Paul Gabriel Antoine (10 January 1678 – 22 January 1743) was a French

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

theologian.

Biography

Paul Gabriel Antoine was born at

Lunéville Lunéville ( ; German, obsolete: ''Lünstadt'' ) is a commune in the northeastern French department of Meurthe-et-Moselle. It is a subprefecture of the department and lies on the river Meurthe at its confluence with the Vezouze. History Lun ...

. At the age of fifteen he applied for admission into the

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

, and was received 9 October 1693. On the completion of his studies, he taught

humanities Humanities are academic disciplines that study aspects of human society and culture. In the Renaissance, the term contrasted with divinity and referred to what is now called classics, the main area of secular study in universities at the t ...

for several years, first in Pont-à-Mousson, and then in

Colmar Colmar (, ; Alsatian: ' ; German during 1871–1918 and 1940–1945: ') is a city and commune in the Haut-Rhin department and Grand Est region of north-eastern France. The third-largest commune in Alsace (after Strasbourg and Mulhouse), it is ...

. Returning to the former town, he occupied the chair of philosophy, and later that of theology, the first edition of his ''Dogmatic Theology'' appearing in 1723, and three years later his ''Moral Theology'' in three volumes. Afterwards he was

rector Rector (Latin for the member of a vessel's crew who steers) may refer to: Style or title *Rector (ecclesiastical), a cleric who functions as an administrative leader in some Christian denominations *Rector (academia), a senior official in an edu ...

of the College of Pont-à-Mousson, where he died in his sixty-fifth year.

Works

His ''Theologia universa, speculativa et dogmatica'', embracing the whole field of scholastic inquiry, met with an enthusiastic reception, and at once stamped the author as one of the leading Catholic theologians of the age. It went through nine editions during his lifetime, and ten after his death. Still more flattering was the reception accorded his ''Theologia moralis universa'', first published in Nancy in 1726, in duodecimo. It has since gone through sixty editions in different countries. The Roman edition of 1747, published by Filippo da Carbognano, O.M., contained several additions to the original, among them chapters on Condemned Propositions,

Reserved Cases Reserved cases (in the 1983 Code of Canon Law) or reserved sins (in the 1917 Code of Canon Law) is a term of Catholic doctrine, used for sins whose absolution is not within the power of every confessor, but is reserved to himself by the superior of ...

, decrees of Benedict XIV, etc. Antoine's ''Moral Theology'' was so highly esteemed by Benedict XIV that he prescribed its use by the students of the College of

Propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

, and it was likewise received by many of the bishops throughout France and Italy. In the opinion of Jean-Pierre Gury and St. Alphonsus Liguori, Antoine inclines too much toward the side of severity. Besides his theological works, Antoine published also several ascetical and devotional treatises.

References

;Attribution * cites **

Sommervogel Carlos Sommervogel (8 January 1834 – 4 March 1902) was a French Jesuit scholar. He was author of the monumental ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', which served as one of the major references for the editors of the Catholic Encyclope ...

, ''Bibliothèque de la Compagnie de Jésus'', s. v. {{DEFAULTSORT:Antoine, Paul Gabriel 1678 births 1743 deaths 18th-century French Catholic theologians 18th-century French Jesuits People from Lunéville