The doctrines of Protestantism attracted him, and he allowed himself to be converted by the fervent eloquence of Paul Ferry,[2] a preacher of reputation, and pastor of the Reformed Church in Metz.
[4] The rabbinate of Metz refused to receive the young man into Judaism, offering as an excuse the fear of reprisals on the part of the authorities, and Antoine was advised to go to the Netherlands or to Italy, where Jews enjoyed more liberty.
For some time he also taught the upper class of the college, but, being an apostate from Catholicism, he was not considered sufficiently orthodox to be entrusted with the chair of philosophy at the Academy of Geneva.
A new Protestant parish had just been formed at Divonne,[5] a little village of the district of Gex, which had belonged to France since 1602, but was now under the religious jurisdiction of Geneva; and there Antoine obtained the position of pastor.
Most of the parishoners of Divonne were perfectly satisfied with their pastor, who was eloquent and kind toward them; they were not shocked by the vague form of his sermons, but the lord of the adjoining manor was outraged.
One Sunday, Antoine preached on the second Psalm, which, according to orthodox Christian theology, announces the coming of the son of God.
To several colleagues from Geneva who had come to see him he began to chant the seventy-fourth Psalm, then he suddenly stopped, and, exclaiming that he was a Jew, blasphemed Christianity.
[3] He was put to bed but he escaped his watchers, passed the night wandering through the country, and was found the next morning in Geneva in a most pitiable condition, kneeling in the streets and calling loudly upon the God of Israel.
While he was in prison the clergy were tireless in seeking his reconversion, trying in vain to make him sign a declaration of orthodox faith.
In them he gave the tenets of Judaism in the style of Maimonides' Thirteen Principles of Faith, and added "eleven philosophical objections against the dogma of the Trinity."
Several of them begged for a light sentence, since, in their opinion, Antoine had committed no sin by becoming a Jew, although for his hypocrisy he deserved unfrocking or banishment, or, at worst, excommunication.
A majority, however, insisted that the judges should seize the opportunity to demonstrate their faith, since it was most dangerous to absolve one who had professed Judaism while wearing the garb of a Christian priest.