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. Tracing itself back to Cornelius Otto Jansen, a Flemish theologian, Jansenism was a movement within the Roman Catholic Church between the 16th and 18th Centuries that sought to reestablish Augustinian thinking within Catholicism. As such, it was readily condemned by Rome as too Calvinistic.
An opponent of the Jesuits, Jansen proposed a return to the principles 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 Racine and Pascal. Jansenism was associated with the convent of Port-Royal, which operated a number of famous schools that educated Racine amongst others, and by the books of Pasquier Quesnel.
In Jansenist thought, human beings were born sinful, and without divine help a human being could never become good. Ironically, this led the Jansenists to seek to exhibit a high level of piety and moral rectitude, and 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, making salvation unknowable even to the "saved."
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). It is interesting to note that because Jansen himself died before his work was published and he included statements of submission to the Roman church in it, he himself was never considered a heretic. The final condemnation of Jansenism was by St. Pius X, who advocated daily communion and communion for children as soon as they could distinguish the sacred Host from ordinary bread.
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.
Jansenism somewhat led to the creation of the independent Old Catholic Church of the Netherlands from 1702 to 1723 and continues to live on in Ultrajectine traditions.
Contrast: Molinism
External links
- [Jansenism Resources:] Primary texts and discussions relating to the theology and history of Jansenism: context of Augustine of Hippo, Jesuit Order, liturgy, universalism and Second Vatican Council
- [Catholic Encyclopedia:] Jansenius and Jansenism
- http://mb-soft.com/believe/txc/jansenis.htm
- http://frenchminds.healthekids.net/course.phtml?course_id=628
- http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/people/A0858980.html
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