Bernard Lamy

The Reverend Bernard Lamy CO
File:BernardLamy.jpg
Born	15 June 1640 Le Mans, France
Died	29 January 1715 (aged 74) Rouen, France
Known for	Parallelogram of force
Scientific career
Fields	Mathematics, theology

Bernard Lamy CO (French: [lami]; 15 June 1640 – 29 January 1715) was a French Oratorian Catholic priest, mathematician and theologian.

Life

Lamy was born in Le Mans, France. After studying there, he went to join the Maison d'Institution in Paris, and to Saumur thereafter. In 1658 he entered the congregation of the Oratory.

Lamy became professor of classics at Vendôme in 1661, and at Juilly in 1663. He was ordained in 1667.

After teaching a few years at Le Mans he was appointed to a chair of philosophy in the University of Angers. Here his teaching was attacked on the ground that it was too exclusively Cartesian, and Rebous the rector obtained in 1675 from the state authorities a decree forbidding him to continue his lectures.

He was then sent by his superiors to Grenoble, where, thanks to the protection of Étienne Le Camus, he again took up his courses of philosophy. In 1686 he returned to Paris, stopping at the seminary of Saint Magloire, and in 1689 he was sent to Rouen, where he spent the remainder of his days to his death in 1715.

Works

His best known work is the Traité de Mécanique (1679), showing the parallelogram of force. He also wrote Traité de la grandeur en general (1680) and Les éléments de géometrie (1685).

His writings are numerous and varied. Among them may be mentioned:

• La Rhétorique ou l'art de parler, (Paris, 1675); In English → (London, 1676) The Art of Speaking. Printed by William Godbid ( –1779); sold by Moses Pitt (c. 1639–1697), at the angel against the little north door of St. Paul's Church. 1676. – of this, twenty editions were published.
• Apparatus ad Biblia Sacra, etc. (Grenoble, 1687), translated into French by order of the Bishop of Châlons under the title Introduction a la lecture de l'Ecriture Sainte (Lyons, 1689).
• Harmonia, sive Concordia quatuor Evangelistarum (Paris, 1689, A harmony or concordance of the Four Gospels). In this work he contends that John the Baptist was twice cast into prison, first in Jerusalem by order of the Sanhedrin, and later by Herod in Galilee. He maintains also that the Jesus and his Apostles did not eat the paschal lamb at the Last Supper, and that the Crucifixion occurred on the day on which the Jews celebrated the Passover. He considers Mary Magdalen, Mary the sister of Lazarus, and the sinner mentioned in Luke, vii, 37 sqq. to be one and the same person. These and other opinions involved him in controversy with Bulteau, pastor of Rouen, Jean Piénud, Le Nain de Tillemont, and others (see Traité historique de l'ancienne Pâque des Juifs, Paris, 1693).
• Apparatus Biblicus, which is a development of his introduction (Lyons, 1696; Jena, 1709; Amsterdam, 1710). It was translated into French by Jean-Baptiste Morvan de Bellegarde (Paris, 1697) and by Boyer (Lyons, 1709). In this work he calls in question the historical character of the book of Tobias and book of Judith, and maintains that even after the Council of Trent a difference of authority should be recognized between the proto-canonical and deutero-canonical books of the Bible.
• Défense de l'ancien sentiment de l'Eglise latine touchant l'office de sainte Madeleine (Rouen, Paris, 1697).
• A volume of commentaries on his previous concordance of the four Gospels (Paris, 1699).
• A Latin treatise on the Ark of the Covenant (Paris, 1720), a posthumous work published by Desmollets, who prefixed to the volume a biography of the author.

See also

• College of Juilly
• Lami's theorem
• List of Roman Catholic scientist-clerics

From the 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia

Bernard Lamy — Oratorian, b. at Le Mans, France, in June, 1640; d. at Rouen, 29 Jan., 1715. At the age of twelve he was placed under the tuition of the Oratorians of his native town, and soon evinced more than ordinary talent and versatility of mind. In 1658 he entered the congregation of the Oratory, and, after studying philosophy at Paris and at Saumur, was appointed professor in the college of Vendome and later at Juilly. He was ordained to the priesthood in 1667, and after teaching a few years at Le Mans he was appointed to a chair of philosophy in the University of Angers. Here his teaching was attacked on the ground that it was too exclusively Cartesian, and Rebous the rector obtained in 1675 from the state authorities a decree forbidding him to continue his lectures. He was then sent by his superiors to Grenoble, where, thanks to the protection of Cardinal Le Camus, he again took up his courses of philosophy. In 1686 he returned to Paris, stopping at the seminary of Saint Magloire, and in 1689 he was sent to Rouen, where he spent the remainder of his days. His writings are numerous and varied. Among them may be mentioned: (1) "Apparatus ad Biblia Sacra", etc. (Grenoble, 1687), translated into French by order of the Bishop of Châlons under the title "Introduction a la lecture de l'Ecriture Sainte" (Lyons, 1689). (2) "Harmonia, sive Concordia quatuor Evangelistarum", a harmony or concordance of the Four Gospels (Paris, 1689). In this work he contends that John the Baptist was twice cast into prison, first in Jerusalem by order of the Sanhedrin, and later by Herod in Galilee. He maintains also that the Saviour and His Apostles did not eat the paschal lamb at the Last Supper, and that the Crucifixion occurred on the day on which the Jews celebrated the Passover. He considers Mary Magdalen, Mary the sister of Lazarus, and the sinner mentioned in Luke, vii, 37 sqq. to be one and the same person. These and other opinions involved him in animated controversy with Bulteau, pastor of Rouen, Jean Piénud, Le Nain de Tillemont, and others (see "Traité historique de l'ancienne Pâque des Juifs", Paris, 1693). (3) "Apparatus Biblicus", which is a development of his introduction (Lyons, 1696; Jena, 1709; Amsterdam, 1710). It was translated into French by Abbé de Bellegarde (Paris, 1697) and by Abbé Boyer (Lyons, 1709). In this work he calls in question the historical character of the books of Tobias and Judith, and maintains that even after the Council of Trent a difference of authority should be recognized between the proto-canonical and deutero-canonical books of the Bible. (4) "Défense de l'ancien sentiment de l'Eglise latine touchant l'office de sainte Madeleine" (Rouen, Paris, 1697). (5) A volume of commentaries on his previous harmony of the Four Gospels (Paris, 1699). (6) A Latin treatise on the Ark of the Covenant (Paris, 1720), a posthumous work published by Pere Desmollets, who prefixed to the volume a biography of the author.

REGNIER in VIGOUROUX, Dict. de la Bible, s.v.; INGOLD, Essai de biblioqraphie Oratorienne (Paris, 1880-1882), V, 64-70.

Bibliography

• Girbal, François (1964). "Bernard Lamy (1640–1715), Étude biographique et bibliographique" (review). Series: The Movement of Ideas in the 17th Century (in French). París: PUF. OCLC 703481847, 703481847, 1256348873, 163799237, 1418189051, 1203702866.
• Harwood, John Thomas, ed. (1986) [1676]. The Rhetorics of Thomas Hobbes and Bernard Lamy. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press. ISBN 978-0-8093-1301-3. LCCN 85030448. Retrieved February 24, 2025 – via Internet Archive (Trent).

• Ingold, Augustin Marie Pierre [at Wikidata] (1880–1882). Essai de bibliographie oratorienne: suivi du supplément [Essay on Oratorian Bibliography: Followed by the Supplement]. Retrieved February 24, 2025. OCLC 1675791.

• Lamy, Bernard. Apparatus Biblicus, sive Manuductio ad Sacram Scripturam, tum clarius, tum facilius intelligendam [Biblical Apparatus, or A Guide to the Holy Scriptures, for a Clearer and Easier Understanding] (in Latin).

• Lamy, Bernard (1723). Apparatus Biblicus: Or; An Introduction to the Holy Scriptures. In Three Books:Book I. Of the Origin, History, and Antiquities of the JewsBook II. Of the Canon, Authors, Original Texts, Versions, Editions and Interpretations of the Scriptures. Book III. Of the False Gods, Animals, Precious Stones, Diseases, and Publick Sports Mentioned in the Scripture. Together With the Explanation of Scripture Names, andA New Method of Reading the Scriptures,Done Into English From the French, With Notes and Additions. Illustrated with thirty copper-plates. Translated by Bernard Lamy (1640–1715). London: Printed by S[amuel] Palmer. Retrieved February 24, 2025.

• Vigouroux, Fulcran Grégoire, ed. (1891–1912). "Regnier" (the entry), in Dictionnaire de la Bible: contenant tous les noms de personnes, de lieux, de plantes, d'animaux mentionnés dans les saintes Écritures, les questions théologiques, archéologiques, scientifiques, critiques relatives à l'Ancien et au Nouveau Testament et des notices sur les commentateurs anciens et modernes [Dictionary of the Bible: Containing All the Names of Persons, Places, Plants, and Animals Mentioned in the Holy Scriptures, Theological, Archaeological, Scientific, and Critical Questions Related to the Old and New Testament, and Entries on Ancient and Modern Commentators] (5 Vols.). Edited by Vigouroux, Priest of Saint-Sulpice, with the collaboration of a large number of contributors. Retrieved February 24, 2025. OCLC 1483937190 (all editions).

External links

• O'Connor, John J; Robertson, Edmund F., "Bernard Lamy", MacTutor History of Mathematics Archive, University of St Andrews. OCLC 44242960.