Very Good, Mr. Comte
Story★★★★Auguste Comte, the French philosopher, and Thomas Carlyle, the Scottish essayist were deeply engaged in conversation. Comte said he was going to start a new religion that would supplant the religion of Christ. It was to have no mysteries and was to be as plain as the multiplication table; its name was to be positivism. “Very good, Mr. Comte,” Carlyle replied, “very good. All you will need to do will be to speak as never a man spake, and live as never a man lived, and be crucified, and rise again the third day, and get the world to believe that you are still alive. Then your religion will have a chance to get on.’’2
The point
Carlyle's witty reply to Comte's proposed positivist religion pointed out that no human system can replace Christ's incarnation, death, resurrection, and ongoing presence.