The system of Grotius was defended, to a certain extent, by Father Simôn, the oratorian, the father of the modern biblical school. Against both Simôn and Grotius, Bossuet wielded his powerful lance,-in his "Pastoral Instruction on the Works of Father Simôn," and his "Dissertations upon Grotius." In these works he says that, during thirty years,
"Grotius searched for truth in good faith, and at last was so near it, that it is wonderful that he did not take the last step, to which God called him. Shocked at Calvin's harsh doctrines, he embraced Arminianism; then, abandoned it. More a lawyer than a theologian, more a polite scholar than a philosopher, he throws the doctrine of the immortality of the soul into obscurity. He endeavours to weaken and steal from the church, her most powerful proofs of the divinity of the Son of God, and strives to darken the prophecies, which announce the arrival of the Messiah."
Bossuet proceeds to particularize some of the principal errors of Grotius: Le Clerc replied to the prelate's criticism, by his Sentimens de quelques Theologiens de la Hollande.-Grotius had also an able advocate in Father Simôn. His defence of Grotius against the charge of semi-Pelagianism, in the Bibliotheque de Sainjore,[[039]] appears to be satisfactory. He cites the note of Grotius, on the Acts of the Apostles, (the celebrated ch. xiii. ver. 38), in which he says expressly that he does not exclude preventive grace: this the semi-Pelagians denied altogether. But in his defence of Grotius against the charge of Socinianism, he is not equally successful. Bossuet sent his Pastoral Instruction, and Dissertations upon Grotius, to the bishop of Fréjus, afterward Cardinal de Fleury: he accompanied them by a letter, which closes with these remarkable words:
"The spirit of incredulity gains ground in the world every day: you have often heard me make this remark. It is now worse than ever, as the Gospel itself is used for the corruption of religion. I thank God that at my age he blesses me with sufficient strength to resist the torrent."
CHAP. X. 1621-1634.
Dom. Calmet[[040]] calls Grotius,
"one of the most able and moderate Protestant writers: one who spreads throughout his notes a pleasing profusion of profane literature, which causes his works to be sought for and read by those, who have taste for that kind of literature. His high reputation, great erudition, and rare modesty," says Dom. Calmet, "render it easy for him to insinuate his particular sentiments respecting the divinity of Christ, against which, his readers should be guarded."