Renan, Ernest

(1823-1892)

   writer

   A leading philologist and historian of religion, Ernest Renan, who was born in Tréguier and had been destined for the priesthood since early youth, began seminary studies and had a serious religious crisis at age 22 (related in Souvenirs d'enfance et de jeunesse, 1883), subsequently breaking with the church. in the seminary he had studied Hegel, and that, along with his friendship with other intellectuals like marcelin bertholet, led him to take an historical, rather than a theological, view of Christianity and religion in general. In L'Avenir de la science (1848, published 1888), he affirmed that religion must be replaced by the "poetry of reality." A dedicated philologist, notably in the field of Semitic studies, Renan's visit to Lebanon and Palestine (1860-61) inspired his Histoire des orgines du christianisme (1863-82), a work of critical and rational philology. The first volume, Vie de Jésus (1863), which caused him to lose his chair in Hebrew studies at the collège de france, had a considerable effect in Europe, as much for its poetic style as for its rationalistic interpretation of Christ. While he rejected Catholic doctrines, Renan continued to admire Judeo-Christian history (Histoire du peuple d'Israël, 1887-93), and he always attempted to reconcile religion and science. After 1870, Renan also expressed his skepticism of democracy (La Réforme intellectuelle et morale, 1871) and ecclesiastical structures (Le Prêtre de Némi, 1885). Elected to the Académie Française in 1878, he was named director of the Collège de France in 1883, a post he retained until his death.