Excerpt from Vital Christianity: Essays and Discourses on the Religions of Man and the Religion of God
As a writer, Vinet has many qualities akin to those of John Fos ter, one of the most powerful thinkers and vigorous writers England has ever produced. He has the same earnest and contemplative spirit; the same freshness and originality of thought; the same beauty and strength of diction, with more of ease and gracefulness of expression. The thoughts of Foster, to borrow a figure of R0 bert Hall, are presented to us in the Shape of large and brilliant masses of bullion. Vinet's are wrought into beautiful and elegant forms.
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Alexandre Vinet was born near Lausanne in Switzerland. Educated for the Protestant ministry, he was ordained in 1819, when already teacher of the French language and literature in the gymnasium at Basel; and throughout his life he was as much a critic as a theologian. His literary criticism brought him into contact with Augustin Sainte-Beuve, for whom he obtained an invitation to lecture at Lausanne, which led to his famous work on Port-Royal.
As a theologian Vinet gave a fresh impulse to Protestant theology, especially in French-speaking lands, but also in England and elsewhere. His philosophy relied strongly on conscience, defined as that by which man stands in direct personal relation with God as moral sovereign, and the seat of a moral individuality which nothing can rightly infringe.
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