RIVIÈRE, JEAN

Theologian; b. Montcabrier, Tarn, Nov. 12, 1878; d. Bourg-Saint-Bernard, Haute Garonne, May 3, 1946. Jean, the son of a farmer, studied at the seminary of Lavaur, at the major seminary of Albi (1896–1901), and at the faculty of theology in Toulouse (1901–03), where he was a favorite disciple of the rector, P. Batiffol. He was ordained in 1901. He soon became professor of dogma at the seminary of Albi (1903–19). When the Holy Office censured Rivière's opinion on Christ's knowledge, the archbishop discreetly removed him from the seminary. With Batiffol's help Rivière was named by the French government to the chair of fundamental theology at the University of Strasbourg (1919–46). Through his writings he acquired a reputation as an authority in the history and theology of the dogma of Redemption. His principal works are: his doctoral dissertation, Le Dogme de la Rédemption: Étude historique (Paris 1905); Le Dogme de la Rédemption: Etude théologique (Paris 1914); Le Problème de l'Église et de l'État au temps de Philippe le Bel (Paris 1926); Le Modernisme dans l'Église: Étude d'histoire religieuse contemporaine (Paris 1929). His articles appeared especially in the Bulletin de littérature ecclésiastique (Toulouse) and the Revue des sciences religieuses (Strasbourg), and were compiled in a posthumous work, Le Dogme de la Rédemption dans la théologie contemporaine (Albi 1948).

Bibliography: r. bÄumer, Lexikon für Theologie und Kirche, ed. j. hofer and k. rahner, 10 v. (2d, new ed. Freiburg 1957–65) 8:1334. "In Memoriam Mgr Victor Martin et M. Jean Rivière," Revue des sciences religieuses 21 (1947) 5–16. Jean Rivière, bibliographie et souvenirs (Albi, France 1952).

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