PERRAUD (Adolphe Louis Albert) - Lot 134

PERRAUD (Adolphe Louis Albert) Lyon, February 7, 1828 - Autun, February 10, 1906. Oratorian, bishop of Autun, cardinal and ecclesiastical historian. Long and important L.A.S. "† Adolphe, évêque d'Autun", Autun, March 18, 1875; 10 pages in-8 on embossed paper with his coat of arms. A very interesting doctrinal and pastoral letter addressed to a correspondent beset by religious and intellectual difficulties, dealing mainly with religious tolerance, exegesis of the Gospels, civil marriage and the relationship between Church and State in modern society. Perraud began by recommending that his correspondent read Abbé Pereyve's Entretiens sur l'Église catholique, a work to which he attributed "a satisfactory answer" to questions concerning tolerance and freedom of conscience. He then turns to the difficulties raised by certain Gospel passages, and warns against the excesses of German rationalist exegesis: "the system of exegesis would be most dangerous" ; He criticizes a method that tends to "remove all supernatural character from the Gospel accounts". The prelate insists on the moral and doctrinal superiority of Christianity: "the Christian and supernatural explanation of the Gospel, of Jesus Christ, of the Church [...] is the most plausible". A lengthy essay on Christian marriage and the distinction between civil contract and sacrament. Perraud vigorously affirms traditional Catholic doctrine: "Jesus Christ raised marriage to the dignity of a sacrament" ; and explicitly condemns purely civil marriage, which he describes as "legal concubinage". A very interesting reflection on the respective competences of Church and State: the State can regulate the civil consequences of marriage, but cannot arrogate to itself the right to modify the sacramental institution: "The State's claim to impose its theory is and must be rejected". The letter closes with a spiritual exhortation to his correspondent, inviting him to rise above theoretical difficulties to achieve "this fullness of Christian life". A very fine, doctrinally dense set, particularly representative of religious and political debates in French Catholicism in the early years of the Third Republic. Very good condition.