Auguste Lecerf
Auguste Lecerf (1872–1943) was a pastor of the Église réformée de France (Reformed Church of France) and a partly autodidact neo-Calvinist theologian. From 1927 onwards, he was dogmatics professor at the Protestant Faculty of Theology in Paris.[1][2] Spécialist of Calvin, he is the author of several books and articles on Reformed dogmatics.
Biography
Auguste Lecerf was born in London on 18 Septembre 1872 from communards parents who had sought refuge in England at the end of the Paris Commune. He converted to Protestantism after reading the New Testament, and to Calvinism after reading Calvin's Institutes of the Christian Religion. His subsequent theological work is much influenced by Herman Bavinck and Dutch Neo-Calvinism.[3]
In France and French-speaking Switzerland, Auguste Lecerf's teaching and writing succeeds in creating a whole new Calvinist movement withint Protestantism. With his friend pastor Jacques Pannier, Auguste Lecerf launched the Calvinistic Society of France and he was the first editor of its Bulletin.[4]
Among his most influential followers are:
- French pastor Pierre-Charles Marcel (1910–1992) who launched in 1950 La Revue Réformée
- French pastor Pierre Courthial (1914–2009), leader of the evangelical wing of the Reformed churches in France, from the evangelical theology seminar of Aix-en-Provence
- André Schlemmer (1890-1973), a French medical doctor with a strong Reformed church involvement, author of several books among which a collection of Auguste Lecerf's writings[5]
- Geneva pastor Jean de Saussure (1899–1977) who in 1930 published a book called "A l'école de Calvin" reprocessing Auguste Lecerf's ideas[4]
Auguste Lecerf's work was translated in other languages, chiefly in English and didn't go unnoticed in Americain Reformed circles.[3]
Among his chief works are:
- Auguste Lecerf, Introduction à la dogmatique réformée, 1998, Kerygma, 560 pages
- Auguste Lecerf, Études Calvinistes, 1999, Kerygma, 148 pages
References
- ↑ Introduction à la dogmatique réformée, par Auguste Lecerf, 1931 (achevé d'impr., 1932)-1938 quoted in the BNF catalogue
- ↑ Études calvinistes : 1927-1942] / Auguste Lecerf ; gathered and introduced by André Schlemmer, 1999 quoted in the BNF catalogue
- 1 2 Kevin Davis, A Guide to Reformed Systematic Theology Texts (blog)
- 1 2 Bernard Reymond, Le protestantisme et Calvin: que faire d'un aïeul si encombrant ? Publisher: Labor et Fides, 2008, 134 pages, ISBN 9782830912845, p. 107
- ↑ Auguste Lecerf, Etudes calvinistes, recueillies et annotées par André Schlemmer, Delachaux et Niestlé, Neuchâtel et Paris, 1949, 148 pages, recension par Emile G. Léonard dans la Revue de l'histoire des religions, année 1954, volume 145, numéro 145-1, pp. 114-116
Bibliography
- Pierre Courthial, La foi réformée La foi réformée en France, VBRU.
- Bernard Reymond, Le protestantisme et Calvin: que faire d'un aïeul si encombrant ? Publisher: Labor et Fides, 2008, 134 pages, ISBN 9782830912845