Fulcran Grégoire Vigouroux (13 February 1837 – 21 February 1915), was a French

Catholic priest The priesthood is the office of the ministers of religion, who have been commissioned ("ordained") with the holy orders of the Catholic Church. Technically, bishops are a priestly order as well; however, in common English usage ''priest'' refe ...

and scholar, biblical

theologian Theology is the study of religious belief from a religious perspective, with a focus on the nature of divinity. It is taught as an academic discipline, typically in universities and seminaries. It occupies itself with the unique content of ...

apologist Apologetics (from Greek ) is the religious discipline of defending religious doctrines through systematic argumentation and discourse. Early Christian writers (c. 120–220) who defended their beliefs against critics and recommended their fa ...

, and the first secretary of the Pontificial Commission (1903–1912). Vigouroux defended the

historicity Historicity is the historical actuality of persons and events, meaning the quality of being part of history instead of being a historical myth, legend, or fiction. The historicity of a claim about the past is its factual status. Historicity deno ...

of the Bible.

Life and work

Vigouroux was born at

Nantes Nantes (, ; ; or ; ) is a city in the Loire-Atlantique department of France on the Loire, from the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast. The city is the List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, sixth largest in France, with a pop ...

. He finished his education in October 1853. He was

ordained Ordination is the process by which individuals are Consecration in Christianity, consecrated, that is, set apart and elevated from the laity class to the clergy, who are thus then authorized (usually by the religious denomination, denominationa ...

on December 21, 1861. After ordination he became a member of the

Society of Saint-Sulpice The Society of Priests of Saint-Sulpice (; PSS), also known as the Sulpicians, is a society of apostolic life of Pontifical Right for men, named after the Church of Saint-Sulpice, Paris, where it was founded. The members of the Society add the ...

. Between 1862 and 1864 Vigouroux taught as a professor of philosophy, first at the

seminary A seminary, school of theology, theological college, or divinity school is an educational institution for educating students (sometimes called seminarians) in scripture and theology, generally to prepare them for ordination to serve as cle ...

Autun Autun () is a Subprefectures in France, subprefecture of the Saône-et-Loire Departments of France, department in the Bourgogne-Franche-Comté Regions of France, region of central-eastern France. It was founded during the Principate era of the e ...

and then, from October, 1864 to 1868, at the seminary of

Issy Issy-les-Moulineaux () is a commune in the southwestern suburban area of Paris, France, lying on the left bank of the river Seine. Its citizens are called in French. It is one of Paris's entrances and is located from Notre Dame Cathedral, whic ...

. In 1890 he replaced

Abbot Abbot is an ecclesiastical title given to the head of an independent monastery for men in various Western Christian traditions. The name is derived from ''abba'', the Aramaic form of the Hebrew ''ab'', and means "father". The female equivale ...

Paul Martin at the

Institut Catholique de Paris The Institut catholique de Paris (, abbr. ICP), known in English as the Catholic University of Paris (and in Latin as ''Universitas catholica Parisiensis''), is a private university located in Paris, France. History: 1875–present The Institut ...

as an instructor on the

Bible The Bible is a collection of religious texts that are central to Christianity and Judaism, and esteemed in other Abrahamic religions such as Islam. The Bible is an anthology (a compilation of texts of a variety of forms) originally writt ...

, particularly the

Old Testament The Old Testament (OT) is the first division of the Christian biblical canon, which is based primarily upon the 24 books of the Hebrew Bible, or Tanakh, a collection of ancient religious Hebrew and occasionally Aramaic writings by the Isr ...

. Vigouroux engaged in defending the historicity of the Bible. Chiefly concerned with apologetical questions, Vigouroux tended to be conservative in

exegesis Exegesis ( ; from the Ancient Greek, Greek , from , "to lead out") is a critical explanation or interpretation (philosophy), interpretation of a text. The term is traditionally applied to the interpretation of Bible, Biblical works. In modern us ...

.Avery Cardinal Dulles, ''A History of Apologetics'', Ignatius Press: San Francisco 2005, p. 260. In 1903 Vigouroux was called to Rome to become the first secretary of the newly formed

Pontifical Biblical Commission The Pontifical Biblical Commission () is a pontifical commission established within the Roman Curia to ensure the proper interpretation and defense of the Bible. Since 1988, it has been closely attached to the Congregation for the Doctrine of the ...

. Vigouroux engaged in foundational work of

Pontificio Istituto Biblico Pontificio may refer to: *The Annuario Pontificio The ''Annuario Pontificio'' ( Italian for ''Pontifical Yearbook'') is the annual directory of the Holy See of the Catholic Church. It lists the popes in chronological order and all officials o ...

. He died in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He is the author of a ''Manuel Biblique'' (1880). His work ''La Bible et les découvertes modernes en Égypte et en Assyrie'' passed through six editions between 1877 and 1896. According to this work, modern archaeological discoveries in Egypt and Assyria supported the reliability of the Bible. Vigouroux also edited the apologetically oriented ''Dictionnaire de la Bible'' (Dictionary of the Bible), in five volumes (1891–1912). His works have apologetical character. Vigouroux was one of the polemicists of

Ernest Renan Joseph Ernest Renan (; ; 27 February 18232 October 1892) was a French Orientalist and Semitic scholar, writing on Semitic languages and civilizations, historian of religion, philologist, philosopher, biblical scholar, and critic. He wrote wo ...

. Vigouroux was considered one of the major Catholic apologists in his time. According to his opponents and polemicists he "was as dull in his style as in his misdeeds".Marvin Richard O'Connell, ''Critics on Trial: An introduction to the Catholic Modernist Crisis'' (Catholic University of America Press, 1994), p. 64

Works

* ''De l'exégèse rationaliste en Allemagne''. In: ''Études religieuses'' XXV (1870/71), 188–221.691–734
''La Bible et la critique, réponse aux ″Souvenirs d'enfance et de jeunesse″ de M. Renan''
Paris : Berche et Tralin, 1883 * ''La Bible et les découvertes modernes en Égypte et en Assyrie'', Paris : Berche et Tralin, 1877 * ''Manuel biblique, ou Cours d'Écriture sainte à l'usage des séminaires. Ancien Testament'', Paris : A. Roger et F. Chernoviz, 1878 * ''La Bible et les découvertes modernes en Palestine, en Égypte, et en Assyrie'', Paris : Berche et Tralin, 1879 (Plusieurs éditions augmentées par la suite) * ''Dictionnaire de la Bible, contenant tous les noms de personnes, de lieux, de plantes, d'animaux mentionnés dans les Saintes Écritures, les questions théologiques, archéologiques, scientifiques, critiques, relatives à l'Ancien et au Nouveau Testament'', Paris : Letouzey et Ané
1895
��1912 (avec de nombreux collaborateurs
Sur Gallica 2
* ''Les Livres saints et la critique rationaliste, histoire et réfutation des objections des incrédules contre les saintes Écritures'', Paris : A. Roger et F. Chernoviz, 1890–1891 (Plusieurs éditions ensuite) * ''La Bible et les découvertes modernes''. 6th ed. 4 vols- Paris, 1896. *

', 1900–1909, 8 volumes.

References

External links

Page de la Catho de Toulouse sur F. Vigouroux
* * Vigouroux
''Dictionnaire de la Bible, contenant tous les noms de personnes, de lieux, de plantes, ... Livre en mode image seul''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Vigouroux, Fulcran 1837 births 1915 deaths Clergy from Nantes 19th-century French Roman Catholic priests Christian apologists 20th-century French Roman Catholic priests Writers from Nantes

Life and work

Works

See also

References

Further reading

External links