What do you think?
Rate this book
A Philosophical Commentary on These Words of the Gospel, Luke 14:23, “Compel Them to Come In, That My House May Be Full”
The topics of church and state, religious toleration, the legal enforcement of religious practices, and religiously motivated violence on the part of individuals have once again become burning issues. Pierre Bayle’s
Philosophical Commentary
was a major attempt to deal with very similar problems three centuries ago. His argument is that if the orthodox have the right and duty to persecute, then every sect will persecute, since every sect considers itself orthodox. The result will be mutual slaughter, something God cannot have intended.
The Philosophical Commentary takes its starting point from the words attributed to Jesus Christ in Luke 14:23, “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be full.” Bayle contends that the word compel cannot mean “force.” From this perspective, he constructs his doctrine of toleration based on the singular importance of conscience. His point is not that coercion usually is ineffective in matters of faith but that, even when effective, it is wrong because it ignores the indispensability of the free conscience.
Bayle’s book was translated into English in 1708. The Liberty Fund edition reprints that translation, carefully checked against the French and corrected, with an introduction and annotations designed to make Bayle’s arguments accessible to the twenty-first-century reader.
Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), Protestant philosopher and critic, was born in France. In 1675 he became professor of philosophy at Sedan until forced into exile in Rotterdam in 1681, where he published works on religion with a liberal and tolerant tendency. He was dismissed from his position at the Huguenot refugees academy in 1693 following the accusation that he was an agent of France and an enemy of Protestantism. In 1696 he completed his major work, the Dictionnaire historique et critique.
John Kilcullen is a Senior Research Fellow in Humanities at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Chandran Kukathas is Chair in Political Theory atThe London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.
Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History and Director of the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England.
The Philosophical Commentary takes its starting point from the words attributed to Jesus Christ in Luke 14:23, “And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be full.” Bayle contends that the word compel cannot mean “force.” From this perspective, he constructs his doctrine of toleration based on the singular importance of conscience. His point is not that coercion usually is ineffective in matters of faith but that, even when effective, it is wrong because it ignores the indispensability of the free conscience.
Bayle’s book was translated into English in 1708. The Liberty Fund edition reprints that translation, carefully checked against the French and corrected, with an introduction and annotations designed to make Bayle’s arguments accessible to the twenty-first-century reader.
Pierre Bayle (1647–1706), Protestant philosopher and critic, was born in France. In 1675 he became professor of philosophy at Sedan until forced into exile in Rotterdam in 1681, where he published works on religion with a liberal and tolerant tendency. He was dismissed from his position at the Huguenot refugees academy in 1693 following the accusation that he was an agent of France and an enemy of Protestantism. In 1696 he completed his major work, the Dictionnaire historique et critique.
John Kilcullen is a Senior Research Fellow in Humanities at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia.
Chandran Kukathas is Chair in Political Theory atThe London School of Economics and Political Science, University of London.
Knud Haakonssen is Professor of Intellectual History and Director of the Centre for Intellectual History at the University of Sussex, England.
- GenresPhilosophy
664 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2001
2 people are currently reading
39 people want to read
About the author
Pierre Bayle
590 books28 followersFrench philosopher Pierre Bayle, considered the progenitor of 18th-century rationalism, compiled the famous
Dictionnaire historique et critique
in 1697 and championed the cause of religious tolerance.
People later renamed Carla-le-Comte as Carla-Bayle in his honour.
His father, a Calvinist minister, and an academy at Puylaurens educated him. He afterwards entered a Jesuit college at Toulouse and, a month later in 1669, joined as a Roman Catholic. After seventeen months, he returned to Calvinism and fled to Geneva.
The teachings of René Descartes acquainted him. He returned, went to Paris, and for some years worked under the name of Bèle as a tutor for various families. In 1675, people appointed him to the chair at the Protestant academy of Sedan. In 1681, the government suppressed the university at Sedan in action against Protestants.
Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic just before that event, and the École Illustre in Rotterdam almost immediately appointed him professor. He taught for many years, but a long internal quarrel in the college embroiled him. As a result, people deprived Bayle of his chair in 1693.
Bayle in Rotterdam died. People buried his body and that of Pierre Jurieu, seven years later, in the Waalse Kerk.
People later renamed Carla-le-Comte as Carla-Bayle in his honour.
His father, a Calvinist minister, and an academy at Puylaurens educated him. He afterwards entered a Jesuit college at Toulouse and, a month later in 1669, joined as a Roman Catholic. After seventeen months, he returned to Calvinism and fled to Geneva.
The teachings of René Descartes acquainted him. He returned, went to Paris, and for some years worked under the name of Bèle as a tutor for various families. In 1675, people appointed him to the chair at the Protestant academy of Sedan. In 1681, the government suppressed the university at Sedan in action against Protestants.
Bayle fled to the Dutch Republic just before that event, and the École Illustre in Rotterdam almost immediately appointed him professor. He taught for many years, but a long internal quarrel in the college embroiled him. As a result, people deprived Bayle of his chair in 1693.
Bayle in Rotterdam died. People buried his body and that of Pierre Jurieu, seven years later, in the Waalse Kerk.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 23, 2010
I keep thinking about this book and Bayle's ideas that tolerance is the only real option because of how convinced we become in things that are, or could be, wrong. Even yet, he claims we should do whatever we are convinced is morally right, even if its intolerant. It's a paradox, but one that seems to be necessary to moral action.
Read
September 23, 2010"A Philosophical Commentary on these Words of The Gospel, Luke 14:23 by PIERRE BAYLE (2005)"
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews