Jean de Labadie (13 February 1610 – 13 February 1674) was a 17th-century French

Pietist Pietism (), also known as Pietistic Lutheranism, is a movement within Lutheranism that combines its emphasis on biblical doctrine with an emphasis on individual piety and living a holy Christianity, Christian life, including a social concern for ...

. Originally a

Jesuit , image = Ihs-logo.svg , image_size = 175px , caption = ChristogramOfficial seal of the Jesuits , abbreviation = SJ , nickname = Jesuits , formation = , founders ...

priest, he became a member of the

Reformed Church Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

in 1650, before founding the community which became known as the

Labadists The Labadists were a 17th-century Protestant religious community movement founded by Jean de Labadie (1610–1674), a French pietist. The movement derived its name from that of its founder. Jean de Labadie's life Jean de Labadie (1610–1674) ...

in 1669. At its height the movement numbered around 600 with thousands of adherents further afield. It attracted some notable female converts such as the famed poet and scholar,

Anna Maria van Schurman Anna Maria van Schurman (November 5, 1607 – May 4, 1678) was a Dutch painter, engraver, poet, and scholar, who is best known for her exceptional learning and her defence of female education. She was a highly educated woman, who excelled in ...

, and the entomological artist Maria Merian. Labadie combined the influences of

Jansenism Jansenism was an early modern theological movement within Catholicism, primarily active in the Kingdom of France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. It was declared a heresy by th ...

, Precicianism,Can These Bones Live?
F. Ernest Stoeffler, Christian History, Volume V, No 2 1986, page 5 and Reformed Pietism, developing a form of radical Christianity with an emphasis upon holiness and Christian

communal living An intentional community is a voluntary residential community which is designed to have a high degree of social cohesion and teamwork from the start. The members of an intentional community typically hold a common social, political, religious, ...

. Labadie's teachings gained hold in the Netherlands.

Life

The son of an officer, he entered the Jesuit Order in 1625, was ordained in 1635,Schaff-Herzog but left in 1639 due to poor health and tensions with the other brothers. He then worked as a diocesan priest in Bordeaux, Paris and Amiens. He turned to

and intensive study of the Bible, and began to be drawn to

Calvinism Calvinism (also called the Reformed Tradition, Reformed Protestantism, Reformed Christianity, or simply Reformed) is a major branch of Protestantism that follows the theological tradition and forms of Christian practice set down by John Cal ...

. He regarded himself as divinely inspired.

Cardinal Mazarin Cardinal Jules Mazarin (, also , , ; 14 July 1602 – 9 March 1661), born Giulio Raimondo Mazzarino () or Mazarini, was an Italian cardinal, diplomat and politician who served as the chief minister to the Kings of France Louis XIII and Louis X ...

had him transferred to southern France in 1646 as a disturber of the peace, where he changed his allegiance to the

in 1650 at

Montauban Montauban (, ; oc, Montalban ) is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department, region of Occitania, Southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse. Montauban is the most populated town in Tarn-et-Garonne, an ...

. He served as a pastor and professor of theology at Montauban from 1652 to 1657. In 1659 he was pastor in Geneva, where he gathered around him disciples notably; Pierre Yvon Pierre Dulignon, François Menuret, and Friedrich Theodor Untereyck Spanheim. In 1666 he was appointed preacher at Middelburg in the Netherlands, but in 1669 was dismissed for his theological views. He then founded a house church in Amsterdam which served as a model for later foundations, but which was persecuted. He moved on, in 1670, with his pupil

and his congregation into a house in

Herford Herford (; nds, Hiarwede) is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford (district), Herford. Geography ...

, Germany, provided as a refuge for persecuted spiritualists by Elisabeth of the Palatinate, the Calvinist abbess of the Lutheran convent in that city. Here, too, he was pressed and harassed, and in 1672 he left and walked to Altona,

Duchy of Holstein The Duchy of Holstein (german: Herzogtum Holstein, da, Hertugdømmet Holsten) was the northernmost state of the Holy Roman Empire, located in the present German state of Schleswig-Holstein. It originated when King Christian I of Denmark had his ...

. Labadie died in 1674 in that German city which belonged then to the Danish crown. The movement continued both in Europe and America, but had dissipated by 1732.

Works

Labadie's most influential writing was ''The Reform of the Church Through the Pastorate'' (1667). * ''Introduction à la piété dans les Mystères, Paroles et ceremonies de la Messe'', Amiens, 1642. * ''Odes sacrées sur le Très-adorable et auguste Mystère du S. Sacrement de l'Autel'', Amiens, 1642. *''Traité de la Solitude chrestienne, ou la vie retirée du siècle'', Paris, 1645. * ''Déclaration de Jean de Labadie, cy-devant prestre, predicateur et chanoine d'Amiens, contenant les raisons qui l'ont obligé à quitter la communion de l'Eglise Romaine pour se ranger à celle de l'Eglise Réformée'', Montauban, 1650. * '' Lettre de Jean de Labadie à ses amis de la Communion Romaine touchant sa Declaration'', Montauban, 1651. * ''Les Elevations d'esprit à Dieu, ou Contemplations fort instruisantes sur les plus grands Mysteres de la Foy'', Montauban, 1651. * ''Les Entretiens d'esprit durant le jour; ou Reflexions importantes sur la vie humaine, ...sur le Christianisme, ...sur le besoin de la Reformation de ses Moeurs'', Montauban, 1651. * ''Le Bon Usage de l'Eucharistie'', Montauban, 1656. * ''Practique des Oraisons, mentale et vocale...'', Montauban, 1656. * ''Recueil de quelques Maximes importantes de Doctrine, de Conduite et de Pieté Chrestienne'', Montauban, 1657 (Geneva, 1659). * ''Les Saintes Décades de Quatrains de Pieté Chretienne touchant à la connoissance de Dieu, son honneur, son amour et l'union de l'âme avec lui'', Orange, 1658 (Geneva, 1659, Amsterdam, 1671). * ''La pratique de l'oraison et meditation Chretienne'', Geneva, 1660. * ''Le Iûne religieus ou le moyen de le bien faire'', Geneva, 1665. * ''Jugement charitable et juste sur l'état present des Juifs'', Amsterdam 1667. * ''Le Triomphe de l'Eucharistie, ou la vraye doctrine du St. Sacrement, avec les moyens d'y bien participer'', Amsterdam, 1667. * ''Le Héraut du Grand Roy Jesus, ou Eclaircissement de la doctrine de Jean de Labadie, pasteur, sur le Règne glorieux de Jésus-Christ et de ses saints en la terre aux derniers temps'', Amsterdam, 1667. * ''L'Idée d'un bon pasteur et d'une bonne Eglise'', Amsterdam, 1667. * ''Les Divins Herauts de la Penitence au Monde...'', Amsterdam, 1667. * ''La Reformation de l'Eglise par le Pastorat'', Middelburg, 1667. * ''Le Veritable Exorcisme'', Amsterdam, 1667. * ''Le Discernement d'une Veritable Eglise suivant l'Ecriture Sainte'', Amsterdam, 1668. * ''La Puissance eclesiastique bornée à l'Ecriture et par Elle...'', Amsterdam, 1668. *'' Manuel de Pieté'', Middelburg 1668. * ''Declaration Chrestienne et sincère de plusieurs Membres de l'Eglise de Dieu et de Jésus-Christ touchant les Justes Raisons et les Motifs qui les obligent à n'avoir point de Communion avec le synode dit Vualon'', La Haye, 1669. * ''Points fondamentaux de la vie vraimant Chretiene'', Amsterdam 1670. * ''Abrégé du Veritable Christianisme et Téoretique et pratique...'', Amsterdam, 1670. * ''Le Chant Royal du Grand Roy Jésus, ou les Hymnes et Cantiques de l'Aigneau...'', Amsterdam, 1670. * '' Receüil de diverses Chansons Spiritüeles'', Amsterdam, 1670. * ''L'Empire du S. Esprit sur les Ames...'', Amsterdam, 1671. * ''Eclaircissement ou Declaration de la Foy et de la pureté des sentimens en la doctrine des Srs. Jean de Labadie, Pierre Yvon, Pierre Dulignon...'', Amsterdam, 1671. * ''Veritas sui vindex, seu solemnis fidei declaratio...'', Herfordiae, 1672. * ''Jesus revelé de nouveau...'', Altona, 1673. * ''Fragmens de quelques poesies et sentimens d'esprit...'', Amsterdam, 1678. * ''Poésies sacrées de l'amour divin'', Amsterdam, 1680. * ''Recueil de Cantiques spirituels'', Amsterdam, 1680. * ''Le Chretien regeneré ou nul'', Amsterdam, 1685.

References

Translation

* Trevor John Saxby, ''The quest for the new Jerusalem, Jean de Labadie and the Labadists, 1610-1744'', Dordrecht-Boston-Lancaster, 1987. * Michel de Certeau, ''La Fable mystique: XVIe-XVIIe siècle'', Paris, 1987. * Pierre Antoine Fabre, Nicolas Fornerod, Sophie Houdard et Maria Cristina Pitassi (sous la dir. de ), ''Lire Jean de Labadie (1610-1674). Fondation et affranchissement'', Paris, Classiques Garnier, 2016, . * Fabrizio Frigerio, ''L'historiographie de Jean de Labadie, Etat de la question'', Genève, 1976. * Fabrizio Frigerio, "La poesia di Jean de Labadie e la mistica quietista", ''Conoscenza religiosa'', 1978, No. 1, p. 60-66. * M. Goebel, ''Geschichte des christlichen Lebens in der rheinischwestphälischen evangelischen Kirche, II. Das siebzehnte Jahrhundert oder die herrschende Kirche und die Sekten'', Coblenz, 1852. * W. Goeters, ''Die Vorbereitung des Pietismus in der reformierten Kirche der Niederlande bis zur labadistischen Krisis 1670'', Leipzig, 1911. * Cornelis B. Hylkema, ''Reformateurs. Geschiedkündige studiën over de godsdienstige bewegingen uit de nadagen onzer gouden eeuw'', Haarlem, 1900-1902. * Leszek Kolakowsky, ''Chrétiens sans Eglise, La Conscience religieuse et le lien confessionnel au XVIIe siècle'', Paris, 1969. * Alain Joblin, "Jean de Labadie (1610-1674): un dissident au XVIIe siècle?", ''Mélanges de sciences religieuses'', 2004, vol. 61, n.2, p. 33-44. * Anne Lagny, (éd.), ''Les piétismes à l'âge classique. Crise, conversion, institutions'', Villeneuve- d'Ascq, 2001. * Johannes Lindeboom, ''Stiefkideren van het christendom'', La Haye, 1929. * Georges Poulet, ''Les métamorphoses du cercle'', Paris, 1961. * Jean Rousset, "Un brelan d'oubliés", ''L'esprit créateur'', 1961, t. 1, p. 61-100. * M. Smits van Waasberghe, "Het ontslag van Jean de Labadie uit de Societeit van Jezus", ''Ons geesteljk erf'', 1952, p. 23-49. * Otto E. Strasser-Bertrand - Otto J. De Jong, ''Geschichte des Protestantismus in Frankreich und den Niederlanden'', Göttingen, 1975. * Daniel Vidal, ''Jean de Labadie (1610-1674) Passion mystique et esprit de Réforme'', Grenoble, 2009. * H. Van Berkum, ''De Labadie en de Labadisten, eene bladzijde uit de geschiedenis der Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk'', Snek, 1851. *John of Labadie is mentioned in John Greenleaf Whittier's poem "Andrew Rykman's Prayer" q.v. {{DEFAULTSORT:Labadie, Jean De Radical Pietism 1610 births 1674 deaths Former Jesuits Converts to Calvinism from Roman Catholicism French Jesuits

Life

Works

See also

References

Further reading