May 31 2024
Episode 60: Jansenism - Interview with Shaun Blanchard
In this episode, Dr. Shaun Blanchard discusses the Jansenist controversy, its impact, and some of the best books on the subject:The Provincial Letters by Blaise PascalAdoration and Annihilation: The Convent Philosophy of Port-Royal by John J. Conley S.J.The Wanton Jesuit and the Wayward Saint: A Tale of Sex, Religion, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century France by Mita ChoudhuryeThe Religious Origins of the French Revolution: From Calvin to the Civil Constitution, 1560-1791 by Dale K. Van KleyJansenism: An International Anthology by Shaun Blanchard and Richard T. YoderFive Books for Catholics may receive a commission from qualifying purchases made using the affiliate links to the books listed.In 1640, a theological treatise entitled Augustinus was published posthumously. Its subtitle was St. Augustine’s Teaching against the Pelagians and the Massalians on The Health, Sickness, and Medicine of Human Nature. Its author was Cornelius Jansen (1585-1638), who had been a professor at the University of Leuven and Bishop of Ypres, Flanders. In it, Jansen opposed certain Jesuit theologians, such as Luis de Molina, for their conception of grace and divine predestination. He defended instead what he took to be St. Augustine’s doctrine on these matters. Before long, proponents of this school of Augustinianism were branded Jansenists by their opponents. Moreover, very soon they were widespread in France, thanks largely to one of Jansen’s like-minded friends from his student days, Jean du Vergier de Hauranne (1581-1643), better known as the Abbé de...
