Les Trois Vérités

work by Charron

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July 14, 2026

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Les Trois Vérités (The Three Truths) is a significant work by Pierre Charron, a French theologian and philosopher. Published in 1593, it was intended as a Counter-Reformation text against the theology of John Calvin.1

In this work, Charron argued that the existence and nature of God are unknowable due to God's infinitude and human limitations. He proposed that faith, rather than reason, is essential for accepting Christianity, and that the authority of the Roman Catholic Church is necessary to overcome human weaknesses in understanding God. Charron's philosophical approach, influenced by Michel de Montaigne, explored skepticism and the separation of ethics from religion, suggesting that moral guidelines could be derived from nature.1

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Pierre Charron
…in his two major works, Les Trois Vérités (1593; “The Three Truths”) and De la sagesse (1601; On Wisdom). In the first of these, which was intended as a Counter-Reformation tract against the reformed theology of John Calvin, Charron claimed that the nature and existence of God are unknowable because…
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…in his two major works, Les Trois Vérités (1593; “The Three Truths”) and De la sagesse (1601; On Wisdom). In the first of these, which was intended as a Counter-Reformation tract against the reformed theology of John Calvin, Charron claimed that the nature and existence of God are unknowable because…
Read More