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Showing papers on "Jansenism published in 1985"


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: In the eighteenth century, Jansenists like other Catholics grew increasingly responsive to claims of the secular order, not only for the juridical preeminence of the state vis-a-vis the church, but also for the moral autonomy of the individual in matters of conscience as discussed by the authors.
Abstract: In the eighteenth century, Jansenists like other Catholics grew increasingly responsive to claims of the secular order, not only for the juridical preeminence of the state vis-a-vis the church, but also for the moral autonomy of the individual in matters of conscience. "The profound, if sometimes hesitating, direction of Jansenist ecclesiastical thought," a modern scholar has observed, was a "Constantinian subordination of the church to the state and the consequent-if largely unintended-secularization of society."' The development of an enlightened idea of toleration by Jansenists in France may be seen as part of this secularization but also as distinct from it. To the extent that these secular claims were honored, the church's authority in Christian countries would diminish. As defined by church councils, popes, canonists, and theologians, the right of the church "to bind and loose" extended into "the corridors of power" and the deepest recesses of a person's conscience. In exercising that authority, the church could invoke coercive force from Christian rulers to punish or destroy persons guilty of heresy and other crimes against God. It is true, therefore, that Jansenists, who rejected or significantly limited the use of coercion against religious dissenters, were secularizing the church and the virtually coterminous society. It would seem fair to inquire, however, what did Jansenists generally intend with civil tolerance and similar reforms. Their intention might differ subtly but profoundly from certain practical consequences of measures that they appeared to approve. True, they were apparently secularizing society by limiting the use of coercive power on behalf of the Roman Catholic church. What they wanted in fact was to desecularize the church-to remove an alien spirit from its life. As a corollary, they hoped to witness a revival of the true tolerance which Christ enjoined upon his disciples. Late Jansenists saw with regret that civil tolerance was likely to contribute to a harmful secularizing of society. They warned that the church's ministrations to the people might be weakened by withdrawing the state's coercive pressure upon Protestants or by permitting them to organize for cult and other corporate activities. Late Jansenists granted, however, that secularization was often right and nec-

2 citations


Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: De l'e'ducation publique as discussed by the authors is a short book with no name of either author or publisher, and simply bearing the imprint "Amsterdam 1762." A second printing, unchanged, appeared in 1763, with no place, author, or publisher indicated.
Abstract: Late in 1762 there appeared a short book entitled De l'education publique, with no name of either author or publisher, and simply bearing the imprint "Amsterdam 1762." A second printing, unchanged, appeared in 1763, with no place, author, or publisher indicated. In all probability the place was Paris, since the use of false imprints was common. There were some who believed that the work was by Denis Diderot, whose famous Encyclope'die had been appearing in successive volumes for almost a dozen years. It was a not unreasonable supposition, since apart from his articles in the Encyclope'die most of Diderot's writings were published anonymously. The literary annalist and gossip Bachaumont, in his entry for January 21, 1763, called it a new book that was much "talked about" and reported that it was "attributed" to Diderot. It was listed as Diderot's in La France litteraire of 1769, and was included in an edition of his works in 1773 during his lifetime. The German Georg Hamann in 1788, after seeing some Diderot manuscripts, declared that De l'e'ducation publique was "really Diderot's." It was said to be his by the editors of the Journal de l'instruction publique published in Paris in 1793 at the height of the Revolution. I In 1806, however, the bibliographer A. A. Barbier, in the first edition of his Dictionnaire des ouvrages anonymes, expressed doubt on the attribution to Diderot, saying that "half the book seems to have been written by a philosopher, the other half by a Jansenist." Later, Barbier obtained a copy of the book in which an unknown person, at some unknown date, had written that the true author was the Abbe J. B. L. Crevier. Barbier therefore assigned the book to Crevier in the second edition of his Dictionnaire (1822), and this attribution has been accepted by the catalogue of the Bibliotheque Nationale and various other authorities.

1 citations