Christian Grosse

Praying against the Enemy: Imprecatory Prayer and Reformed Identity from the Reformation to the Early Enlightenment

Contrary to the rule of charity but having some biblical basis, imprecatory prayer and the practice of asking God to act against enemies has always been controversial. In sixteenth-century confessional conflicts, however, any reluctance to use such prayers faded. During the Wars of Religion, the first theological justifications appeared and cursing prayers were provided to worshipers. Alongside other practices, these prayers shaped the collective identity of the French-speaking Reformed people. They clearly discriminated the faithful from God’s enemies, expressed the hope that divine providence would act against these enemies, and led people to identify their fate with that of Old Testament Hebrews. Yet from the end of the seventeenth century, such prayer was gradually rejected, above all by learned Reformed people who saw tolerance as a new characteristic feature of Reformed identity.

L'esthétique du chant dans la piété calviniste aux premiers temps de la Réforme (1536-1545)

Contrairement aux idees recues, l’esthetique assume bien une fonction dans les formes rituelles adoptees par les Eglises issues de la Reforme calviniste. Mais il revient moins a l’image, consideree avant tout comme une source de distraction, qu’a la musique de porter cette dimension dans la piete reformee. Retracant la formation de la pensee calvinienne sur la question des rapports entre culte et musique entre 1536 et 1543, cette etude montre comment le theologien en vient durant ces annees a considerer que le chant des psaumes permet de concilier dans la devotion, un processus cognitif, guide par le sens des paroles, et un mouvement affectif, suscite par la melodie. C’est, aux yeux de Calvin, de la jonction de ces deux dynamiques que nait l’elevation spirituelle a laquelle le culte doit conduire.