During Voltaire's lifetime, traditional social institutions and government systems held power. Arguably the most influential of those was the Catholic Church, which was considered sacred and above the state in authority and importance. Although Voltaire was a deist, he despised the Church clergy for its corruption, impiousness, and hypocrisy. Having been sexually used by teachers while attending a Jesuit school, he harbored a special hatred towards the Jesuits. Yet his abhorrence of religion extended past …showed first 75 words of 949 total…

…showed last 75 words of 949 total…of the Old World with the simple, thankful religion of the natives of El Dorado. However, Voltaire did not criticize devout believers, such as the Anabaptists. Rather, he set out to purify European society of its flaws through respectable means. Even today, his writings and treatises are considered the pinnacle of the Enlightenment and an influential cause for the French Revolution. ** References based on the Bedford Books edition of Candide, including Introduction by Gordon/Daniel.