Theologian · Early modern
François Fénelon
1651–1715 · Pure love (semi-quietism)
Archbishop of Cambrai; twenty-three propositions from his Maximes des Saints were condemned by Innocent XII (Cum Alias, 1699). He submitted at once and publicly, and died in exemplary communion.
Tutor to the Duke of Burgundy and Archbishop of Cambrai, Fénelon defended Madame Guyon and wrote the Explanation of the Maxims of the Saints (1697) to show that a “pure love” of God, without any motive of self-interest or even of eternal happiness, is the summit of the spiritual life. Bossuet attacked, Rome condemned, and Fénelon's own submission from his cathedral pulpit became a model of obedience. His Telemachus is a mirror of Christian kingship against Louis XIV's wars.
Why he matters: The condemnation of the Maximes fixed the teaching that hope for one's own beatitude is never to be excluded from charity; Fénelon's letters of direction remain among the wisest in the Catholic tradition, and his obedience is their best commentary.
Where to be careful
Condemned: that there is an habitual state of pure love in which the desire of eternal salvation has no place; that the soul in trial may make an absolute sacrifice of its salvation; that contemplation excludes distinct acts. The error was semi-quietist, not quietist; he always upheld the moral law and the sacraments.
Reading
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Selected WritingsFrançois Fénelon (ed. Chad Helms, Classics of Western Spirituality) · Letters of direction and extracts from the Maximes, with the condemnation.
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The Adventures of TelemachusFrançois Fénelon · His political novel; the most read book of the eighteenth century.
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Fénelon: Letters of Love and Counseled. John McEwen · The spiritual letters, which have never been under censure.
Documented positions
Where this thinker stands on each dispute the test covers.