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, structure, space, models, and change.
History
On ...
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 ...
.
Life
Lamy was born in
Le Mans, France. After studying there, he went to join the
Maison d'Institution in Paris, and to
Saumur thereafter. In 1658 he entered the congregation of the Oratory.
Lamy became professor of
classics at
Vendôme
Vendôme (, ) is a subprefecture of the department of Loir-et-Cher, France. It is also the department's third-biggest commune with 15,856 inhabitants (2019).
It is one of the main towns along the river Loir. The river divides itself at the ...
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 (french: Université d'Angers; UA) is a public university in western France, with campuses in Angers, Cholet, and Saumur.
It forms part of thAngers-Le Mans University Community
History
The University of Angers was init ...
. 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
lat, Gratianopolis
, commune status = Prefecture and commune
, image = Panorama grenoble.png
, image size =
, caption = From upper left: Panorama of the city, Grenoble’s cable cars, place Saint- ...
, where, thanks to the protection of
Cardinal Le Camus
Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to:
Animals
* Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds
**'' Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae
**''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, t ...
, 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, where he spent the remainder of his days to his death in 1715.
Works
His best known work is the ''Traité de Mécanique'' (1679), showing the
parallelogram of force
The parallelogram of forces is a method for solving (or visualizing) the results of applying two forces to an object.
When more than two forces are involved, the geometry is no longer parallelogrammatic, but the same principles apply. Forces, ...
. He also wrote ''Traité de la grandeur en general'' (1680) and ''Les éléments de géometrie'' (1685).
His writings are numerous and varied. Among them may be mentioned:
* "La Rhétorique ou l'art de parler", (Paris, 1675, Rhetoric, or the art of speaking, English translation 1676) of this twenty editions were published.
[Translated in English in 1676; modern edition: John T. Harwood (ed.), ''The Rhetorics of Thomas Hobbes and Bernard Lamy'', Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press, 1986.]
* "Apparatus ad Biblia Sacra", etc. (Grenoble, 1687), translated into French by order of the
Bishop of Châlons
A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution.
In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
under the title "Introduction a la lecture de l'Ecriture Sainte" (Lyons, 1689).
* "Harmonia, sive Concordia quatuor Evangelistarum", a harmony or concordance of the Four Gospels (Paris, 1689). In this work he contends that John the Baptist was twice cast into prison, first in Jerusalem by order of the Sanhedrin, and later by Herod in Galilee. He maintains also that the Saviour and His Apostles did not eat the paschal lamb at the Last Supper, and that the Crucifixion occurred on the day on which the Jews celebrated the Passover. He considers Mary Magdalen, 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 "Traité historique de l'ancienne Pâque des Juifs", Paris, 1693).
* "Apparatus Biblicus", which is a development of his introduction (Lyons, 1696; Jena, 1709; Amsterdam, 1710). It was translated into French by
Abbé de Bellegarde (Paris, 1697) and by
Abbé Boyer (Lyons, 1709). In this work he calls in question the historical character of the ''
book of Tobias
The Book of Tobit () ''Tōbith'' or ''Tōbit'' ( and spellings are also attested) itself from he, טובי ''Tovi'' "my good"; Book of Tobias in the Vulgate from the Greek ''Tōbias'', itself from the Hebrew ''Tovyah'' "Yah is good", also kn ...
'' and ''
book of Judith'', and maintains that even after the
Council of Trent
The Council of Trent ( la, Concilium Tridentinum), 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, it has been described a ...
a difference of authority should be recognized between the proto-canonical and
deutero-canonical books of the Bible.
* "Défense de l'ancien sentiment de l'Eglise latine touchant l'office de sainte Madeleine" (Rouen, Paris, 1697).
* A volume of commentaries on his previous harmony of the Four Gospels (Paris, 1699).
* A Latin treatise on the Ark of the Covenant (Paris, 1720), a posthumous work published by
Père 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 congregationis ...
*
Lami's theorem
*
List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
References
Bibliography
* François Girbal, ''Bernard Lamy (1640-1715), étude biographique et bibliographique'', París: PUF, 1964.
* Regnier in
Fulcran Vigouroux, ''Dictionnaire de la Bible'', s.v.
*
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