<P> Like most encyclopedias, the Encyclopédie attempted to collect and summarize human knowledge in a variety of fields and topics, ranging from philosophy to theology to science and the arts . The Encyclopédie was controversial for reorganizing knowledge based on human reason instead of by nature or theology . Knowledge and intellect branched from the three categories of human thought, whereas all other perceived aspects of knowledge, including theology, were simply branches or components of these man made categories . The introduction to the Encyclopédie, D'Alembert's "Preliminary Discourse", is considered an important exposition of Enlightenment ideals . Among other things, it presents a taxonomy of human knowledge (see Fig. 3), which was inspired by Francis Bacon's The Advancement of Learning . The three main branches of knowledge are: "Memory" / History, "Reason" / Philosophy, and "Imagination" / Poetry . This tree of knowledge was created to help readers evaluate the usefulness of the content within the Encyclopédie, and to organize its content . Notable is the fact that theology is ordered under "Philosophy" and that "Knowledge of God" is only a few nodes away from "Divination" and "Black Magic". </P> <P> The authors of the Encyclopédie challenged religious authority . First, they doubted the authenticity of presupposed historical events cited in the Bible and questioned the validity of miracles and the Resurrection . The writers emphasized an individual's right to religious sovereignty . </P> <P> These challenges led to suppression from church and state authorities . The Encyclopédie and its contributors endured many attacks and attempts at censorship by the clergy or other censors, which threatened the publication of the project as well as the authors themselves . The King's Council suppressed the Encyclopédie in 1759 . The Catholic Church, under Pope Clement XIII, placed it on its list of banned books . Prominent intellectuals criticized it, most famously Lefranc de Pompignan at the French Academy . A playwright, Charles Palissot de Montenoy, wrote a play called Les Philosophes to criticize the Encyclopédie . When Abbé André Morellet, one of the contributors, wrote a mock preface for it, Morellet due to an alleged libel was thrown into the Bastille . </P> <P> To defend themselves from controversy, the encyclopedia's articles wrote of theological topics in a mixed manner . Some articles supported orthodoxy, and some included overt criticisms of Christianity . To avoid direct retribution from censors, writers often hid criticism in obscure articles or expressed it in ironic terms . Nonetheless, the contributors still openly attacked the Catholic Church in certain articles with examples including criticizing excess festivals, monasteries, and celibacy of the clergy . </P>

Who was responsible for the publication of the first encyclopedia and why was this significant