The French author Voltaire was born this day, Nov. 21, 1694. He was celebrated for his wit, brilliancy and his hatred of Christianity. According to Yale President Timothy Dwight, Voltaire had “formed a systematical design to destroy Christianity and to introduce … a general diffusion of … atheism.” Bruce Barton, an American advertising executive, wrote: “Voltaire spoke of the Bible as a short-lived book. He said that within a hundred years it would pass from common use. Not many people read Voltaire today, but his house has been packed with Bibles as a depot of a Bible society.”
