Alexandre Vinet
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Alexandre Rodolphe Vinet (17 June 17974 May 1847) was a Swiss
literary critic 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 discussion of literature's goals and methods. Th ...
and
theologian Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
.


Literary critic

He was born near
Lausanne, Switzerland , neighboring_municipalities= Bottens, Bretigny-sur-Morrens, Chavannes-près-Renens, Cheseaux-sur-Lausanne, Crissier, Cugy, Écublens, Épalinges, Évian-les-Bains (FR-74), Froideville, Jouxtens-Mézery, Le Mont-sur-Lausanne, Lugrin (FR ...
. Educated for the
Protestant Protestantism is a Christian denomination, branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Reformation, Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century agai ...
ministry, he was ordained in 1819, when already teacher of the French language and literature in the gymnasium at
Basel , french: link=no, Bâlois(e), it, Basilese , neighboring_municipalities= Allschwil (BL), Hégenheim (FR-68), Binningen (BL), Birsfelden (BL), Bottmingen (BL), Huningue (FR-68), Münchenstein (BL), Muttenz (BL), Reinach (BL), Riehen (BS ...
; 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 Port Royal is the former capital city of Jamaica. Port Royal or Port Royale may also refer to: Institutions * Port-Royal-des-Champs, an abbey near Paris, France, which spawned influential schools and writers of the 17th century ** Port-Royal A ...
. 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 Eugène Rambert (6 April 1830 – 21 November 1886), was a Swiss author and poet. Life He was born at Sâles near Swiss Clarens, the eldest son of a Vaudois schoolmaster, from whom he received his education. When in 1845 his father lost his post ...
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 Protestant
theology Theology is the systematic study of the nature of the divine and, more broadly, of religious belief. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of analyzing the ...
, especially in French-speaking lands, but also in England and elsewhere.
Lord Acton John Emerich Edward Dalberg-Acton, 1st Baron Acton, 13th Marquess of Groppoli, (10 January 1834 – 19 June 1902), better known as Lord Acton, was an English Catholic historian, politician, and writer. He is best remembered for the remark he wr ...
classed him with
Richard Rothe Richard Rothe (28 January 1799 – 20 August 1867) was a German Lutheran theologian. Biography Richard Rothe was born at Posen, then part of Prussia. He studied theology in the universities of Heidelberg and Berlin (1817–20) under Karl Daub, ...
. His philosophy relied strongly on conscience, defined as that by which man stands in direct personal relation with
God In monotheism, monotheistic thought, God is usually viewed as the supreme being, creator deity, creator, and principal object of Faith#Religious views, faith.Richard Swinburne, Swinburne, R.G. "God" in Ted Honderich, Honderich, Ted. (ed)''The Ox ...
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 jurisprudential concept for defining political distance in the relationship between religious organizations and the state. Conceptually, the term refers to the creation of a secular sta ...
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 ( ; french: (Canton de) Vaud, ; german: (Kanton) Waadt, or ), more formally the canton of Vaud, is one of the 26 cantons forming the Swiss Confederation. It is composed of ten districts and its capital city is Lausanne. Its coat of arms b ...
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 Gaston Frommel (November 25, 1862 in Altkirch, France – May 18, 1906 in Geneva, Switzerland) was a French-Swiss protestant pastor and professor of theology at the University of Geneva from 1894 until his death. Life A Frenchman by birth, ...
). In this he resembled
Frederick William Robertson Frederick William Robertson (3 February 1816 – 15 August 1853), known as Robertson of Brighton, was an English divine. Biography Born in London, the first five years of his life were passed at Leith Fort, where his father, a captain in the R ...
, as also in the change which he introduced into pulpit style and in the permanence of his influence. Vinet died at
Clarens, Vaud Clarens-Montreux or Clarens is a neighborhood in the municipality of Montreux, in the canton of Vaud, in Switzerland. This neighborhood is the biggest and most populated of the city of Montreux. Clarens was made famous throughout Europe by the i ...
. 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