L’athéisme au prisme des psaumes : étude comparée de quatre sermons réformés sur le psaume XIV au XVIIe siècle

Abstract

This article presents a comparative study of four sermons against atheism written by seventeenth-century Protestant ministers on Psalm 14.1: “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God”. Though belonging to different generations, the authors, Amyraut, Gaches, Morus and Superville, deal with the refutation of atheism in the same way: the choice of Psalm 14.1 to preach against atheism is by no means original, the arguments proving the existence of God are repeated from one text to another and the sermons do not broach any of the century’s political and theological issues. It is noteworthy, however, that Amyraut’s sermon introduces two arguments which were to have an important posterity after Pascal and Voltaire: the idea that one should wager that God exists and the conception of God as a clockmaker.

Keywords

• Amyraut
• Atheism
• bet of Pascal
• Charenton
• French Protestantism
• God Creator