François Puaux (1806-1895)
An active partisan of the Revival Movement
He was born in Vallons-Pont d’Arc (Ardèche) in 1806 and first he read Law at the Law School in Montpellier, then Theology in Montauban.
He carried out his ministry in Luneray, Rochefort, and Mulhouse. A very active partisan of the Revival Movement, he defended the evangelicals, never hesitating to enter into debates with the liberals. He wrote a number of pamphlets hostile Roman Catholicism. In his obituary in Le Temps he is described as “the last of the old time Huguenots……he liked fighting and would spontaneously go to it with the joy and the energy of a sniper. His weapons were of truly learning, but he had the gift of style, using popular images and spirited replies” (Il peut être considéré comme le dernier représentant du type d’huguenot d’autrefois… Il aimait la lutte, s’y portant spontanément avec l’allégresse et l’allure d’un franc-tireur. Les armes dont il se servait (…) n’étaient rien moins que savants, mais il avait le don du style, de l’image populaire, de la répartie brusque) (quoted by A. Encrevé, in Les Protestants).
His son Frank Jean Alexandre (1844-1922), a pastor and theologian, may be considered as the official historian of French Protestantism at the end of the 19th Century.
Associated notes
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Revival Movements
The 19th century revival movement took shape within the context of romanticism. Its piety is of a more existential and sentimental nature, a piety « revived » when compared to a faith... -
Frédéric Lichtenberger (1832-1899)
Frédéric Lichtenberger was a Lutheran pastor at the Faculty of Theology in Strasbourg until the annexation of Alsace. He was Dean of the Faculty of Theology in Paris ; he was... -
Edouard Reuss (1804-1891)
Although Edouard Reuss was a professor of theology in the protestant Faculty of Strasburg, he was above all a historian ; dogmatics had little to do with his analysis of the... -
Samuel Vincent (1787-1837)
Pastor Samuel Vincent is a typical representative of French Protestantism from the South of France in the early 19th century. His writings and the theological reviews he helped to found... -
Ami Bost (1790-1874)
Ami Bost is considered as one of the best-known advocates of the Revival Movement. He was feared by those who opposed him because of his “bad temper” and his flair... -
Charles Wagner (1852-1918)
Born in Vibersviller, Wagner read theology in Paris and in Strasbourg. He attended the universities of Göttingen and Heidelberg . He was appointed vicar to the pastor of Barr by...