles strayed completely from their master in their teaching and in their lives, abandoning his religion and h…"
"[Jesus' Jewish contemporaries] are still thinking in terms of a temporal redemption and of an earthly kingdom that th…"
"It is foolish to sigh and complain about mankind's disbelief if one cannot furnish men with the persuasive evidence t…"
"That which is absurd and impossible, that which in any other history would be called falsehood, deception, outrage an…"
"[Jesus] ended his life with the words, "Eli, Eli, lama sabacthani?" "My God, my God, why hast Thou forsaken me?"—a co…"
"We are justified in drawing an absolute distinction between the teaching of the Apostles in their writings and what J…"