- Athanase Laurent Charles Coquerel
Athanase Laurent Charles Coquerel (
7 August 1795 –1868) was a FrenchProtestant theologian , born inParis . He received his early education from his aunt, Helen Maria Williams, an Englishwoman, who at the close of the 18th century gained a reputation by various translations and by her "Letters from France". He completed his theological studies at theProtestant seminary ofMontauban , and in 1816 was ordained minister. In 1817 he was invited to become pastor of the chapel of St Paul atJersey , but he declined, being unwilling to subscribe to the "Thirty-nine Articles " of theChurch of England . During the following twelve years he resided in theNetherlands , and preached before Calvinistic congregations atAmsterdam ,Leiden , and Utrecht. In 1830, at the suggestion of BaronGeorges Cuvier , then minister of Protestant worship, Coquerel was called to Paris as pastor of the Reformed Church. During the course of 1833 he was chosen a member of the consistory, and rapidly acquired the reputation of a great pulpit orator, but his liberal views brought him into antagonism with the rigid Calvinists. He took a warm interest in all matters of education, and distinguished himself so much by his defence of theUniversity of Paris against a sharp attack, that in 1835 he was chosen a member of the consistory of the Legion of Honor. In 1841 appeared his "Response to the Leben Jesu" of Strauss. After the revolution of February 1848, Coquerel was elected a member of the National Assembly, where he sat as a moderate republican, subsequently becoming a member of the Legislative Assembly. He supported the first ministry ofLouis Napoleon , and gave his vote in favor of the expedition to Rome and the restoration of the temporal power of the pope. After the "coup d'état " of2 December 1851 , he confined himself to the duties of his pastorate. He was a prolific writer, as well as a popular and eloquent speaker. He died at Paris on10 January 1868 . A large collection of his sermons was published in 8 vols. between 1819 and 1852. Other works were "Biographie sacrée" (1825-1826); "Histoire sainte et analyse de la Bible" (1839); "Orthodoxie moderne" (1842); "Christologie" (1858), &c.His brother,
Charles Augustin Coquerel (1797-1851), was the author of a work on English literature (1828), an "Essai sur l'histoire genérale du christianisme" (1828) and a "Histoire des églises du desert, depuis la revocation de l'edit de Nantes" (1841). A liberal in his views, he was the founder and editor of the "Annales protestantes", "Le Lien", and the "Revue protestante."References
*1911
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