Jacques Le Fèvre

A French theologian and controversialist, b. at Lisieux towards the middle of the seventeenth century; d. 1 July, 1716, at Paris. He became archdeacon of his native city and vicar-general of the Archbishopric of Bourges, and in 1674 received the doctorate in theology from the Sorbonne. His works are the following: "Entretiens d'Eudoxe et d' Euchariste sur les histoires de l'arianisme et des iconoclastes du P. Maimbourg" (Paris, 1674). The first of these dialogues was condemned and burned. "Motifs invincibles pour convaincre ceux de la religion prétendue réformée" (Paris, 1682), in which Le Fèvre endeavours to show that there is fundamental agreement between Catholic and Protestant teachings, the differences being of slight importance and mostly verbal. These conciliatory views were attacked by Arnauld, and, in answer, Le Fèvre wrote "Réplique a M. Arnauld pour la défense du livre des motifs invincibles" (1685). Amongst Le Fèvre's other works are "Conférence avec un ministre touchant les causes de la separation des protestants" (Paris, 1685); "Instructions pour confirmer les nouveaux convertis dans la foi de 1'église" (Paris, 1686); "Recucil de tout ce qui s'est fait pour et contre les protestants en France" (Paris, 1686); "Lettres d'un docteur sur ce qui se passe dans les assemblées de la faculté de théologie de Paris" (Cologne, 1700). These letters were published anonymously when the work of the Jesuit Father Lecomte, "Mémoires sur Ia Chine", was referred to the faculty of theology. To Father Lallemant, who had defended his confrère in the "Journal historique des assemblées tenues en Sorbonne", Le Fèvre replied in his "Anti-journal historique . . ."; and he also produced "Animadversions sur l'histoire ecclésiastique du P. Noël Alexandre ", the first volume of which was printed at Rouen without date about 1680; it was seized and destroyed, and the other volumes were not published.