Richard Simon
Encyclopedia
Early years
He was born at Dieppe. His early education took place at the Oratorian college there, and a bursary enabled him to study theologyTheology
Theology is the systematic and rational study of religion and its influences and of the nature of religious truths, or the learned profession acquired by completing specialized training in religious studies, usually at a university or school of divinity or seminary.-Definition:Augustine of Hippo...
at Paris, where he showed an interest in Hebrew
Hebrew language
Hebrew is a Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Culturally, is it considered by Jews and other religious groups as the language of the Jewish people, though other Jewish languages had originated among diaspora Jews, and the Hebrew language is also used by non-Jewish groups, such...
and other Oriental languages. He entered the Oratorians as novice in 1662. At the end of his course he was sent to teach philosophy
Philosophy
Philosophy is the study of general and fundamental problems, such as those connected with existence, knowledge, values, reason, mind, and language. Philosophy is distinguished from other ways of addressing such problems by its critical, generally systematic approach and its reliance on rational...
at the College of Juilly
College of Juilly
The College of Juilly The College of Juilly The College of Juilly (French: Collège de Juilly is a Catholic private teaching establishment located on the commune of Juilly, in Seine-et-Marne (France)...
. But he was soon recalled to Paris, and employed in the preparing a catalogue of the Oriental books in the library of the Oratory.
Conflicts as Oratorian
Simon entered the priesthood in 1670. He taught at Juilly up to 1673, when he was instructing Henri de BoulainvilliersHenri de Boulainvilliers
Henri de Boulainvilliers was a French writer and historian. Educated at the college of Juilly, he served in the army until 1697...
there in rhetoric.
He was influenced by the ideas of Isaac La Peyrère
Isaac La Peyrère
Isaac La Peyrère, or Pererius, was a French Millenarian theologian and formulator of Pre-Adamite hypothesis.- Life :Born into a Huguenot family in Bordeaux, and possibly of Jewish descent, La Peyrère was a lawyer by training and a Calvinist by upbringing, though he later converted to...
who came to live with the Oratorians (though taking little of the specifics), and by Benedict Spinoza. Simon's approach earned him the later recognition as "father of the higher criticism", though this title is also given to German writers of the following century, as well as to Spinoza himself.
Simon aroused ill will when he strayed into a legal battle. François Verjus was an Oratorian friend who was acting against the Benedictine
Benedictine
Benedictine refers to the spirituality and consecrated life in accordance with the Rule of St Benedict, written by Benedict of Nursia in the sixth century for the cenobitic communities he founded in central Italy. The most notable of these is Monte Cassino, the first monastery founded by Benedict...
s of Fécamp Abbey
Fécamp Abbey
Fécamp Abbey is a Benedictine abbey in Normandy, northern France.The abbey was the first producer of Bénédictine, a herbal liqueur, based on brandy.-First foundation:...
on behalf of their abbé
Abbé
Abbé is the French word for abbot. It is the title for lower-ranking Catholic clergymen in France....
, the Prince de Neubourg. Simon composed a strongly worded memorandum, and the monks complained to Abel-Louis de Sainte-Marthe, general of the Oratory from 1672. The charge of Jesuitism
Jesuitism
Jesuitism is a label given to particular casuistic approach to moral questions and problems often described by the adjective jesuitical, so called because it was promoted by some Jesuits of the 17th century rather than being the beliefs of the Society of Jesus as a religious order...
was also brought against Simon, on the grounds that his friend's brother Antoine Verjus was a prominent member of the order.
Suppression of the Histoire critique
At the time of the printing of Simon's Histoire critique du Vieux Testament, the work passed the censorship of the SorbonneUniversity of Paris
The University of Paris was a university located in Paris, France and one of the earliest to be established in Europe. It was founded in the mid 12th century, and officially recognized as a university probably between 1160 and 1250...
, and the chancellor of the Oratory gave his imprimatur
Imprimatur
An imprimatur is, in the proper sense, a declaration authorizing publication of a book. The term is also applied loosely to any mark of approval or endorsement.-Catholic Church:...
. Simon hoped, through the influence of Père la Chaise, the king's confessor, and the duc de Montausier
Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier
Charles de Sainte-Maure, duc de Montausier was a French soldier and the governor of the dauphin, Louis le Grand Dauphin, the eldest son and heir of Louis XIV, King of France....
, to be allowed to dedicate the work to Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
; but the king was absent in Flanders
Flanders
Flanders is the community of the Flemings but also one of the institutions in Belgium, and a geographical region located in parts of present-day Belgium, France and the Netherlands. "Flanders" can also refer to the northern part of Belgium that contains Brussels, Bruges, Ghent and Antwerp...
.
The freedom with which Simon expressed himself, especially where he declared that Moses
Moses
Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...
could not be the author of much in the writings attributed to him, gained attention. The influence of Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet
Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
, at that time tutor to the dauphin, was invoked; the chancellor, Michael le Tellier, lent his assistance; a decree of the council of state was obtained, and after a series of intrigues the whole impression, consisting of 1300 copies, was seized by the police and destroyed.
Later life
The Oratory then expelled Simon (1678). He retired in 1679 to the curacy of BollevilleBolleville
Bolleville is the name of two communes in Normandy, France:*Bolleville, Manche, in the Manche département*Bolleville, Seine-Maritime, in the Seine-Maritime département...
. He later returned to Dieppe, where much of his library was lost in the naval bombardment of 1694. He died there on 11 April 1712, at the age of seventy-four.
Works
Most of what Simon wrote in biblical criticism was not really new, given the work of previous critics such as Louis CappelLouis Cappel
Louis Cappel was a French Protestant churchman and scholar.-Life:Cappel, a Huguenot, was born at St Elier, near Sedan. He studied theology at the Academy of Sedan and the Academy of Saumur, and Arabic at the University of Oxford, where he spent two years...
, Johannes Morinus, and others. In denying that Moses wrote the entire Pentateuch he followed Abraham ben Ezra. The Jesuit tradition of biblical criticism starting with Alfonso Salmeron
Alfonso Salmeron
Alfonso Salmeron was a biblical scholar and one of the first Jesuits.-Biography:...
had paved the way for his approach.
Old Testament
The Histoire critique du Vieux Testament consists of three books. The first deals with the text of the Hebrew Bible and the changes which it has undergone, the authorship of the Mosaic writings and of other books of the Bible, with an exposition of Simon's theory of the existence during early Jewish history of recorders or annalists of the events of each period, whose writings were preserved in the public archives. The second book gives an account of the main translations, ancient and modern, of the Old TestamentOld Testament
The Old Testament, of which Christians hold different views, is a Christian term for the religious writings of ancient Israel held sacred and inspired by Christians which overlaps with the 24-book canon of the Masoretic Text of Judaism...
, and the third discusses biblical commentators. The book had a complicated early development. It appeared, with Simon's name on the title page, in the year 1685, from the press of Reinier Leers in Rotterdam
Rotterdam
Rotterdam is the second-largest city in the Netherlands and one of the largest ports in the world. Starting as a dam on the Rotte river, Rotterdam has grown into a major international commercial centre...
. This Dutch edition, in fact the second, superseded the suppressed French first edition, but differed from it in a number of ways. Simon had hoped to overcome the opposition of Bossuet by making changes; these negotiations with Bossuet lasted a considerable time, but finally broke down.
The original French printer of the book, in order to promote sales, had the titles of the chapters printed separately and circulated. These had come into the hands of the Port Royalists, who had undertaken a translation into French of the Prolegomena to Brian Walton's Polyglott
Polyglot (book)
A polyglot is a book that contains side-by-side versions of the same text in several different languages. Some editions of the Bible or its parts are polyglots, in which the Hebrew and Greek originals are exhibited along with historical translations...
. To counteract this, Simon announced his intention of publishing an annotated edition of the Prolegomena, and added to the Histoire critique a translation of the last four chapters of that work, not part of his original plan. Simon's announcement prevented the appearance of the projected translation.
A faulty edition of the Histoire critique had previously been published at Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
by Daniel Elzevir, based on a manuscript transcription of one of the copies of the original work had been sent to England; and from which a Latin translation (Historia critica Veteris Testamenti, 1681, by Noël Aubert de Versé
Noel Aubert de Versé
Noel Aubert de Versé was a French advocate of religious toleration, whose own religious position oscillated between Unitarian Protestantism and an Oratorian-influenced Catholicism.-Life:...
) and an English translation (Critical History of the Old Testament, London, 1682) were made. The edition of Leers was a reproduction of the work as first printed, with a new preface, notes, and those other writings which had appeared for and against the work up to that date; it included Simon's answers to criticisms of Charles de Veil and Friedrich Spanheim the Younger
Friedrich Spanheim the Younger
Friedrich Spanheim the Younger was a German Calvinist theologian of conservative views, son of Friedrich Spanheim.-Life:He was born in Geneva, and studied at the University of Leiden, graduating M.A. in 1648. He joined the faculty of the University of Heidelberg in 1655.In 1670 he moved to Leiden,...
.
New Testament
In 1689 appeared Simon's companion Histoire critique du texte du Nouveau Testament, consisting of thirty-three chapters. In it he discusses: the origin and character of the various books, with a consideration of the objections brought against them by the Jews and others; the quotations from the Old Testament in the New; the inspiration of the New Testament (with a refutation of the opinions of Spinoza); the Greek dialect in which they are written (against C. Salmasius); and the Greek manuscripts known at the time, especially Codex BezaeCodex Bezae
The Codex Bezae Cantabrigensis, designated by siglum Dea or 05 , δ 5 , is a codex of the New Testament dating from the 5th century written in an uncial hand on vellum. It contains, in both Greek and Latin, most of the four Gospels and Acts, with a small fragment of the 3 John...
(Cantabrigiensis).
There followed in 1690 his Histoire critique des versions du Nouveau Testament, where he gives an account of the various translations, both ancient and modern, and discusses the way in which difficult passages of the New Testament
New Testament
The New Testament is the second major division of the Christian biblical canon, the first such division being the much longer Old Testament....
have been rendered in the various versions. In 1693 was published the Histoire critique des principaux commentateurs du Nouveau Testament depuis le commencement du Christianisme jusques a notre temps. Nouvelles Observations sur le texte et les versions du Nouveau Testament (Paris, 1695) contains supplementary observations on the subjects of the text and translations of the New Testament.
In 1702 Simon published at Trévoux
Trévoux
Trévoux is a commune in the Ain department in eastern France.It is a suburb of Lyon.-History:The town was the capital of the Dombes principality, and famed for its dictionary...
his own translation into French of the New Testament (the version de Trévoux). It was substantially based on the Latin Vulgate, but was annotated in such a way as to cast doubt on traditional readings that were backed by Church authority. Again Bossuet did what he could to suppress the work. Despite changes over two decades in how Bossuet was able to exert influence through his circle of contacts, he again mobilised against Simon beyond the boundaries of his diocese.
Other works
As a controversialist, Simon tended to use pseudonyms, and to display bitterness.He was early at odds with the Port-Royalists. Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
had compiled with others a work Perpétuité de la foi (on the Perpetuity of the Faith of the Catholic Church), the first volume of which dealt with the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
. After François Diroys who knew both of them had involved Simon in commenting on the work, Simon's criticisms from 1669 aroused indignation in Arnauld's camp.
His first major publication followed, his Fides Ecclesiae orientalis, seu Gabrielis Metropolitae Philadelphiensis opuscula, cum interpretatione Latina, cum notis (Paris, 1671), on a work of Gabriel Severus (1541–1616), the object of which was to demonstrate that the belief of the Greek Church regarding the Eucharist
Eucharist
The Eucharist , also called Holy Communion, the Sacrament of the Altar, the Blessed Sacrament, the Lord's Supper, and other names, is a Christian sacrament or ordinance...
was the same as that of the Church of Rome. In 1670 he had written a pamphlet in defence of the Jews of Metz
Metz
Metz is a city in the northeast of France located at the confluence of the Moselle and the Seille rivers.Metz is the capital of the Lorraine region and prefecture of the Moselle department. Located near the tripoint along the junction of France, Germany, and Luxembourg, Metz forms a central place...
, who had been accused of having murdered a Christian child.
Simon published in 1675 a translation of the travels of Girolamo Dandini in Lebanon
Lebanon
Lebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
, as Voyage au Mont Liban (1675). Dandini was a perceptive observer, and Simon in his preface argued for the utility of travel to theologians.
In 1676 contacts with Huguenots at Charenton
Charenton
-France:* Charenton-le-Pont, in the Val-de-Marne département, a commune which has a common border with Paris* Saint-Maurice, Val-de-Marne, a neighboring commune that was called Charenton-Saint-Maurice until 1842** Charenton...
led Simon to circulate a manuscript project for a new version of the Bible. This was a sample for a proposed improved edition of the Giovanni Diodati
Giovanni Diodati
Giovanni Diodati or Deodati was a Swiss-born Italian theologian and translator. He was the first person to translate the Bible into Italian from Hebrew and Greek sources...
translation; but after Simon had translated the Pentateuch the funding ran out.
Reception
The Histoire critique du Vieux Testament encountered strong opposition, from Catholics who disliked Simon's diminishing of the authority of the Church FathersChurch Fathers
The Church Fathers, Early Church Fathers, Christian Fathers, or Fathers of the Church were early and influential theologians, eminent Christian teachers and great bishops. Their scholarly works were used as a precedent for centuries to come...
. Protestants widely felt that an infallible Bible was threatened by doubts which Simon raised against the integrity of the Hebrew text; and indeed Simon as basic tenets argued against sola scriptura
Sola scriptura
Sola scriptura is the doctrine that the Bible contains all knowledge necessary for salvation and holiness. Consequently, sola scriptura demands that only those doctrines are to be admitted or confessed that are found directly within or indirectly by using valid logical deduction or valid...
and in favour of the Catholic Church tradition of interpretation. Jean Le Clerc
Jean Leclerc (theologian)
Jean Le Clerc, also Johannes Clericus was a Swiss theologian and biblical scholar. He was famous for promoting exegesis, or critical interpretation of the Bible, and was a radical of his age...
, in his 1685 work Sentimens de quelques théologiens de Hollande, controverted the views of Simon acutely, and claimed that an uninformed reader might take Simon to be any of a Calvinist, Jew or crypto-Spinozan; Bossuet made a point of banning this also, as even more harmful than Simon's book. It was answered in Réponse aux Sentimens de quelques théologiens de Hollande by Simon (1686).
In France, Simon's work became well known and widely circulated, despite Bossuet's hostility and efforts to keep it marginal. Étienne Fourmont
Étienne Fourmont
Étienne Fourmont was a French orientalist.Born at Herblay near Argenteuil, he studied at the Collège Mazarin in Paris and afterwards in the Collège Montaigu where his attention was attracted to Oriental languages....
was in effect a disciple of Simon, if not acknowledging the fact. Another orientalist influenced by Simon was Nicolas Barat
Nicolas Barat
Nicolas Barat was a French Catholic scholar of Hebrew works, who died in 1706.-Life:He was born at Bourges during the first quarter of the seventeenth century; He began his studies at Sens, and continued them in Paris, where he was instructor in the Mazarin College...
.
The identity of the translator of the 1682 English version Critical History of the Old Testament is unclear, being often given as a Henry Dickinson who is an obscure figure, and sometimes as John Hampden; John Dryden
John Dryden
John Dryden was an influential English poet, literary critic, translator, and playwright who dominated the literary life of Restoration England to such a point that the period came to be known in literary circles as the Age of Dryden.Walter Scott called him "Glorious John." He was made Poet...
wrote his Religio Laici in response with a dedication to Dickinson, and Simon's work became well known. Isaac Newton
Isaac Newton
Sir Isaac Newton PRS was an English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, natural philosopher, alchemist, and theologian, who has been "considered by many to be the greatest and most influential scientist who ever lived."...
took an interest in Simon's New Testament criticism in the early 1690s, pointed out to him by John Locke
John Locke
John Locke FRS , widely known as the Father of Liberalism, was an English philosopher and physician regarded as one of the most influential of Enlightenment thinkers. Considered one of the first of the British empiricists, following the tradition of Francis Bacon, he is equally important to social...
, adding from it to an Arian
Arian
Arian may refer to:* Arius, a Christian presbyter in the 3rd and 4th century* a given name in different cultures: Aria, Aryan or Arian...
summary of his views that was intended for publication by Le Clerc, but remained in manuscript. Later Samuel Clarke
Samuel Clarke
thumb|right|200px|Samuel ClarkeSamuel Clarke was an English philosopher and Anglican clergyman.-Early life and studies:...
published his The Divine Authority of the Holy Scriptures Asserted (1699) in reply to Simon. Simon's works were later an influence on Johann Salomo Semler
Johann Salomo Semler
Johann Salomo Semler was a German church historian and biblical commentator.-Youth and education:He was born at Saalfeld in Electoral Saxony, the son of a poor clergyman. He grew up in pietistic surroundings, which powerfully influenced him his life through, though he never became a Pietist...
.
Further reading
For the life of Simon:- life or "éloge" by his grand-nephew De la Martinière in vol. i. of the Lettres choisies (4 vols., Amsterdam, 1730)
- K. H. Graf's article in the first vol. of the Beitr. zu d. theol. Wissensch., etc. (Jena, 1851)
- E. W. E. ReussEdouard Guillaume Eugène ReussEdouard Guillaume Eugène Reuss , was a Protestant theologian from Alsace.-Life:He was born at Strasbourg, where he studied philology . He went on to study theology at Göttingen under Johann Gottfried Eichhorn; and Oriental languages at Halle under Wilhelm Gesenius, and afterwards at Paris under...
's article, revised by E. NestleEberhard NestleEberhard Nestle was a German biblical scholar, textual critic, Orientalist, editor of Novum Testamentum Graece, and the father of Erwin Nestle.- Life :...
, in Herzog-Hauck, Realencyklopädie (ad. 1906) - Richard Simon et son Vieux Testament, by A. Berm's (Lausanne, 1869)
- H. Margival, Essai sur Richard Simon et la critique biblique au XVIIe siècle (1900).
- Jean-Pierre ThiolletJean-Pierre ThiolletJean-Pierre Thiollet is a French writer and journalist. He usually lives in Paris and is the author of numerous books.Since 2007, he has been a member of the World Grand Family of Lebanon ....
, Je m'appelle Byblos (Richard Simon, pp. 244–247), Paris, 2005. ISBN 2 914 266 04 9
External links
Attribution