Isaac Jacquelot (December 1647 in Vassy, France – 15 October 1708 in Berlin, Germany) was a French

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , ; ) are a Religious denomination, religious group of French people, French Protestants who held to the Reformed (Calvinist) tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, ...

minister.

Life

Isaac Jacquelot was born in Vassy in

Champagne Champagne (; ) is a sparkling wine originated and produced in the Champagne wine region of France under the rules of the appellation, which demand specific vineyard practices, sourcing of grapes exclusively from designated places within it, spe ...

, where his father was a Calvinist minister. He took over his father's position but left France in 1685 on the

Revocation of the Edict of Nantes The Edict of Fontainebleau (18 October 1685, published 22 October 1685) was an edict issued by French King Louis XIV and is also known as the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes. The Edict of Nantes (1598) had granted Huguenots the right to pra ...

. He went to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; ; ) is the List of cities in Baden-Württemberg by population, fifth-largest city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, and with a population of about 163,000, of which roughly a quarter consists of studen ...

for a year and then took a position with a Walloon congregation at

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

. He then left for

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 ...

after finding himself in conflict with

Pierre Jurieu Pierre Jurieu (24 December 1637 – 11 January 1713) was a French Protestant leader. Life He was born at Mer, in Orléanais, where his father was a Protestant pastor. He studied at the Academy of Saumur and the Academy of Sedan under his grand ...

. He ended his life as a court preacher in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

Views

Jacquelot was a leading figure in the ''rationaux'', the Huguenot proponents of

rational theology Natural theology is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics, such as the existence of a deity, based on human reason. It is distinguished from revealed theology, which is based on supernatural sources such as ...

. Along with Jean Le Clerc and Jacques Bernard, they looked for reason and faith to come into balance and supported

religious tolerance Religious tolerance or religious toleration may signify "no more than forbearance and the permission given by the adherents of a dominant religion for other religions to exist, even though the latter are looked on with disapproval as inferior, ...

. They found themselves opposing

Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. He is best known for his '' Historical and Critical Dictionary'', whose publication began in 1697. Many of the more controversial ideas ...

after 1700. Jacquelot supported

Anthonie van Dale Anton van Dale (Anthonie, Antonius) (8 November 1638, in Haarlem – 28 November 1708) was a Dutch Mennonite preacher, physician and writer on religious subjects, described by the contemporary theologian Jean Le Clerc as an enemy of superstition. ...

's rejection of the supernatural, as did Le Clerc, with some qualification. Their positions, with that of Benjamin Binet, marked out the moderate rationalism of the first half of the 18th century. On

theodicy In the philosophy of religion, a theodicy (; meaning 'vindication of God', from Ancient Greek θεός ''theos'', "god" and δίκη ''dikē'', "justice") is an argument that attempts to resolve the problem of evil that arises when all powe ...

, Isaac Jacquelot agreed with

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz (or Leibnitz; – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat who is credited, alongside Isaac Newton, Sir Isaac Newton, with the creation of calculus in ad ...

in Jacquelot's ''Conformité''. On the other hand, he considered Leibniz's solution to the mind-body problem to be a less powerful variation on

occasionalism Occasionalism is a philosophical doctrine about causation which says that created substances cannot be efficient causes of events. Instead, all events are taken to be caused directly by God. (A related concept, which has been called "occasional c ...

. The two met in Berlin in 1702. Leibniz replied with his doctrine of pre-established harmony, which Jacquelot criticised on grounds of

free will Free will is generally understood as the capacity or ability of people to (a) choice, choose between different possible courses of Action (philosophy), action, (b) exercise control over their actions in a way that is necessary for moral respon ...

in a projected appendix to the ''Conformité'', the ''Système abrégé de l'âme et de la liberté''. After negotiation, the ''Système abrégé'' appeared in a modified form. Jacquelot used an

argument from design The teleological argument (from ) also known as physico-theological argument, argument from design, or intelligent design argument, is a rational argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural worl ...

in his ''Dissertations sur l'existence de Dieu'', defending

divine providence In theology, divine providence, or simply providence, is God's intervention in the universe. The term ''Divine Providence'' (usually capitalized) is also used as a names of God, title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general prov ...

and

revealed religion Revelation, or divine revelation, is the disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity (god) or other supernatural entity or entities in the view of religion and theology. Types Individual revelation Thomas A ...

: observation can and will support the purposive nature of the creation of animals and man. His exposition was much read subsequently.

Controversies

Jacquelot attacked the system of

Benedict Spinoza Baruch (de) Spinoza (24 November 163221 February 1677), also known under his Latinized pen name Benedictus de Spinoza, was a philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, who was born in the Dutch Republic. A forerunner of the Age of Enlightenmen ...

, as did

Samuel Clarke Samuel Clarke (11 October 1675 – 17 May 1729) was an English philosopher and Anglican cleric. He is considered the major British figure in philosophy between John Locke and George Berkeley. Clarke's altered, Nontrinitarian revision of the 1 ...

, by taking aim at what were perceived as key propositions in it. During his time in Berlin, Jacquelot engaged in a final controversy with Pierre Bayle, who died in 1706 while the debate proceeded; he had frequently accused Bayle of declaring reason and faith incompatible by fiat. One contentious topic was the article on

Manichaeism Manichaeism (; in ; ) is an endangered former major world religion currently only practiced in China around Cao'an,R. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''. SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 found ...

in Bayle's ''Dictionary''. As part of the exchanges, Jacquelot declared in favour of

Remonstrant The Remonstrants (or the Remonstrant Brotherhood) is a Protestant movement that split from the Dutch Reformed Church in the early 17th century. The early Remonstrants supported Jacobus Arminius, and after his death, continued to maintain his ori ...

(Arminian) views.

Philippe Naudé Philippe is a masculine given name, cognate to Philip, and sometimes also a surname. The name may refer to: * Philippe of Belgium (born 1960), King of the Belgians (2013–present) * Philippe (footballer) (born 2000), Brazilian footballer * Prince ...

attacked Jacquelot and Jean Le Clerc and defended absolute predestination in his ''La souveraine perfection de Dieu'' (''Sovereign Perfections of God'') (1708).

Jonathan I. Israel Jonathan Irvine Israel (born 22 January 1946) is a British historian specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment, Spinoza's Philosophy and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historic ...

has characterised the outcome of the debate between Bayle and the ''rationaux'' as a serious setback for the latter. Jacquelot and Le Clerc were criticised by Jean-Nicolas-Hubert Hayer. The weakness in their approach, from a Christian perspective, was to claim too much for reason.

Works

* ''Avis sur le tableau du socinianisme'', .I. 1690. * ''De Jesus Christ, qu’il est le Messie et le vrai Dieu'', La Haye: Abraham Troyel 1692. * ''Dissertations sur l'existence de Dieu'', La Haye, 1697. * ''Histoire des souffrances du bien-heureux martyr Mr. Louis de Marolles'', La Haye 1699, (edited by Jaquelot). * ''Dissertations sur le Messie, où l'on prouve aux Juifs que Jesus-Christ est le Messie promis et predit dans l'Ancien Testament'' (1699). This work arose from Jacquelot's contacts with

Sephardi Sephardic Jews, also known as Sephardi Jews or Sephardim, and rarely as Iberian Peninsular Jews, are a Jewish diaspora population associated with the historic Jewish communities of the Iberian Peninsula (Spain and Portugal) and their descendant ...

Jews in The Hague. A long response was made by Abraham Gómez Silveira, and it was attacked in the ''Messias Restaurado'' of Jacob de Andrade Velosino.''Jewish Encyclopedia'' article
* ''Conformité de la foi avec la raison: ou défense de la religion, contre les principales difficultez répandues dans le Dictionaire historique et critique de Mr. Bayle'', Amsterdam, 1705, reprint: Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 2006. * ''Examen de la theologie de Mr. Bayle

exte imprimé is a 2007 Japanese supernatural horror film written and directed by Sion Sono, and stars Chiaki Kuriyama, Ren Osugi, and Megumi Satō. The title is a Japanese slang shortening Romanization of the English term "extension" from " hair extension". ...

répandue dans son Dictionnaire critique, dans ses Pensées sur les cométes, & dans ses Réponses à un provincial; où l'on defend la Conformité de la foi avec la raison, contre sa Réponse'', Amsterdam, 1706. * ''Réponse aux Entretiens composez par M. Bayle, contre la conformité de la foi avec la raison, et l'Examen de sa théologie'', Amsterdam, 1707. * ''Sermons sur divers textes'', Amsterdam: Jaques Desbordes 1710, vol. 1, 1732, vol. 2. * ''Traité de la vérité et de l'inspiration des livres du Vieux et du Nouveau Testament'', Rotterdam, 1715. * ''Dissertations sur l'existence de Dieu. Nouvelle édition, augmentée de la Vie de l'auteur

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et de quelques lettres e Jaquelot et Des Maizeaux au sujet du livre de M. Werenfels intitulé: Judicium de argumento Cartesii pro existentia Dei petito ab ejus idea', Paris 1744.

References

(2001), ''Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity, 1650-1750'', New York: Oxford University Press.

External links

CERL page

Post-Reformation Digital Library page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jacquelot, Isaac 1647 births 1708 deaths Huguenots Remonstrants Arminian ministers Arminian theologians