Quietism (Christian contemplation)
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Quietism is the name given (especially in
Usage
Since the late seventeenth century, "Quietism" has functioned (especially within Catholic theology, though also to an extent within Protestant theology), as the shorthand for accounts which are perceived to fall foul of the same theological errors, and thus to be heretical. As such, the term has come to be applied to beliefs far outside its original context. The term quietism was not used until the 17th century, so some writers have dubbed the expression of such errors before this era as "pre-quietism".[1]
Ronald Knox, in his study of heterodox Christian movements, including Quietism, points out, however, that Quietism is less a heresy or school of thought than a "tendency," a "direction of the human mind" to exaggerate concepts that otherwise could be considered perfectly orthodox. He suggests that it is misleading to speak of a Quietist School, if by this we mean a well thought-out set of beliefs that all members of a supposed Quietist heresy professed. Quietism, he maintains, is not a neat set of "conclusions." Rather, he asserts, Quietism, as it manifested itself in seventeenth-century Europe, ran the spectrum from almost completely orthodox teaching to extremely heterodox beliefs. "You can, he concludes, "be more or less of a Quietist." One, therefore, should always bear in mind that many differences in style and emphasis (and in some cases even in rather essential beliefs) exist among the various mystics labeled Quietist. As Knox has shown, the teachings of Molinos are not necessarily synonymous with those of La Combe or Guyon, much less those of Fénelon.[2]
Although both Molinos and other authors condemned in the late seventeenth century, as well as their opponents, spoke of the Quietists (in other words, those who were devoted to the "prayer of quiet", an expression used by
The Quietist controversy of the 1670s and 1680s
Quietism is particularly associated with the writings of Miguel de Molinos. He published the Spiritual Guide in 1675. Molinos recommended absolute passivity and contemplation in total repose of the spirit. He was aware of the focus in the writings of Ignatius of Loyola on meditation, and the likelihood that Jesuit writers would react poorly to any perceived attack on Ignatius’s thought. He said the meditation was an important stage of the spiritual life, but that it was well-established that in order to pass to the state of contemplation one must leave behind meditative practices.[4]
The doctrines of quietism were finally condemned by
Quietism in France
From Molinos' teaching developed a less radical form known as Semiquietism, whose principle advocates were
Madame Guyon won an influential convert at the court of
In 1699, after Fénelon's spirited defense in a press war with Bossuet, Pope Innocent XII prohibited the circulation of Fénelon's Maxims of the Saints, to which Fénelon submitted at once. The Inquisition's proceedings against remaining quietists in Italy lasted until the eighteenth century.[citation needed] Jean Pierre de Caussade, the Jesuit and author of the spiritual treatise Abandonment to Divine Providence, was forced to withdraw for two years (1731–1733) from his position as spiritual director to a community of nuns after he was suspected of Quietism (a charge of which he was acquitted).[8]
Similar concepts
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In the Eastern Orthodox Church, an analogous dispute might be located in Hesychasm in which "the supreme aim of life on earth is the contemplation of the uncreated light whereby man is intimately united with God".[6] However, according to Bishop Kallistos Ware, "The distinctive tenets of the 17th-century Western Quietists are not characteristic of Greek hesychasm."[10]
In early Christianity, suspicion over forms of mystical teaching may be seen as controversies over Gnosticism in the second and third centuries, and over the Messalian heresy in the fourth and fifth centuries.[3]
Likewise, the twelfth and thirteenth-century Brethren of the Free Spirit, Beguines and Beghards were all accused of holding beliefs with similarities to those condemned in the Quietist controversy.[11] Among the ideas seen as errors and condemned by the Council of Vienne (1311–12) are the propositions that humankind in the present life can attain such a degree of perfection as to become utterly sinless; that the "perfect" have no need to fast or pray, but may freely grant the body whatsoever it craves.[6]
The
The condemnation of the ideas of Meister Eckhart in 1329 may also be seen as an instance of an analogous concern in Christian history. Eckhart's assertions that we are totally transformed into God just as in the sacrament the bread is changed into the body of Christ (see transubstantiation) and the value of internal actions, which are wrought by the Godhead abiding within us, have often been linked to later Quietist heresies.
In early sixteenth-century Spain, concern over a set of beliefs held by those known as
George Fox came to the conclusion that the only real spirituality was achieved by paying attention to the Holy Spirit (the Godhead) through silence, and founded the Quaker movement on this basis – one which shared much resemblance with "Quietist" thought. Quietist thinking was also influential among the British Quakers of the later 19th century, when the tract A Reasonable Faith, by Three Friends (William Pollard, Francis Frith and W. E. Turner (1884 and 1886)) caused sharp controversy with evangelicals in the society.
The Capuchin friar Benet Canfield (1562–1611), an English Catholic living in Belgium, espoused quietism in a tract called Way of Perfection, on deep prayer and meditation.[13]
See also
- Ataraxia
- Hesychasm
- Johannes Kelpius
- Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
- Taoism
- Zen Buddhism
- Nondualism
- Pietism (Pietistic Lutheranism)
References
- ^ Ramos-Palermo, Melisa Jeanette (2009). Radiating Austerity: Disproving Quietism in Francisco de Zurbaran's Penitential Images of Saint Francis of Assisi. p. 13. (thesis)
- ISBN 9780809141517.
- ^ ISBN 978-0-8091-4650-5.
- ^ Robert P Baird, 'Introduction: Part One', in Miguel de Molinos, The Spiritual Guide, ed and trans by Robert P Baird, (New York: Paulist Press, 2010), pp1-20.
- ^ Bernard McGinn, 'Introduction: Part Two', in Miguel de Molinos, The Spiritual Guide, ed and trans by Robert P Baird, (New York: Paulist Press, 2010), pp21-39.
- ^ a b c Pace, Edward (1911). Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 12. New York: Robert Appleton Company. . In Herbermann, Charles (ed.).
- ^ Ward, Patricia A. "Quietism", in The Cambridge Dictionary of Christian Theology, (Cambridge, 2011).
- ISBN 9781118472330
- ^ "Stoicism | Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy".
- ISBN 978-0-664-22170-6.
- ^ Ramos-Palermo 2009, p. 12
- ^ Porette, Margaret (1999) [c. 1300]. The Mirror of Simple Souls. Translated by Colledge, Edmund; Marler, J. C.; Grant, Judith. University of Notre Dame Press.
- ISBN 978-0-226-76282-1.
Further reading
- Dandelion, P., A Sociological Analysis of the Theology of Quakers: The Silent Revolution New York, Ontario & Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 1996.
- Renoux, Christian, "Quietism", in The Papacy: An Encyclopedia, vol 3, edited by Philippe Levillain, 3 vols, (London: Routledge, 2002)
- de Molinos, Miguel, The Spiritual Guide, ed and trans by Robert P. Baird, (New York: Paulist Press, 2010)
- Bayley, Peter (1999). "What was Quietism Subversive of?". Seventeenth-Century French Studies. 21 (1): 195–204. ISSN 0265-1068.
- Rulmu, Callia (2010). "Between Ambition and Quietism: the Socio-political Background of 1 Thessalonians 4,9-12". Biblica. 91 (3): 393–417. JSTOR 42614996.
- Wainwright, Geoffrey (2009). "Revolution and Quietism: Two Political Attitudes in Theological Perspective". Scottish Journal of Theology. 29 (6): 535–55. .
- Tolles, Frederick B. (January 1945). "Quietism versus Enthusiasm: The Philadelphia Quakers and the Great Awakening". The Pennsylvania Magazine of History and Biography. 69 (1): 26–49. JSTOR 20087728.
External links
- Northcote, Stafford Henry (1911). Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 22 (11th ed.). pp. 749–750. .
- "Quietism". Columbia Encyclopedia. Archived from the original on 12 February 2006.
- "Definition Quietism". Dictionary Information. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- "Quietism". Encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 7 October 2018.
- "Quietism". Catholic Encyclopedia (1917). Retrieved 3 February 2019.