Joseph, feeling himself called to the priesthood, betook himself to Lyon, where he entered on the study of theology under the François de la Chaise, a Jesuit priest.
His uncles, Pierre and Nicolas, had published a work on the former incumbents of the See of Fréjus; Anthelmi resolved to devote himself especially to the history of the French Catholic Church, beginning with his own diocese.
In 1694, Anthelmi was made vicar-general to the Bishop of Pamiers; but his health was bad, and he returned to his native city in a vain attempt to recuperate.
Anthelmi, on the contrary, inclined to the view of Pithou, père, [a] who attributed it to Vincent of Lérins; and in 1693 he published his Nova de symbolo Athanasiano disquisitio.
His brother Charles, Bishop of Grasse, collected and published several other historical papers, the most notable of which was a pamphlet, The Life and Death of St. Martin of Tours.