Dom Augustin Calmet : homme des Lumières malgré lui ?

Although the Benedictine Augustin Calmet was a respected exegete and ecclesiastical historian, whose Biblical Commentaire littéral was read by Philo¬ sophes, he has been included in the 'counter-Enlightenment5. This article explores the modern side of his Biblical exegesis, throwing new light on the breadth of 18th-century orthodoxy. Calmet reduced miracles to natural phenomena where possible and criticised the sexual peccadilloes, cruelty and injustice of patriarchs, prophets and kings and their inducement to sin in order to realise divine objectives. Calmet shared many of the enlightened values of such Biblical critics as Voltaire and Mme du Châtelet, but differed from them in his commitment to Counter-Reformation orthodoxy. He was willing to subdue scientific integrity in order to harmonise the Bible with orthodoxy and use it to support Catholic apologetics, while for the Philosophes, loyalty to the Catholic tradition was either irrelevant or a secondary value to be reconciled with science and ethics if possible. Calmet was half enlightened and half orthodox, and the two tendencies sometimes cohabi¬ ted uneasily.Schwarzbach Bertram Eugene. Dom Augustin Calmet : homme des Lumières malgré lui ?. In: Dix-huitième Siècle, n°34, 2002. Christianisme et Lumières, sous la direction de Sylviane Albertan-Coppola et Antony McKenna. pp. 451-463