BERENICE
759
BERIAH
him for charging Scotus with heresy for his opinion that the bread and wine are not changed in substance by consecration in the Eucharist, and declared that in doing so he equally condemned Ambrose, Jerome, Au- gustine, and others of the fathers. This letter fell into the hands of Pope Leo IX, who convened a council at Rome in April, 1050, when Berenger was excommuni- cated. He was also, in this year, condemned in the synods of Brienne and Vercelli. In this last council, which was held in September, the books of Scotus were burned. In October in the same year he was synodically condemned, for the fourth time, at Paris. Berenger appears to have adhered to his views until 1055, when, being cited before a synod held at Tours, where Hildebrand acted as legate to Victor II, he signed a confession of faith, which, though not a com- plete retraction, was satisfactory to the prelates pres- ent, who according!}' received him into communion. He had not, however, changed his opinions, and still continued to defend in writing his real views, where- upon he was again cited before a council, held at Rome in 1059, where he again retracted, and signed a con- fession drawn up by Cardinal Humbertus. Upon his return into France he ag tin retracted his recantation, and published another work in defence of his original opinion. This work Lanfranc endeavored to answer, but without any effect so far as Berenger was con- cerned, who also, by letter, assured Pope Alexander II that his opinion was unalterable. Thus another synod was held against him at Rouen in 10G3, another at Poitiers in 1073, another at St. Maixent in 1075, an- other at Rome in 1078, where he confessed the doctrine of fcransubstantiation to save his life, but withdrew his confession as soon as he was safe in France. He died in communion with the Church in the island of Come, near Tours, January 5th, 1088, at the age of ninety. Berenger was greatly in advance of his age both in- tellectually and morally, though he had not physical to equal his moral courage. The injustice with which he was treated at Rome caused him to use the follow- ing language of Leo IX : "In him I found by no means a saint, by no means a lion of the tribe of Judah ; not even an upright man. To be declared a heretic by him I account as nothing." He styled the doctrine of transubstantiation an inepta vecordia vu'gi From his great reputation as a teacher, his views were wide- ly diffused, not only in France, but in other countries. Much light has been recently thrown upon the history and character of Berenger by the publication of Beren- garius Turonensis, oder tine Sammlung Urn lctrejf'<n<ler Briefe herausg. von Dr. H. Sudendorf (Berlin, 1850). This collection of his letters shows him as a worthy man, a loving Christian, and a man of tender and placable nature. It shows also that his learning em- braced a wide ran_;e : he was a most zealous student of the fathers, he practised medicine as a physician, and was much admired as an orator. It shows far- ther, what was not before known, that ho was in inti- mate relations with some of the foremost men in France ; and that, in particular, Godfrey of Anjou was his friend and protector. Wc also learn a great deal from this book of Gregory's conduct during his stay in France, ami find that a very general sympathy with Berenga- rius's views existed among the chief clergy of France and of the neighboring German border. Dr. Suden- dorf s historical explanations are both acute and thor- ough.—Neander, Ch. Hist, iii, 503-522; Mosheim, Ch. Hist, i, 285-291; Hagenbachj Hist ory of Doctrines, ii, 75-88; Landon, Eccl. Diet, ii, lbO.
Berenice. Sec Bernice.
Bergier, Nicolas Silvestre, D.D., was born at Darnaj', in Lorraine, December 81, 1718, and became successively euro of Flange-Bouche, in Franche-Comte, canon of Notre-Dame, Paris, and confessor to the king. He was one of the most formidable opponents of the modern philosophical spirit. In 1708 he published La
Certitude d?s Preuvcs du Ckristianisme, which passed through three editions in one year, and was translated into Italian and Spanish. Voltaire replied to it by his Conseils raisonables, and Bergier rejoined. Anu- charsis Cloots published, in opposition to the work of Bergier, his Certitude des Preuvcs de Makometisme. Bergier afterward published Le Deisme refute par lul~ meme (Paris, 17G5-66-68, 2 vols. 12mo, which contains an examination of the opinions of Rousseau) : — Apolo- gie de la Religion Chretienne (against d'Holbach : Paris, 17G9, 2 vols. 12mo): — Examen du Materialisme (Paris, 1771, 2 vols. 12mo): — Traite de la vraie Religion (Paris, last ed. 1854, 8 vols. 8vo): — VOrigine des d'eux dn Paganisme (Paris, 1774, 2 vols. 12mo). He also wrota for the Encylopedie his Dictionnaire de Theohgu (best ed. Paris, 1854, 6 vols. 8vo, edited by Archbishop Gous- set), to which the editors of this Cyclopaedia are much indebted. Bergier died April 19, 1790. His works above named are constantly appearing in new editions in Paris. — Hoefer, Biog. Gi>n. v, 515.
Bergius, Johannes, a Reformed theologian, was born at Stettin 1587, and studied at Heidelberg, Stras- burg, and Dantzic. In 1616 he was made professor of theology at Frankfurt-on-the-Oder. In theology he opposed Supralapsarian Calvinism, and declined to at- tend the Synod of Dort, whose cruel treatment of the Arminians he reprobated (see Limborch, Vita Epis- copii, p. 210). He taught "free grace" in his treatise In r WiUe Gottes v. aller Menschen Sel'gkrit (1653). He represented Brandenburg at the Leipsic Conference (1631) and at the Thorn Colloquium (1642). He died 1658. — Herzog, Real-Enct/klop. s. v.