Temple of Reason

The symbols of Christianity were covered up, and the symbols of the Cult of Reason replaced them. In the Churches of Reason, there were specially created services meant to replace the Christian liturgy. According to the conservative critics of the French Revolution, within the Temple of Reason, "atheism was enthroned". English theologian Thomas Hartwell Horne and biblical scholar Samuel Davidson write that "churches were converted into 'temples of reason', in which atheistical and licentious homilies were substituted for the proscribed service". ==Churches transformed into Temples of Reason==

After Catholicism was banned in 1792, many of its churches were turned into Temples of Reason, including: • the Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (10 November 1793) • the Cathedral of Our Lady of Chartres • the Church of Saint-Sulpice • the Église Saint-Paul-Saint-Louis • the Basilica of Saint-Denis • the church of Les Invalides • the church of Thomas d'Aquino • the Panthéon de Paris • the Church Saint Pierre from Montmartre • the Cathedral of Our Lady of Reims • the Troyes Cathedral • the Notre Dame de Versailles Church • the Église Saint-Pierre de Caen • the Église Saint-Martin d'Ivry-la-Bataille • the Église Saint-Jacques-le-Majeur-et-Saint-Christophe d'Houdan • the Church of St. James on Coudenberg == Demise ==

In the spring of 1794, the Cult of Reason was faced with official repudiation when Robespierre, nearing complete dictatorial power during the Reign of Terror, announced his own establishment of a new, deistic religion for the Republic, the Cult of the Supreme Being. ==References==