In the famed confession of faith of the vicar from Savoy in Rousseau's Emile (1762) a discussion occurs between a man of reason (le raisonneur) and an inspired preacher (l"inspiré). It is clear that Rousseau here means to put behind him his religious upbringing in Geneva. The inspired preacher's proclamation is in an evident Calvinistic key. At some point after an eloquent argument contra that supernatural religion the vicar exclaims: "You see what your so-called supernatural proofs, your miracles, your prophecies come down to. To belief on the authority of others, to subjection of divine authority, which speaks to my own reason, to human authority. If the eternal truths known by my spirit could