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

Huguenot The Huguenots ( , also , ) were a religious group of French Protestants who held to the Reformed, or Calvinist, tradition of Protestantism. The term, which may be derived from the name of a Swiss political leader, the Genevan burgomaster Be ...

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, that 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 (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 practice their religion without s ...

. He went to

Heidelberg Heidelberg (; Palatine German language, Palatine German: ''Heidlberg'') is a city in the States of Germany, German state of Baden-Württemberg, situated on the river Neckar in south-west Germany. As of the 2016 census, its population was 159,914 ...

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

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital of ...

. He then left for

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 ...

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 gra ...

. He ended his life as a court preacher in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

Views

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

rational theology Natural theology, once also termed physico-theology, is a type of theology that seeks to provide arguments for theological topics (such as the existence of a deity) based on reason and the discoveries of science. This distinguishes it from ...

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

religious tolerance 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, mistaken, or harmful". ...

. They found themselves opposing

Pierre Bayle Pierre Bayle (; 18 November 1647 – 28 December 1706) was a French philosopher, author, and lexicographer. A Huguenot, Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic in 1681 because of religious persecution in France. He is best known for his '' Historica ...

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 Theodicy () means vindication of God. It is to answer the question of why a good God permits the manifestation of evil, thus resolving the issue of the problem of evil. Some theodicies also address the problem of evil "to make the existence of ...

, Isaac Jacquelot agreed with

Gottfried Leibniz Gottfried Wilhelm (von) Leibniz . ( – 14 November 1716) was a German polymath active as a mathematician, philosopher, scientist and diplomat. He is one of the most prominent figures in both the history of philosophy and the history of mathem ...

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 Gottfried Leibniz's theory of pre-established harmony (french: harmonie préétablie) is a philosophical theory about causation under which every " substance" affects only itself, but all the substances (both bodies and minds) in the world never ...

, which Jacquelot criticised on grounds of

free will Free will is the capacity of agents to choose between different possible courses of action unimpeded. Free will is closely linked to the concepts of moral responsibility, praise, culpability, sin, and other judgements which apply only to actio ...

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 an argument for the existence of God or, more generally, that complex functionality in the natural world wh ...

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 title of God. A distinction is usually made between "general providence", which ...

and

revealed religion In religion and theology, revelation is the revealing or disclosing of some form of truth or knowledge through communication with a deity or other supernatural entity or entities. Background Inspiration – such as that bestowed by God on the ...

: 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 (born Bento de Espinosa; later as an author and a correspondent ''Benedictus de Spinoza'', anglicized to ''Benedict de Spinoza''; 24 November 1632 – 21 February 1677) was a Dutch philosopher of Portuguese-Jewish origin, b ...

, 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. Early life and studies Clarke was born in Norwich, ...

, 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 New Persian ; ) is a former major religionR. van den Broek, Wouter J. Hanegraaff ''Gnosis and Hermeticism from Antiquity to Modern Times''SUNY Press, 1998 p. 37 founded in the 3rd century AD by the Parthian Empire, Parthian ...

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 had 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 ...

(Arminian) views. Philippe Naudé 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 26 January 1946) is a British writer and academic specialising in Dutch history, the Age of Enlightenment and European Jews. Israel was appointed as Andrew W. Mellon Professor in the School of Historical Studies at ...

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 (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian Hebrew, Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), ...

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 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 ar l'abbé Pérauet 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