Philippe du Contant de La Molette (1737–1793) was a French theologian and

biblical The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) biblical languages ...

scholar.

Biography

He was born at

La Côte-Saint-André La Côte-Saint-André () is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France. Demographics Notable people *Hector Berlioz was born here. His birthplace is now a museum: Musée Hector-Berlioz. * Philippe du Contant de la Molette w ...

, in

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

, 29 August 1737. He studied at the Sorbonne, and, in 1765, defended a thesis on

Job Work, labor (labour in Commonwealth English), occupation or job is the intentional activity people perform to support the needs and desires of themselves, other people, or organizations. In the context of economics, work can be seen as the huma ...

, in six languages.

Louis XV Louis XV (15 February 1710 – 10 May 1774), known as Louis the Beloved (), was King of France from 1 September 1715 until his death in 1774. He succeeded his great-grandfather Louis XIV at the age of five. Until he reached maturity (then defi ...

was so well pleased that he allowed him to pass the examinations for the licentiate without the required delays, a privilege, however, which de la Molette did not use. Later on, he became Vicar-General of the diocese of Vienne, France. He died on the scaffold during the

Reign of Terror The Reign of Terror (French: ''La Terreur'', literally "The Terror") was a period of the French Revolution when, following the creation of the French First Republic, First Republic, a series of massacres and Capital punishment in France, nu ...

in 1793.

Works

As a biblical author, he shows great erudition and is well versed in the

Semitic languages The Semitic languages are a branch of the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. They include Arabic, Amharic, Tigrinya language, Tigrinya, Aramaic, Hebrew language, Hebrew, Maltese language, Maltese, Modern South Arabian language ...

, but he lacked originality, and his criticism is often misleading. His works, all published 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 ...

, are the following: * (1775) * (1777) * , etc. (1777), 3 vols., a work intended especially as a refutation of

Voltaire François-Marie Arouet (; 21 November 169430 May 1778), known by his ''Pen name, nom de plume'' Voltaire (, ; ), was a French Age of Enlightenment, Enlightenment writer, philosopher (''philosophe''), satirist, and historian. Famous for his wit ...

* , 3 vols. (1780); the thesis that he had defended in 1765 is printed in the beginning of this work * , etc., 3 vols. (1781) * (1781), a continuation of the preceding * , 2 vols. (1785). He had also done considerable work as a preparation for a , but it is doubtful whether he ever published it.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Du Contant de la Molette, Philippe 1737 births 1793 deaths 18th-century French Catholic theologians French scholars University of Paris alumni