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| '''Jean le Clerc''' (], ] - ], ]), ] ] ], was born at ], where his father, Stephen Le Clerc, was professor of ]. | |||
| The family originally belonged to the neighborhood of ] in France, and several of its members acquired some name in literature. Jean Le Clerc applied himself to the study of philosophy under JR Chouet (1642-1731) the Cartesian, and attended the theological lectures of P Mestrezat, ''Franz Turretin and Louis Tronchin'' (1629-1705). In 1678-1679 he spent some time at ] as tutor in a private family; on his return to Geneva he passed his examinations and received ordination. Soon afterwards he went to ], where in 1679 were published ''Literii de Sancto Amore Epistolae Theologicae'' (Irenopoli: Typis Philaleihianis), usually attributed to him; they deal with the doctrine of the ], the hypostatic union of the two natures in ] ], ], and the like, in a manner sufficiently far removed from that of the conventional orthodoxy of the period. | |||
| In ] he went to ], where he remained six months, preaching on alternate Sundays in the Walloon church and in the Savoy chapel. Passing to Amsterdam he was introduced to ] and to ], professor at the Remonstrant college; the acquaintance with Limborch soon ripened into a close friendship, which strengthened his preference for the Remonstrant theology, already favorably known to him by the writings of his grand-uncle, Stephan Curedlaeus (d. 1645) and by those of ]. | |||
| A last attempt to live at Geneva, made at the request of relatives there, satisfied him that the theological atmosphere was uncongenial, and in ] he finally settled at ], first as a moderately successful preacher, until ecclesiastical jealousy shut him out from that career, and afterwards as professor of philosophy, belles-lettres and Hebrew in the ] seminary. This appointment, which he owed to Limborch, he held from 1684, and in 1752 on the death of his friend he was called to occupy the chair of church history also. | |||
| His suspected ] was the cause, it is said, of his exclusion from the chair of ]tic theology. Apart from his literary labours, Le Clerc's life at Amsterdam was uneventful. In 1691 be married a daughter of ]. From 1728 onward he was subject to repeated strokes of paralysis, and he died on the 8th of January. | |||
| A full catalogue of the publications of Le Clerc will be found, with biographical material, in E and E Haag's ''France Protestante'' (where seventy-three works are enumerated), or in JG de Chauffepié's ''Dictionnaire''. | |||
| Only the most important of these can be mentioned here. In ] he published ''Sentimens de quelques thologiens de Hollande sur l'histoire critique du Vieux Testament composée par le P. Richard Simon'', in which, while pointing out what he believed to be the faults of that author, he undertook to make some positive contributions towards a right understanding of the Bible. Among these last may be noted his argument against the Mosaic authorship of the ], his views as to the manner in which the five books were composed, his opinions (singularly free for the time in which he lived) on the subject of inspiration in general, and particularly as to the inspiration of ], ], ], ]. | |||
| ]'s ''Réponse'' (1686) elicited from ''Le Clerc a Defence des sentimens'' in the same year, which was followed by a new ''Réponse'' (1687). In 1692 appeared his ''Logica sive Ars Ratiocinandi'', and also ''Ontologia et Pneumatologia''; these, with the ''Physica'' (1695), are incorporated with the ''Opera Philosophica'', which have passed through several editions. | |||
| In ] his series of Biblical commentaries began with that on Genesis; the series was nut completed until 1731. The portion relating to the ] books included the paraphrase and notes of ]. Le Clerc's commentary had a great influence in breaking up traditional prejudices and showing the necessity for a more scientific inquiry into the origin and meaning of the biblical books, It was on all sides hotly attacked. | |||
| His ''Ars Critica'' appeared in 1696, and, in continuation, ''Epistolae Criticae et Ecclesiasticae'' in 1700. Le Clerc's new edition of the Apostolic Fathers of Johann Cotekrius (1627-1686), published in 1698, marked an advance in the critical study of these documents. | |||
| But the greatest literary influence of Le Clerc was probably that which he exercised over his contemporaries by means of the serials, or, if one may so call them, reviews, of which he was editor. These were the ''Bibliothèque universelle et historique'' (Amsterdam, 25 vols 12 mu., 1686-1693), begun with JC de la Croze; the ''Bibliothèque choisie'' (Amsterdam, 28 vols,, 1703-1713); and the ''Bibliothèque ancienne et moderne'', (29 vols, 1714-1726). | |||
| See Le Clerc's ''Parrhasiana ou penses sur des matires de critique, d'histoire, de morale, et de politique: avec la defense de divers ouvrages de M. L. C. par Théodore Parrhase'' (Amsterdam, 1699); and ''Vita et opera ad annum MDCCXL, amici ejus opusculu in philosophicis Clerici operibus subjiciendum'', also attributed to himself. The supplement to Hammond's notes was translated into English in 1699, ''Parrhesiana, or Thoughts on Several Subjects'', in 1700, the Harmony of the Gospels in 1701, and ''Twelve Dissertations'' out of 211. Le Clerc's ''Genesis'' in 1696. | |||
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Latest revision as of 14:37, 8 January 2008
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