Bernard Lamy (15 June 1640 – 29 January 1715) was a French
Oratorian,
mathematician
A mathematician is someone who uses an extensive knowledge of mathematics in their work, typically to solve mathematical problems. Mathematicians are concerned with numbers, data, quantity, mathematical structure, structure, space, Mathematica ...
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 ...
.
Life
Lamy was born in
Le Mans
Le Mans (; ) is a Communes of France, city in Northwestern France on the Sarthe (river), Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the Provinces of France, province of Maine (province), Maine, it is now the capital of ...
, France. After studying there, he went to join the
Maison d'Institution in Paris, and to
Saumur
Saumur () is a Communes of France, commune in the Maine-et-Loire Departments of France, department in western France.
The town is located between the Loire and Thouet rivers, and is surrounded by the vineyards of Saumur itself, Chinon, Bourgu ...
thereafter. In 1658 he entered the
congregation of the Oratory
The Confederation of Oratories of Saint Philip Neri (), abbreviated C.O. and commonly known as the Oratorians, is a Catholic Church, Catholic society of apostolic life of pontifical right for men (priests and Religious brother, religious brot ...
.
Lamy became professor of
classics
Classics, also classical studies or Ancient Greek and Roman studies, is the study of classical antiquity. In the Western world, ''classics'' traditionally refers to the study of Ancient Greek literature, Ancient Greek and Roman literature and ...
at
Vendôme
Vendôme (, ) is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Departments of France, department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest Communes of France, commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019).
It is one of th ...
in 1661, and at
Juilly in 1663. He was ordained in 1667.
After teaching a few years at Le Mans he was appointed to a chair of philosophy in the
University of Angers
The University of Angers () is a public university in western France, with campuses in Angers, Cholet, and Saumur.
It is part of the Angers-Le Mans University Community.
History
The University of Angers was initially established during the 11 ...
. Here his teaching was attacked on the ground that it was too exclusively
Cartesian, and
Rebous the rector obtained in 1675 from the state authorities a decree forbidding him to continue his lectures.
He was then sent by his superiors to
Grenoble
Grenoble ( ; ; or ; or ) is the Prefectures in France, prefecture and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of the Isère Departments of France, department in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes Regions of France, region ...
, where, thanks to the protection of
Étienne Le Camus, he again took up his courses of philosophy. In 1686 he returned to Paris, stopping at the seminary of
Saint Magloire, and in 1689 he was sent to
Rouen
Rouen (, ; or ) is a city on the River Seine, in northwestern France. It is in the prefecture of Regions of France, region of Normandy (administrative region), Normandy and the Departments of France, department of Seine-Maritime. Formerly one ...
, where he spent the remainder of his days to his death in 1715.
Works
His best known work is the (1679), showing the
parallelogram of force. He also wrote (1680) and (1685).
His writings are numerous and varied. Among them may be mentioned:
* , (Paris, 1675); In English → (London, 1676) – of this, twenty editions were published.
* , etc. (Grenoble, 1687), translated into French by order of the
Bishop of Châlons
A bishop is an ordained member of the clergy who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance and administration of dioceses. The role ...
under the title (Lyons, 1689).
* (Paris, 1689, ''A harmony or concordance of the Four Gospels''). In this work he contends that
John the Baptist
John the Baptist ( – ) was a Jewish preacher active in the area of the Jordan River in the early first century AD. He is also known as Saint John the Forerunner in Eastern Orthodoxy and Oriental Orthodoxy, John the Immerser in some Baptist ...
was twice cast into prison, first in Jerusalem by order of the
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin (Hebrew and Middle Aramaic , a loanword from , 'assembly,' 'sitting together,' hence ' assembly' or 'council') was a Jewish legislative and judicial assembly of either 23 or 70 elders, existing at both a local and central level i ...
, and later by
Herod in Galilee. He maintains also that the Jesus and his Apostles did not eat the
paschal lamb at the
Last Supper
Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, ''The Last Supper (Leonardo), The Last Supper'' (1495-1498). Mural, tempera on gesso, pitch and mastic ...
, and that the Crucifixion occurred on the day on which the Jews celebrated the Passover. He considers
Mary Magdalen
Mary Magdalene (sometimes called Mary of Magdala, or simply the Magdalene or the Madeleine) was a woman who, according to the four canonical gospels, traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was a witness to crucifixion of Jesus, his cr ...
,
Mary the sister of Lazarus, and the sinner mentioned in Luke, vii, 37 sqq. to be one and the same person. These and other opinions involved him in controversy with
Bulteau, pastor of Rouen,
Jean Piénud,
Le Nain de Tillemont, and others (see , Paris, 1693).
* , which is a development of his introduction (Lyons, 1696; Jena, 1709; Amsterdam, 1710). It was translated into French by
Jean-Baptiste Morvan de Bellegarde (Paris, 1697) and by Boyer (Lyons, 1709). In this work he calls in question the historical character of the ''
book of Tobias'' and ''
book of Judith
The Book of Judith is a deuterocanonical book included in the Septuagint and the Catholic Church, Catholic and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Christian Old Testament of the Bible but Development of the Hebrew Bible canon, excluded from the ...
'', and maintains that even after the
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent (), held between 1545 and 1563 in Trent (or Trento), now in northern Italy, was the 19th ecumenical council of the Catholic Church. Prompted by the Protestant Reformation at the time, it has been described as the "most ...
a difference of authority should be recognized between the proto-canonical and
deutero-canonical books of the Bible.
* (Rouen, Paris, 1697).
* A volume of commentaries on his previous concordance of the four Gospels (Paris, 1699).
* A Latin treatise on the Ark of the Covenant (Paris, 1720), a posthumous work published by Desmollets, who prefixed to the volume a biography of the author.
See also
*
College of Juilly
The College of Juilly ( French: ''Collège de Juilly'') was a Catholic private teaching establishment located in the commune of Juilly, in Seine-et-Marne (France). Directed by the French Oratorians, it was created in 1638 by the Congregationi ...
*
Lami's theorem
*
List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
A list is a set of discrete items of information collected and set forth in some format for utility, entertainment, or other purposes. A list may be memorialized in any number of ways, including existing only in the mind of the list-maker, but ...
Bibliography
Annotations
Notes
Bibliography
* , , , .
*
* Retrieved February 24, 2025. .
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- .
*
- .
* Retrieved February 24, 2025.
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-
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* Retrieved February 24, 2025. .
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External links
* . .
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lamy, Bernard
1640 births
1715 deaths
17th-century French Catholic theologians
17th-century French mathematicians
18th-century French mathematicians
French Oratory
Catholic clergy scientists