or CAMERONITES, is the denomination of a party of
Calvinists in France, who asserted, that the cause of men’s doing good
or evil proceeds from the knowledge which God infuses into them; and
that God does not move the will physically, but only morally, in virtue
of its dependence on the judgment of the mind. They had this name from
John Cameron, one of the most famous divines among the Protestants of
France, in the seventeenth century, who was born at Glasgow, in
Scotland, about the year 1580, and taught Greek there till he removed to
Bourdeaux in 1600. Here he acquired such celebrity by the fluency with
which he spoke Greek, that he was appointed to teach the learned
languages at Bergerac. He afterward became professor of philosophy at
Sedan; but returning to Bourdeaux in 1604, he devoted himself to the
study of divinity. Upon being appointed tutor to the sons of the
chancellor of Navarre, he accompanied them to Paris, Geneva, and
Heidelberg. After having discharged the office of a minister at
Bourdeaux, which he assumed in 1608, for ten years, he accepted the
professorship of divinity at Saumur. Upon the dispersion of that academy
by the public commotions in 1621, he removed to England, and taught
divinity at his own house in London. King James inclined to favour him
on account of his supposed attachment to the hierarchy, made him master
of the college, and professor of divinity, at Glasgow; but after holding
this office, which he found to be unpleasant to him, for a year, he
returned to Saumur, where he read private lectures. From thence he
removed, in 1624, to Montauban; where the disturbances excited by the
emissaries of the duke de Rohan led him to remonstrate against the
principles which produced them, with more zeal than prudence. This
occasioned his being insulted by a private person in the streets, and
severely beaten: and this treatment so much affected him, that he soon
after died, in 1625, at the early age of forty-six years. Bayle
represents him as “a man of great parts and judgment, of an excellent
memory, very learned, a good philosopher, good humoured, liberal not
only of his knowledge but his purse, a great talker, a long-winded
preacher, little versed in the fathers, inflexible in his opinions, and
inclined to turbulence.” He was one of those who attempted to reconcile
the doctrine of predestination, as it had been taught at Geneva, and
confirmed at Dort, with the sentiments of those who believe that God
offers salvation to all mankind. His opinion was maintained and
propagated by Moses Amyraut, and several others of the most learned
among the reformed ministers, who thought Calvin’s doctrine too harsh.
They were called _Hypothetical Universalists_. Cameron likewise
maintained the possibility of salvation in the church of Rome. See
AMYRAUT and BAXTERIANISM.
Calvinists in France, who asserted, that the cause of men’s doing good
or evil proceeds from the knowledge which God infuses into them; and
that God does not move the will physically, but only morally, in virtue
of its dependence on the judgment of the mind. They had this name from
John Cameron, one of the most famous divines among the Protestants of
France, in the seventeenth century, who was born at Glasgow, in
Scotland, about the year 1580, and taught Greek there till he removed to
Bourdeaux in 1600. Here he acquired such celebrity by the fluency with
which he spoke Greek, that he was appointed to teach the learned
languages at Bergerac. He afterward became professor of philosophy at
Sedan; but returning to Bourdeaux in 1604, he devoted himself to the
study of divinity. Upon being appointed tutor to the sons of the
chancellor of Navarre, he accompanied them to Paris, Geneva, and
Heidelberg. After having discharged the office of a minister at
Bourdeaux, which he assumed in 1608, for ten years, he accepted the
professorship of divinity at Saumur. Upon the dispersion of that academy
by the public commotions in 1621, he removed to England, and taught
divinity at his own house in London. King James inclined to favour him
on account of his supposed attachment to the hierarchy, made him master
of the college, and professor of divinity, at Glasgow; but after holding
this office, which he found to be unpleasant to him, for a year, he
returned to Saumur, where he read private lectures. From thence he
removed, in 1624, to Montauban; where the disturbances excited by the
emissaries of the duke de Rohan led him to remonstrate against the
principles which produced them, with more zeal than prudence. This
occasioned his being insulted by a private person in the streets, and
severely beaten: and this treatment so much affected him, that he soon
after died, in 1625, at the early age of forty-six years. Bayle
represents him as “a man of great parts and judgment, of an excellent
memory, very learned, a good philosopher, good humoured, liberal not
only of his knowledge but his purse, a great talker, a long-winded
preacher, little versed in the fathers, inflexible in his opinions, and
inclined to turbulence.” He was one of those who attempted to reconcile
the doctrine of predestination, as it had been taught at Geneva, and
confirmed at Dort, with the sentiments of those who believe that God
offers salvation to all mankind. His opinion was maintained and
propagated by Moses Amyraut, and several others of the most learned
among the reformed ministers, who thought Calvin’s doctrine too harsh.
They were called _Hypothetical Universalists_. Cameron likewise
maintained the possibility of salvation in the church of Rome. See
AMYRAUT and BAXTERIANISM.