Jean de Labadie
Encyclopedia
Bourg
Bourg is the French rendering of the Germanic root *burgs , related to the Germanic root *bergan "to protect, shelter"; and may refer to:-In France:* Bourg, Aisne, a defunct commune in France, now part of Bourg-et-Comin* Bourg,...
, near Bordeaux
Bordeaux
Bordeaux is a port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department in southwestern France.The Bordeaux-Arcachon-Libourne metropolitan area, has a population of 1,010,000 and constitutes the sixth-largest urban area in France. It is the capital of the Aquitaine region, as well as the prefecture...
, France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
– 13 February 1674 Altona
Altona, Hamburg
Altona is the westernmost urban borough of the German city state of Hamburg, on the right bank of the Elbe river. From 1640 to 1864 Altona was under the administration of the Danish monarchy. Altona was an independent city until 1937...
, then Denmark
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...
) was a 17th century French
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
pietist. Originally a Roman Catholic Jesuit priest
Priest
A priest is a person authorized to perform the sacred rites of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particular, rites of sacrifice to, and propitiation of, a deity or deities...
, he became a member of the Reformed Church
Protestantism
Protestantism is one of the three major groupings within Christianity. It is a movement that began in Germany in the early 16th century as a reaction against medieval Roman Catholic doctrines and practices, especially in regards to salvation, justification, and ecclesiology.The doctrines of the...
in 1650, before founding the community which became known as the Labadists
Labadists
The Labadists were a 17th century Protestant religious community movement founded by Jean de Labadie , a French pietist. The movement derived its name from that of its founder.-Jean de Labadie’s life:...
in 1669. At its height the movement numbered around 600 with thousands of adherents further afield. It attracted some notable female converts such as the famed poet and scholar, Anna Maria van Schurman
Anna Maria van Schurman
Anna Maria van Schurman was a German-Dutch painter, engraver, poet and scholar. She was a highly educated woman by seventeenth century standards...
, and the entomological artist
Maria Merian
Maria Sibylla Merian
Maria Sibylla Merian was a naturalist and scientific illustrator who studied plants and insects and made detailed paintings about them...
.
Labadie combined the influences of Jansenism
Jansenism
Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
and Reformed Pietism
Pietism
Pietism was a movement within Lutheranism, lasting from the late 17th century to the mid-18th century and later. It proved to be very influential throughout Protestantism and Anabaptism, inspiring not only Anglican priest John Wesley to begin the Methodist movement, but also Alexander Mack to...
, developing a form of radical Christianity with an emphasis upon holiness and Christian communal living
Commune (intentional community)
A commune is an intentional community of people living together, sharing common interests, property, possessions, resources, and, in some communes, work and income. In addition to the communal economy, consensus decision-making, non-hierarchical structures and ecological living have become...
. Labadie's teachings gained hold in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...
.
Life
The son of an officer, he entered the Jesuit Order in 1625, was ordained in 1635, but left in 1639 due to poor health and tensions with the other brothers. He then worked as a diocesan priest in Bordeaux, Paris and Amiens. He turned to JansenismJansenism
Jansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
and intensive study of the Bible, and began to be drawn to Calvinism
Calvinism
Calvinism is a Protestant theological system and an approach to the Christian life...
. He regarded himself as divinely inspired. Cardinal Mazarin had him transferred to southern France in 1646 as a disturber of the peace, where he changed his allegiance to the Reformed Church in 1650 at Montauban
Montauban
Montauban is a commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne department in the Midi-Pyrénées region in southern France. It is the capital of the department and lies north of Toulouse....
.
He served as a pastor and professor of theology at Montauban from 1652-1657. In 1659 he was pastor in Geneva, where he gathered around him disciples notably; Pierre Yvon Pierre Dulignon, François Menuret, and Friedrich Theodor Untereyck Spanheim.
In 1666 he was appointed preacher at Middelburg in the Netherlands, but in 1669 was dismissed for his theological views. He then founded a house church in Amsterdam which served as a model for later foundations, but which was persecuted. He moved on, in 1670, with his pupil Anna Maria van Schurman
Anna Maria van Schurman
Anna Maria van Schurman was a German-Dutch painter, engraver, poet and scholar. She was a highly educated woman by seventeenth century standards...
and his congregation into the a house in Herford
Herford
Herford is a town in North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, located in the lowlands between the hill chains of the Wiehen Hills and the Teutoburg Forest. It is the capital of the district of Herford.- Geographic location :...
, Germany, provided as a refuge for persecuted spiritualists by Albertine Elizabeth
Here, too, he was pressed and harassed, and in 1672 he left and walked to Altona in Denmark. Labadie died there in 1674. The movement continued both in Europe and America, but had dissipated by 1732.
Works
Labadie's most influential writing was The Reform of the Church Through the Pastorate (1667).- Introduction à la piété dans les Mystères, Paroles et ceremonies de la Messe, Amiens, 1642.
- Odes sacrées sur le Très-adorable et auguste Mystère du S. Sacrement de l'Autel, Amiens, 1642.
- Traité de la Solitude chrestienne, ou la vie retirée du siècle, Paris, 1645.
- Déclaration de Jean de Labadie, cy-devant prestre, predicateur et chanoine d'Amiens, contenant les raisons qui l'ont obligé à quitter la communion de l'Eglise Romaine pour se ranger à celle de l'Eglise Réformée, Montauban, 1650.
- Lettre de Jean de Labadie à ses amis de la Communion Romaine touchant sa Declaration, Montauban, 1651.
- Les Elevations d'esprit à Dieu, ou Contemplations fort instruisantes sur les plus grands Mysteres de la Foy, Montauban, 1651.
- Les Entretiens d'esprit durant le jour; ou Reflexions importantes sur la vie humaine, ...sur le Christianisme,...sur le besoin de la Reformation de ses Moeurs, Montauban, 1651.
- Le Bon Usage de l'Eucharistie, Montauban, 1656.
- Practique des Oraisons, mentale et vocale..., Montauban, 1656.
- Recueil de quelques Maximes importantes de Doctrine, de Conduite et de Pieté Chrestienne, Montauban, 1657 (Geneva, 1659).
- Les Saintes Décades de Quatrains de Pieté Chretienne touchant à la connoissance de Dieu, son honneur, son amour et l'union de l'âme avec lui , Orange, 1658 (Geneva, 1659, Amsterdam, 1671).
- La pratique de l'oraison et meditation Chretienne , Geneva, 1660.
- Le Iûne religieus ou le moyen de le bien faire, Geneva, 1665.
- Jugement charitable et juste sur l'état present des Juifs, Amsterdam 1667.
- Le Triomphe de l'Eucharistie, ou la vraye doctrine du St. Sacrement, avec les moyens d'y bien participer, Amsterdam, 1667.
- Le Héraut du Grand Roy Jesus, ou Eclaircissement de la doctrine de Jean de Labadie, pasteur, sur le Règne glorieux de Jésus-Christ et de ses saints en la terre aux derniers temps, Amsterdam, 1667.
- L'Idée d'un bon pasteur et d'une bonne Eglise, Amsterdam, 1667.
- Les Divins Herauts de la Penitence au Monde..., Amsterdam, 1667.
- La Reformation de l'Eglise par le Pastorat, Middelburg, 1667.
- Le Veritable Exorcisme, Amsterdam, 1667.
- Le Discernement d'une Veritable Eglise suivant l'Ecriture Sainte, Amsterdam, 1668.
- La Puissance eclesiastique bornée à l'Ecriture et par Elle..., Amsterdam, 1668.
- Manuel de Pieté, Middelburg 1668.
- Declaration Chrestienne et sincère de plusieurs Membres de l'Eglise de Dieu et de Jésus-Christ touchant les Justes Raisons et les Motifs qui les obligent à n'avoir point de Communion avec le synode dit Vualon, La Haye, 1669.
- Points fondamentaux de la vie vraimant Chretiene, Amsterdam 1670.
- Abrégé du Veritable Christianisme et Téoretique et pratique..., Amsterdam, 1670.
- Le Chant Royal du Grand Roy Jésus, ou les Hymnes et Cantiques de l'Aigneau..., Amsterdam, 1670.
- Receüil de diverses Chansons Spiritüeles, Amsterdam, 1670.
- L'Empire du S. Esprit sur les Ames..., Amsterdam, 1671.
- Eclaircissement ou Declaration de la Foy et de la pureté des sentimens en la doctrine des Srs. Jean de Labadie, Pierre Yvon, Pierre Dulignon..., Amsterdam, 1671.
- Veritas sui vindex, seu solemnis fidei declaratio..., Herfordiae, 1672.
- Jesus revelé de nouveau..., Altona, 1673.
- Fragmens de quelques poesies et sentimens d'esprit..., Amsterdam, 1678.
- Poésies sacrées de l'amour divin, Amsterdam, 1680.
- Recueil de Cantiques spirituels, Amsterdam, 1680.
- Le Chretien regeneré ou nul, Amsterdam, 1685.
Further reading
The most important study on Labadie's life and works is- Trevor John Saxby, The quest for the new Jerusalem, Jean de Labadie and the Labadists, 1610-1744, Dordrecht-Boston-Lancaster, 1987.
- Michel de Certeau, La Fable mystique: XVIe-XVIIe siècle, Paris, 1987.
- Fabrizio Frigerio, L'historiographie de Jean de Labadie, Etat de la question, Genève, 1976.
- Fabrizio Frigerio, "La poesia di Jean de Labadie e la mistica quietista", in: Conoscenza religiosa, 1978, 1, p. 60-66.
- M. Goebel, Geschichte des christlichen Lebens in der rheinischwestphälischen evangelischen Kirche, II. Das siebzehnte Jahrhundert oder die herrschende Kirche und die Sekten, Coblenz, 1852.
- W. Goeters, Die Vorbereitung des Pietismus in der reformierten Kirche der Niederlande bis zur labadistischen Krisis 1670, Leipzig, 1911.
- Cornelis B. Hylkema, Reformateurs. Geschiedkündige studiën over de godsdienstige bewegingen uit de nadagen onzer gouden eeuw, Haarlem, 1900-1902.
- Leszek Kolakowsky, Chrétiens sans Eglise, La Conscience religieuse et le lien confessionnel au XVIIe siècle, Paris, 1969.
- Alain Joblin, "Jean de Labadie (1610-1674): un dissident au XVIIe siècle?", in: Mélanges de sciences religieuses, 2004, vol. 61, n.2, p. 33-44.
- Anne Lagny, (éd.), Les piétismes à l'âge classique. Crise, conversion, institutions, Villeneuve- d'Ascq, 2001.
- Johannes Lindeboom, Stiefkideren van het christendom, La Haye, 1929.
- Georges Poulet, Les métamorphoses du cercle, Paris, 1961.
- Jean Rousset, "Un brelan d'oubliés", in L'esprit créateur, 1961, t. 1, p. 61-100.
- Trevor John Saxby, The quest for the new Jerusalem, Jean de Labadie and the Labadists, 1610-1744, Dordrecht-Boston-Lancaster, 1987.
- M. Smits van Waasberghe, "Het ontslag van Jean de Labadie uit de Societeit van Jezus", in: Ons geesteljk erf, 1952, p. 23-49.
- Otto E. Strasser-Bertrand - Otto J. De Jong, Geschichte des Protestantismus in Frankreich und den Niederlanden, Göttingen, 1975.
- Daniel Vidal, Jean de Labadie (1610-1674) Passion mystique et esprit de Réforme, Grenoble, 2009.
- H. Van Berkum, De Labadie en de Labadisten, eene bladzijde uit de geschiedenis der Nederlandse Hervormde Kerk, Snek, 1851.