SIMON, RICHARD. - French biblical scholar, b. at Dieppe on 13 May 1638, d. there on 11 April 1712. In October 1659 he entered the Oratory, leaving it about a year later to return in 1662. For some time he taught at Juilly; he occupied himself with Oriental manuscripts in Paris (1665). In 1670 he was ordained a priest; but on 21 May he was expelled from the Oratory because of the strong opposition aroused against him on account of some of his books. S. withdrew first to Bolleville in Normandy, then, except for a brief period spent in Paris, to his native Dieppe.

Among his various works, some of which were published under pseudonyms, the most important are: Fides Ecclesiae orientalis seu Gabrielis Philadelphiensis opuscula (Paris 1671); Histoire critique du Vieux Testament (ibid. 1678), in which he limits the Mosaic authenticity of the Pentateuch to the legislative part, which in its present form would be due to Ezra: a work placed on the Index on 1 Dec. 1682; Histoire critique du texte du Nouveau Testament (Amsterdam 1689); Histoire critique des versions du Nouveau Testament (Rotterdam 1690; placed on the Index together with the preceding on 22 Sept. 1693); Histoire critique des principaux commentateurs du Nouveau Testament (ibid. 1693); Nouvelles observations sur le texte et les versions du Nouveau Testament (Paris 1695).

Much more a philologist than a theologian, S. is considered among the pioneers of biblical criticism. Many of his observations are now regarded with admiration; but in his time the boldness of certain assertions could not fail to be deemed revolutionary. For this reason he was the object of bitter polemics, also because of his violent temperament, on the part of Catholics and Protestants. Among the rationalists some (e.g., J. S. Semler) exalted him with enthusiasm, while others did not spare him criticism. Among Catholics Bossuet showed himself very harsh, composing among other things against S. the Défense de la tradition et des saints Pères (published only in 1763): but if the great orator appears a good theologian, he is not always equally successful in the examination of scriptural and patristic texts.

Bibliography8 works

BIBL.: A. Ingold, s. v. in DB, V, coll. 1743-46; Hurter, V, coll. 779-91; F. Stummer, Die Bedeutung R. Simon für die Pentateuchkritik, Münster 1912; id., s. v. in LThK, IX, coll. 579-580; P. Auvrai, Autour de R.S., in Oratorium, 4 (1934), pp. 198-205; P. Hazard, R. S. et l'exégèse biblique, in La crise de la conscience européenne (1680-1713), I, Paris 1935, pp. 240-62; R. Deville, R. S., critique catholique du Pentateucque, in Nouvelle revue théologique, 83 (1951), pp. 723-39; A. Molien, s. v. in DThC, XIV, coll. 2094-2118.

Angelo Penna

@incollection{ec11_simon_richard, author = {Penna, Angelo}, title = {Simon, richard}, booktitle = {Enciclopedia Cattolica}, volume = {XI}, pages = {631--632}, note = {Cited by column}, publisher = {Ente per l’Enciclopedia Cattolica e per il Libro Cattolico}, address = {Città del Vaticano}, year = {1953}, url = {https://azioneromana.com/article/simon-richard} }

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Simon, Richard

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