Souvenirs d'enfance et de jeunesse

by Ernest Renan

Ernest Renan (1823-1892) was a French philosopher and writer, deeply attached to his native province of Brittany. He is best known for his influential historical works on early Christianity and his political theories. In 1840, Renan left St. Nicholas to study philosophy at the seminary of Issy-les-Moulineaux. Within his lifetime, Renan was best known as the author of the enormously popular Life of Jesus (Vie de Jesus). This book was first translated into English in 1863 by Charles E. Wilbour, and has remained in print for the past 145 years. In 1869, he presented himself as the candidate of the liberal opposition at the parliamentary election for Meaux. In La Reforme Intellectuelle et Morale (1871), Renan tried to safeguard France's future. Yet, he was still under the influence of Germany. The ideal and the discipline which he proposed to his defeated country were those of her conqueror-a feudal society, a monarchical government, an elite which the rest of the nation exists merely to support and nourish; an ideal of honour and duty imposed by a chosen few on the recalcitrant and subject multitude.

287 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1883

About the author

Joseph Ernest Renan was a French expert of Middle East ancient languages and civilizations (philology), philosopher, historian, and writer, devoted to his native province of Brittany. He is best known for his influential historical works on early Christianity, and his political theories, especially concerning nationalism and national identity. Renan is credited as being among the first scholars to advance the Khazar theory, which held that Ashkenazi Jews were descendants of Turkic peoples who had adopted Jewish religion and migrated to Western Europe following the collapse of their khanate.

Reviews

[Yves S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Here is one remarkable example of the loss of the Faith by the work of Reason.
Everything had destined Renan to become a priest: a childhood in deeply Catholic Brittany, the superior intelligence that directed him very young towards the clerical profession and which brought him to the notice of the director of St Nicolas du Chardonnet and then by the seminary of St Sulpice in Paris. A model student.
His seriousness, a pronounced taste for studies, a natural docility, and obedience to the master: the path was traced, Faith could not possibly waver.
But Reason nonetheless prevailed.
But let's be clear, it wasn't the average loss of Faith, not an uneducated sort of teenage rebellion (although teenage rebellion can be educated of course).
Renan studied the Catholic religion thoroughly from top to bottom, as few, certainly, have ever studied it. For this he returned to Hebrew sources by becoming, at the age of 20, after his master Mr Le Hir, the best French scholar of Hebrew of his time (albeit there were very few at the time). Reason and philological criticism made him discover chronological and authenticity errors in the founding texts of the Church, in the dogmas and in the Bible. The dogmatic Catholic religion being, by definition, absolutely intransigent on the Revelation of these texts, for Renan these discoveries had only one consequence: a flaw leading to the total collapse of the theological edifice of religion and faith. His particular courage was to immediately reject, after making this discovery, all that had formed the basis (and the future) of his own life, for he could not lie, he could not go against the manifest truth and dogmatic mistakes that his reason had made him find. More precisely his reason had made him see a lie and, therefore, the truth could only be elsewhere.

"Man can never be so sure of his mind as to swear allegiance to such and such a system which he now regards as the truth. All he can do is to devote himself to the truth, whatever it may be, and to dispose his heart to follow it wherever he thinks he sees it, even if it costs him the most painful sacrifices."

Renan, unfortunately, seems to have been a little forgotten these days, the objects of his studies, on which he devoted his life, probably no longer interest many people. It is a pity because his work remains that of a great thinker and, in my opinion, his Histoire des origines du christianisme is to the French-language literature what Gibbons' The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 7; Complete in Eight Volumes is to the English-language literature: a truly outstanding Work, with a masterly literary style, a subject research of uncompromising rigor, a titanic oeuvre.

[G0thamite · Rating 4 out of 5]

"The Memoirs of Ernest Renan" - Read from an English translation by J. Lewis May. 254 pp

Details his early life, aptitude for a scholarly life, entrance into the seminaries and priesthood and then fall in disbelief of the Christian story after encountering German criticism and other liberal-minded thinkers. Reminds me of Bart Ehrman and his story.

[Gilles Russeil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pour découvrir un des grands penseurs français du XIXe siècle et le parcours qui l'amena d'une enfance pieuse au séminaire puis par un cheminement intellectuel vers le rejet du catholicisme et de la foi. Personnel et plaisant.

[Philippe Billé · Rating 4 out of 5]

J'avais déjà bien aimé sa Vie de Jésus, Renan m'apparaît encore plus sympathique depuis que j'ai lu ses Souvenirs d'enfance et de jeunesse. Je savoure les tournures, les anecdotes de cet écrivain hélas démodé, et son esprit général me convient assez pour que je me sois trouvé une bonne dizaine de points communs avec lui : nous avons lui et moi des habitudes studieuses ; nous avons le goût de l'ordre, du silence et de la solitude ; nous n'avons pas la foi religieuse ; nous respectons toutefois la religion car nous n'avons connu que de bons prêtres, à qui nous devons l'essentiel de notre perfection morale ; nous ne pensons pas que le mariage des prêtres serait bénéfique ; nous savons que les meilleurs nobles sont des paysans et non des courtisans ; nous sommes républicains plus que démocrates ; nous pourrions servir un tyran, s'il était philanthrope et intelligent ; nous serions bons avec eux, si nous possédions des esclaves ; nous sommes incapables de faire du mal aux animaux. Tout cela rapproche, naturellement, mais nous nous opposons aussi, sur certaines questions. Par exemple, il avoue n'avoir jamais pu se résoudre à acheter des terres, alors que la sensation de la propriété du sol aura été une de mes expériences les plus satisfaisantes. Il considère aussi qu'«on ne doit jamais écrire que de ce qu'on aime», moi au contraire je trouve plus facile et plus amusant de dire du mal de ce que je déteste. En résumé je recommande ce bon livre, dont ne vous parlera aucun journal, que le mien. (13 X 2011)

[Yves · Rating 3 out of 5]

Un style compassé et doucereux........Intéressant quand même.