Many philoshopes of the Enlightenment were deists, meaning they believed that any God that created nature so rationally must also be rational, and should therefore be worshipped in a rational manner. To these Enlightenment thinkers the Catholic Church, and all other established institutes of religion were not rational or enlightened whatsoever. A prominent Enlightenment thinker, Voltaire, who was not a deist, but whom opposed the Catholic Church equally vehemently is another example of enlightenment thought that later influenced the French Revolution. Voltaire, who was strongly against religious persecution, deduced that the Church was the greatest persecuted overall, and was therefore strongly opposed to it. More than anything Voltaire was an advocate for religious toleration and a leader of the crusade against religious persecution. Revolutionary thinkers tended to agree with
Many philoshopes of the Enlightenment were deists, meaning they believed that any God that created nature so rationally must also be rational, and should therefore be worshipped in a rational manner. To these Enlightenment thinkers the Catholic Church, and all other established institutes of religion were not rational or enlightened whatsoever. A prominent Enlightenment thinker, Voltaire, who was not a deist, but whom opposed the Catholic Church equally vehemently is another example of enlightenment thought that later influenced the French Revolution. Voltaire, who was strongly against religious persecution, deduced that the Church was the greatest persecuted overall, and was therefore strongly opposed to it. More than anything Voltaire was an advocate for religious toleration and a leader of the crusade against religious persecution. Revolutionary thinkers tended to agree with