Jansenism summary

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Jansenism, Roman Catholic reform movement inspired by the writings of Cornelius Jansen. Influenced by the works of St. Augustine and especially by Augustine’s attacks on Pelagianism and the doctrine of free will, Jansen adopted Augustine’s doctrines of predestination and the necessity of God’s grace, a stance considered uncomfortably close to Calvinism by Roman Catholic authorities, who banned his book the Augustinus in 1642. After Jansen’s death in 1638, his followers made their base at the abbey in Port-Royal, France. Blaise Pascal, the most famous Jansenist, defended their teachings in his Provincial Letters (1656–57). In 1709 Louis XIV ordered the Port Royal abbey demolished. Followers of Jansen started a Jansenist church in 1723, which endured into the late 20th century.

Roman Catholicism Summary

Roman Catholicism, Christian church that has been the decisive spiritual force in the history of Western civilization. Along with Eastern Orthodoxy and Protestantism, it is one of the three major branches of Christianity. It is led by the pope, as the bishop of Rome, and the Holy See forms the

Cornelius Otto Jansen Summary

Cornelius Otto Jansen was a Flemish leader of the Roman Catholic reform movement known as Jansenism. He wrote biblical commentaries and pamphlets against the Protestants. His major work was Augustinus, published by his friends in 1640. Although condemned by Pope Urban VIII in 1642, it was of

Blaise Pascal Summary

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, physicist, religious philosopher, and master of prose. He laid the foundation for the modern theory of probabilities, formulated what came to be known as Pascal’s principle of pressure, and propagated a religious doctrine that taught the experience of God