The Atheist's Bible : The Most Dangerous Book That Never Existed - Georges Minois

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The Atheist's Bible

Name: The Atheist's Bible
Brand: The University of Chicago Press
Price: 90.99 AUD

The Most Dangerous Book That Never Existed

By: Georges Minois, Lys Ann Weiss (Translator)

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Hardcover | 12 October 2012 | Edition Number 1

At a Glance

Hardcover
264 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
22.28 x 14.9 x 1.9

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A comprehensive biography of the Treatise of the Three Impostors, a controversial nonexistent medieval book.

Like a lot of good stories, this one begins with a rumor: in 1239, Pope Gregory IX accused Frederick II, the Holy Roman Emperor, of heresy. Without disclosing evidence of any kind, Gregory announced that Frederick had written a supremely blasphemous book—De tribus impostoribus, or the Treatise of the Three Impostors—in which Frederick denounced Moses, Jesus, and Muhammad as impostors. Of course, Frederick denied the charge, and over the following centuries the story played out across Europe, with libertines, freethinkers, and other “strong minds” seeking a copy of the scandalous text. The fascination persisted until finally, in the eighteenth century, someone brought the purported work into actual existence—in not one but two versions, Latin and French.

Although historians have debated the origins and influences of this nonexistent book, there has not been a comprehensive biography of the Treatise of the Three Impostors. In The Atheist’s Bible, the eminent historian Georges Minois tracks the course of the book from its origins in 1239 to its most salient episodes in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, introducing readers to the colorful individuals obsessed with possessing the legendary work—and the equally obsessive passion of those who wanted to punish people who sought it. Minois’s compelling account sheds much-needed light on the power of atheism, the threat of blasphemy, and the persistence of free thought during a time when the outspoken risked being burned at the stake.

About the Author

Georges Minois is the author of History of Old Age: From Antiquity to the Renaissance and History of Suicide: Voluntary Death in Western Culture, the former published by the University of Chicago Press.

Industry Reviews

"The Treatise of the Three Impostors is a book that enjoyed centuries of notorious nonexistence until (as Voltaire would say) it became necessary to invent it. Georges Minois writes with empathy, erudition, and a novelist's sense of buildup and timing, weaving in the parallel story of Europe's courageous freethinkers. In the face of today's social and even legal pressures against criticizing religion, it is good to see an honorable French tradition asserting itself." -Joscelyn Godwin, author of The Pagan Dream of the Renaissance"

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction History Regional & National History European History General & World History Religion & Beliefs Religion Religious Issues & Debates Blasphemy Christianity Christian Churches, Denominations, Groups Church History

Translator's Note	p. vii
Preface to the English-Language Edition (2012)	p. ix
Preface (2009)	p. xi
The Origin of a Mythical Theme: The Prehistory of the Three Impostors (Up to the Thirteenth Century)	p. 1
The First to Be Accused: Frederick II and Pierre des Vignes (1239)	p. 2
The Precursors of Imposture: Zalmoxis and Numa Pompilius	p. 9
Celsus: Moses the Impostor	p. 12
Celsus and the Talmud: Jesus the Impostor	p. 13
Mahomet the Impostor in Christian Literature (Ninth to Twelfth Centuries)	p. 18
Politico-Religious Imposture in the Middle Ages	p. 21
The Arabic Origins of the Theme of the Three Impostors (Tenth Century)	p. 25
The First Mention in Christianity (Twelfth Century)	p. 30
The Hunt for the Author of a Mythical Treatise (Fourteenth to Sixteenth Centuries)	p. 35
A Culture of Imposture	p. 35
The Rumors of the Late Middle Ages	p. 39
The Renaissance: A Receptive Context for the Idea of Imposture	p. 43
Moses the Machiavellian	p. 47
Appeals to the Holy Union of Religions	p. 51
Italy and the Specter of the Three Impostors	p. 52
The Obsession Spreads	p. 57
Geneva, Birthplace of the Three Impostors?	p. 59
Three Impostors or Three Prophets? (Guillaume Postel)	p. 62
Who Actually Saw the Treatise?	p. 65
The European Elites and Religious Imposture (Seventeenth Century)	p. 71
On the Trail of De tribus around the Baltic Sea	p. 71
Holland and England: Heterodox Contexts	p. 78
The French Trail: Learned Libertines and Religious Imposture	p. 88
Debates on the Origin of Religions (Second Half of the Seventeenth Century)	p. 95
Hobbes and Spinoza	p. 95
Holland and the Birth of the Radical Enlightenment	p. 106
Rumors of the De tribus in England	p. 112
From the De tribus to the Trois imposteurs: Discovery or Invention of the Treatise? (1680-1721)	p. 123
Sources of the De tribus: Kiel, 1688	p. 124
The Intervention of Leibniz and of Baron von Hohendorf	p. 126
The De tribus: A German Affair	p. 132
Preliminary Polemic: Does the Trois imposteurs Exist? (1715-1716)	p. 137
The Reference Edition: The Hague, 1719	p. 142
The Birth of LÆEsprit de Spinoza and of the Trois imposteurs (1700-1721)	p. 146
A Franco-Dutch Commercial Imposture?	p. 151
Erroneous Attributions: Henri de Boulainvillier (1658-1722) and John Toland (1670-1722)	p. 154
The Treatise of the Three Impostors: The Contents of a Blasphemy	p. 163
The De tribus: A Slapdash Work?	p. 164
The Atheism of the Traité	p. 167
The End of Religions	p. 171
The Soul and Demons: Subtle Chimeras	p. 174
Moses the Impostor: Magic and Persecution	p. 177
Jesus the Impostor: A Merchant of Absurd Dreams	p. 180
Mahomet the Impostor: The Senses and the Sword	p. 185
Epilogue: The Three Impostors in the Antireligious Literature of the Eighteenth Century	p. 191
Appendixes	p. 205
Notes	p. 209
Glossary of Names	p. 225
Index of Names	p. 241
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.

The Atheist's Bible

The Most Dangerous Book That Never Existed

At a Glance

Hardcover

Industry Reviews

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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