The History of Oracles
work by Fontenelle
Also known as: “Histoire des oracles”
Learn about this topic in these articles:
discussed in biography
- In Bernard Le Bovier, sieur de Fontenelle
…was carried further by the Histoire des oracles (1687; “History of the Oracles”), based on a Latin treatise by the Dutch writer Anton van Dale (1683). Here Fontenelle subjected pagan religions to criticisms that the reader would inevitably see as applicable to Christianity as well. The same antireligious bias is…
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place in French literature
- In French literature: The Enlightenment
The Histoire des oracles (1687; The History of Oracles) complements this popular erudition by a rationalist critique of erroneous legends. Fontenelle helped to lay the basis for empirical observation as the proper approach to scientific truth.
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