Jacob Vernes

Jacob Vernes (31 May 1728 – 22 October 1791) was a Swiss theologian and Protestant pastor in Geneva, famous for his correspondence with Voltaire and Rousseau.

Vernes was born on 31 May 1728 in Geneva, and was educated as a pastor. 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. Vernes was pastor of Céligny (1761–1768) and of Grand-Saconnex (1768–1770). He became a pastor at Geneva in 1771. 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. 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. Vernes died on 22 October 1791.

Vernes collaborated with his friend Antoine-Jacques Roustan in writing a History of Geneva, which remained in manuscript form. 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". He was ambiguous on some subjects, for example writing that the Bible contained evidence both for and against the doctrine of eternal punishment. 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. 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.

Vernes became a close friend of Voltaire, who called him his "dear priest" and he often visited Voltaire at Ferney. To Voltaire, Vernes' Calvinism seemed no more than nominal. In December 1761 Voltaire sent him a copy of his "Sermon du rabbin Akib", a scathing attack on Christian persecution of the Jews. However, in his book Confidence Philosophique (1779), written as a novel, Vernes attacked Voltaire and the principles of Encyclopédistes.

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