Rene Descartes emerged as a significant philosophical figure at the beginning of the 17th century. Of French origin, he spent much of his life in Holland, finding Paris too distracting. Though educated under the Jesuits, he never married, led a lifestyle considered unusual by his peers, and was not tied to religious practice or loyalty to the Catholic Church. Descartes is often credited with the phrase, "I think, therefore I am," and is recognized by many as the father of modern philosophy due to his ideas diverging sharply from the more feeling-based understanding of his era. He never denied God's existence, identifying as a deist, though not a religious one. His contemporary, Blaise Pascal, criticized him as being at war against God and His revelations. Descartes gained immense popularity among his peers, who embraced and spread his writings, finding in them a liberation from divine constraints. His influence came close to overturning the educational and philosophical world of his time due to his intelligence and the widespread following he attracted.

The power of words, as emphasized in this series of commentaries titled Mightier Than the Sword, reveals their profound influence on beliefs, conduct, and ways of life in the Western world. Among the impactful thinkers, René Descartes stands out for his significant effect on philosophers themselves. His ideas, articulated centuries ago, continue to shape the mindset of Western leadership, demonstrating the enduring latent power of words to motivate and influence long after they are first encountered.

Rene Descartes, along with other influential philosophers, was highly likely to have been an Israelite Semite, born into a family practicing some form of the Christian religion in an Israelitish nation. He departed from the Christian religion of his youth, rejected God entirely, and became a major source of miseducation and persecution against his fellow Semitics through his teachings, either directly or indirectly. Descartes was very effective in influencing leadership, particularly in higher education, politics, the military, economics, and most seriously, in religion, to follow a path toward rejecting the existence of God and the moral authority of the Bible.