French Protestant theologian, born at Dieppe on the 4th of November 1826. After studying at Geneva and Strassburg, he became in 1849 pastor at Lunerai near Dieppe, and in 1851 of the Walloon Church at Rotterdam, where he remained until 1872. In 1880 he was made professor of the history of religions in the Collège de France at Paris. Six years later he was appointed president of the section of religious studies in the École des hautes études at the Sorbonne. He is one of the leaders of the French school of advanced critical theology. He died in Paris on the 25th of October 1906.
Works.—Besides contributing to the Revue de théologie (Paris), the Revue de l’histoire des religions (Paris), the Revue des deux mondes, the following works are important: Manuel d’histoire comparée de la philosophie et de la religion (1859; Eng. trans., 1864); Histoire du dogme de la divinité de Jésus Christ (1869; 3rd ed., 1904; Eng. trans., 1905); Prolegomènes de l’histoire des religions (1881; 4th ed., 1886; Eng. trans., 1884); Théodore Parker, sa vie et ses œuvres (1865; Eng. trans., 1865; 2nd ed., 1877); Lectures on the Origin and Growth of Religion as illustrated by the native religions of Mexico and Peru (the “Hibbert Lectures” for 1884); Jésus de Nazareth (1897; 12th ed., 1906).
His son, Jean Réville, was born on the 6th of November 1854, studied at Geneva, Paris, Berlin and Heidelberg, and became professor of patristic literature and secretary of the section of religious studies in the École des hautes études at the Sorbonne. In 1884 he became co-editor of the Revue de l’histoire des religions (Paris). He died in 1908.
His books include the following: La Doctrine du logos (1881); La Religion à Rome sous les Sévères (1886); Les Origines de l’épiscopat (1895); and Le Protestantisme libéral, ses origines, sa nature, sa mission (1903; Eng. trans., 1903).
