Baltus, Jean Francois

BALTUS, bɑ̄l´´tüs´, JEAN FRANÇOIS: French Jesuit; b. at Metz June 8, 1667; d. at Reims, as librarian of the college, Mar. 19, 1743. He joined the Jesuits in 1682, and taught in several schools in France; became censor of books in Rome, 1717. He distinguished himself by a number of literary and theological works, of which the most important are, Réponse à l’histoire des oracles de M. de Fontenelle (2 vols., Strasburg, 1707; Eng. transl., London, 1708), in which he maintains that the ancient oracles were not mere frauds on the part of the priests, but utterances under demoniacal influence; and Défense des Saints Pères accusés de platonisme (Paris, 1711), in which he vindicates the originality of the Fathers and their complete independence of the ancient philosophy.