Robespierre believed that reason is only a means to an end, and the singular end is virtue. He sought to move beyond simple deism (often described as Voltairean by its adherents) to a new and, in his view, more rational devotion to the Godhead. The primary principles of the Cult of the Supreme Being were a belief in the existence of a god and the immortality of the human soul.

 Though not inconsistent with Christian doctrine, these beliefs were put to the service of Robespierre's fuller meaning, which was of a type of civic-minded, public virtue he attributed to the Greeks and Romans.

 This type of virtue could only be attained through active fidelity to liberty and democracy.

 Belief in a living god and a higher moral code, he said, were "constant reminders of justice" and thus essential to a republican society