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Alexandre Rodolphe Vinet (17 June 17974 May 1847) was a Swiss
Accordingly, when in 1845 the civil power in the canton of
literary critic
A genre of arts criticism, literary criticism or literary studies is the study, evaluation, and interpretation of literature. Modern literary criticism is often influenced by literary theory, which is the philosophical analysis of literature' ...
and theologian
Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...
.
Literary critic
He was born near Lausanne, Switzerland. Educated for theProtestant
Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that emphasizes Justification (theology), justification of sinners Sola fide, through faith alone, the teaching that Salvation in Christianity, salvation comes by unmerited Grace in Christianity, divin ...
ministry, he was ordained in 1819, when already teacher of the French language and literature in the gymnasium at Basel
Basel ( ; ), also known as Basle ( ), ; ; ; . is a city in northwestern Switzerland on the river Rhine (at the transition from the High Rhine, High to the Upper Rhine). Basel is Switzerland's List of cities in Switzerland, third-most-populo ...
; and throughout his life he was as much a critic as a theologian. His literary criticism brought him into contact with Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve
Charles Augustin Sainte-Beuve (; 23 December 1804 – 13 October 1869) was a French literary critic.
Early life
He was born in Boulogne, educated there, and studied medicine at the Collège Charlemagne in Paris (1824–27). In 1828, he se ...
, for whom he obtained an invitation to lecture at Lausanne, which led to his famous work on Port-Royal. This work in turn cites:
* L. M. Lane, ''Life and Writings of A. Vinet'' (1890)
* L. Molines, ''Étude sur Alexandre Vinet'' (Paris, 1890)
* Eugène Rambert biography (1875; he re-edited the ''Chrestomathie'' in 1876)
* V. Rivet, ''Études sur les origines de la pensée religieuse de Vinet'' (Paris, 1896)
* V. Rossel, ''Histoire de la littérature française hors de France'' (Lausanne, 1895)
* A. Schumann, ''Alex. Vinet'' (1907)
Vinet's ''Chrestomathie française'' (1829), his ''Études sur la littérature française au XIXme siècle'' (1840–51), and his ''Histoire de la littérature française au XVIIIme siècle'', together with his ''Études sur Pascal'', ''Études sur les moralistes aux XVIme et XVIIme siècles'', ''Histoire de la prédication parmi les Réformés de France'' and other related works, gave evidence of a wide knowledge of literature, acute literary judgment and a distinguished faculty of appreciation. He adjusted his theories to the work under review, and condemned nothing as long as it met his literary standards.
Theologian
As a theologian Vinet gave a fresh impulse to Protestanttheology
Theology is the study of religious belief from a Religion, religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an Discipline (academia), academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itse ...
, especially in French-speaking lands, but also in England and elsewhere. Lord Acton classed him with Richard Rothe
Richard Rothe (28 January 1799 – 20 August 1867) was a German Lutheran theology, theologian.
Biography
Richard Rothe was born at Poznań, Posen, then part of Kingdom of Prussia, Prussia. He studied theology in the universities of university of ...
. His philosophy relied strongly on conscience, defined as that by which man stands in direct personal relation with God
In monotheistic belief systems, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator, and principal object of faith. In polytheistic belief systems, a god is "a spirit or being believed to have created, or for controlling some part of the un ...
as moral sovereign, and the seat of a moral individuality which nothing can rightly infringe. He advocated complete freedom of religious belief, and to this end the formal separation of church and state
The separation of church and state is a philosophical and Jurisprudence, jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the State (polity), state. Conceptually, the term refers to ...
in ''Mémoire en faveur de la liberté des cultes'' (1826), ''Essai sur la conscience'' (1829), ''Essai sur la manifestation des convictions religieuses'' (1842).
Accordingly, when in 1845 the civil power in the canton of Vaud
Vaud ( ; , ), more formally Canton of Vaud, is one of the Cantons of Switzerland, 26 cantons forming the Switzerland, Swiss Confederation. It is composed of Subdivisions of the canton of Vaud, ten districts; its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat ...
interfered with the church's autonomy, he led a secession which took the name of ''L'Église libre''. But already from 1831, when he published his ''Discours sur quelques sujets religieux'' (''Nouveaux discours'', 1841), he had begun to exert a liberalizing and deepening influence on religious thought far beyond his own canton, by bringing traditional doctrine to the test of a living personal experience (see also the philosophy of Gaston Frommel). In this he resembled Frederick William Robertson, as also in the change which he introduced into pulpit style and in the permanence of his influence.
Vinet died at Clarens, Vaud. A considerable part of his work was not printed till after his death.
References
Further reading
* *W.P. Keijzer, ''Vinet en Hollande'' (Groningen, 1941) *W.P. Keijzer, ''Alexandre Rodolphe Vinet'' (Amsterdam, 1947)External links
* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Vinet, Alexandre Swiss Protestant theologians People from Lausanne 1797 births 1847 deaths