John Adams was in Paris on April 15, 1778, and wrote this recollection of a conversation he was present at:
"The greatest part of the Conversation was concerning Voltaire. He was extolled to the Skies as a Prodigy. His Eminence in History, Epick Poetry, Dramatick Poetry, Phylosophy, even the Neutonian Phylosophy: His Prose and Verse were equally admirable. No Writer had ever excelled in so many Branches of Science and Learning, besides that astonishing multitude of his fugitive Pieces. He was the grand Monarch of Science and Litterature. If he should die the Republick of Letters would be restored. But it was now a Monarchy, &c. &c. &c."
I think Adams had his tongue in his cheek while writing these lines.
The “Enlightenment” “heroes” were largely in the employ of the financial elite “banksters” of those days.
If you have a solid understanding of the fundamentals of Biblical doctrine and also of math, logic, business and finance, and you really go through their writings... and you’ll have to rethink some very fundamental economics basics that you’ve been taught (as they are very subtley but very dramatically anti-Christ)... you’ll start finding little rotten things all over.
One example of a required rethink is the famous fractional reserve banking and “increasing the money supply”. The truth is so simple you’ll probably chuckle at not seeing it all along.
The elites and their top talent are very, very, very tricky, and most illusions are very simple - once you know enough how the trick works.
Studying Enlightenment figures is further complicated by the way things always are: people are not all in one simple classification.
Some were literally in the employ of the financiers and knew something of their real motives.
Others were perhaps benefitting from the financiers largesse and undoubtedly did not see the “big picture”, but just pressed on trying to further their own careers.
Many “intellectuals” and “activists”, of course, had no idea of what was really going on, they simply bought into the “movement” or “idea” they were all “into”, and they pushed it like crazy, not having any idea who they were really benefitting and how. They were essentially sheeple unwittingly working for their masters, like most of society.
As far as Enlightenment figures and Christianity goes...
Some were really solid Christians, some perhaps just attended Church but clearly exhibited a lack of being able to apply the Bible to their lives, while still others were publicly anti-Christian, atheist, etc.
As far as organizational “operatives”...
The freemason movement was big in Europe, and was and undoubtedly still is, like most significant organizations, plagued with a few mininions of the financiers joining up, moving up the ladder, and setting up their own little secret organization within the uppermost parts of the organization. Such tactics are used regarding Churches, political parties, etc., and are very helpful to the elites in their operations against us dumb sheeple.
Enlightenment intellectuals had the effect, like the elites’ intellectuals still do today, of tending to effect support of a wonderful trade and finance environment for the elites and at the same time a stinky one for the sheeple. They also knowingly or unknowingly worked against Biblical Christianity, undermining it, promoting immorality, etc.
Needless to day, I was very dismayed at finding out about the truth about my former Enlightenment heroes, and now have to resign myself to being all skeptical and such until I at least do a small but tedious review of their “resume”.
Once again, were it not for my faith in Jesus Christ, I’d be seriously bummed out.