Quietism - Revision history

Fr. Zabed at 19:55, 21 July 2005

2005-07-21T19:55:24Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:55, 21 July 2005
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	'''Quietism''' is a term with multiple meanings and definitions.		'''Quietism''' is a term with multiple meanings and definitions.

	*'''Quietism''' is a [[Christianity\|Christian]] [[philosophy]] that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century [[ev\|e.v.]], but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as ''Quietists'' insist with more or less emphasis on [[intellectual]] stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection; and all have been officially proscribed as [[heresy]] in very explicit terms by the [[Roman Catholic Church]].		*'''Quietism''' is a [[Christianity\|Christian]] [[philosophy]] that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century [[Era vulgaris\|e.v.]], but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as ''Quietists'' insist with more or less emphasis on intellectual stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection; and all have been officially proscribed as [[heresy]] in very explicit terms by the [[Roman Catholic Church]].

	*'''Quietism''' is the term used to describe one of the phases which British [[Religious Society of Friends\|Quakers]] went through, after their enthusiastic beginnings and as a result of the persecution on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 e.v. and before the 19th century e.v. phase of evangelicalism.		*'''Quietism''' is the term used to describe one of the phases which British [[Religious Society of Friends\|Quakers]] went through, after their enthusiastic beginnings and as a result of the persecution on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 e.v. and before the 19th century e.v. phase of evangelicalism.

Fr. Zabed at 19:54, 21 July 2005

2005-07-21T19:54:33Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:54, 21 July 2005
Line 1:		Line 1:
	'''Quietism''' is a term with multiple meanings and definitions.		'''Quietism''' is a term with multiple meanings and definitions.

	*'''Quietism''' is a [[Christianity\|Christian]] [[philosophy]] that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century [[e.v.]], but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as ''Quietists'' insist with more or less emphasis on [[intellectual]] stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection; and all have been officially proscribed as [[heresy]] in very explicit terms by the [[Roman Catholic Church]].		*'''Quietism''' is a [[Christianity\|Christian]] [[philosophy]] that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century [[ev\|e.v.]], but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as ''Quietists'' insist with more or less emphasis on [[intellectual]] stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection; and all have been officially proscribed as [[heresy]] in very explicit terms by the [[Roman Catholic Church]].

	*'''Quietism''' is the term used to describe one of the phases which British [[Religious Society of Friends\|Quakers]] went through, after their enthusiastic beginnings and as a result of the persecution on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 e.v. and before the 19th century e.v. phase of evangelicalism.		*'''Quietism''' is the term used to describe one of the phases which British [[Religious Society of Friends\|Quakers]] went through, after their enthusiastic beginnings and as a result of the persecution on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 e.v. and before the 19th century e.v. phase of evangelicalism.

Fr. Zabed at 19:53, 21 July 2005

2005-07-21T19:53:59Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:53, 21 July 2005
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	*'''Quietism''' is the term used to describe one of the phases which British [[Religious Society of Friends\|Quakers]] went through, after their enthusiastic beginnings and as a result of the persecution on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 e.v. and before the 19th century e.v. phase of evangelicalism.		*'''Quietism''' is the term used to describe one of the phases which British [[Religious Society of Friends\|Quakers]] went through, after their enthusiastic beginnings and as a result of the persecution on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 e.v. and before the 19th century e.v. phase of evangelicalism.

	*'''Quietism''' is a principal trend in Iraqi [[Shiism]], which seeks to keep politics out of religion. This contrasts sharply with the Iranian Shia government, which, after taking power in 1979 e.v., marginalized and persecuted Iranian quietists school in that country. Sh'ia traditions of non-involvement in politics create anomalies in modern Muslim culture: Grand Ayatollah Sistani of Iraq identifies himself as a follower of the quietist school of thought, despite his indirect but decisive role in most major Iraqi political decisions. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/international/middleeast/24shiites.html] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39853-2005Jan26_3.html]		*'''Quietism''' is a principal trend in Iraqi [[Shi'a\|Shiism]], which seeks to keep politics out of religion. This contrasts sharply with the Iranian Shia government, which, after taking power in 1979 e.v., marginalized and persecuted Iranian quietists school in that country. Sh'ia traditions of non-involvement in politics create anomalies in modern Muslim culture: Grand Ayatollah Sistani of Iraq identifies himself as a follower of the quietist school of thought, despite his indirect but decisive role in most major Iraqi political decisions. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/international/middleeast/24shiites.html] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39853-2005Jan26_3.html]

	*'''Quietism''' can be used in a general sense to mean peace or tranquillity of mind; calmness; indifference; apathy; dispassion; indisturbance; inaction.		*'''Quietism''' can be used in a general sense to mean peace or tranquillity of mind; calmness; indifference; apathy; dispassion; indisturbance; inaction.

Fr. Zabed at 19:53, 21 July 2005

2005-07-21T19:53:16Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 19:53, 21 July 2005
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	Among the "errors" condemned by the [[Council of Vienne]] (1311-1312 e.v.) are the propositions: that man in the present life can attain such a degree of [[perfection]] as to become utterly [[sin\|sinless]]; that the "perfect" have no need to [[fasting\|fast]] or [[prayer\|pray]], but may freely grant the body whatsoever it craves (a tacit reference to the [[Cathar]]s or [[Albigensian Crusade\|Albigenses]] of southern France and Catalonia); that they are not subject to any human authority or bound by the precepts of the Church. Similar assertions of individual autonymy on the part of the [[Fraticelli]] led to their condemnation by Pope John XXI in 1317 e.v. The same pope in 1329 e.v. proscribed among the errors of [[Meister Eckhart]] the 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.		Among the "errors" condemned by the [[Council of Vienne]] (1311-1312 e.v.) are the propositions: that man in the present life can attain such a degree of [[perfection]] as to become utterly [[sin\|sinless]]; that the "perfect" have no need to [[fasting\|fast]] or [[prayer\|pray]], but may freely grant the body whatsoever it craves (a tacit reference to the [[Cathar]]s or [[Albigensian Crusade\|Albigenses]] of southern France and Catalonia); that they are not subject to any human authority or bound by the precepts of the Church. Similar assertions of individual autonymy on the part of the [[Fraticelli]] led to their condemnation by Pope John XXI in 1317 e.v. The same pope in 1329 e.v. proscribed among the errors of [[Meister Eckhart]] the 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.

	Quietism further developed in the [[mysticism]] of the great 16th century e.v. Spaniards, [[Teresa of Avila]] and [[John of the Cross]]. Its final orthodox Catholic defender was [[Miguel de Molinos]], referred to by the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' as the "founder" of Quietism. The apostle of the Quietist movement in 17th-century France was Molinos' correspondent, the prolific writer ~~[[Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon\|~~Mme Guyon]], who won an influential convert at the court of [[Louis XIV ~~of France\|Louis XIV]]~~ in Madame de Maintenon and an ally within the Catholic hierarchy in Francois Fénelon\|Archbishop Fénelon.		Quietism further developed in the [[mysticism]] of the great 16th century e.v. Spaniards, [[Teresa of Avila]] and [[John of the Cross]]. Its final orthodox Catholic defender was [[Molinos\|Miguel de Molinos]], referred to by the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' as the "founder" of Quietism. The apostle of the Quietist movement in 17th-century France was Molinos' correspondent, the prolific writer Mme Guyon, who won an influential convert at the court of Louis XIV in Madame de Maintenon and an ally within the Catholic hierarchy in Francois Fénelon\|Archbishop Fénelon.

	Molinos and the doctrines of Quietism were finally condemned by Pope Innocent XI in the Bull ''Coelestis Pastor'' of 1687 e.v. A commission in France found most of Madame Guyon’s works intolerable, and the government confined her, first to a convent, then in the Bastille. After Fénelon’s spirited defense in a print war with Bossuet, in 1699 e.v. Pope Innocent XII prohibited the circulation of Fénelon’s ''Maxims of the Saints''. The [[inquisition]]'s proceedings against remaining Quietists in Italy lasted until the eighteenth century.		Molinos and the doctrines of Quietism were finally condemned by Pope Innocent XI in the Bull ''Coelestis Pastor'' of 1687 e.v. A commission in France found most of Madame Guyon’s works intolerable, and the government confined her, first to a convent, then in the Bastille. After Fénelon’s spirited defense in a print war with Bossuet, in 1699 e.v. Pope Innocent XII prohibited the circulation of Fénelon’s ''Maxims of the Saints''. The [[inquisition]]'s proceedings against remaining Quietists in Italy lasted until the eighteenth century.

	===Theology===		===Theology===
	Quietism states that man's highest perfection consists of a psychical self-annihilation and a subsequent absorption of the soul into the [[Divine Essence]], even during the present life. In this way, the [[mind]] is withdrawn from worldly interests to passively and constantly contemplate God. Madame Guyon maintained that she could not sin, for sin was Self, and she had rid herself of Self.		Quietism states that man's highest perfection consists of a psychical self-annihilation and a subsequent absorption of the soul into the [[Divine Essence]], even during the present life. In this way, the mind is withdrawn from worldly interests to passively and constantly contemplate God. Madame Guyon maintained that she could not sin, for sin was Self, and she had rid herself of Self.

	Whatever its [[theology\|theological]] implications, it is undeniable that the personal autonomy implied by Quietism had an undermining effect on church unity, conformity and discipline.		Whatever its [[theology\|theological]] implications, it is undeniable that the personal autonomy implied by Quietism had an undermining effect on church unity, conformity and discipline.

Thiebes at 12:57, 20 July 2005

2005-07-20T12:57:00Z

New page

'''Quietism''' is a term with multiple meanings and definitions.

*'''Quietism''' is a [[Christianity|Christian]] [[philosophy]] that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century [[e.v.]], but it had much earlier origins. The mystics known as ''Quietists'' insist with more or less emphasis on [[intellectual]] stillness and interior passivity as essential conditions of perfection; and all have been officially proscribed as [[heresy]] in very explicit terms by the [[Roman Catholic Church]].

*'''Quietism''' is the term used to describe one of the phases which British [[Religious Society of Friends|Quakers]] went through, after their enthusiastic beginnings and as a result of the persecution on the restoration of the monarchy in 1660 e.v. and before the 19th century e.v. phase of evangelicalism.

*'''Quietism''' is a principal trend in Iraqi [[Shiism]], which seeks to keep politics out of religion. This contrasts sharply with the Iranian Shia government, which, after taking power in 1979 e.v., marginalized and persecuted Iranian quietists school in that country. Sh'ia traditions of non-involvement in politics create anomalies in modern Muslim culture: Grand Ayatollah Sistani of Iraq identifies himself as a follower of the quietist school of thought, despite his indirect but decisive role in most major Iraqi political decisions. [http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/24/international/middleeast/24shiites.html] [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39853-2005Jan26_3.html]

*'''Quietism''' can be used in a general sense to mean peace or tranquillity of mind; calmness; indifference; apathy; dispassion; indisturbance; inaction.
 

==Christian philosophy==

===Origins of Christian philosophy===
The state of impeturbable serenity or ''[[ataraxia]]'' was seen as a desirable state of mind by [[Epicurus]] and the [[Stoic]] philosophers alike, and by their [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] followers, such as the emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]]. Quietism has been compared to the [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] doctrine of [[Nirvana]]. The possibility of achieving a sinless state and union with the [[Godhead (Christianity)|Christian Godhead]] are denied by the Roman Catholic Church.

Among the "errors" condemned by the [[Council of Vienne]] (1311-1312 e.v.) are the propositions: that man in the present life can attain such a degree of [[perfection]] as to become utterly [[sin|sinless]]; that the "perfect" have no need to [[fasting|fast]] or [[prayer|pray]], but may freely grant the body whatsoever it craves (a tacit reference to the [[Cathar]]s or [[Albigensian Crusade|Albigenses]] of southern France and Catalonia); that they are not subject to any human authority or bound by the precepts of the Church. Similar assertions of individual autonymy on the part of the [[Fraticelli]] led to their condemnation by Pope John XXI in 1317 e.v. The same pope in 1329 e.v. proscribed among the errors of [[Meister Eckhart]] the 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.

Quietism further developed in the [[mysticism]] of the great 16th century e.v. Spaniards, [[Teresa of Avila]] and [[John of the Cross]]. Its final orthodox Catholic defender was [[Miguel de Molinos]], referred to by the ''Catholic Encyclopedia'' as the "founder" of Quietism. The apostle of the Quietist movement in 17th-century France was Molinos' correspondent, the prolific writer [[Jeanne Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon|Mme Guyon]], who won an influential convert at the court of [[Louis XIV of France|Louis XIV]] in Madame de Maintenon and an ally within the Catholic hierarchy in Francois Fénelon|Archbishop Fénelon.

Molinos and the doctrines of Quietism were finally condemned by Pope Innocent XI in the Bull ''Coelestis Pastor'' of 1687 e.v. A commission in France found most of Madame Guyon’s works intolerable, and the government confined her, first to a convent, then in the Bastille. After Fénelon’s spirited defense in a print war with Bossuet, in 1699 e.v. Pope Innocent XII prohibited the circulation of Fénelon’s ''Maxims of the Saints''. The [[inquisition]]'s proceedings against remaining Quietists in Italy lasted until the eighteenth century.

===Theology===
Quietism states that man's highest perfection consists of a psychical self-annihilation and a subsequent absorption of the soul into the [[Divine Essence]], even during the present life. In this way, the [[mind]] is withdrawn from worldly interests to passively and constantly contemplate God. Madame Guyon maintained that she could not sin, for sin was Self, and she had rid herself of Self.

Whatever its [[theology|theological]] implications, it is undeniable that the personal autonomy implied by Quietism had an undermining effect on church unity, conformity and discipline.

==See also==
*[[Christian mysticism]]
*[[Religious Society of Friends]]

==External links==
*[http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/12608c.htm ''Catholic Encyclopedia:'' Quietism] as a "false or exaggerated mysticism"
*[http://www.bartleby.com/65/qu/quietism.html ''Columbia Encyclopedia'' on quietism]
*[http://www.selfknowledge.com/78100.htm More information]
*[http://www.encyclopedia.com/html/q1/quietism.asp Encyclopedia.com on quietism]
*[http://91.1911encyclopedia.org/Q/QU/QUIETISM.htm ''Encyclopædia Britannica''1911: "Quietism"] Informative.

==Further reading==
*Dandelion, P., ''A Sociological Analysis of the Theology of Quakers: The Silent Revolution'' New York, Ontario & Lampeter: Edwin Mellen Press, 1996.

==References==
*Wikipedia (2005). ''[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quietism Quietism]''. Retrieved July 20, 2005 e.v.