RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Clarke
Claudianus Mamertus
the Way in which Men first Acquired their Knowledge of God and Religion (1836); Essay on Baptism (1843); The Grievances of our Mercantile Seamen (1845).
Bibliography: T. Taylor, Biographical Sketch of Thomas Clarkson London, 1839; J. Elmes, Thomas Clarkson, a itonogmph, ib. 1854; DNB, x. 454-456.
CLASS-MEETING: A part of the discipline of the Methodist Churches, whereby the members of a congregation are divided into sections or classes, over each of which is a class-leader, appointed by the pastor, whose duty it is (according to the Book of Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, pt. i., chap, ii., § 1): "I- To see each person in his class 'once a week at least; in order (1) To inquire how their souls prosper. (2) To advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort, as occasion may require. (3) To receive what they are willing to give toward the reUef of the preachers, church, and poor. II. To meet the ministers and the stewards of the society once a week; in order (1) To inform the minister of any that are sick, or of any that walk disorderly; and will not be reproved. (2) To pay the stewards what they have received of their several classes in the week preceding." The class-meeting is said to have arisen accidentally in 1742 in connection with a plan to pay off the church debt contracted by building the edifice at Bristol. The members were divided into sections of twelve, and one of each section was appointed to call regularly every week upon the others of his section to receive their contributions. They soon began to report delinquencies in conduct on the part of those whom they visited, and the possibilities of the plan in providing a means of discipline for the congregations was at once apparent to Wesley. He introduced the plan in London, and it became a distinctive feature of Methodism. At first the leaders called personally upon each member at his own house; but this was found inconvenient and a common meeting-place was appointed. The leader began and ended each meeting with singing and prayer, and about an hour was spent in conversation.
Biblioghaphy: L. Tyerman, Life of John Wesley, vol. i.,pp. 377-380, London, 1876.
CLAUDE, JEAN: A French Calvinist preacher and controversialist; b. at Sauvetat-du-Dropt, in the department of Lot-et-Garonne, 1619; d. at The Hague Jan. 13, 1687. He studied theology at Montauban, and was ordained in 1645. He held charges at La Treisse and St. Affrique, but became pastor at Nimes in 1654. Here he lectured before the Academy in 1656 on homiletics and practical exegesis. In 1661 he presided over the provincial synod held at Nimes, and opposed so vehemently a project of reunion with the Roman Catholic Church brought forward by the Prince de Conti, governor of Languedoc, that he was inhibited from preaching in the province. In October, 1661, he went to Paris, called by Countess Turenne, in order to refute a treatise by Nicole who sought to show that transubstantiation had always been held in the Church. In 1662 he was appointed professor and pastor at Montauban. When the government forbade his preaching here also, he returned to Paris, and was in 1666 called as pastor III— 9
of the Protestants to the capital by the consistory of Charenton. In 1668 and 1669 he took part in the celebrated controversy with the Jesuit Nouet and the Jansenist Arnauld on the mass; and in 1678, on the invitation of Mile, de Duras, he had a discussion with Bossuet in her presence, which, however, resulted in her conversion to Bossuet's faith. On the revocation of the Edict of Nantes he retired to The Hague. He was an eloquent preacher and one of the most profound thinkers of his day. Among his works are: Reponse aux deux traites de Nicole, sur la perpetuite de la foi (Charenton, 1665); Relation succincte de I'etat oil sont maintenant les eglises reformees de France (1666); Traite de VEucharistie (Amsterdam, 1668); Reponse au livre de M. Arnauld " De la perpetuite de la foi" (Quevilly, 1670); La defense de la Reformation contre le livre intitule " Prejuges legitimes contre les Calvinistes" (Quevilly, 1673; Eng. transl., by J. Townsend, A Defence of the Reformation, 2 vols., London, 1815); Traite de la lecture des Peres et la justification (Amsterdam, 1685); Les plaintes des Protestants cruellement opprimes dans le royaume de France (Cologne, 1686; Eng. transl.. An Account of the Persecutions of the Protestants in France,
London, 1686). Certain posthumous writings were published at Amsterdam in 1688 and 1689, and selections were translated into English; some have proved very popular, e.g.. On the Composition of a Sermon (latest ed., London, 1853).
G. Bonet-Maury.
Bibliography: [Devfese, A. E. de la], Abrege de la vie de M. Claude, Amsterdam, 1687; E. and E. Haag, La France protestante, ed. H. L. Bordier, Paris, 1877-86; Lichtenberger, ESR, iii. 195-199, Paris, 1878.
CLAUDIANUS MAMERTUS: Viennese philosopher and theologian; b. at or near Lyons c. 425; d. at Vienna between 470 and 474. His brother Mamertus, before 462 bishop of Vierma, called him there as a presbyter. He devoted himself to church music and appears to have compiled a lectionary. ApoUinaris Sidonius celebrated the industry of the two brothers (in Epistolce, iv. 11). The hymns ascribed to him are by other authors. His letter to Sapaudus (Engelbrecht, Untersuchungen iiber die Sprache des Claudianus Mamertus, p. 203, Vienna, ] 885), in which he laments the decay of the sciences, has historical value. About 470 he wrote his main work,De statu animo'., in which he showed acquaintance with Jerome and dependence upon Augustine. Of the Greek Fathers he cites only Gregory Nazianzen; he was unacquainted with the work of Nemisius of Emesa, " On the Nature of Man." Plato was to him king of philosophers, though Plotinus's Enneads influenced him greatly; in the use of the categories of Aristotle, he was a forerunner of the Schoolmen. His work is used by Cassiodorus (MPL, Ixx. 1279). Berengar of Tours studied and valued it {MPL, clxxviii. 1869), and Nicolas, secretary to Bernard of Clairvaux, gave him and it the highest praise {MPL, ccii. 499 C.). He was one of the most consistent and positive champions of the dualism of soul and body, against the naturalistic conception of the soul as a mere product or " harmony " of the body, held by such
Claudius Clemen