{{short description|Genevan theologian and Protestant pastor}} {{for|a contemporary theologian with a similar name|Jacob Vernet}} {{Use dmy dates|date=January 2021}} thumb|right|alt=Portrait of Jacob Vernes|Portrait of Jacob Vernes '''Jacob Vernes'''<ref group=fn>Not to be confused with Jacob Vernet, a prominent theologian in Geneva around the same time.</ref> (31 May 1728 – 22 October 1791) was a Genevan theologian and Protestant pastor in Geneva, famous for his correspondence with Voltaire and Rousseau.
==Life==
Vernes was born on 31 May 1728 in Geneva, and was educated as a pastor.<ref name=Voltaire1880/> He was a wealthy man, well-mannered and cultivated, and had many friends. At the age of 22 he made a tour of Europe, where he met many of the leading intellectuals of the day.<ref name=Gabarel1856/> Vernes was pastor of Céligny (1761–1768) and of Grand-Saconnex (1768–1770). He became a pastor at Geneva in 1771.<ref name=Voltaire1880/> Vernes married Marie-Francoise Clarence from Puylaurens, but she died less than a year later. On 18 March 1764 he married Marianne Simonde, aunt of the historian Jean Charles Léonard de Sismondi, who was to be the mother of Francois Vernes de Luze.<ref name=Dardier1876/> In November 1782 Vernes was deposed from his position as pastor after disturbances in the city led to the intervention of the French and the cantons of Zurich and Bern on the side of the aristocratic party.<ref name=Ivernois1789/> Vernes died on 22 October 1791,<ref name=Voltaire1880/> in Geneva.
==Work==
Vernes collaborated with his friend Antoine-Jacques Roustan in writing a ''History of Geneva'', which remained in manuscript form.<ref name=Candal2010/> He wrote and published many other books on religious subjects. Vernes shared with some of his contemporaries the view that religion should not be considered only through cold reason but also through emotion. God had given men "sensitive hearts" and the ability to feel an "inner religious sentiment".<ref name=Brown2006/> He was ambiguous on some subjects, for example writing that the Bible contained evidence both for and against the doctrine of eternal punishment.<ref name=George1846/> Vernes was said to have held Socinianist or Arian views, with unorthodox opinions on the nature of Christ, and these were said to be reflected in his writings.<ref name=Blackwoods1842/> His ''Catéchisme a l'usage des jeunes-gens'' published in 1779 was not officially adopted by the Genevan Church. It differs from other post-orthodox Calvinist in its simplified theology, while still recognizing the need to rely on Scripture to understand fully essential religious truths.<ref name=Pitassi/>
==Voltaire and Rousseau==
Vernes became a close friend of Voltaire, who called him his "dear priest" and he often visited Voltaire at Ferney.<ref name=Blackwoods1842/> To Voltaire, Vernes's Calvinism seemed no more than nominal.<ref name=Adams1991/> In December 1761 Voltaire sent him a copy of his "''Sermon du rabbin Akib''", a scathing attack on Christian persecution of the Jews.<ref name=Mostefai2009/> However, in his book ''Confidence Philosophique'' (1779), written as a novel, Vernes attacked Voltaire and the principles of Encyclopédistes.{{Citation needed|date=January 2011}}
At first, Vernes was a friend of Rousseau, with whom he corresponded.<ref name=Garrard2003/> When he talked with Rousseau during his visit to Geneva in 1754 he was impressed by the sincerity with which the philosopher discussed divine providence.<ref name=Cranston1991/> In 1757, Jean le Rond d'Alembert published an article on Geneva in the seventh volume of the Encyclopedia that suggested that the Geneva clergymen had moved from Calvinism to pure Socinianism, basing this on information provided by Voltaire. The Pastors of Geneva were indignant, and appointed a committee to answer these charges.<ref name=Richardson1858/> Vernes asked Rousseau as a friend to obtain some sort of retraction from d'Alembert, but Rousseau had to say that he was not on close terms with d'Alembert, so was unable to do so.<ref name=Cranston1991b/> However, under pressure, d'Alembert eventually made the excuse that he considered anyone who did not accept the Church of Rome to be a Socinianist, and that was all he meant.<ref name=Richardson1858/>
Later, Vernes attacked Rousseau for the views he expressed in the ''Confession of Faith of a Savoyard Vicar'' in the last section of ''Emile: or, On Education'' (1762).<ref name=Blackwoods1842/> Voltaire was also extremely hostile to Rousseau, and the two engaged in a war of pamphlets, some anonymous and purportedly written by their antagonist. When Voltaire published one such attack called "''Sentiment of the Citizens''", Rousseau at first thought it had been written by Vernes, who had expressed similar views. Rousseau had the pamphlet republished in Paris naming Vernes as the author, and only later accepted that this was not the case.<ref name=Kelly2003/>
==Bibliography== *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0yEPAAAAQAAJ |title=Choix littéraire |author=Jacob Vernes |publisher=Claude Philibert |year=1755}} *{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/lettressurlechr00lgoog |title=Lettres sur le Christianisme de Mr. J.J. Rousseau, addressées à Mr. I.L |author1=Jacob Vernes |author2=I. L. |publisher=E. Blanc |year=1763}} *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JZtJAAAAYAAJ |title=Recueil d'opuscules concernant les ouvrages et les sentiments de nos philosophes modernes sur la religion: l'éducation et les moeurs |author1=Jacob Vernes |author2=François-Louis-Claude Marin |publisher=Staatman |year=1765}} *{{cite book |title=Examen de ce qui concerne le christianisme, la réformation évangélique, et les ministres de Genève, dans les deux premières Lettres de Mr. J.J. Rousseau, écrites de la montagne |author=Jacob Vernes (Pasteur) |publisher=Chez Claude Philibert |year=1765}} *{{cite book |title=Convient-il de supprimer une partie des sermons qui se prononcent à Genève ?: examen de cette question |author=Jacob Vernes (Pasteur) |publisher=B. Chirol |year=1775}} *{{cite book |title=Catechisme: Destine Particulierement A LG_TUsage Des Jeunes Gens |year=1776 |author=Jacob Vernes}} *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=a8MsAAAAYAAJ |title=Catéchisme a l'usage des jeunes gens |author=Jacob Vernes |publisher=J.L. Pellet, Imprimeur de la Republique |year=1779}} *{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mzEBAAAAcAAJ&pg=PP1 |title=Confidence Philosophique, Volume 2 |author=Jacob Vernes |publisher=Du Villard & Nouffer |year=1779}} *{{cite book |title=Trois sermons: Prononcés dans l'Église Protestante de Constance le 16, le 23 & le 30 d'Avril 1786 |author=Jacob Vernes |year=786}} *{{cite book |title=Sermons Prononces a Geneve |year=1790 |author=Jacob Vernes}} *{{cite book |title=Sermons |author=Jacob Vernes, François Vernes |publisher=Didier |year=1792}}
==Footnotes== <references group=fn />
==References== {{reflist|1|refs= <ref name=Adams1991>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PPHXP144QDUC&pg=PA135 |page=135 |title=The Huguenots and French opinion, 1685-1787: the enlightenment debate on toleration |author=Geoffrey Adams |publisher=Wilfrid Laurier Univ. Press |year=1991 |isbn=0-88920-209-5}}</ref> <ref name=Blackwoods1842>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=f7ECAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA165 |page=165 |chapter=Protestantism in Geneva |title=Blackwood's magazine, Volume 51 |year=1842}}</ref> <ref name=Brown2006>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VLG0mqIZ55IC&pg=PA294 |page=294 |title=Enlightenment, reawakening, and revolution, 1660–1815 |author1=Stewart Jay Brown |author2=Timothy Tackett |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2006 |isbn=0-521-81605-X}}</ref> <ref name=Candal2010>{{cite web |url=http://www.hls-dhs-dss.ch/textes/f/F26130.php |title=Roustan, Jacques-Antoine |language=fr |date=2010 |author=Jean-Daniel Candal |work=Historical Dictionary of Switzerland, Bern |access-date=2011-01-13}}</ref> <ref name=Cranston1991>{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/jeanjacquesearly0000cran/page/333 333] |title=Jean-Jacques: The Early Life and Work of Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1712–1754 |author=Maurice William Cranston |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1991 |isbn=0-226-11862-2}}</ref> <ref name=Cranston1991b>{{cite book |page=[https://archive.org/details/noblesavagejeanj00cran/page/122 122] |title=The Noble Savage: Jean-Jacques Rousseau, 1754–1762 |author=Maurice William Cranston |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=1991 |isbn=0-226-11864-9}}</ref> <ref name=Dardier1876>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=HnUrAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA54 |page=54 |title=Ésaĭe Gasc, citoyen de Genève: sa politique et sa théologie, Genève - Constance - Montauban 1748–1813 |author=Charles Dardier |publisher=Sandoz et Fischbacher |year=1876}}</ref> <ref name=Gabarel1856>{{cite book |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GjYHAAAAQAAJ&pg=PA136 |title=Voltaire et les Genevois |author=Jean Pierre Gabarel |publisher=J. Cherbuliez, 1856 |chapter=Voltaire et le ministre Jacob Vernes - Mort de Voltaire. |year=1856 |page=136ff}}</ref> <ref name=Garrard2003>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=IjomQR9orWsC&pg=PA98 |pages=34, 93, 98 |title=Rousseau's counter-Enlightenment: a republican critique of the Philosophes |author=Graeme Garrard |publisher=SUNY Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-7914-5603-X}}</ref> <ref name=George1846>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=lruD1O6vhOUC&pg=PA67 |page=67 |title=An examination of Universalism: embracing its rise and progress, and the means of its propagation |author=Nathan Dow George |publisher=Waite, Peirce and Co. |year=1846}}</ref> <ref name=Ivernois1789>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=SnkBAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA186 |page=186 |title=Tableau historique et politique des deux dernieres révolutions de Genève, Volume 2 |author= Francis d' Ivernois |publisher=S.n. |year=1789}}</ref> <ref name=Kelly2003>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l_UTl8GvvPcC&pg=PA11 |page=11 |title=Rousseau as author: consecrating one's life to the truth |author=Christopher Kelly |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2003 |isbn=0-226-43024-3}}</ref> <ref name=Mostefai2009>{{cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wb4V4UNIYl0C&pg=PA45 |page=45 |title=Rousseau and L'Infâme: religion, toleration, and fanaticism in the age of Enlightenment |author=Ourida Mostefai |publisher=Rodopi |year=2009 |isbn=978-90-420-2505-9}}</ref> <ref name=Pitassi>{{cite web |url=http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=14651256 |title=Jacob Vernes's cathechism, or how to teach a wise and reasonable christianity |author=PITASSI Maria-Cristina |work=refdoc |access-date=2011-01-13}}</ref> <ref name=Richardson1858>{{cite book |url=https://archive.org/details/churchreviewvol00richgoog |pages=[https://archive.org/details/churchreviewvol00richgoog/page/n20 8]–9 |title=The Church Review, Volume 10 |author=Nathaniel Smith Richardson |author-link=Nathaniel Smith Richardson |publisher=G.B. Bassett |year=1858}}</ref> <ref name=Voltaire1880>{{cite book |page=541 |title=Œuvres complètes de Voltaire: Correspondance (années 1711–1776, nos. 1–9750) 1880–82 |author=Voltaire, Jean-Antoine-Nicolas de Caritat Condorcet (marquis de), Louis Moland, Georges Bengesco, Adrien-Jean-Quentin Beuchot |publisher=Garnier frères |year=1880}}</ref> }}
==Further reading== *{{cite book |title=Jacob Vernes, 1728-1791: essai sur sa vie et sa controverse apologétique avec J.-J. Rousseau ... |author=Edouard Dufour |publisher=W. Kundig et fils |year=1898}} *{{cite web |url=http://www.servetus.org/en/news-events/articulos/20021214.htm |title=Passions genevoises en 1760 |author=Elisabeth Badinter. |date=14 December 2002 |work=Servetus International Society |access-date=2011-01-13}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Vernes, Jacob}} Category:1728 births Category:1791 deaths Category:Theologians from the Republic of Geneva Category:18th-century clergy from the Republic of Geneva Category:18th-century Protestant theologians