ANTELMI, JOSEPH. - French theologian and ecclesiastical historian, b. at Fréjus in 1648, d. there in 1697. He earned a degree in theology at Lyon, was canon of the city’s cathedral, and vicar general to the bishop of Pamiers.
Works: *De initio ecclesiae Foroiulienis*: a product of his early research that confronted him with historical and theological questions he would develop in later works; *De veris operibus s. Patrum Leonis et Prosperi Aquitani*, Paris 1689. This work arose from a controversy with Quesnel concerning the history of Semipelagianism and the authorship of *De vocatione gentium* and other writings. The dispute expanded to include the Athanasian Creed, and Antelmi, on grounds of internal criticism, concluded that Athanasius could not be the author, favoring instead St. Vincent of Lérins in his *Nova de symbolo Athanasiano disquisitio*, Paris 1693.