Introduction

chapter 1 Introduction On November 3, 1687 the citizens of Geneva sat in silence listening as their beloved professor of theology, Bénédict Pictet told the life story of his uncle, the “blessed one” Francis Turretin. A little over a month earlier, Turretin, going about his daily activities, had fallen gravely ill. The ailment was sudden. Tur- retin had dealt with regular afflictions in the latter part of his life— gout and various stomach issues— but this was something beyond the routine. Earlier that same day in late September, Turretin had returned correspondence with other important European ministers and theologians, including John Henry Heidegger (1633– 98) of Zurich and the “hammer of the heretics” Pierre Jurieu (1637– 1713) of Rotterdam. Turretin then went about his daily habit for the last thirty years: the work of the Church in Geneva. As a member of the Consistory and the Company of Pastors, as well as professor of theology and former Rec- tor of the Protestant Academy in Geneva, Turretin was well known and well regarded. In the midst of this habitus Turretin felt a strange sickness fall upon him, so strange that he immediately called the physicians of Geneva to his bed- side. Very soon after, it was decided that nothing could be done, and Francis Turretin— the blessed one— died surrounded by friends and family.1 When his nephew Bénédict stood to give his uncle’s eulogy it is difficult to tell whether he knew that an era had come to an end. The Reformed tradition in Geneva, those Christians convinced by the evangelical fervor of John Calvin, Theodore Beza, and Antoine de la Faye, were at a crossroads. Those in attendance at Turretin’s funeral give us a clear case- study of this conun- drum. Bénédict Pictet would become Turretin’s “high orthodox” successor, but also in the audience were Louis Tronchin (1629–1705) and Philippe Mestrezat (1618– 90), two ministers and theologians in Geneva who espoused what was known as “hypothetical universalism,” a theology that, at times, was less con- fessional than its predecessors.2 Turretin’s own son Jean- Alphonse, in his ear- ly teens when his father died, would help lead the city away from the legacy 1 This story comes to us from Pictet’s funeral ortation found in James T. Dennison (ed), The Institutes of Elenctic Theology, iii 659– 76. 2 This is, indeed, the conclusion of McNutt in Calvin Meets Voltaire: The Clergy of Geneva in the Age of the Enlightenment, 1685– 1798 (Farnham, 2013), though the overall supposition that Geneva descended into “deism” after Francis Turretin’s life is strongly contested in her important work. © Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, 2020 | DOI:10.1163/9789004348011_002 2 Chapter 1 of his father. Indeed, in the world of increased oligarchy in civil and ecclesial governments, the Reformed tradition’s identity was up-for- grabs. The death of Turretin signaled a significant turning-point and the end of the bridge that traversed the gap between the Reformation and the eventual Englightenment. The life and legacy of Francis Turretin (1623–87) himself has, however, been largely overlooked in the history of Christianity, and in particular in accounts of the development of Protestantism and what it means to be “Reformed.” Compared to first and second generation reformers, very little work has been done on this crucial period. Though Turretin is but one theologian in a varie- gated sea of Protestant and Catholic writers, his life, writings, and theology give the researcher ample evidence about how this tradition developed, and how it understood itself during the seventeenth century and beyond. Turretin is a prime candidate for an updated and thoroughly sourced biography, a goal that this work seeks to accomplish. In terms of the broad outline of Turretin’s life we know a fair amount. Tur- retin was born in Geneva in 1623 to Bénédict and Louise Micheli Turrettini. He was the middle of seven children and he showed promise from a young age. His family moved to Geneva in the late sixteenth century after his grandfather, Francesco, was converted to Protestantism by the preaching of Peter Martyr Vermigli in Italy. Francesco feared for his life after the Inquisition was sent to his hometown of Lucca and he fled.3 The Turrettini family was already, therefore, Protestant by the time of Francis’ grandfather. Francis was educated throughout Europe, spending time studying in Geneva, Leiden, Utrecht, Paris, Saumur, Montauban, and Nîmes. During his studies, he learned from a variety of scholars including Pierre Gassendi (1592– 1655), a Roman Catholic scholar in Paris, and Moses Amyraut (1596–1644), a strong proponent of “hypothetical universalism,” at Saumur. Turretin was exposed, therefore, to a wide variety of theological ideas during his time as a student. In 1649 Turretin took up the call as the minister to the Italian church in Geneva, thus beginning his journey as a preacher of the word.4 Turretin’s time in Geneva as minister and theologian was marked by theological disputation. In 1634 Amyraut published his “Brief Treatise on Predesta- tion and the Principals on which it depends” which detailed his views on “hypothetical universalism.” In 1653 Turretin took on the chair of theology at the Geneva Academy setting himself up to be the leader in Reformed orthodoxy in contrast to Amyraut, Arminianism, Anabaptism, and Roman Catholicism. In 3 Dennison, “Life and Career,” iii p. 640. 4 Ibid., iii p. 643..

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