Conflicts As Oratorian
Simon entered the priesthood in 1670. He taught at Juilly up to 1673, when he was instructing Henri de Boulainvilliers there in rhetoric.
He was influenced by the ideas of Isaac La Peyrère who came to live with the Oratorians (though taking little of the specifics), and by Benedict Spinoza. Simon's approach earned him the later recognition as "father of the higher criticism", though this title is also given to German writers of the following century, as well as to Spinoza himself.
Simon aroused ill will when he strayed into a legal battle. François Verjus was an Oratorian friend who was acting against the Benedictines of Fécamp Abbey on behalf of their abbé, the Prince de Neubourg. Simon composed a strongly worded memorandum, and the monks complained to Abel-Louis de Sainte-Marthe, general of the Oratory from 1672. The charge of Jesuitism was also brought against Simon, on the grounds that his friend's brother Antoine Verjus was a prominent member of the order.
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