TEOFILANTROPISMO. –
I. HISTORY
A certain Chemin, a professor of Latin in Paris, published in 1796 a Manuel des théophilanthropiles, which fell into the hands of the celebrated Haüy (d. in 1822), the inventor of raised characters for the blind, who became enthusiastic about Chemin’s theory. On 5 Nivôse, Year V (25 December 1796), Chemin, Haüy, Moreau, Janes, and Mandar met at the hospice for the blind, directed by Haüy, and founded a religious society under the name Society of Theophilanthropists, with a group of adherents.In April 1797 they requested permission to hold their worship services in churches, which they claimed to share with the Catholics; they thus occupied 20 churches, including Notre-Dame. They founded schools, printed newspapers, and spread rapidly in the vicinity of Paris, at Montreuil, Choisy-le-Roi, Andrésy, Versailles, Fontainebleau, and farther afield, at Chantilly, Soissons, Château-Thierry, Nancy, Rodez, Le Havre, Châlons-sur-Marne, and Bourges. At Sens, a rite different from that of Paris was formed, in which it was ostentatiously claimed that an appeal was made to the Gospel. Outside France, a certain Siauve, a native of Paris, attempted to spread the new religion in Switzerland in August 1798; in Italy, a certain Gregory had a translation of Chemin’s Manuel printed in Turin in 1799; other translations of the same book were made into English and German. It does not seem, however, that the new worship met with success abroad. In France, by contrast, its diffusion among schoolteachers, professors, and men of science or letters was extremely rapid. Among the adherents were former priests, former Protestant pastors, and former members of the Convention. The best-known names in the theophilanthropic group are: Dupont de Nemours, a distinguished economist; Bernardin de St-Pierre, the celebrated author of Paul et Virginie; and Laréveillière-Lépeaux, who was a member of the Directory and, precisely by virtue of that office, gave the sect considerable support (although he has often, and mistakenly, been regarded as the inventor of t.). Numerous schisms occurred within the sect right from its beginnings; toward the end of 1799, it was in a state of complete decline. A decree of the consuls of 12 Vendémiaire, Year X (4 October 1801), denied the Theophilanthropists authorization to continue using the national buildings (Catholic churches), and on 11 Ventôse (2 March 1802), a decree of the prefect of police prohibited “the worship of the natural religion, called t.”.
II. DOCTRINE
The theophilanthropic doctrine is nothing other than deism, with a certain evangelical tint, insofar as it reduces morality to love of God and of one’s neighbor. This doctrine derived from Rousseau’s Vicaire Savoyard. For the theophilanthropists, the whole of dogma is summed up in two rational certainties: the existence of God and the immortality of the soul; belief in God rests on the spectacle of the universe, whereas belief in the life to come is founded on the sentiment arising from our faculty of thought, which is a principle foreign to matter and survives the dissolution of the body. “Adore God, love your fellow men, make yourselves useful to your country”: this was the obligatory theme of all the speakers at worship meetings, while the thesis was often repeated that all religions are good, provided that God is served properly.III. WORSHIP
The theophilanthropic temples had a very simple altar, on which flowers or fruit were placed, according to the season. Above the altar stood out the following inscription: «We believe in the existence of God and in the immortality of the soul». Other inscriptions on the walls recalled the principal duties. Facing the altar stood a pulpit or platform for the religious sermon. Worship began with a hymn; the children presented flowers or fruit. The president of the ceremony, a head of a family dressed in a celestial-blue tunic with a pink sash and a kind of white mantle, directed invocations, hymns, and readings; the hymns were taken from the works of Racine or J.-B. Rousseau (not to be confused with Jean-Jacques).At first, worship was held on the last day of the décades, and later on Sunday. Selected music was performed. The feasts of the Republic and those of celebrated men were observed: Hoche, Joubert, Socrates, J.-J. Rousseau, Washington, and also s. Vincenzo de' Paol