Father François-Paul Dreyfus and Maria Valtorta

Portrait created by AI from known photographs.

This Dominican, polytechnician, and professor at the French Biblical and Archaeological School of Jerusalem (EBAF) was struck to discover, in the work of Maria Valtorta, the mention of known cities that only "a few rare specialists and thanks to non-biblical sources" knew about. He was therefore an attentive and open reader.

Father François-Paul Dreyfus (1918-1999)

Robert Wirth, in the alumni bulletin of Polytechnique, provides the biography of Father François-Paul Dreyfus. Son of non-practicing Jewish parents from Mulhouse where he was born on August 9, 1918, the young François discovered the Bible in a "Christian" version and "was struck by the moral height of the Gospels, which seemed to him the culmination of what was only outlined in the Old Testament."

Captured in 1940, he was interned with notable theologians including Father Yves Congar. François Dreyfus was baptized in 1941 and took the Dominican habit in 1947. He added, on this occasion, the first name Paul. He quickly specialized in biblical studies, which led him to be sent to the Biblical School of Jerusalem where he alternated his teaching with the Saulchoir of Étiolles (France), an institution devoted to the religious and intellectual formation of novices of the "province" of France.

In 1967, he held a permanent position in Jerusalem: "his field became biblical theology. For seven years he focused on the Old Testament, especially the prophets. He studied them all [...] From 1976 he broadened his scope, and until the end of his courses in 1990, he began to address two broad general topics: the nature of Salvation in both Testaments, and the updating of Scripture within the Bible itself and in Christian tradition."

In 1984, he published a successful book: Did Jesus Know He Was God? (CERF Publishing). This book best illustrated the growing tension between the minimalist conclusions of academic exegesis and traditional faith.

Appreciation of Maria Valtorta's work

It was in 1986 that he wrote to the Centro Editoriale Valtortiano:

"I was very impressed to find in Maria Valtorta's work the names of at least six or seven cities that appear neither in the Old Testament nor in the New Testament. These names are known only to a few rare specialists and thanks to non-biblical sources."

According to the édifiant.fr site, he would have corresponded on this subject with Jean Aulagnier, a polytechnician like himself and author of reference studies on the scientific foundations of the work.

The circumstances of his discovery of the work are unknown, but his appreciation suggests an attentive reading reminiscent of another biblical scholar: the Blessed Gabriele M. Allegra.

First part of the Bible from the book of Genesis until before the coming of Jesus Christ. Parallel

In a Christian sense, study concerning God and divine things in the light of Revelation.

Analysis of the historical, cultural, and literary context of Biblical texts to better understand what they meant at the time they were written and how they can be interpreted today.

Second part of the Bible, from the coming of Jesus Christ until the Apocalypse.