Background
Pierre Jurieu was born at Mer, in Orléanais, where his father was a Protestant pastor. After completing his studies in the Netherlands and England, Jurieu was ordained as an Anglican priest. Returning to France he was ordained again and succeeded his father as pastor of the church at Mer.
Education
Pierre Jurieu studied at the Academy of Saumur and the Academy of Sedan under his grandfather, Pierre Du Moulin, and under Leblanc de Beaulieu.
Career
After completing his studies in Holland and England, Jurieu received Anglican ordination; returning to France he was ordained again and succeeded his father as pastor of the church at Mer. Soon after this he published his first work, "Examen de livre de la reunion du Christianisme" (1671).
In 1674 his "Traite de la devotion" led to his appointment as professor of theology and Hebrew at Sedan, where he soon became also pastor. A year later he published his "Apologie pour la morale des Reformes". He obtained a high reputation, but his work was impaired by his controversial temper, which frequently developed into an irritated fanaticism, though he was always entirely sincere.
On the suppression of the academy of Sedan in 1681, Jurieu received an invitation to a church at Rouen, but, afraid to remain in France on account of his forthcoming work, La Politique du clerge de France, he went to Holland and was pastor of the Walloon church of Rotterdam till his death on the 11th of January 1713. He was also professor at the "Ecole illustre".
Jurieu did much to help those who suffered by the revocation of the Edict of Nantes (1685). He himself turned for consolation to the Apocalypse, and succeeded in persuading himself that the overthrow of Antichrist would take place in 1689.
Jurieu defended the doctrines of Protestantism with great ability against the attacks of Antoine Arnauld, Pierre Nicole and Bossuet, but was equally ready to enter into dispute with his fellow Protestant divines (with Louis Du Moulin and Claude Payon, for instance) when their opinions differed from his own even on minor matters.
The bitterness and persistency of his attacks on his colleague Pierre Bayle led to the latter being deprived of his chair in 1693.
One of Jurieu's chief works is Lettres pastorales adressees aux fideles de France (3 vols. , Rotterdam, 1686-1687; Eng. trans. , 1689), which, notwithstanding the vigilance of the police, found its way into France and produced a deep impression on the Protestant population. His last important work was the Histoire critique des dogmes et des cultes.
He wrote a great number of controversial works.
Personality
Pierre Jurieu was called by his adversaries "The Goliath of the Protestants. "