Voltaire's most scathingly anti-Christian text, the "Sermon des cinquante", of which he consistently denied authorship, develops the arguments he was to use over the coming decades in a multitude of virulent texts. In the period 1758-1759, biblical questions remain prominent with the "Lettre sur le Messie" and, in a gentler tone, the "Precis de l'Ecclesiaste" and "Precis du Cantique des cantiques". These years also saw the culmination of a long-brewing quarrel over the reputation of the deceased minister Joseph Saurin, which brought Voltaire's stay in Lausanne to a close. A series of philosophical dialogues and a conte round out his literary productions of this two-year span.
- ISBN13 9780729409018
- Publish Date 31 March 2010
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Voltaire Foundation
- Edition Critical edition
- Format Hardcover
- Pages 526
- Language French
- URL http://voltaire.ox.ac.uk/book/sermon-des-cinquante-writings-1758-1759