A Philosophical Commentary on These Words of the Gospel, Luke XIV. 23. Compel Them to Come in, That My House May be Full. In Four Parts.  (2 volume set)

Pierre Bayle

London: J. Darby, and sold by J. Morphew, 1704

2 volume set. First English edition of Commentaire Philosophique. Collated: iv, [36], 365 [i.e. 364, 2], 369-774, [2] pages. Contemporary calf leather. Gilt spine. Split down spine of volume 1. Restoration to hinges and head and tails of spines. Page ends speckled red. Perforated stamp and stamp of Meadville Theological School on the title pages.  A few stray pencil marks. BMC II, 631.148

Contents: In four parts. I. Containing a Refutation of the Literal Sense of this Passage. II. An Answer to all Objections. III. Remarks on those Letters of St. Austin which are usually alledg'd for the compelling of Hereticks, and particularly to justify the late Persecution in France. IV. A Supplement, proving, That Hereticks have as much Right to persecute the Orthodox, as the Orthodox them.

Pierre Bayle (1647-1706) was an important Huguenot scholar who fled from French religious intolerance to Geneva and Holland. Best known for his Historical and Critical Dictionary (Dictionnaire historique) and his Philosophical Commentary (Commentaire Philosophique), Bayle's work influenced and advanced enlightenment thought of the 18th century.  Bayle's influence can be seen in the works of Diderot, Locke, Leibniz, Kant, Hume, Berkeley, among others.  Bayle's work combined biography, history, literary criticism, theology, in addition to philosophical treatments of toleration, the problem of evil, epistemological questions, etc.  Bayle's extensive commentary propelled his reader's interest. (Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy)  Bayle's Commentary was written in the context of the 1685 revocation of the Edict of Nantes and the massacre and persecution of the Protestants in France.  Bayle attempts to show that there is a biblical argument for toleration of heretics and considers the history of toleration and persecution of heresy and orthodoxy. Provenance: Bookplate and pencil signature of William Kerrian.