PIERRE BAYLE: THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS OF THE ARTICLE ON DAVID: Part IPIERRE

BAYLE: THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS OF THE ARTICLE ON DAVID: Part I

Author(s): Walter Rex

Source: Bibliothque d'Humanisme et Renaissance, T. 24, No. 1 (1962), pp. 168-189

Published by: Librairie Droz

Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/20674350

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 PIERRE BAYLE:
THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS
OF THE ARTICLE ON DAVID OF THE ARTICLE ON DAVID
Part I Part I
Shortly after the publication of the Dictionnaire historique et
critique, Pierre Bayle was summoned to appear before the Consistory
of the Walloon Church in Rotterdam to receive censure 1. The com
mittee of pastors appointed by the church to investigate the Dic
tionary had found no less than five matters worthy of blame, which
they specified to him: the obscenities, the article on David, the
arguments favoring Manichaeanism, the article on Pyrrho, and his
treatment of atheists and epicureans. Though the Consistory did
not attempt to ban the Dictionary, it enjoined the author to take
immediate steps to make amends and required that all these matters
be rectified in the second edition. Bayle docilely agreed to give
satisfaction, promising after due study to explain his position in
such a way as to remove all scandal on the part of the pious reader.
Gradually the affair quieted down.
The Consistory had performed its task intelligently, marking out
for condemnation precisely the things which were to make the
Dictionary so beloved a work to impious philosophers of the En
lightenment, and which make Bayle seem such a daring and inte
resting author to us, today. Particularly clairvoyant was the strong
disapproval they expressed concerning " Le portrait affreux de la
conduite et du gouvernement du roi David ". In this case the
Consistory suggested that the entire article be re-written, and spe
cified the changes they wished to see made. It was as if they had
already sensed the special importance of this dangerous article, which
in fact became a milestone in the development of the anti-biblical
attitude of the century which followed. Even in our own time the
boldness of this splendid article has brought forth reactions of delight,
of dismay, from the scholars studying it.
Viewed superficially, the article on David seems quite simple,
1 The main documents concerning Bayle's dealings with the Consistory have been
included in later editions of the Dictionnaire historique et critique; in the
Beuchot
edition, XVI, p. 287-300. One may also consult J.B. Kan, *' Bayle et Jurieu
Bulletin
de la Commission de l'histoire des Eglises Wallonnes, IV (1890), p. 139-170 ; C.
Serrurier,
Pierre Bagle en Hollande (Lausanne, 1912), p. 182-185; Howard Robinson, Bayle
the Sceptic (New York, Columbia University Press, 1931), p. 147-150.p. [168]
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 169
and we may resume its contents rather quickly 1. First, there is
the opening sentence, in large print, relating that David was " the
man after God's own heart "-a biblical phrase that became pro
verbial in the Eighteenth Century, largely thanks to Bayle-and verbial in the
Eighteenth Century, largely thanks to Bayle-and
stating that even if God had not chosen David as a saint, he would stating that
even if God had not chosen David as a saint, he would
still be one of the greatest rulers that ever lived. Then there follows
a recounting of the life of the prophet, with almost painfully scrupulous
fidelity to the text of the Scripture, and the tale turns out to be an
appalling list of hypocrisies, treacheries, injustices, adulteries, murders
and even massacres. Sometimes the main text seems to be inno
cently reinforcing the sentiment of the opening sentence, extolling
David's virtues, while the footnote, in counterpoint, vividly depicts
his injustices 2. At others, both the main text and the footnote
work together extending the list of his misdemeanors 3. And Bayle
lingers lovingly over all the most brutal and scabrous details, making
certain that the reader truly understands how frightful they are,
refuting in advance those who would try to excuse David's actions,
showing again and again how his inhumanity, his desire for personal
gain, and his lechery are contrary to all the most certain moral
laws. At the end of the article, at least one point has been scored
with the utmost clarity : that this great figure from the Old Testa
ment, the venerated ruler of the Jews, the ancestor of Christ (some
believed), whose psalms were reverently sung in all the Calvinist
Churches 4, had committed terrible crimes from the beginning of his
rule to its end. It seems almost gratuitous maliciousness on Bayle's
part that, in addition to this main point, he also hints that the text
of God's Word may be defective 5, and that David's family may
have been even worse than David himself 3.
1 It will be found in the Beuchot edition (which gives variants showing the
passages
delected or changed in the second version of the article), V, p. 400-418 ; both
versions
also appear in vol. I of the second edition (1702). My r?sum? and references are
based
upon the first version of the article.
2 As in note D.
3 As in note H.
4 A most unusual indication of the importance of the singing of the Psalms of
David to the Seventeenth Century Calvinists is to be found in the following passage

from Mo?se Amyraut, Apologie pour ceux de la Religion... (Charenton & Paris, 1648),

p. 284-285 : ? Or, d'autant que de tout le Vieux Testament le livre de ces saints
Canti
ques est sans aucune difficult? le plus beau, et le plus capable de former les
hommes
a la pi?t?, ce n'est pas chose concevable ? ceux qui ne l'ont pas exp?riment?,
combien
ce chant ajoute ? la d?votion, ni quelle utilit? ceux qui y ont de l'attention, en
recueil
lent. Car il n'y a personne en affliction, qui n'y trouve de la consolation. Il n'y
a qui
que ce soit en prosp?rit? qui n'y trouve de quoi s'exciter ? louanges et ? actions
de
gr?ces... les impr?cations que David y fait contre les m?chants, et les d?
nonciations
des jugements de Dieu dessus eux, sont capables de mettre la terreur et l'?
pouvantement
dans les ?mes les plus insensibles. Au reste tout cela y est sem? de si beaux
ornements,
enrichi de si glorieux embl?mes, et rehauss? de pens?es si sublimes et si c?lestes,
qu'il
faut ?tre plus brutal que des brutes m?mes, et plus endurci que les rochers, pour
n'en
?tre point ravi en admiration, et pour n'en sentir point d'incomparables ?motions
de
d?votion en la conscience ?.
5 Note G.
6 Note F.p. 169
 170 WALTER REX
Few works from the Seventeenth Century in crystallizing the Eighteenth Century's
image the Old Testament and of the God who was supposed them 1. It was as if Bayle
had prepared the way with a new impartial method which cut through tious veneration
traditionally obscuring the tious veneration traditionally obscuring the let the
mere recounting of fact constrain let the mere recounting of fact constrain
lightened inferences from the text. He had criteria (the laws of equity and ethics)
by which set himself up as judge of the actions recounted shown how to use irony as
a spur to prod the seemed to be inviting the philosophes to use same criteria, and
the same impartial clarity of to condemn the prophets as barbarian criminals, of
the Old Testament in the name of the most morality, and to attack the God of the
Jews injustice. It seems but a small step from Bayle's method to the anti-biblical
attitude of the century Is not one virtually implied in the other?
The external history 2 of the article might such a conclusion: after being printed
separately the original version of the article was included Century editions of the
Dictionary ; the Jesuit threatening enough to come to David's defense ment to the
Journal de Trivoux in 1737 3. Across Protestants found it even more disturbing :
volume Historical Account of the Life and claimed to refute all Bayle's criticisms,
rapidly tions ; the Reverend Samuel Chandler devoted life to a Critical History of
the Life of David 1 Helpful in reaching my conclusions have been the works infra,
p. 171, 3 ; the Apologie de Davidby le P. Merlin (v. in/rttt; comments upon the
Bayle-libertine tradition ; le Baron d?voil? (Londres, 1775), especially Chapts, II
and III, p. influence is particularly evident. Professor Ira O. Wade's of
Philosophic Ideas in France from 1700 to 1750 (Princeton* 1938) contains a number
of suggestive indications of Basle's exegesis in the first half of the
Enlightenment, v. expecially I wish also to thank Professor Herbert Dieckmann of
Harvard discussions of David in the Eighteenth Century and of Bayle 2 This history,
as far as it is now known, will be found " Bayle's profanation of sacred History "
in Essays in Intellectual to James Harvey Robinson [James Shotwell, ed.], p. 147-
162 p. 167-170 ; C. Louise Thijssen-Schoute, " La Diffusion Bayle " ih Paul Dibon
[ed.], Pierre Bayle, le philosophe [...], Elsevier Publishing Company, & Paris, J.
Vrin, 1959), 3 Le P. Merlin, J?suite, Apologie de David, contre la sature a faite
des actions de ce saint Roy... Pour servir de Suppl?du mois de Juillet 1737 (Paris,
1737) avec Approbation p. 170
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 171
volumes 1. He likewise promised to examine and refute the objec
tions of Bayle and others against David's character. Meanwhile,
in England, there had appeared an anonymous pamphlet, The
History of the Man after God's Own Heart, which carried on the tra
dition of Bayle's article, extending the list of David's crimes, and
openly attacking the character of the prophet. It was this famous
pamphlet, together with Bayle's original article, which helped to
inspire Voltaire at Ferney to compose Saul, an anti-biblical play inspire Voltaire
at Ferney to compose Saul, an anti-biblical play
which dramatized David's crimes in dialogue and graphically de which dramatized
David's crimes in dialogue and graphically de
picted his lecheries 2; the pamphlet and Bayle's article had also
inspired Voltaire to write his won article on David in the Dictionnaire
philosophique, in which he not only excoriated the morals of the pro
phet, but paid moving hommage to the persecuted life of the phi
losopher of Rotterdam s.
There was considerable excitement in the coterie holbachique when
the English pamphlet appeared in French as David ou l'Histoire de
l'homme selon le cceur de Dieu; in fact it is almost certain that the
translation was done by the Baron d'Holbach himself 4. Grimm
gave an extensive r6sum6 of it in the Correspondance littdraire and
amused himself by grumpily complaining to his readers that the
author of the Vie de David had not made the most of his criticisms b.
Diderot, meanwhile, greeted the new translation with the gleeful
comment : " Il pleut des bombes dans la maison du Seigneur " 6.
1 Samuel Chandler, A Critical History of the Life of David in which... the chief
Objections of Mr. Bayle, and others, against the Character of this Prince... are
examined
and refuted, 2 vols. (London, 1766). A more detailed study of these and other
English
works relating to David will be found in Robinson, " Bayle's Profanation of Sacred
History ??, p. 158-159.
2 uvres compl?tes [Moland, ed.], V. p. 573-611.
3 uvres, XVIII, p. 315-319. In numerous other works by Voltaire, there are
sketches of the crimes of David and of the cruel history of the Jews upon which
Bayle's
article seems to have exerted an influence, sometimes more remote, sometimes very
clear. For example, ed. cit., XXII, p. 45 (Remarques sur les Pens?es de Pascal) ;
XIV,
p. 38 (Le Si?cle de Louis XIV) ; XI, p. 110-127 (Essai sur les m urs) ; XXIV, p.
443
(Sermon des cinquante) ; XXVI, p. 214-215 (Examen important de Milord
Bolingbroke) ;
XXVII, p. 376 (L'A, B, C, ou Dialogues entre A, B, C) ; XXV, p. 65-77 (Trait? sur
la
tol?rance) ; XXVII, p. 241 (Le Pyrrhonisme de l'histoire) ; XXIX, p. 241 (Fragment
sur l'histoire g?n?rale).
4 Diderot, uvres [Tourneux, ed.], XIX, p. 308. The translation appeared in 1768.
5 VI, p. 128-129 (15 Janvier, 1769). Grimm stresses (as Voltaire did) the argument
that this criminal was the ancestor of Christ, and that the morality of the Old
Testament
was the foundation of that of the New.
6 Lettres ? Sophie Volland [Andr? Babelon, ed.] 2 vols. (Paris, 1938), II, p. 212-
213
(le 22 novembre 1768). This text affords a valuable indication of how naturally
the Bayle tradition seemfed to fit into the program of the Enlightenment : " Il
pleut
des bombes dans la maison du Seigneur: je tremble toujours que quelqu'un de
ces t?m?raires artilleurs-l? ne s'en trouve mal. Ce sont des Lettres philosophiques

traduites ou suppos?es traduites de l'anglais de Toland ; ce sont des Lettres ?

Eug?nie ;
c'est la Contagion sacr?e; c'est l'Examen des proph?ties; c'est la Vie de David ou
de
l'homme selon le c ur de Dieu: ce sont mille diables d?cha?n?s. Ahl Madame d?
Blacy,
je crains bien que le Fils de l'Homme ne soit ? la porte ; que la venue d'Eli? ne
soit
proche, et que nous ne touchions au r?gne de l'Ant?christ. Tous les jours, quand je

me l?ve, je regarde par ma fen?tre, si la grande prostitu?e de Babilon? ne se prom?

ne
point d?j? dans les rues, avec sa grande coupe a la main, et s'il ne fait aucun des
signes
pr?dits dans le firmament...".p. 171
 172 WALTER REX
Of course such a sampling of external reactions barely scratches the surface of the
subject. It taire's attitude towards the Old Testament and in general was
influenced by Bayle's article tionnaire philosophique ; likewise Holbach's evident
the cruel God of the Old Testament reflected his profound ways than in the
translation of the the sampling does at least suggest the main here: that the
philosophes considered the inferences Bayle's article and the method they found
Bayle's article and the method they found significance, well worth preserving,
perfecting significance, well worth preserving, perfecting powerful weapon in their
campaign against Christians. Voltaire's article in the Dictionnaire be taken as an
acknowledgment of their debt It is possible that, historically, the main article
lies in the use the philosophes made of it perhaps indeed, from one point of view,
their article-whether right or wrong-is the important Yet there are also compelling
reasons to investigate another perspective: the Enlightened reading certainly, an
interpretation ; Bayle's article program of reform which Bayle himself had which-in
part at least-he would never have naturally the philosophes did not pause to wonder
motives in writing his article were the same Voltaire, who had studied Bayle for
years. them to consider that since Bayle lived at a different different religious
environment, he might have which he was aiming and other inferences he One could
hardly expect them to make such detached, reflections in the heat of their battle.
Yet the ment in their own campaign was, I think, that the main message of Bayle's
article, drew unintended from it, and passed them on to us today.
One of the striking characteristics of the Encyclopedie-serve to point out how wary
one must be of accepting tury's interpretation of Bayle--was the facility it ally
"hiding" dangerous ideas in it ; impious could be buried out of sight of the censor
(who, in was not anxious to see them anyway) in long cent-seeming article headings
and scattered in could assemble for himself by means of renvois In Bayle's
Dictionary, on the other hand, such sible : Bayle's censors were erudite
theologians of training scenting heresies in large folio volumes, noup. 172
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 173
rished all their lives upon long footnotes and commentaries on the
text, and moreover took their task very seriously. But now, let us
accept the consequences of this observation regarding the article on
David : being one of a relatively small number of biblical articles,
it is of theological import and naturally would be of particular
interest to the numerous theologians and theologically trained laymen
by whom Bayle was surrounded in the Refuge. Certainly Bayle
had not hoped to hide the article on David from them, particularly
since some of them were his enemies who could be counted on to
scour everything he write. We may assume, on the contrary, that
there was something in this prominently labeled theological article
that he wanted very much the theologians-both friend and foe-to that he wanted very
much the theologians-both friend and foe-to
hear, that he had written it most particularly to prove something hear, that he had
written it most particularly to prove something
to them. Under such circumstances as these, it hardly seems likely
that Bayle was hoping that these pious readers in the Refuge would
conclude, as the philosophes later did, that the God of the Old
Testament was a monster, or that the prophets were barbarians, or
that the Bible was immoral. It seems much more probable that
Bayle was aiming at something else, and that his purpose was quite
different from that of the irreverent philosophes living in a Catholic
society, with Catholic censorship, forty years later, after the influence
of Leibniz, of Locke and of the English deists.
To discover what Bayle's purpose was we must take a different
path: there is behind Bayle's article half a century of Calvinist
religious controversy about which we know very little, and the
intensity of the article's tone indicates important immediate cir
cumstances about which we know still less. An investigation of
them will show that this famous article on David which has seemed
so pregnant with enlightened implications was in reality a strenuous
attempt on Bayle's part to reaffirm the dying traditions of the past
in the threat of change.
*
* *
When the erudite pastors of the doubtless had in mind David's traditional which had
been defined long before. partially familiar to us today: first, of the Old
Testament king in whom authorities were united. Subsequently, vinist interpretation
of these powers it is sufficient to note that since authority among the Jews was
considered both the political and the religious 1 For reference, v. infra p. 179,
notes 1-2 ; p. the government of the Jews, David was known distinctp. 173
 174 WALTER REX
prefigured Christ, literally as His ancestor spiritually on account of David's
holiness 1. roles-David as the great King, and David as the of Christ-no personage
from the Old Testament by the Calvinists of the Seventeenth Century.
But David had still another role for the Calvinists, familiar to us today because
we have somewhat terms of Calvinist theology. In order to define shall consider
three of these theological terms: fication and Perseverance.
When God converted a sinner, instilling faith vinists spoke of " Justification" 2.
The word is made " righteous " in the sight of God : his sins him and God has
accepted him as one of the elect. him and God has accepted him as one of the elect.
liarities of the Calvinist interpretation of this liarities of the Calvinist
interpretation of this maintained that the sinner in no sense earns man's nature,
they said, was too sinful for him his own in this regard, and the perfect obedience
beyond his power. Even though a sinner may ness in his conscience (and indeed God's
law made certain that he did), man on his own reform his life according to God's
commands, sins, past and present. Only the infinite Sacrifice redeem the sinner,
and only the grace of God enable him to believe in Christ and because of sidered
righteous before God, l.e. justified. concerned man's relation to God and defined
the the sinner is saved, Justification, in theory at vital core of Calvinist
theology throughout the from the " prophets " who had been in authority previous to
However, as author of the Psalms and as a man specially chosen referred to as a "
prophet " in his own right [v. the quotation ?. 181 ; also Pierre Du Bosc, Sermons
sur divers textes de VEcriture sainte (Rotterdam, 687), p. 86 and p. 291].
Regardless of the changes in the form of government of the
Jews, the union of the secular and the religious authorities in the same individual
was
considered to have prevailed throughout their history.
1 Calvin had written often of the two aspects of this r?le ; v. for example, his
commentaries on the Epistle to the Romans, Chapt. I, verse 3 and Ghapt. XI, verse
9.
The later Calvinists particularly stressed the second aspects; v. Mo?se Amyraut,
Cinq sermons prononcez ? Charenton (Gharenton & Paris, 1658), p. 83-84 ; Du Bosc,
op. cit., p. 290 : " Il est certain de plus que David singuli?rement a ?t? la plus
belle,
la plus ?clatante et la plus expresse figure du Christ, et qu'entre tous ceux qui
l'ont
pr?c?d? il n'y en a point qui le repr?sentent si parfaitement que ce grand Prince
".
2 An exposition of these matters by a " liberal " orthodox theologian will be
found in Josu? de La Place, Theses Theologicae de iustificatione hominis coram Deo
in Syntagma Thesium Theologicarum in Academia salmuriensi variis temporibus dispu
tatarum (Salmurii, 1665), Pars Prima, p. 27-35). One of the clearest of the "
conser
vative " versions is that of the Canons of the Synod of Dordrecht (verified and
approved
in France by the Synod of Charenton, 1623) ; v. sections III and IV of the Canons
in
Jean Aymon, Tous les Synodes nationaux des ?glises r?form?es, 2 vols. (La Haye,
1710),
II, p. 309-320.p. 174
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 175
The doctrine in itself says nothing about moral righteousness :
God does not elect a man on account of his " virtues " (there are no
true virtues without grace ; everything man does is sin), nor does the
righteousness implied etymologically in the term justification indicate
good works ; it is rather what they called " forensic " righteousness,
meaning simply that Christ has obtained remission of sins and that
the sinner has been granted the power to believe in Him.
However, in a separate doctrine the Calvinists maintained that
true faith always manifests itself in the virtue and piety of moral
righteousness ; this necessary result of faith they called " Sancti
fication ". It was under this category that they discussed everything
pertaining to Christian ethics.
From the very beginning the Calvinists maintained that Justifica
tion was always accompanied by Sanctification 1, and this necessary
bond between the two became ever more important to them. In
the Seventeenth Century, they often preferred to turn the problem the Seventeenth
Century, they often preferred to turn the problem
around: instead of saying that Justification necessarily implied around: instead of
saying that Justification necessarily implied
Sanctification, they would declare, starting at the other end, that
without Sanctification there could be no Justification, that where
there was no piety and virtue, there was no grace, that without
ethics, there was no true faith. In theory, Justification was still
the vital core of Calvinist dogmatics ; however as the Seventeenth
Century wore on, gradually Sanctification, the doctrine in which
ethics were crossed with theology, came to receive an even greater
emphasis than Justification. By the time of Pierre Bayle, ethics
had become the most stressed single element in Calvinist theology 2.
There were innumerable causes for this trend ; it will be possible
here to outline only a few of them. First, there was the age-old
Catholic charge that Calvinism, in its " amoral " or " immoral "
doctrine of Justification by faith, was condoning vice. The Calvinists,
by stressing Sanctification could make it " clearer" that their
doctrine did no such thing 3. Secondly, another venerable Catholic
accusation claimed that the Calvinist concept of the omnipotence
of God and predestination led immediately to the conclusion that
God was the author of sin, and the cause of man's damnation.
Certain of the " liberal " Calvinists sought to avoid this consequence
1 Fran?ois Wendel, Calvin: sources et ?volution de sa pens?e (Paris, Presses uni
versitaires, 1950), p. 194. Sanctification was frequently referred to as "
Regeneration
2 My Harvard thesis Pierre Bayle: The Influence of Protestant Religious Contro
versies on his Early Work traces parts of this development in some detail. I hope
to
publish a revised version of this thesis shortly.
8 Antoine Arnauld had revived this accusation in his Renversement de la morale
de J?sus Christ par les erreurs des Calvinistes touchant la Justification (Paris,
1672) ;
Jurieu had answered him in his Justification de la morale des r?form?s... (La Haye,

1685). An excellent discussion of the quarrel will be found in Hilde Daum, Pierre
Jurieu und seine Auseinandersetzung mit Antoine Arnauld im Streit um
Rechtfertigungs
? und Gnadenlehre (Marburg/Lahn, 1937).p. 175
 176 WALTER REX
by stressing ethics 1: if God condemns man, because man sinned in Adam, but because
man his heart refuses to follow the laws of good light and God's Word reveal to
him. It is not it is the deliberate sinfulness of man. Thus the fore, and this
liberal emphasis upon ethics influence conservative theology also. Thirdly, to
rival the increasing concern with ethics not only in the severe Jansenist and
Oratorian among certain Jesuit theologians, who (in both the Protestants and the
Jansenists) were to show how highly they valued the purest piety 2. Finally,
Sanctification was that part which philosophy most obviously intermingled Nowhere
was it easier to show the perfect revelation than in this doctrine which declared
God's elect inherently implied following the reason, as perfected by the Scripture.
In reason, as perfected by the Scripture. In preceding the Revocation, when eminent
Calvinist preceding the Revocation, when eminent Calvinist as Jean Claude, Louis
Tronchin, Pierre Jurieu, Basnage de Beauval took pride in affirming between
philosophy and theology and when were at last welcoming the philosophy of it is
natural that this doctrine which bound reason should achieve a position of
preeminence Despite such advantages, however, their concept was not an easy
doctrine for the Calvinists in view of another article of their faith : the To the
orthodox Calvinist, the idea of ever was unthinkable ; for if God had once granted
to believe, thus making him one of the bestowed according to God's own pleasure the
sinner how, then, could God withdraw ing contradiction in Himself ? The answer that
He could not ; the divine decrees were 1 These were the theologians of the Ecole de
Saumur. movement will be found in Alexander Schweizer, Die Centraldogmcn Kirche, 2
vols. (Z?rich, 1854-1856), II, p. 274-503, and the abb? Fran?ois Laplanche,
L'Enseignement de Mogse devant la Facult? de Th?ologie d'Angers [1955], p. 77-2 One
such Jesuit was Louis Maimbourg who, in his of Calvinism and Lutheranism, put
special emphasis which he proved that the Catholic Church was, and the the True
Church of Christ. Both Bayle and Jurieu attempted p. 184).
3 I have discussed this development more fully in " Pierre Bayle, Louis Tronchin
et la querelle des Donatistes ", Bulletin de la Soci?t? de l'histoire du
protestantisme
fran?ais [referred to henceforth as " Bulletin "], CV (1959), p. 97-121.p. 176
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 177
had chosen a sinner as one of His own, He would never forsake him.
Thus, said the orthodox, the elect always persevered in their faith.
On no other article were they more inflexible.
In theory, this doctrine indeed redounded to the glory of the
Deity, implying that God's elect were filled with a true faith which
was everlasting because God had granted it and moreover that their
lives were continuously edifying spectacles of sanctity and piety,
since Justification inherently implied Sanctification. However
Perseverance presented spectacularly difficult problems when they
attempted to justify it according to the Scripture. Was it not
obvious, if one read the Bible, that some of God's elect did not always
live the edifying lives required by the doctrines of Justification,
Sanctification and Perseverance? And if they sinned, did this
not imply that they were no longer sanctified? But without Sancti
fication there could be no Justification ; so then, had not God momen
tarily withdrawn His grace, contrary to the doctrine of Perseverance?
Three " saints " from the Bible became celebrated as test cases which
the orthodox had to explain in this connection, and their names
appear with predictable regularity whenever the question of Per
severance is raised 1. All three of these personages were chosen by severance is
raised 1. All three of these personages were chosen by
God, and yet, at the same time the Scripture showed that they were God, and yet, at
the same time the Scripture showed that they were
guilty of terrible crimes. One was St. Peter, who had thrice Christ ;
another was Solomon who was famed for his idolatry. The third,
perhaps the most celebrated of all these " saints " who had never
theless committed horrible crimes, was King David.
In their explanations of this problem the Calvinists made one
thing very clear : they in no way tried to excuse David's misde
meanors. His crimes were indeed crimes ; they were approved of
neither by God, nor by the Calvinists, whatever the Catholic adver
saries might claim. What the orthodox Calvinists did maintain
against both the Arminians and the Catholics was that even in the
midst of these woeful lapses, there was hidden deep inside David's
heart, a tiny spark of true faith which was never lost entirely-as
1 Perseverance being one of the five matters of dispute between the Calviniste
and the Arminians, the crimes of David received prominent mention in the Actes du
Synode national, tenu ? Dordrecht, 2 vols. (Leyden, 1624). For example, I, p. 504 :

... les tristes chutes de David, Pierre... ; p. 440 :... les grandes chutes et ?
normes fautes
de Moyse, d'Aaron, David, Salomon, S. Pierre, Judas et d'autres... ; Also II, p.
257.
A representative selection of theologians who treated this theme would include
Pierre
DuMoulin, Nouveaut? du Papisme (Sedan, 1627), p. 780-782 ; Mo?se Amyraut, Apologie
pour ceux de la Religion (1648), p. 132 ; S. Bochart, Lettre... ? Monsieur Morley
(Paris,
1650), p. 92 ; Pierre Jurieu, Les Devoirs de la pers?v?rance en deux sermons...
(Gen?ve,
1683), p. 67-88 : "...les plus grands saints ont p?ch?, Loth a commis inceste avec
ses
deux filles, Aaron a fondu un veau d'or ; David s'est rendu coupable d'un adult?re
et d'un meurtre, Salomon est tomb? dans l'idol?trie; S. Pierre a reni? son ma?
tre...
Ces grands Saints, ces Hommes selon le c ur de Dieu, illumin?s de l'esprit de
Proph?te,
sont tomb?s dans les pi?ges du diable parce qu'ils... ont ?t? n?gligents... Nous
donc
aussi, craignons d'?tre bris?s, puisque nous ne sommes que des roseaux cass?s ".
[N.B. My excerpts have not preserved certain elements of the context of the
foregoing
sermon]. Fran?ois Turrettini, Institutio Theologiae Elencticae, 3 vols. (Lugd.
Batav.
& Trajecti ad Rhenum, 1696), Pars secunda, p. 662. [Turretini had been one of
Bayle's
theology professors at Geneva]. Pierre Du Bosc, Sermons (1687), p. 6-7; p. 86-87.p.
177
 178 WALTER REX
could be seen in his admirable acts of repentance, as a ruler and in the piety of
the psalms 1.
It is absolutely certain that Bayle was very cerning David as the standard
theological who had nevertheless committed terrible crimes. his knowledge of this
theological commonplace training and later reading in theology. But there fact that
this precise matter, the " immorality doctrine of Justification, had been hotly
debated and Pierre Jurieu at just the time when Bayle under Jurieu's influence 2.
Jurieu's volume refuting Bayle enthusiastically recommended to his fixed forever in
his mind the Calvinist interpretation sins, and explained to him many of the
ramifications Justification, Sanctification and Perseverance, questions in his mind
about the orthodox view there probably were not.
Let us draw the first conclusion concerning David: in depicting him as a " saint "
and yet doing nothing new ; this was one of the traditional of him. Moreover
Bayle's insistence that David's crimes which may not be excused in any way crimes
which may not be excused in any way orthodox : this was precisely the point which
orthodox : this was precisely the point which been stressing in order to refute
their Catholic basic assertion of Bayle's article, that David although he was a man
after God's own heart, the Seventeenth Century Calvinists, whatever might be. As a
parallel we might imagine a modern which clearly set forth the fact that Job indeed
There is an additional conclusion which may here : Bayle's rigid condemnation of
David's the absolute criterium of ethics is very much main trend of Seventeenth
Century Calvinism. concerning Sanctification, Calvinism for evolving exactly in
this direction, stressing the perfect ethics and theology. We cannot yet judge 1
Pierre DuMoulin, Thesium Theologicarum de Cert?tudine praesidio D. Petri Molinaei]
in Thesaurus Disputationum Seaanensi Academia... habitarum, 2 vols. (Genevae,
1661), I, lapsu, et Petri abnegatione probari non potest eos f?dem 2 Reference
supra, p. 175, . 3. Only the first part of Jurieu's this time ; on its reputation,
v. G. Das, " Pierre Jurieu als nage-Dienst " in Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis, XLIV
(1926), 3 Bayle several times praises the first part of this work Octobre]
1675 . ., Ms. 12771, folio 110 recto [misdated I {1737), p. 101 ; . Elisabeth
Labrousse, Inventaire critique Bayle (Paris, J. Vrin, 1961), p. 91] ; ? son p?re,
le 29 Janvier p. 178
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 179
application of the criterium of ethics in this article ; we may be
certain that such an inflexible unwillingness to compromise this
criterium was, on principle, quite orthodox.
One of the innovations in Bayle's article is that he extends the
traditional list of David's crimes to include new political crimes ; in
fact the article seems designed to subvert, in some way, David's
reputation as a ruler. Let us reconsider in more detail David's
traditional role in the domain of politics.
As we have seen, David was considered a typical example of an
Old Testament ruler in whom the secular and the religious powers
were united and whose authority was unquestionable because God
given. Now, the most imaginative French Calvinist theologians,
living as a persecuted minority in a Catholic nation, had realized
long since that it was imperative to proclaim, loudly enough for their
adversaries to hear, that this Old Testament form of government was
no longer valid. The Calvinists knew that, with the coming of Christ,
this ancient union of the secular and the religious powers in the
same person had been abolished;. the secular prince was no longer
in charge of religion. Thus, though Louis XIV was indeed the right
ful ruler of the French, he was not immediately inspired by God,
like the Old Testament prophets, and therefore he was not in absolute
authority over the religion of his people ; hence the Calvinists insisted
that they be allowed to worship God in their own way. Many
pastors proclaimed this separation of powers in eloquent sermons pastors proclaimed
this separation of powers in eloquent sermons
on the text Craignez Dieu; honorez le roi 1. Moise Amyraut, the leader on the text
Craignez Dieu; honorez le roi 1. Moise Amyraut, the leader
of the liberal theologians, wrote learned treatises explaining just how
it was that the Old Testament form of government had been abolished
by the New 2.
There was another reason for Calvinist insistence upon this theme :
at all cost they wanted to stop the Catholics from thinking that the
Calvinist religious demands were accompanied by political aspirations.
They must refute their Catholic accusers by showing that they were
not subversive, that their religious schism (or " separation ") from
the Catholics was no threat to the Catholic king because loyalty to
their sovereign was quite compatible with their religious belief, in
11 Peter 2: 17. A. Galland, " Les Pasteurs fran?ais Amyraut, Bochart, etc., et
la royaut? de droit divin, de l'Edit d'Alais ? la R?vocation (1629-1685) ",
Bulletin.
LXXVII (1928), p. 14-20 ; 105-134 ; 225-241 ; 413-423. Frank Puaux, " L'Evolution
des th?ories politiques du Protestantisme fran?ais pendant le r?gne de Louis XIV ",

Bulletin, LXII (1913), p. 386-413: 481-496.

2 Mo?se Amyraut, Du Gouvernement de l'Eglise contre ceux qui veulent abolir l'usage

et l'autorit? des Synodes (Saumur, 1653), Chapt. Ill, p. 64 : " C'est chose claire
quant
au fait, que ces deux puissances ont ?t? s?par?es et attribu?es ? des personnes
diff?
rentes, par l'?tablissement de l'Evangile de Christ...". One may consult L.
Rimbault,
" Un Trait? d'Amyraut : Du Gouvernement de l'Eglise " in Etudes th?ologiques et
reli
gieuses de la facult? de th?ologie protestante de Montpellier, XXVIII (1953), N?
3/4,
p. 157 ff. Amyraut, Discours de la Souverainet? des rois (Charenton & Paris, 1650),
passim.p. 179
 180 WALTER REX
fact, it was one of their articles of faith 1. Thus to the monarch and promises of
unswerving loyalty ruler continued to grow throughout the Seventeenth the king
persecuted them, the Calvinists claimed deceived by the wicked Jesuits ; many of
the pastors still protesting their undying fidelity to their This traditional
concept of the separation of ticular concern to Bayle because it was one principles
of his theory of civil religious tolerance been prepared for him long before ; all
Bayle logical conclusions from the doctrine that the directly in charge of
religion, and the political gious tolerance was theoretically assured. In out these
logical conclusions at length in the Commentaire explaining, in the Amyraut
tradition 4, how the Ancient Convenant had been abolished by the New was no longer
in charge of religious ; therefore use constraint upon those whose religious
persuasion from his own. Bayle's argument has many interesting for the present, it
will be sufficient to reiterate of the separation of powers was literally a sine
theory of religious tolerance : without if the important principles concerning the
nature of destroyed.
But if Bayle stressed more than any Seventeenth Century Cal
vinist had done before him the absolute inviolability of the religious vinist had
done before him the absolute inviolability of the religious
conscience from the temporal power, he insisted with equal vehemence conscience
from the temporal power, he insisted with equal vehemence
upon the necessity of unquestioning obedience to the prince in the
sphere of his legitimate authority. No one in the Refuge proclaimed
1 Amyraut, Apologie pour ceux de la Religion, Section II, p. 38-82 : " Que si on
consid?re ceux de la Religion dans les devoirs auxquels ils sont oblig?s envers le
Roi
et l'Etat en tant que Fran?ais, ils ne sont point dignes de l'aversion de qui que
ce soit ".
2 Erich Haase, Einf?hrung in die Literatur des Refuge (Berlin, Duncker & Humblot,
1959), p. 275-276. Jurieu, in his early La Politique du Clerg? (s.l., 1681), p.
125-126,
gave an impassioned statement of this belief : " Qu'on nous fasse notre proc?s dans

les formes, qu'on voie si nous avons tremp? dans aucune conjuration contre l'Etat,
et si nous avons en quelque chose manqu? d'ob?issance. Gr?ces ? Dieu, nous avons
une fid?lit? ? toute ?preuve, et un fonds d'amour pour notre Prince qui ne se peut
?puiser... Ils [nos ennemis] ont pour but de nous pousser au crime, afin que le Roi

ait une juste occasion de nous perdre. Mais ils n'y r?ussiront jamais. Le Roi peut
le
voir. Pendant qu'on d?tourne avec tant de succ?s les effets de sa bont? de dessus
nous,
il n'y en a pas un qui ne soit pr?t ? perdre la vie pour lui. Nous sommes Fran?ais
autant
que nous sommes Chr?tiens R?form?s. Nous verserons jusqu'? la derni?re goutte
du Sang de nos veines pour servir notre Roi, et pour conserver notre Religion
jusqu'?
la mort ".
3 In my article on Bayle and Louis Tronchin (v. supra, p. 176, n. 3) I have
attempted to define these principles.
3 O.D., II (1727), p. 406B-410A. Bayle does not indicate here how much he was
conscious of belonging to this tradition, as he did later in the Dictionnaire (see,
for
example, his articles on Amyraut and Cameron). I do not wish to imply that Amyraut
held the same concept of civil religious tolerance as Bayle ; he did not. However,
he established principles?more clearly than any of his contemporaries?which led
to Bayle's theory.p. 180
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 181
his loyalty to Louis XIV more loudly than did Bayle. He realized
with ever increasing clarity, as the stream of refugees poured into
Holland, that if the Catholics could convict the Calvinists of dis
loyalty or sedition, the consequences would be terrible upon those
left behind in France 1. Moreover one should not forget that Bayle's
own brother, the pastor Jacob Bayle, had died literally as a martyr
to the concept of Craignez Dieu; honorez le roi: Jacob had refused to
convert under pressure of confinement in prison, thus showing his
determination to fear God in his own way ; and even when he knew
that he would die as a result of his unjust imprisonment, he con
tinued to speak of the Christian's duty to oppose nothing to his
persecutors except " prayers and tears '' 2. One can easily under
stand, given these circumstances, why the principle of the separation
of the temporal and religious authorities, and the concept of the
abolition of the Old Testament political order, were of such momen
tous import to Bayle.
One further aspect of the separation of powers remains to be
mentioned: In Amyraut's discussion of how the Old Testament
order had been abolished by the New, he shows that, in addition
to the Scriptural reasons, there were important moral reasons why
this abrogation had to take place. He explains that now, under the
Covenant of Grace, when (as St. Paul said) God's Kingdom is peace
and joy, it is not appropriate for priests and ministers to bear the
sword of the magistrate in their hands ; nor does the ecclesiastical
authority belong in the hands of the magistrates :
Car cet air de la justice vengeresse, i l'exercice de laquelle ils
sont appelds, cette n6cessit6 de faire la guerre, a laquelle ils sont
obliges assez souvent, ce fer, ce feu, ce sang, ces 6pouvantables ex6 obliges assez
souvent, ce fer, ce feu, ce sang, ces 6pouvantables ex6
cutions, parmi lesquelles ils sont ordinairement, leur impriment des cutions, parmi
lesquelles ils sont ordinairement, leur impriment des
sentiments, qui bien qu'on ne les puisse justement accuser de cruaute,
ont ndanmoins trop d'aigreur et de severite pour les prldicateurs :
et ce serait une chose fort mal-assortie, que d'une meme bouche sortit
ce cri de guerre, Tue, Tue, et cette voix de l'Evangile, Grace, Grdce,
de laquelle ses Ministres sont les Herauts. Que si David, quoique
Prophete et serviteur de l'Eternel dans les guerres qu'il avait menees,
n'a pas 6t6 jugd propre pour le bhtiment d'un Temple de pierre, parce
qu'il avait les mains aucunement teintes de sang, ii est encore moins
a propos que les Guerriers de maintenant soient employes a la cons
truction et a l'ddification de l'Eglise de Dieu, par l'administration
des Sacrements, et par la predication de la Parole s...
11 wish to express my thanks to Mme Elisabeth Labrousse, whose forthcoming
biography of Bayle (which she was kind enough to lend me in typescript) revealed
the importance of this factor to me. It explains, I think, the extreme bitterness
in the
irony of Bayle's works from the Suppl?ment du Commentaire philosophique to the
Dictionnaire.
2 Pierre Desmaizeaux, Vie de Baule in Bayle, Dictionnaire [Beuchot, ed.], L
p. 80B-81A.
3 Du Gouvernement de l'Eglise, p. 74-75.p. 181
 182 WALTER REX
It is true that Amyraut does not go so far voice crying " Kill, Kill ", might
recall the voice crying " Grace, Grace ", represents actually declare that the
spirit of the Old opposite of the peace and charity of the New to such a statement
in the foregoing passage. explicitly made to see that the brutality necessarily
union of powers is not to be condoned under and that, although David's warring
conquests accepted under the Covenant of the Law, must have no part in the Church
of Christ. Testament union of powers in the same person because it is contrary to
the ethics of the As the persecutions increased, arguments spirit of the Gospel and
the essentially non-Christianity became more frequent in the by the Calvinists.
Jean Claude strongly famous Defense de la Reformation 1; they as part of his theory
of religious tolerance eloquent on the subject in his early Examen In a sermon
published in 1687 4, the nuch admired Pierre Du Bosc explained to his congregation
the spirit of the Ancient Covenant differed the example of Moses who wore the sword
men, the example of Elijah who struck down ing them all, and called down the fire
of heaven prove nothing, he said ; for we no longer of Moses, but under that of
Christ, and, covenant of severity and rigor, a ministry of the Gospel is a order of
mercy and grace, a the Gospel is a order of mercy and grace, a and life. Du Bosc
then used this argument to and life. Du Bosc then used this argument to
persecutions are in opposition to the spirit And now let us draw another conclusion
on David: insofar as Bayle's undermining 1 (Rouen, 1673 [written 1672]), p. 22 : "
D?s qu'on force, on lui ferme les c urs, au lieu de les lui concilier. plus, que
pour les Empires temporels, ou pour les Religions peu de r?gner dans les esprits,
pourvu qu'elles r?gnent ? l'usage de J?sus-Christ dont le tr?ne est dans les
consciences, d'autres conqu?tes que celle que lui fait le glaive qui 2 For example,
in the 2nd edition (1683) of the Pens?Prat, ed.] 2 vols. (Paris, E. Droz, 1939), I,
p. 228-235, to stress these arguments.
3 Examen de l'Eucharistie de l'Eglise Romaine (Rotterdam, Jurieu continued to make
use of this tradition in his du Papisme mises en parallel: ou Apologie pour la R?
formation, et pour les r?form?s. Contre... Maimbourg, 4 vols. (Rotterdam, "... Le
caract?re de l'Evangile est enti?rement oppos? ? celui de douceur, de d?bonnairet?
et de mis?ricorde...".
4 " Le Z?le de la Maison de Dieu ", Sermons sur divers (Rotterdam, 1687), p. 331-
335.p. 182
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 183
ruler is a rejection of the union of the secular and religious authorities
in the same person and of the cruelty which accompanied this union
Bayle's article is based upon principles which not only had been
tolerated by the Calvinists, but had been outspokenly advocated
by them as a vital part of their defense against persecution. We do
not yet have enough information to give a comprehensive interpreta
tion of the article, but perhaps there is enough to suggest the pos
sibility that all its main arguments-the basic assertion that David,
although chosen by God, had committed terrible crimes ; Bayle's
insistent reiteration that there is an absolute necessity to judge
David's actions according to the rigid, unyielding criterium of ethics ;
and finally Bayle's attack upon the brutal violence of David's poli
tical r6gime--may have their origin in the mainstream of Seven
teenth Century French Calvinism.
* *
Just at the moment of the Revocation, tion of powers was coming under attack
vinism. The leader of the movement gian, Bayle's erstwhile colleague and into exile
with him, Pierre Jurieu.
In the earlier years at Sedan, both able to ignore the enormous differences them to
form a united front: letters greatest men of the century poured Carla 1; Bayle, who
had always been too to sermons before 2, now fell completely oratory 3 ; he
espoused the cause of Jurieu's was running into difficulty in the local Jurieu's
harassment of the Pajonists have been markedly affected by the " rationalism "
became more pronounced he was quite willing to expound parts he was quite willing
to expound parts 1 " C'est un des premiers hommes de ce si?cle 1 " C'est un des
premiers hommes de ce si?cle Jan. 1676 m O.D., I (1737), p. 64A.1 " Je vous le dis,
homme de notre communion..." [?.D., I (1737), 2 He confesses this distraction in an
unpublished Juillet 1675, B. N., Ms 12771, folios 92 verso-93 Labrousse,
Inventaire, p. 89.]
8 See his complete r?sum? of one of Jurieu's Jacob, le 16 Novembre 1676, . ., Ms
12771, folio dated " D?cembre " and the passage in question v. Labrousse,
Inventaire, p. 94.]
4 O.D., I (1737), p. 86 ; p. 89.
6 ? son fr?re Jacob, le 12 Jan. 1678, O.D., I (1737), le 26 [Novembre] 1678, O.D.,
I (1737), p. 105A. [On Inventaire, p. 99]. On Pajon, v. Schweizer, Die Particularly
in the Examen del 'Eucharistie p. 183
 184 WALTER REX
-for the sake of argument at least-in his Politique even gave the appearance of
adhering without principle of Craignez Dieu; honorez le roi 1.
However, in 1683, in his reply 2 to the Histoire by Maimbourg, Jurieu seemed to be
wavering. surface his reply to the Jesuit's accusations appears ditional: there is
an eloquent statement of his heads 3, a moving tableau of the long-suffering,
testants 4 who have always been loyal to their vigorous proof that Catholicism
cannot be the it does not follow the peaceful spirit of the Gospel the surface of
these traditional arguments-so with Bayle's own reply to Maimbourg written are
strong undercurrents running directly in if one the one hand Jurieu protests his
absolute on the other, he also suggests that this loyalty and indeed, that if a
prince abuses his power, takes precedence over blind obedience 6; if he testantism
had never been propagated by fire homage to the peaceful spirit of the Gospel,
God's will is not always accomplished merely and that sometimes He effects His
divine human passions 7; there is a limit to the patience 1 La Politique du Clerg?,
p. 61-73 ; 124-126 ; 204-207 ; 2 Histoire du Calvinisme (full title supra, . p.
182, 3 I, [unnumbered] p. 23 of Pr?face.
4 For example, I, p. 196; II, p. 25-27; 58-59; 80; 255; 5 I, p. 197-199 ; IV, p.
133.
6 II, p. 83 ; p. 517-520. Here Jurieu suggests that if a prince persecuted in a
neighboring realm, and all his intercessions of no avail, there are strong
arguments in favor of his coming religionaries. [Guy Howard Dodge, The Political
Theory of Columbia University Press, 1947), p. 24-25]. Jurieu, op. cit., dit que
les Rois et ceux qui commandent en leur autorit?, dit que les Rois et ceux qui
commandent en leur autorit?, chose qu'ils commandent et qu'ils fassent, et que Dieu
n'a chose qu'ils commandent et qu'ils fassent, et que Dieu n'a que la gloire de
mourir quand on leur commande des choses et ? la v?rit?, je r?pondrai que c'est l?
une th?ologie furieuse des tyrans ".
7 I, p. 183-186 : " La gr?ce ne d?truit point les passions humaines, et n'an?antit
pas les sentiments humains. Nous avons une preuve constante de cela dans une exp?
rience continu?e. Dieu se sert des faiblesses et des infirmit?s des hommes et pour
s'en
servir il leur laisse ces infirmit?s dans ce monde. Les Ap?tres avaient leurs
passions.
Saint Pierre et St. Paul eurent leurs aigreurs, et peut-?tre qu'elles all?rent
assez loin.
Mo?se fut incr?dule, Aaron eut la l?chet? de se laisser vaincre par les cris
tumultueux
de ce peuple insens? lequel demanda des Dieux qui marchassent devant lui. David
l'homme selon le c ur de Dieu a ?t? touch? de vaine gloire, il a voulu savoir le
nombre
de ses sujets par vanit? : les passions charnelles l'ont si malmen? que souvent
elles
l'ont rendu esclave et lui ont fait faire des chutes effroyables... c'est la
volont? de Dieu
que son Eglise soit ici bas compos?e dans l'ext?rieur, d'?lus et de r?prouv?s...
Les
r?prouv?s servent ? l'?glise de rempart, leurs passions humaines la d?fendent
contre
les passions humaines des ennemis de Dieu... Les armes, les m?nagements de la
politique
du monde, la prudence humaine, les alliances avec les ennemis de Dieu ne sont point

du tout de l'esprit du Christianisme. Il est pourtant vrai que Dieu a souvent tir?
des
secours de ces sortes de choses pour emp?cher la ruine de ses Eglises..."
These passages contain the germ of Jurieu's later conception of the Church, as
well as that of most of his future disagreements with Bayle.p. 184
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 185
Christian 1. Furthermore, though he eloquently denounces the
Catholic's burning and torturing of Protestants, it is not so clear
whether he is against all forms of persecution : he seems to be hinting
in these passages that true Christianity (i.e. Protestantism) may
indeed have certain rights to use coercion.
We do not know whether Jurieu had followed out the conse
quences of these ideas, or how seriously he intended them to be
,taken at this time. However, if we ascribe full weight to these
other aguments-if Jurieu meant that the droit des gens takes pre
cedence over the " divine " rights of a king who abuses his power,
if true Christianity can use force, if God can use human passions
(especially bellicose one) to effect His plans, if the patience of the
Protestants suffering in France, and of those in exile, is running out,
with God's approval-then, what Jurieu is trying to accomplish in
this work is to prepare the way for the possibility of a Holy War
against the infidel in France.
Moreover, just a few years later, we now know that Jurieu was
in fact in league with William of Orange himself, and that the
Holy War so adroitly suggested in this work was actually being
planned in terms of alliances, disposition of armies and fifth column
conspiracies 2.
Meanwhile, in Jurieu's work between 1683 and 1686, the veneer
of orthodox pacifism was wearing thin, and the revolutionary message
becoming more explicit ; the tone, when speaking of Louis XIV
turned from discontent to menace. In 1685, the year of the Revoca
tion, Jurieu sounded a clarion call to the German Princes : let them
unite in holy alliance to stop the persecutions of the anti-Christ ; let
them threaten reprisal 3.
Such developments in Jurieu's political thought evidently neces
sitated a change in his attitude towards civil religious tolerance
and, hence, towards Bayle. Jurieu had never wholeheartedly sup
ported the idea of tolerance, anyway : there had always been reserva
tions concerning the theological validity of religious freedom in a
1II, p. 86-87; p. 483.
2 Towards the end of 1684, the Elector of Brandenburg started negotiations with
William of Orange to form an alliance which would later include the German princes.
William of Orange to form an alliance which would later include the German princes.

This alliance was signed on April 23, 1685 and Jurieu was informed in particular of
This alliance was signed on April 23, 1685 and Jurieu was informed in particular of

the negotiations. In the spring of 1686, the proposal was made by the Elector to
march
into France with an army of 57,000 men. The Elector hoped that, if all violence and

pillage were avoided, the invaders would be helped by both the Protestants and the
Catholics, all of whom were restless under the tyranny of the king. [Abb? J.
Dedieu,
Le R?le politique des protestants fran?ais (Paris, Bloud et Gay, 1921), p. 15-18].
It is
not known whether Jurieu was told of this plan (as he had been of the alliance of
1685) ;
however a number of statements in his writings of 1687 (see for example the
passages
quoted infra, p. 187 and p. 189, n. 3) could be interpreted as propaganda for it.
3 Avis aux Protestants de l'Europe, Tant de la Confession d'Augsbourg, que celle
des Suisses [unnumbered pages ; printed in Jurieu, Pr?jug?s l?gitimes contre le
Papisme,
2 parts in 1 vol. (Amsterdam, 1685).p. 185
 186 WALTER REX
Christian state 1. And now the split between visible and began to widen. After the
clarion in 1685, Jurieu took his stand against Bayle refutation of his argument's
for general tolerance following year, Bayle's Commentaire philosophique crisis
which made a formal break between the time Jurieu pretended not to know that Bayle
had was refuting, and proceeded to give the authors work the thrashing they
deserved 3. In his energetic did not hesitate to associate the impious principles
mentaire together with the assassination of balism and criminal pagan sacrifices 4;
nor did the lurid colors of his appalling tableau of the be, were these principles
to prevail: we are to blotched with heresies, an ominious swelling Mohammedans,
indifference to truth and religion while the Catholics profit from the disorders
society are undermined 5. As to Jurieu's own religious tolerance, there are so many
inconsistencies dictions that it is difficult to summarize it however, seem to
reflect important trends : that the secular authority may indeed intervene gion ;
to justify his position according to the the example of the " sovereign magistrates
" Jews. He reminds the reader of Solomon, Asa, But the greatest example is,
naturally, David 1 Even in his Politique du Clerg? (1681), p. 228-239, Jurieu that
he was using the arguments of the partisans of tolerance argument and that
theologically he might not subscribe to of his Histoire du Calvinisme... contre...
Maimbourg (1683), section refuting the " esprits forts " who claim that one in
error; furthermore he now specifically rejects and condemns arguments for tolerance
which he himself had expounded above) in the Politique du Clerg?. He claims to be
refuting de la raison humaine; however, so much of his refutation arguments (as
Jurieu interpreted them) that one is tempted this work partly in order to correct
the " excessive " tolerance of Maimbourg [Critique g?n?rale de Vhistoire du
Calvinisme of Maimbourg [Critique g?n?rale de Vhistoire du Calvinisme shortly
before. Finally, it should be mentioned that in shortly before. Finally, it should
be mentioned that in la Raison humaine, traduit de l'anglais et augment? d'une
(Amsterdam, 1699 [I have been unable to consult the first in purpose, argument and
terminology from Bayle's works 2 Jean Delvolv?, Religion, critique et esprit
positif 1906), p. 146. The work in question is Le Vrai syst?me de 3 In Des Droits
des deux souverains en mati?re de Religion I infer that Jurieu in reality did know
th? identity of the from the fact that all the arguments of the Commentaire Bayle's
Critique de... Maimbourg and its Suite, that Jurieu number of these same arguments
in his Vrai syst?me de Bayle's and that some of them were even labeled as coming
used them again in the Commentaire (these are the " examples Des Droits, p. 190-
208). Again Jurieu associates Bayle's de la raison humaine [by Clifford] ; Jurieu,
op. cit., 4 P. 44-56.
5 P. 86-102.p. 186
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 187
Davis s'est si bien meld des affaires de la religion, qu'on peut dire
qu'il a donn6 la derniere main A la police Ecclesiastique et A la dis
cipline de l'Eglise 1...
Secondly, when discussing the use of constraint in matters of
religion, and particularly the tolerant maxim, suaderi debet religio,
non cogi, he confesses that the maxim is indeed a convenient one
for the Protestants in .their present situation. " But ", he adds
Mais croyez-moi, pour le peu de profit que vous en tireriez aujour
d'hui, l'Eglise en souffrirait de grandes pertes, et vous-meme peut
etre dans quelques annees seriez oblige de vous dddire, et vous le
feriez sans doute. Car si les Rois de France et d'Espagne venaient A
servir de leur autorit6 pour chasser le pa pisme de leurs Etats, comme
ont fait les Rois d'Angleterre et de Subde, bien loin de les blamer
et de le trouver mauvais, vous la trouveriez fort bon. Soyez assure
que cela doit arriver ainsi 2...
In other words, constraint may be used in matters of religion ;
Protestantism is about to triumph in France and in Spain, and will
do so not by persuasion, but by force. Christianity in France will
be not merely a religion but a political power ; it will rule from the
throne. Jurieu is thus denying the traditional doctrine of the
separation of powers in order to prepare the way for a holy crusade,
and David is his authority. His doctrine would mean the end of
religious tolerance.
As has been suggested before, virtually nothing in Seventeenth
Century French Calvinism prepared the way for this shift ; on the
contrary, for generations French Calvinism had been aimed in pre
cisely the opposite direction s. Moreover, along with the introduction
of the idea of the political role of Calvinism in Jurieu's theology
went an extensive series of changes fundamentally altering the
structure of Calvinist doctrine : Jurieu radically changed the tra
ditional conception of the Church 4; he substantially altered the
orthodox concept of the action of grace 5 ; he redefined the theoretical
bond between Justification and Sanctification 6, and he 'changed the
orthodox view of the authority of the early Church Fathers ', to
mention only the most striking of the alterations. These are asto
1 P. 277.
2 P. 284.
8Jurieu based his theories largely upon early Protestant writers (Buchanan,
Junius Brutus, etc.) who had long since been repudiated by Seventeenth Century
Protestants, as Jurieu himself had said, before the Revocation (v. Dodge, The
Political Protestants, as Jurieu himself had said, before the Revocation (v. Dodge,
The Political
Theory, p. 27). Theory, p. 27).
4 Haase, Einf?hrung, p. 293-297.
6 Jurieu radically expanded the r?le of the heart (or will) at the expense of the
intellect, his doctrine being formulated in opposition to the " intellectuausm " of
the
Pajonists. An excellent (and largely favorable) r?sum? of the doctrine will be
found
in Henri Basnage de Beauval, Histoire des ouvrages des savants, Nov. 1687, p. 313-
315.
6 This shift will be treated in the second part of the present article.
7 This development was masterfully analyzed by Bossuet, Avertissements aux
protest?ns (Paris, 1734), III, p. 3-42. [This work originally dates from 1690].p.
187
 188 WALTER REX
nishing developments indeed. Ironically, none " heretics " whom Jurieu persecuted
so mercilessly half so much. Still more ironically, some (particularly the later
disciples of Pajon) had rooted Seventeenth Century Calvinist traditions tradition
of French Calvinism explains none theology of Jurieu himself ; on the contrary
expedience ; and many of them are designed to program, a rather desperate attempt
to meet situation by turning the formerly royalist-pacifist and rationalistic
French Calvinism into ready, when the call came, to strike against the Undoubtedly
many of his pious contemporaries aware that Jurieu was in fact innovating, largely,
Jurieu's theology was so well attuned to the great own time : it took into account
the English which to many had become a burning symbol for the future ; it made use
of the changes in in Europe which, like their own feelings, was France ; it spoke
to them of tyranny and injustice, thing they themselves had experienced during
exile 1. Jurieu had an uncanny sense of the the Calvinists in the Refuge, which
made justifications seem almost irrelevent ; he could, and did, simply orthodoxy.
One of the most striking examples of this subject at hand, the Old Testament
prophet. Jews of the Bible had always had prophets that ditional Calvinism) the
union of the secular and the same person had been possible ; God was with directly
inspiring their prophets, telling them in both politics and religion ; therefore
the rule kings was absolute. But, said the theologians, Apostles, the age of
prophecy had ceased ; no to be divinely inspired (that was popish superstition);
Calvinists ever approve of the irrational abandonment to any alledged " mystical
communion " with religion, ever since the coming of Christ, was spiritual 2. How
then, given so many traditional it, could Jurieu advocate the union of the powers
which depended upon the direct inspiration Jurieu scarcely attempted to explain ;
he simply Jurieu scarcely attempted to explain ; he simply 1 Haase, Einf?hrung, p.
113-126. 1 Haase, Einf?hrung, p. 113-126.
2 David Blondel, in the first book of his celebrated treatise these oracles partly
on the basis of the fact that they ignored p. 188
 P. BAYLE : THE THEOLOGY AND POLITICS 189
himself, and gave forth divine oracles of the future, set down in
images so intense as to suggest surrealism, or a mind on the verge
of losing its equilibrium 1. He assumed the sublime pose of one who
knew he had been chosen-not in the usual sense of " election ",
but chosen in a unique way, something like the Virgin Mary at the
moment of the Annunciation (the comparison is his own) 2. To be
sure, his oracles were based partly upon reality : the armies he spoke
of existed, or seemed about to exist, and the Holy War was actually
being planned. But whether they were real or fictional, there were
many in the Refuge who were ready to believe in them, for Jurieu's
prophecies played upon all the resentments and yearnings of the
Calvinists in exile, telling them the one thing they most wanted to
hear : that they soon would return, triumphant, to their homeland.
It is easy to imagine the tremor of excitement which must have
traversed the Refuge when the exiles read Jurieu's solemn pronounce
ment, declaring in gruesome apocalyptic language that the time was
at hand when at last they would eat the flesh of the beast 3. This
was in 1687, the same year in which he attacked Bayle's magnificent
plea for religious tolerance, the Commentaire philosophique. Is it
difficult to see why Bayle developed such a passionate hatred for
the Old Testament prophets and kings as models for behavior?
Berkeley. Walter REX.
On a similar basis Mo?se Amyraut rejected the Quakers in divins (Saumur, 1659), p.
98-99 : " Quant ? ces gens d'Outre tenant de r?v?lations, de visions,
d'inspirations c?lestes de St-Esprit, d'extases et de ravissements, et qui par
leurs tremblements senter les mouvements des enthousiastes et des Proph?tes, sement
si d'honn?tes gens et bien sens?s supportaient leurs Seigneur J?sus Christ est un
Esprit d'intelligence, et de prudence, et non une fum?e qui remplisse les cerveaux
creux d'imaginations zarres. La gr?ce de l'Evangile met les puissances de l'esprit
constitution sage, et qui donne de la joie au-dedans, et de n'expose point la vraie
religion ? la ris?e de ses ennemis, et sens?s, par des gestes ind?cents et des
mouvements h?t?roclites Later Calviniste enjoyed quoting Jurieu himself on this his
refutation of Maimbourg (1683) : " [il] ne faut point chercher dans le Calvinisme,
qui a du m?pris pour les visions, et qui r?v?lations modernes... Pour nous il
suffit que quelqu'un nous visions; quelque sage et saint qu'il soit d'ailleurs,
nous lui purger, et de consulter les m?decins ". [Basnage de Beauval, Savants, Oct.
1694, p. 65].
1 L'Accomplissement des Proph?ties, ou la D?livrance prochaine (Rotterdam, 1686).
Another striking example of Jurieu's " found in L'An?antissement de l'homme p?cheur
devant le Throne found in L'An?antissement de l'homme p?cheur devant le Throne (La
Haye, 1687), undoubtedly one of the best sermons of (La Haye, 1687), undoubtedly
one of the best sermons of 2 From the Avis ? tous les Chr?tiens (unnumbered pages)
sement des Proph?ties.
8 From the last page of the Avis ? tous les Chr?tiens: " travailler ? ouvrir les
yeux aux Rois et aux peuples de la terre. doivent manger la chair de la b?te, et la
br?ler au feu, d?pouiller ses ornements, renverser de fonds en comble Babylone, et
dans peu que ces grands ?v?nements doivent arriver et il est les hommes ".p. 189