Jansenism

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Jansenism was a branch of Catholic thought that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. Originating in the writings of the Flemish theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, Jansenism formed a distinct movement within the Roman Catholic Church from the 16th to 18th centuries, but was condemned by the Roman Catholic Church as heretical.

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[edit] Origin of Jansenism

In opposition to Jesuit theologians of the time, Jansen proposed a return to the principles which he regarded as laid down in the work of St. Augustine of Hippo. His posthumously published work, Augustinus (1640), gained an increased following, and prominent adherents of Jansenism included Jean Racine and Pascal. In France, Jansenism was associated with the convent of Port-Royal, which operated a number of famous schools that educated Racine amongst others, and with the writings of Pasquier Quesnel.

[edit] Jansenist theology

In Jansenist thought, human beings were born sinful, and without divine help a human being could never become good. This led the Jansenists to seek to exhibit a high level of piety and moral rectitude, and to prepare carefully through prayer and confession before receiving Communion (hence Jansenists favored less frequent reception). The Jansenist idea of predestination, based on Augustine's writing and close to that of Calvinism, was that only a portion of human beings, the "elect," were destined to be saved. Unlike Calvinism, however, Jansenism lacked a doctrine of assurance, deeming salvation unknowable even to the saved.

[edit] Papal condemnation

Jansenism was condemned as heretical in several papal bulls, notably by Pope Innocent X, Alexander VII (Ad Sanctam Beati Petri Sedem; Catholic Encyclopedia article) and Clement XI (Unigenitus). Because Jansen himself died before his work was published, and he included statements of submission to the Catholic Church in it, he himself was never formally considered a heretic. The final condemnation of Jansenism was by St. Pius X who, in contrast to Jansenist reticence over communion, advocated daily communion for Catholics, and communion for children as soon as they could distinguish the sacred Host from ordinary bread. Jansenism was officially outlawed by the Catholic Church in 1712.

In France, King Louis XIV, acting under the pressures of the Jesuits, sought the end of Jansenism. Particularly targeted was the convent of Port-Royal. In a highly symbolic gesture, the convent was razed in 1710 after the last nuns had been forcibly removed.

[edit] Acceptants

Acceptants were those members of the Jansenism branch of Catholicism who accepted the bull Unigenitus, which opened the final phase of the Jansenist controversy in France and condemned 101 propositions of the French Jansenist theologian Pasquier Quesnel.

[edit] Later Developments

Jansenism influenced the development of Gallicanism, and Jansenist teachers proposed a radical reform of the Latin liturgy.

Jansenism was also a factor in the formation of the independent Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands from 1702 to 1723, and is said to continue to live on in some Ultrajectine traditions.

Contrast: Molinism

[edit] See also:

[edit] External links

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