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Jean Meslier was born January 15, 1664 in Ardennes, France. His parents were weavers of serge, a textile, and he was raised in the countryside (Meslier, 2009). Meslier pursued studies and after becoming educated in theology, entered the priesthood in 1689, which he later confessed was a job that he did with “great loathing" (Meslier, 2009). He was a priest at the Church of Étrépigngy in the Champagne region of France and was dedicated to helping his parishioners.

As a priest, Meslier was known to always support those who were poor and oppressed, he officiated many weddings free of charge, redistributed the wealth he got from an inherited rental property and gave many alms to the people of the village. He was morally unshakable, and never turned his back to the exploited: the poor, the workers, the peasants, the orphans, and women. He was a firm believer of justice for these people and believed the rich and aristocrats should be held accountable for their unjust actions (Meslier, 2009). In one instance, the Lord of the town, Antione de Toully, who had often mistreated the poor, asked Meslier to provide him with a blessing of holy water and prayer. Meslier, believing Toully to be a tyrant, refused and later provided a sermon condemning him. It is clear through Meslier’s actions that while he was a priest, he was first and foremost an activist and would use his occupation as a way to advocate for the exploited. Because Meslier often took actions of this kind, especially against those in power, he was frequently punished by the church; however, Meslier was never deterred from preaching and doing what he thought was right (Meslier, 2009, 1878).

While Meslier was a priest by day, he was also a prolific writer, especially at night. During this time, he wrote his work called “Testament: Memoir of the Thought and Sentiments of Jean Meslier.” The Testament is, at its core, an atheist writing, and so Meslier has become known as the atheist priest. However, the Testament contains much more than just atheism, it also contains arguments for political revolution, communalism, anarchy, and materialism. This work was the first of its kind to argue for these topics in the way Meslier did, and the main focus was to vindicate the poor, subjugated, and exploited while condemning the rich, powerful, and the Catholic church (Meslier, 2009, 1878).

Meslier kept this writing hidden until after his death at the age of fifty-five in 1719. After his death, he left all of his belongings, including the Testament, to his parishioners who buried him in his garden and discovered his Testament. The Testament was first edited and published widely by Voltaire during the 1760s, however, Voltaire’s edits were widespread and reactive, and thus they heavily altered the message and arguments Meslier was actually levying. It is believed that Voltaire did this as a way to use Meslier’s writings to advance Voltaire’s own stance, even though the two of them differed on important points (Meslier, 2009). However, after time, Meslier’s actual arguments and writings came to light and now provide a more accurate reflection of his position.

Jean Melsier, through the Testament, can be understood as having “invented a radical atheism, proposed a hedonist ethic, formulated an immanent ontology, constructed his liberation politics and gave them a communalist and international concept, thought of a feminism of action… erected the modern materialism, and unmasked the Cartesian deceit" (Meslier, 2009). The fact that he did all of these things, in the 1700s, and presented them all in a single writing, shows Meslier to be a thought-provoking, bold, and brilliant thinker whose philosophy was far ahead of its time. However, it is often the case that Meslier's work is often overshadowed by Voltaire and other later atheist writings, but in reality, it seems that Meslier is the father of modern atheism (as well as many other things) and thus deserves more philosophic attention and respect.