RELIGIOUS ENCYCLOPEDIA
Councils and Synods Court
superstitions of the Church. His works were Dissertation sur la validite des ordinations des Anglois et sur la succession des evcques de I'eglise anglicane (Brussels, 1723; Eng. transl., by D. Williams, London, 1725 and 1728; revised and corrected, with an account of the author and his works, notes, etc. Oxford, 1844); Defense de la dissertation sur la validite des ordinations des Anglois (2 vols., Brussels, 1726; Eng. transl., 1728); Relation historique et apologetique des sentiments et de la conduite du P. Le Courayer (2 vols., Amsterdam, 1729); Supplement aux deux ouvrages fails four la defense de la validite des ordinations anglicanes (Amsterdam, 1732); Examen des defauts theologiques ou Von indique les raoyens de les reformer (1744); Declarations de mes derniers sentiments sur les differens dogmes de la religion (London, 1787; Eng. transl., 1787).
COURCELLES, cur"sel' {Curcellmus) , ETIENNE DE: Arminian; b. at Geneva May 2, 1586; d. in Amsterdam May 22, 1659. He studied theology under Calvin and Beza, and in Heidelberg, and was appointed pastor at Bois-le-Roi, near Fontainebleau, in 1614. In 1621 he became pastor at Amiens; but, having refused to subscribe the decrees of the SyL. i of Dort, he was deposed. He afterward gave a qualified assent, and was appointed pastor at Vitry, but gave up this position in 1634, went to Amsterdam, and became (1637) Episcopius' successor as professor of theology in the Remonstrants' College. He studied particularly the Greek text of the New Testament, and published an edition of it with many variant readings (Amsterdam, 1658). He published also a V indicia Arminii (1645); Defensio Blondelli (1657); Dissertationes (1659); all of which, with others of his writings, appeared in a collected edition of his works at Amsterdam, 1675.
COURT, cur, ANTOINE: 1. Reorganizer of the Reformed Church in France; b. at Villeneuve de Berg (50 m. n. of Nimes) Mar. 17, 1696; d. at Lausanne June 12, 1760. He determined at an Barly age to become a Protestant minister, and wandered throughout Vivarais with an itinerant preacher, delivering sermons and becoming still more firmly convinced of his calling. In 1714-15, defying the rigid laws promulgated against Protestantism by Louis XIV., he undertook his first tour, which comprised Cevennes, Languedoc, and Dauphine. On Mar. 8, 1716, an edict of the king declared Protestantism non-existent' in France, but on Aug. 21 of the same year Court Labors in convened the " first synod " in an Organizing abandoned quarry at Monoblet (De- Church of partment of Card). There certain Desert, plans of organization were dra-ftii up, elders were chosen, the Bible was declared to be the only rule of faith and doctrine, women were forbidden to preach, and an earnest warmng was made against "revelations." The resolutions were disseminated in writing, and the work of propaganda was actively carried on, while Court, who held a second synod in the following year, was unceasing in his sermons and efforts to obtam religious books forbidden by the author-
ities. On Nov. 21, 1718, he was ordained minister by the laying on of hands by Pierre Carriers (commonly known under the name of Corteis), and now made provision for the training of young preachers, although the administration of the sacrament and the laying on of hands were restricted to the ordained ministers. The organization thus effected was termed " the Church of the Desert " (with reference to Rev. xii. 6), and was characterized by vigorous opposition to Roman Catholicism.
The hostility manifested by Louis XIV. to the Reformed worship was continued by the regency after his death, and its observance was sternly punished. In 1719 it was rumored that the Spanish minister Alberoni intended to call the Protestants of Languedoc and Poitou to arms, and the regency, in its fear of a second Camisard revolt, entered into correspondence with Court Successful as well as with Benedict Pictet and Leadership. Benjamin Basnage, urging them to admonish their coreligionists of their obedience. Basnage responded, but denied that the Protestants had the right to hold services publicly. He was answered by Court in his Reponse des pasteurs du desert a I'instruction pastorale de Basnage, but the latter's hope of securing greater leniency for the Protestants was disappointed. In 1720 he visited Geneva, where he sought to win the leaders of Swiss Protestantism to his side, and at the same time entered into correspondence with William Wake, archbishop of Canterbury. Returning in Aug., 1722, he found his church in a flourishing condition, but a decree of May 14, 1724, renewed all the restrictions placed upon Protestantism. The Reformed, however, persisted in their course, and on May 16, 1726, a general synod was held in a small valley of Vivarais. The organization prevailing in Languedoc was adopted, synods were required at regular intervals, and definite parishes were assigned the clergy. A document of the latter half of 1728 gives the number of Reformed in Languedoc and Dauphine at 200,000 (which is probably too high). Languedoc, together with Rouergue and Vivarais, contained 120 parishes, three synods, sixteen conferences, four ministers, and eighteen candidates, and this organization was maintained in the face of the utmost difhculty and danger. Until 1729 Court shared this life of toil, acting not only as pastor but as leader of the entire movement, in addition to maintaining an enormous correspondence, instructing candidates for the ministry, convening synods, preparing memorials for the king, and collecting documents for a history of his church. In September of that year he resolved to leave France, and accordingly went to Lausanne, where for three years French students had been trained for the ministry in their native country. Under his supervision, although he occupied no fixed position in it, the seniinary steadily increased in numbers and efficiency. Meanwhile a schism arose which divided the church of Languedoc into two camps, and on June 2, 1744, Court left Geneva and hastened to France. There he quickly restored harmony and was chosen general deputy in place of Duplan by the national
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