M2 L1: Jacques Lefevre d’Etaples

Jacques Lefevre d’Etapes was a French philosopher, a Biblical scholar in Patristic History, and a professor at the Sorbonne.

He gave the better part of 16 years to the study of Scripture, producing the first the translation of the New Testament, and providing commentaries on some of the books of the New Testament. 

He prefaced his books with a statement on ‘justification by faith’ . He did not want to leave the Catholic Church, but to reform it from within. 

By God’s grace, he was saved from burning at the stake and providentially hired as Francis I’s librarian. Because of his access to rare manuscripts in Francis’ renowned library, he was able to translate the entire Bible into French. 

He eventually moved to Navarre where he completed his work, protected from persecution by Marguerite.