Quietism
Quietism is a Christian philosophy that swept through France, Italy and Spain during the 17th century, but it had much earlier origins. 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. Whatever its theological implications, it is undeniable that the personal autonomy implied by Quietism had an undermining effect on church unity, conformity and discipline.
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 Roman followers, such as the emperor Marcus Aurelius. Quietism has been compared to the Buddhist doctrine of Nirvana. The possibility of achieving a sinless state and union with the Godhead are denied by the Roman Catholic Church.
Among the "errors" condemned by the Council of Vienne (1311-12) are the propositions: that man in the present life can attain such a degree of perfection as to become utterly sinless; that the "perfect" have no need to fast or pray, but may freely grant the body whatsoever it craves (a tacit reference to the Cathars or 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 John XXII in 1317. The same pope in 1329 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 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, finally condemned by Pope Innocent XI in the Bull Coelestis Pastor of 1687. The inquisitorial proceedings against his followers in Italy lasted until the eighteenth century.
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 In this way, the mind is withdrawn from worldly interests to passively and constantly contemplate God.
Origins
Theology
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