Apologetica storica e filosofia in Houtteville

The critical literature emphasizes that C.-F. Houtteville's La Religion Chrétienne prouvée par les faits (1722) ushered in a new form of apologetics that replaced the traditional philosophical approach with a historical apologetics supported by the factual evidence for Christianity. This essay aims to show that Houtteville had a very keen interest in philosophy, that philosophical arguments played an important role in his battle against modern unbelievers, andthat his Biblical exegesis owed a debt to philosophical doctrines derived from Pascal and Arnauld. To prove this, the essay examines relevant passages in the Religion chrétienne prouvée par les faits, the additions to the second edition(1740) and the debate between Houtteville and his contemporary critics.[Publisher's text]