PETAU (Petavius), DENYS. - Jesuit, theologian, and patrologist, b. at Orléans on 21 Aug. 1583, d. at Paris on 11 Dec. 1652. At the age of sixteen, having defended a dissertation in Greek, he became “Magister philosophiae,” and immediately turned to the study of theology at the Sorbonne, where, under the guidance of Isaac Casaubon, he delved deeply into patristic research. In 1603 he was professor and canon at Bourges; in 1605 he returned to Paris, entered the Society of Jesus, and, after ordination to the priesthood in 1610, from 1611 to 1621 he taught rhetoric in the colleges of Reims, La Flèche, and Paris; thereafter, from 1621 to 1644, he held the chair of positive theology in the Faculty of Theology.
His reputation for profound and wide-ranging learning led Philip IV to seek him for the Imperial College in Madrid and Urban VIII for Rome; but Louis XIII firmly opposed these moves, even intervening with the Pope to prevent Petau’s elevation to the cardinalate, for the poor father, upon learning of the dignity awaiting him, fell gravely ill, and the only remedy—as indeed happened—was to leave him in his humility.
His work, initially insufficiently recognized, embraced three fields: chronology, patristics, and theology with the history of dogmas. Among his principal writings are the following: in the field of chronology, he published De doctrina Temporum (2 vols., Paris 1627), which supplanted the De emendatione temporum of Scaliger, the sole authority recognized in his day, refuting it without reserve and laying the foundations of a universal chronology. The work is arranged in thirteen books covering events up to A.D. 533 (among other corrections, it rectifies some 8,000 inaccuracies found in the Annales of Baronius). Though the work was greeted with acclaim, Petau could not, of course, pronounce the final word on every date and event; yet he remains an audacious pioneer in the field, stimulating further progressive research. A summary of the work is the Rationarium temporum (ibid. 1633), which saw many reprints and translations. He also compiled chronological tables of the popes and emperors (ibid. 1628) and of the most celebrated families and cities (ibid. 1628; 4th ed. 1657).
In the field of patristics, he published the works of Synesius, Bishop of Cyrene (ibid. 1612; improved ed. 1640); the orations of Themistius (La Flèche 1603) and of the Emperor Julian (Paris 1614); the Breviarium historicum of Nicephorus (ibid. 1616); the complete works of St. Epiphanius (2 vols., ibid. 1622; appendix, ibid. 1624); noteworthy also is his Greek paraphrase of the Psalms of David, executed at the request of Urban VIII (ibid. 1637).
In the theological field and the history of dogmas, he left: Theologica dogmata (4 vols., Paris 1644–50), though this remained unfinished (it treats only De Deo uno, De Deo trino, De Deo creante, De Incarnatione) and went through numerous editions, including that of the Calvinist Jean Le Clerc (Amsterdam 1700) and that of Fr. F. A. Zaccaria (7 vols., Venice 1757), the latter rich in notes, defenses, and dissertations; a new edition was undertaken by Frs. C. Passaglia and C. Schrader, but it stopped at vol. I. The true merit and value of this work lie in having opened the way to a theology that is more restrained in its speculative aspects yet richer in historical and positive elements. Petau, who revived the teaching method inaugurated by Fr. Maldonatus and followed by Fr. Fronton du Duc, did not intend to supplant scholasticism—indeed, while lamenting its subtleties, its incorrectness, and its useless and captious distinctions, he defended it from the sarcasms and disdain that had become fashionable since Erasmus—but sought to furnish the study of dogmatics with what many scholastic theologians lacked, namely, the sources and first principles of doctrine, grounding it above all in scriptural exegesis and the study of patristic tradition. This was a surer means of repelling the attacks of adversaries against the Church’s current doctrine in the name of primitive tradition. Certain particular points—on penance in the early centuries, on the Trinitarian doctrine of the anti-Arian Fathers, on the sanctification of souls by the Holy Spirit—have given rise to misinterpretations or even opinions later abandoned by theologians (cf. Galtier, art. cit. in bibliography, cols. 1324–36), yet they also admit, almost always, a valid defense. It should also be noted that Petau sometimes used incorrect versions of the Fathers or manuscripts not yet critically edited; nonetheless, he remains the figure who decisively advanced the program of assigning to positive theology the place it truly deserved.
Among his other works, mention must also be made of: De potestate consecrandi et sacrificandi sacerdotibus a Deo concessa, deque communione usurpanda (ibid. 1639); De libero arbitrio (ibid. 1643); De la penitence publicque et de la préparation à la communion (ibid. 1644) (against the pamphlet of A. Arnauld: De la fréquente communion); Epistolarum libri tres (ibid. 1652), published after the author’s death, which offer insight into Petau’s relations with the most celebrated figures of his time, both French and foreign, and provide useful information on his works and method.