Jean Séguy (5 mar 1925 – 9 november 2007) was a French sociologist of religions. He was born in a Catholic family from south-western France. In 1970, he became a doctor of Letters, specialized in English literature. Under the influence of

Henri Desroche Henri Desroche (; 12 April 19141 June 1994) was a French sociologist. His writings center on the sociology of religion and cooperative systems and movements. He was a priest in the Dominican Order. Life Henri Desroche was born 12 April 1914 in ...

he moved from literature to the

Sociology of religion Sociology of religion is the study of the beliefs, practices and organizational forms of religion using the tools and methods of the discipline of sociology. This objective investigation may include the use both of quantitative methods (surveys, ...

and spent the rest of his career as research director of the

CNRS The French National Centre for Scientific Research (french: link=no, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, CNRS) is the French state research organisation and is the largest fundamental science agency in Europe. In 2016, it employed 31,637 ...

. In 1973, his book ''Les Conflits du dialogue'', on the ecumenical activities of the smaller Christian denominations, consecrated him as a skilled sociologist of religious minorities. Influenced by the work of

Max Weber Maximilian Karl Emil Weber (; ; 21 April 186414 June 1920) was a German sociologist, historian, jurist and political economist, who is regarded as among the most important theorists of the development of modern Western society. His ideas profo ...

and

Ernst Troeltsch Ernst Peter Wilhelm Troeltsch (; ; 17 February 1865 – 1 February 1923) was a German liberal Christianity, liberal Protestant theologian, a writer on the philosophy of religion and the philosophy of history, and a classical liberal politician ...

, he was particularly interested in

cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...

s, religious conflicts and

Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...

(especially

Protestantism Protestantism is a branch of Christianity that follows the theological tenets of the Protestant Reformation, a movement that began seeking to reform the Catholic Church from within in the 16th century against what its followers perceived to b ...

and its

nonconformist Nonconformity or nonconformism may refer to: Culture and society * Insubordination, the act of willfully disobeying an order of one's superior *Dissent, a sentiment or philosophy of non-agreement or opposition to a prevailing idea or entity ** ...

sects,

Seventh-day Adventism The Seventh-day Adventist Church is an Adventism, Adventist Protestantism, Protestant Christian denomination which is distinguished by its observance of Saturday, the Names of the days of the week#Numbered days of the week, seventh day of the ...

). In 1977, he was the author of a notable thesis on the

Anabaptist Anabaptism (from New Latin language, Neo-Latin , from the Greek language, Greek : 're-' and 'baptism', german: Täufer, earlier also )Since the middle of the 20th century, the German-speaking world no longer uses the term (translation: "Re- ...

s and

Mennonite Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radic ...

s. He was also member of the

École des hautes études en sciences sociales The School for Advanced Studies in the Social Sciences (french: École des hautes études en sciences sociales; EHESS) is a graduate ''grande école'' and '' grand établissement'' in Paris focused on academic research in the social sciences. The ...

. He served as editor-in-chief of the journal ''Archives de sciences sociales des religions'' between 1980 and 1988.Hervieu-Léger (2008), 156. He died in

Liancourt Liancourt () is a commune in the Oise department in northern France. Population See also * Communes of the Oise department The following is a list of the 679 communes of the Oise department of France. The communes cooperate in the followin ...

Oise Oise ( ; ; pcd, Oése) is a department in the north of France. It is named after the river Oise. Inhabitants of the department are called ''Oisiens'' () or ''Isariens'', after the Latin name for the river, Isara. It had a population of 829,419 ...

, aged 82.

Bibliography

; By Jean Séguy * ''Les Sectes protestantes dans la France contemporaine'', Paris, Beauchesne, 1956. * ''Ernst Troeltsch et sa sociologie du christianisme'', Paris, Cercle Ernest Renan, 1961. * ''Les Conflits du dialogue'', Paris, Le Cerf ed., 1973. * ''Les Assemblées anabaptistes-mennonites de France'', Paris ; La Haye, Mouton, 1977. * ''Christianisme et société. Introduction à la sociologie de Ernst Troeltsch'', Paris, Le Cerf ed., 1980. * ''Conflit et utopie, ou Réformer l'Église. Parcours wébérien en douze essais'', Paris, Le Cerf ed., 1999.

References

1925 births 2007 deaths French sociologists Sociologists of religion French male writers 20th-century French male writers Research directors of the French National Centre for Scientific Research {{reli-sociologist-stub