Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 11.djvu/812

 PETER

744

PETER

St. Epiphaniiis in two volumes (1622; new ed., 1G32), which liafi boon unilortakon at tlie advice of Jacqiies Gretser, 8. J., and was oiiginally inton(l(Ml iHil.y as a re- vise<l translation of Janus Cornaiius. In lt)22 and 1023 appeare<l the " Mastigophorcs", tluco pum- phlets, and the notes dealing with Sauiuaisc's " Tcrtul- lian", a bitter polemical work. Among his previous writings, Pelau had inserted some masterly disserta- tions on chronology; in 127 he brought out his " I)e doctrina teniporum", and later the "Tabula' chrono- logize" (1(528, Ui29, W.i:i. 1657), It surpassed Scali- ger's "Do Emendatione temporum" (Paris, 1583), and prepare<l the groimd for the works of the Benedic- tines. A summary of it appeared in 1633 (1635, 1641, etc.) under the title of "Hationarium temporum", of which numerous reprints and translations into French, English, and Italian have been made. About the same time (1636-44) ajipeared poetical works in (ireek and in Latin and ilissertations (often of a polemical nature) against Grotius, Saumaise, Arnauld, etc. His paraphrase of the Psalms in Greek verse was dedicated to Urban VIII (in 1637). Finally there appeared in 1643 the first three volumes of the " Dogmata theolo- gica" (dated 1644); the fourth and fifth volumes were published in 1650. The work was incomplete at the death of the author, and, despite several attempts, was never continued. Numerous editions of the "Dogmata theologica" have been published, includ- ing that by the Calvinist Jean le Clerc (Clericus, alias Theophile Alethinus), published in Antwerp (Amster- dam) in 1700; the last edition was brought out in eight volumes by J. B. Fournials (Paris, 1866-8). In 1757 F. A. Zaccaria, S. J., republished the work in Venice with notes, dissertations, etc.; in 1857 Passa- gha and Schrader undertook a similar work, but they produced only the first volume. His letters, "Episto- larum libri tres", were pubhshed after his death; though far from being complete, they give an idea of his close acquaintance with the most famous men in France, Holland, Italy, etc.; they also furnish valuable information on the composition of his works and his method.

The reputation P6tau enjoyed during his lifetime was especially due to his work on chronology; numer- ous eulogies were pronounced on him by his contem- poraries, such as Huet, Valois, Grotius, Isaac Voss, F. Clericus, Noris, etc. His chronological work has long since been surpassed, and a list of errors — inevitable at the period — could be drawn up even in the case of this man who boasted that he counted no less than eight thousand mistakes in the " Annals " of Baronius. But the great glory, which in the eyes of posterity surround the name of Petau, is due to his patristic works and his importance in the history of dogma. With good rea- son he may be styled the " Father of the History of Dogma". The success of his work in this sphere was slow to make itself felt — it brought on the author ac- cusations even from within his order — but it was highly esteemed by his pupils and far-seeing friends (e. g., H. Valois, Huet, etc.).

To form an opinion of Petau's work it is necessary to go back to the period in which he wrote. It is far from being perfect and his criticism is more than once at fault. But his merit increases in spite of his short- comings, when it is remembered that he had at hand only very imperfect editions of the Fathers, all inferior to the great masterpieces of the Benedictines; that many of the known texts only existed in translations, or in late and poorly studied manuscripts; that his pred- eces.sors in this line were few and practically every- thing hati to be created. What he wanted had already been outlined by Melchior Cano in his work " De locis theologicis". Here we pass from theory to practice and we find a master at once. The originality of Pa- tau's work has been questioned; it may have been in- spired, it is said, by a similar treatise of Oregius (d. 1635), as Zockler maintains, or by the "Confessio

catholica" of John Gerhard (d. 1027), ns conjectured by Eckstein. But the "Confessio cathohca" has a quite different aim, as is stated on the very first page; whole treatises, as for instance that on Christ, have but scanty quotations from three or four Fathers of the {.'hin'ch, and present nothing similar to the long historical developments of the sixteen books " l)c In- carnatione Verbi" of Petau. The relationship with Cardinal Aug. Oregius, which rests solely on a conver- .sation of a religious of the Minims of Dijon related in the "Voyage litteraire de deux IV'Uedictins" (Pari.s, 1717, p. 147), has been examined in detail and com- pletely disposed of by F. Oudin, S. J., in the "M6- moires de Tr^voux" (July, 1718, pp. 109-33).

The state of religious strife dtiring the days suc- ceeding the Council of Trent tlrew all minds towards the primitive ages of the Church concerning which cer- tain ancient documents were being discovered, while the excessive subtlety of many Scholastics of the de- cadence instigated a return towards positive sources. Petau was no doubt inspired by the same ideas, but the execution of the work is completely his own. His aim and purpose are set forth by his dedicatory letter to the General of the Jesuits (Epist., Ill, liv), and in several parts of his "Prolegomena" (ef. I, i). His method reveals all the resources which the sciences of history and philosophy have furnished to the theo- logians. He declares his opinion with full liberty as, e. g., concerning the opinion of St. Augustine on the problem of predestination, or the ideas on the Trinity of the ante-Nieene writers. Even for those who do not follow his historical plan the work has furnished a copious supply of documents; for theologians it has been a store of patristic arguments. We may here add that Petau, like Cano, took the gieatest pains with his literary style. He exaggerates the faults of Scholas- ticism^ but on the other hand he drfciicls it against the accusations of Erasmus. We still find the controver- sialist in the author of the "Dogmata" ; after giving the history of each dogma, he adds the refutation of new errors. In his polemical writings his style was bitter; here and there he is more gentle, as when engaged in discussions with Grotius, who was drawing near the Catholic Faith. The memory of Petau was celebrated the clay after his death by Henri Valois, one of his best pupils, and by L. AUatius in a Greek poem composed at the request of Cardinal Barberini.

OuDiN, Denis Petau in Niceron. M&moires pour servir A I'kist. des hommes illustres, XXXVII (1737), 81, and in Memtnres de Trecoux (July, 1718);Godet and Tohmel, Revue du clergi fran- cais, XXIX (1902). 161. 372. 449; Chatellain, Le Pire Denis Petau d' Orleans (1884); Stanonik. Dionysius Petavius (Graz, 1876); SoMMERVOQEL, Bibl. des icrii: S. J., VI (1896); KuHN, Ehrenrettung des D. Petavius u. der kathol. Auffassung der Dog- mengesch. in Tubinger Iheolog. Quartalschrifl., XXXII (1850) 249, J. DE GhELLINCK.

Peter, Saint, Prince of the Apostles. — The life of St. Peter may be conveniently considered under the following heads: I. Until the Ascension of Christ; II. St. Peter in Jerusalem and Palestine after the Ascension; III. Missionary Journeys in the East; The Council of the Apostles; IV. Activity and Death in Rome; Burial-place; V. Feasts of St. Peter; VI. Representations of St. Peter.

I. Until the Ascension op Christ. — St. Peter's true and original name was Simon (Si/iwc), sometimes occurring in the form SuMfti* (Acts, xv, 14; II Pet., i, 1). He was the son of Jona (Johannes) and was born in Bethsaida (John, i, 42, 44), a town on Lake Genesareth, the position of which cannot be estab- lished with certaintv, although it is usually sought at the northern end of the lake. The Apostle Andrew- was his brother, and the Apostle Philip came from the same town. Simon settled in Capharnaum, where he was living with his mother-in-law in his own house (Matt., viii, 14; Luke, iv, 38) at the beginning of Christ's public ministry (about a. d. 26-28). Simon was thus married, and, according to Clement of