Monod, Frederic, D.D., brother of the above, and, like him, celebrated for his great attainments as a
after this he himself liegan to speak to them, teaching .
them, and bearing testimony to the Word of God. Never \ divine, was born at Monnaz, Canton de A and, ;>witzer- were his words so impressive as just before his death, \ land, iSIay 17, 171)4. He entered the "li'n^'fry in 1820, occurring April 0, 1856, which was Sunday, while in all the churches of Paris prayers were ascending to the throne of (iod for his recovery, the Protestant Church of Franco fairly treiiibliiig under the great loss that was iicfaUing it.
iSIonod was iiossessed of more than ordinary
A<l..lpl
ntcHigcnce, a kind, sympathizing heart, and a lofty im- igination. He had allied to these a great taste for the leautiful, and a mind aspiring after Christian perfection His knowledge of the German, English
and was a pastor of the Reformed Church in Paris until 1849. In 1824 he began the publication of the Ar- chives du Christiaiilime, a leading organ of the evangel- ical portion of French Protestantism, and he remained its editor while he lived. At the time of the French Revolution, in 1848, Frederic Monod was the leader of a movement which resulted in the establishment of the union of free evangelical churches. The original intention of the movement was to restore the synodical constitution of the Reformed State Church, and to re-
and Italian languages supi)lied him with the treasures 1 adoi)t a rule of faith which would exclude the Rational- ists. When this attempt failed, Monod, count de (ias- ])arin, and some of their friends, left the state Church (1849) and organized indepemlent congregations, which soon after formed the "Union of Evangelical Free Churches." See Fuanck. !Monod was- constantly re- elected j)resident of the different synods, and always re- mained one of the leading spirits of this new dcnouiina-
of the literatures of those nations, which he esteemed very much. Concerning his theological knowledge, his earlier studies might have been imperfect; but thisim- ])crf<ction was afterwards fully repaired, especially in the eleven years of his professorship. The Bible, which he daily read in the original languages, was the foiui- taiu from which he drew most of his theological kiiowl-
MONOD
505
MONOGRAM
tion, which, although small in comparison with the two Protestant state churches (the Lutheran and the Re- formed), contains some of the best and most influential men of French Protestantism — as count de Gasparin, E. do Pressense, and pastor Fisch, who attended the last general session of the Evangelical Alliance held in New York City in 1873. The hope of bringing over the ma- jorit}' of the French Protestants to the evangelical free churches was not realized ; but the existence, spiritual- ity, and prosperity of the Free Church greatly strength- ened the evangelical party in the state Church, which has since steadily gained in influence, and appears to be at present in undisputed ascendency. (Comp. Zeit- schriftfur historkche T/ieoloffie [1851], No. III.) Mo- nod, like all the members of the free evangelical church- es, was an ardent admirer of American institutions. He, with his friends, pointed to the separation of Church and State as it exists here, and to the great amount of civil liberty which Americans are enjoying, as model institutions which the people of Europe, and especially of France, would do well to follow as much as lies in their power. The favoralile opinion which he had al- ways held of the United States was greath' strength- ened by a journey he made through this country about 1855. After the outbreak of the American rebellion, he showed himself one of the warmest European friends of the Northern cause. He took a prominent part in all the demonstrations which the Protestant clergy made in favor of the Union, and in which they manifested a greater unanimity than the Protestant clergy of any other country in the world. Monod was himself one of the originators of the address — signed by the great majority of Protestant French ministers, and objected to by not a single one — in which Protestant France, through her clergy, recorded her opinion that " the tri- umph of the rebellion would throw back for a century the progress of Christian civilization and of humanity, would cause angels in heaven to weep, and would re- joice dtemons in hell; would throughout the world probably raise the hopes of the favorers of slavery and the slave-trade, quite ready to come forth at the first signal, in Asia, in Africa, and even in our refined cities of Europe ; would give a sad blow to the work of evan- gelical missions ; and what a terrible responsibility would it impose upon the Church which should remain mute while witnessing the accomplishment of this tri- umph." The address is noted for the change of opinion it wrought, not only in France, but also in England. Frederic Monod died Dec. 30, 18G3, mourned not only by his own country, but by the Protestant world, which recognised in him a zealous champion of the evangelical cause the world over. He was so busy with his pen for all humanity that he found but little time for extensive composition. Most of his writings are embodied in the Archives which he edited. He published, besides, a few pamphlets and several of his sermons. See A rchives du Christianisme, Jan. 1864 ; and Dr. M'Clintock in the N. Y. Methodist, Jan. 30, 18G1. (J. H. W.)