The Untold Story of The French Revolution

A timeless tale

“The existence and stability of the world depend on saints; without them, chaos would reign.” - C. Lumamba @Legacy 2025.

One man once said, "The atheist cannot find God for the same reason that a thief cannot find a policeman," a statement that I find interesting in that it implies quite a few things that all border on morality, right and wrong. What the author of the quote was simply trying to say is that those who deny the existence of God do so, not because of lack of evidence or conviction of His existence but simply because if God does exist, then well, we are accountable for everything we do, be it actions, words, etc., to Him. And that presents a problem because people don't want to be told what to do, “thou shall not.” And so it is much easier to say there is no God than to admit that He exists because admitting that He exists will mean we have to be accountable. But then if we deny the existence of the Sovereign of the Universe, then who decides what's right and what's wrong? Is it the government of the day? Is it Osama bin Laden? Is it Hitler? Or is it the Pope? Who? And as you come up with a list of right and wrong, let's also decide what authority one has to decide what's right and wrong for everyone. Now note “Right vs. Wrong,” we are not talking about legal and illegal, for many things are legal but to many cannot be considered right. And so let me state it explicitly: I am talking about Morality. So granted we have stated it, the world today is typified by theories of philosophy, science so falsely called, and men and women who try so hard to disprove the existence of God and the need for man to do as he wills. Sometimes, I am tempted to think it actually takes more effort to disprove the existence of God than to prove He exists. But I reiterate, deny God, we deny the need for morality. But is morality even important? Can't we all just do as we see fit?

What if we decided to put aside the idea of morality? Is it even necessary to have a moral compass in order for society to function? “We can reason intelligently only from what we know, and without demonstrated facts, our fancied knowledge is worse than ignorance. With those who take no delight in true history, the proverb may apply: Where ignorance is bliss, it is folly to be wise”(Gleason, 2017). With that being said, let us dive into history and see what happened to a society that tried to completely do away with God and Morality.

The Untold Story of a Time Right Before the French Revolution

The French Revolution is heralded to be by far the most violent and significant of all the Western revolutions by the end of the 18th Century for many reasons. It is interesting to look at a time period prior to all the chaos, the calm before the storm, for the revolution was but a mere reaction, a symptom of a problem that many witnessed firsthand, a timeless tale that was etched in the oracles of history and the cosmos for an example to us, a lesson for the ages to come, which is an emphasis of this article. The revolution itself was caused by multiple short-term and long-term factors, which ultimately culminated in social, economic, financial, and political crises in the late 1780s. A country that was fairly flourishing, how did it reach a state of utter ruin and despicable violence which certain writers have commented to say the land had been filled with crimes “too horrible for pen to trace”?

Vive la Raison!

The Bible says a man's heart is wicked, and I agree. Left to his own whims, man will degrade lower than a beast. The Bible mentions a time when there was no ruler in Israel, and everyone did according to what was right to to them. And that’s the state in which France had reached.

Historians say, “France is the only nation in the world concerning which the authentic record survives, that as a nation she lifted her hand in open rebellion against the Author of the universe. Plenty of blasphemers, plenty of infidels, there have been, and still continue to be, in England, Germany, Spain, and elsewhere; but France stands apart in the world’s history as the single state which, by the decree of her Legislative Assembly, pronounced that there was no God, and of which the entire population of the capital, and a vast majority elsewhere, women as well as men, danced and sang with joy in accepting the announcement.”—Blackwood’s Magazine, November, 1870.

France had decided that there was no God and they chose to reject even morality. It wasn’t just a few individuals forming a cult as some would like to think but it was a national decree. History records that, “the world for the first time heard an assembly of men, born and educated in civilization, and assuming the right to govern one of the finest of the European nations, uplift their united voice to deny the most solemn truth which man’s soul receives, and renounce unanimously the belief and worship of a Deity.”—Sir Walter Scott, Life of Napoleon, vol. 1, ch. 17.

There is an entire history that led to this national apostasy, and Rome was at the center of it all. So boldly did France stand against its creator that there must have been an evil influence that dragged men to this extent. Man thought it wise to insult and blaspheme God, making an open mockery of Him. They did not only do this, but anything and anyone who decided to stand on anything that was holy, noble, or Christian was exterminated with extreme prejudice, imprisoned, or exiled. The institutions of the Bible were abolished, and the weekly rest day was substituted for the tenth day of reveling and blasphemy. The priests denied their God, one was even quoted saying, “God, if You exist, avenge Your injured name. I bid You defiance! You remain silent; You dare not launch Your thunders. Who after this will believe in Your existence?”—Lacretelle, History, vol. 11, p. 309; in Sir Archibald Alison, History of Europe, vol. 1, ch. 10.

The Bartholomew Massacre :(IMAGO., 2025)

They persecuted all who chose to remain faithful to God, the most horrible atrocities were committed to rid the state of anything associated with God. “But blackest in the black catalogue of crime, most horrible among the fiendish deeds of all the dreadful centuries, was the St. Bartholomew Massacre. The world still recalls with shuddering horror the scenes of that most cowardly and cruel onslaught. The king of France, urged on by Romish priests and prelates, lent his sanction to the dreadful work. A bell, tolling at dead of night, was a signal for the slaughter. Protestants by thousands, sleeping quietly in their homes, trusting to the plighted honor of their king, were dragged forth without a warning and murdered in cold blood.”—The Great Controversy.

All this horror was perpetuated by a fiendish foe who remains unseen to the human eye.

The horrors that were done to deny the sovereignty of the Universe are still written in the oracles of history for all those who want to revisit so that it is an example of what occurs to those who dare remove that which maintains sanity in a society. What followed was truly a period of darkness, when mankind thought that getting rid of God would be freedom. What resulted was utter ruin to a nation, poverty, crime, and degradation. During that period, there was no development in the nation. agriculture was at its worst because the middle and lower classes were left to till the land only for the nobles and rich to enact burdensome taxes and take advantage of the poor at every point possible. There was no scientific or medical advancement in the nation, and the intellect of the people dwindled because how could they be more intelligent when the core occupation of everyone was exercising the basest passion possible? The major occupation was finding new ways to take advantage of fellow man and inventing newer ways to make sin more pleasurable, and anything good and noble was banished from the minds of men.

“When the restraints of God’s law were cast aside, it was found that the laws of man were inadequate to hold in check the powerful tides of human passion; and the nation swept on to revolt and anarchy.”—The Great Controversy.

In all this, the people who cast down the Bible, burned the saints at the stake, and exiled those who could escape thought that this meant freedom and prosperity, but history proves that instead of prosperity, the nation was left in utter ruin and darkness. Things were so terrible that the oppressed of the nation, the poor and middle classes, rose up against their rulers, and the rulers fought back, which led to a lot of bloodshed till the nation decided to get on a path that would again lead to acceptance of religion and the Bible. "Atheists, infidels, and apostates oppose and denounce God’s law; but the results of their influence prove that the well-being of man is bound up with his obedience of the divine statutes. Those who will not read the lesson from the book of God are bidden to read it in the history of nations." GC

“The wicked shall fall by his own wickedness.” “Though a sinner do evil a hundred times, and his days be prolonged, yet surely I know that it shall be well with them that fear God, which fear before Him: but it shall not be well with the wicked.”—Proverbs 11:5; Ecclesiastes 8:12, 13. “They hated knowledge, and did not choose the fear of the Lord;” “therefore shall they eat of the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.”—Proverbs 1:29, 31.

The Fool

“The fool has said in his heart there is no God…..”

I can't help but think that what happened to France is but a picture of what happens to an individual when we decide to deny the existence of Morality. The very fact that every nation or society that has ever tried to deny the necessity of morality has been brought down to utter ruin is enough evidence that there is a God. Man, as he exists now, cannot rule himself with his corrupt heart. If indeed there is no God, then everyone should do according to what is right to them, right? Otherwise, what is the justification for one person telling another what to do? And so I agree with Noah Webster when he said: "No truth is more evident to my mind than that the Christian religion must be the basis of any government intended to secure the rights and privileges of a free people... When I speak of the Christian religion as the basis of government... I mean the primitive Christianity in its simplicity as taught by Christ and His apostles, consisting of a belief in the being, perfections, and government of God; in the revelation of His will to men, as their supreme rule of action; in man's... accountability to God for his conduct in this life; and in the indispensable obligation of all men to yield entire obedience to God's commands in the moral law and the Gospel." Noah Webster

I believe the world owes its existence and stability to the saints; without them, it would be in complete ruin. I could argue that the moral depravity that some perpetuate as freedom will only lead to the utter ruin of oneself. We see it and learn from others. Even in business, those who are most successful have a level of discipline and temperance; they function based on principle. And what is a better dictate of principle than the oracles of One who created mankind?.

References

1.     Websters Dictionary 1828 - Quotations. (n.d.). Websters Dictionary 1828. https://webstersdictionary1828.com/Quotes

2.     White, E. G. (2019). Great Controversy. Indoeuropeanpublishing Co.

3.     French Revolution - The new regime | Britannica. (2020). In Encyclopædia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/French-Revolution/The-new-regime

4.     French Revolution - Wikipedia. (n.d.). En.m.wikipedia.org. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Revolution

5.     Gleason, A. (2017). Is the Bible from Heaven? Is the Earth a Globe? Createspace Independent Publishing Platform.

6.     Thomas Nelson Publishers. (2011). King James Bible. Thomas Nelson. (Original work published 1611}

7 IMAGO. (2025). Imago-Images.com. https://www.imago-images.com/st/0109443649

‌