Maurice Vernes (25 September 1845, in

Nauroy Nauroy () is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. Population Notable people * Désiré François Laugée (1823-1896), painter and poet, mayor of Nauroy in the 1880s. * Georges Laugée (1853-1937), Natu ...

– 29 July 1923, in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

) was a French Protestant

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 ...

and

historian of religion The history of religion is the written record of human religious feelings, thoughts, and ideas. This period of religious history begins with the invention of writing about 5,200 years ago (3200 BCE). The prehistory of religion involves the stu ...

. He studied theology at the Protestant seminary in

Montauban Montauban (, ; ) is a commune in the southern French department of Tarn-et-Garonne. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, and the sixth most populated of Oc ...

and the

University of Strasbourg The University of Strasbourg (, Unistra) is a public research university located in Strasbourg, France, with over 52,000 students and 3,300 researchers. Founded in the 16th century by Johannes Sturm, it was a center of intellectual life during ...

, receiving his doctorate in 1874. From 1877 he taught as a lecturer at the Sorbonne, and two years later, became a professor at the Faculté de théologie protestante de Paris (Protestant Faculty of Theology in Paris). In 1886, he was named director-adjoint at the

École pratique des hautes études The (), abbreviated EPHE, is a French postgraduate top level educational institution, a . EPHE is a constituent college of the Université PSL (together with ENS Ulm, Paris Dauphine or Ecole des Mines). The college is closely linked to É ...

(section on religious sciences). From 1901 he taught classes as a professor at the Collège libre des sciences sociales (CLSS) in Paris. In 1880 he founded the journal, ''Revue de l'Histoire des religions''.

Selected works

* ''Histoire des idées messianiques depuis Alexandre jusqu'a l'empereur Hadrien'', (graduate thesis, 1874) – History of messianic ideas from

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon (; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), most commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Macedonia (ancient kingdom), Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip ...

up until

Hadrian Hadrian ( ; ; 24 January 76 – 10 July 138) was Roman emperor from 117 to 138. Hadrian was born in Italica, close to modern Seville in Spain, an Italic peoples, Italic settlement in Hispania Baetica; his branch of the Aelia gens, Aelia '' ...

. * ''Mélanges de critique religieuse'', 1880 – Collection of religious critiques. * ''L'histoire des religions; son esprit, sa méthode, et ses divisions, son enseignement en France et à l'etranger'', 1887 – The history of religions; its spirit, methods and divisions, its teaching in France and abroad. * ''Une nouvelle hypothèse sur la composition et l'origine du Deutéronome'', 1887 – A new hypothesis about the composition and origin of

Deuteronomy Deuteronomy (; ) is the fifth book of the Torah (in Judaism), where it is called () which makes it the fifth book of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Old Testament. Chapters 1–30 of the book consist of three sermons or speeches delivered to ...

. * ''Du prétendu polythéisme des Hébreux; essai critique sur la religion du peuple d'Israël, suivi d'un examen de l'authenticité des écrits prophétiques'', 1891 – On alleged

polytheism Polytheism is the belief in or worship of more than one god. According to Oxford Reference, it is not easy to count gods, and so not always obvious whether an apparently polytheistic religion, such as Chinese folk religions, is really so, or whet ...

of the Hebrews; critical essay on the religion of the people of Israel. * ''Les croyances populaires : leçons sur l'histoire des religions professées à l'Université nouvelle de Bruxelles'' (by

Élie Reclus Élie Reclus (; July 16, 1827 – February 11, 1904) was a French ethnographer and anarchist. Biography Élie Reclus was the oldest of five brothers, born to a Protestant minister and his wife. His middle three brothers, including the well know ...

, foreword by Vernes; 1908) – Popular beliefs: Lessons on the history of religion taught at the new University of Brussels. * ''Histoire sociale des religions'', 1911 – Social history of religions. * ''La crise de la religion en France'', 1911 – The crisis of religion in France. * ''Les emprunts de la Bible hébraïque au grec et au latin'', 1914.HathiTrust Digital Library
(published works)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernes, Maurice 1845 births 1923 deaths People from Aisne Academic staff of the École pratique des hautes études University of Strasbourg alumni French historians of religion French Protestant theologians