Philippe du Contant de la Molette, Date of Birth, Date of Death
TweetPhilippe du Contant de la Molette
French theologian
Date of Birth: 
About Philippe du Contant de la Molette
- Philippe du Contant de La Molette (1737-1793) was a theologian and biblical scholar, born at La Côte-Saint-André, in Dauphiné, France, August 29, 1737. He studied at the Sorbonne, and, in 1765, defended a thesis on Job, in six languages.
- Louis XV was so well pleased that he allowed him to pass the examinations for the licentiate without the required delays, a privilege, however, which de la Molette did not use.
- Later on, he became Vicar-General of the diocese of Vienne, France. As a biblical author, he shows great erudition and is well versed in the Oriental languages, but he lacked originality, and his criticism is often misleading.
- His works, all published in Paris, are the following.
- Essai sur l'Ecriture Sainte, ou Tableau historique des avantages que l'on peut tirer des langues orientales pour la parfaite intelligence des Livres Saints (1775); Nouvelle méthode pour entrer dans le vrai sens de l'Ecriture sainte (1777); La Genèse expliquée d'après les textes primitifs, etc.
- (1777), 3 vols., a work intended especially as a refutation of Voltaire; L'Exode expliqué, 3 vols.
- (1780); the thesis that he had defended in 1765 is printed in the beginning of this work; Les Psaumes expliqués, etc., 3 vols.
- (1781); Traité sur la poésie et la musique des Hébreux (1781), a continuation of the preceding; Le Lévitique expliqué, 2 vols.
- (1785).
- He had also done considerable work as a preparation for a Nouvelle Bible polyglotte, but it is doubtful whether he ever published it. He died on the scaffold during the Reign of Terror in 1793.
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