Jacques Saurin – a short biography

Jacques (or Jaques, to be more precise) Saurin was born on January 6, 1677, in Nîmes (France) where his father, Jean Saurin (1632-1705) worked as an attorney-at-law ; he also was appointed secretary of the royal academy of Nîmes because of his good knowledge of literature.

In 1686, after the Edict of Nantes had been revoked, Jean Saurin, his wife Hippolyte de Tournière and their three sons (Jaques (9), Louis (6), Marc-Antoine (2) ; their daughter Anne-Marie was born in 1688) left France and fled to Geneva.

In 1692, when he was 15, Saurin became a student at the Academy of Geneva. Before being admitted as a student of theology or law, candidates had to study literature and sciences for a period of four years.

His studies were interrupted in 1694 when Saurin decided to serve as a cadet in Lord Galloway’s regiment, which was part of the Duke of Savoy’s troops fighting against Louis XIV in the Nine Years’ War. Saurin appears to have displayed courage:

having taken possession of the enemy’s banner, he was appointed ensign.

After the signature of the Treaty of Ryswick in 1697 Saurin left the armed forces and came back to Geneva in order to pursue his studies. He was admitted as a student of theology and fully dedicated himself to his studies. His professors were Louis Tronchin, Bénédict Pictet, Antoine Léger, Vincent Minutoli and Jean-Robert Chouet, and above all, Jean-Alphonse Turretin, who had a great influence on Saurin and remained a very close friend for the rest of his life.

His gifts as a pulpit speaker were discovered very soon ; even at his first public sermon in 1698 a great crowd gathered around the auditorium.

Saurin terminated his studies on July 5, 1700 ; he obtained highest honours (“témoignage fort honorable” of the Compagnie des pasteurs de Genève).

In August of the same year Saurin left Geneva and went to Amsterdam where he was received with great enthusiasm. However, the jealousy of several fellow pastors appears to have hindered him from being employed in this city. So he went to England.

In 1701 Saurin was appointed pastor of the French-speaking Temple Of Leicester Fields in London.

In 1703, he married Catherine Boitoult. This marriage appears to have been a source of bitterness for Saurin. Five children (Philippe, Antoine, Jeanne-Isabelle, Jacques-Antoine and Guillaume-Sicco) were born between 1707 and 1724.

The young pastor aspired to more than what his London ministry could offer. Also, his health appears to have suffered from the local climate.

In 1705 he was invited to The Hague where his sermons had a tremendous success. The authorities tried to keep him and, as there was no vacancy, created an ecclesiastic office (« Minister Extraordinary of the French community of nobles ») for him.

Saurin held this position, which obliged him to deliver one sermon per month, until his death. His financial situation appears to have been rather precarious, at least until 1713.

Saurin’s health seems to have diminished as from 1715.

In 1722 Saurin published his catechism which was adopted by all the Walloon churches.

In 1726 Saurin appears to have contracted a lung disease when he took pastoral care of a sick person. Although he thought that he had recovered, he had another violent attack in 1728 and subsequently often had to interrupt his pastoral work and his studies.

Saurin was criticised for his tolerant ideas and his enormous success aroused jealousy. Between 1728 and 1730 the pastors Armand de la Chapelle and Huet waged a downright war against him ; this situation appears to have deeply affected Saurin.

In December 1730, Saurin’s health worsened ; he died on December 30, 1730, a few days before his 54th birthday.

Saurin left the reputation of having been an outstanding pulpit speaker, as well as a great number of writings, among which :

• a very popular series of sermons entitled “Sermons sur divers textes de l’Ecriture Sainte” (“Sermons on various texts of Holy Scripture”)
• un unfinished collection entitled “Discours historiques, critiques, théologiques et moraux sur les événements les plus mémorables de la Bible” (“Historical, critical, theological and moral discourses on the most memorable events of the Bible”); 
•  a catechism; and
• a treatise on the state of Christianity in France.

Main source: J. Gaberel and E. des Hours-Farel, Jaques Saurin. Sa vie et sa correspondance, Geneva, J. Cherbuliez, 1864, 227 p.