Experimental Theology in America: Madame Guyon, Fénelon, and Their Readers

Preface

ix o Preface in the eighteenth century, western Protestantism was characterized by an overarching consciousness and set of values, a “protestant frame of mind.” The increase in literacy and the circulation of ideas through letters, personal contacts, the press, and translations contributed to this frame of mind and to a desire for religious unity that would extend beyond existing confessional boundaries.1 As part of this evangelical fervor, there was a significant demand for devotional literature, drawn from both English and continental Catholic and Protestant traditions. W. r. Ward has cited the immense popularity of Thomas à Kempis (The Imitation of Christ), Miguel Molinos (The Spiritual Guide), François de sales (Introduction to the Devout Life), lewis Bayly (The Practice of Piety), and Johann Arndt (True Christianity ). Two of these figures, Kempis and de sales, were Catholics; Molinos was a Catholic Quietist who was condemned and imprisoned; Bayly was a Puritan; and Arndt was a lutheran. The crossing over of ecclesiastical boundaries between Catholicism and Protestantism in this particular reading list is of significance. For example, Puritanism, the most closely studied religious influence on early America, has been described as a devotional movement that drew in part on Augustine and on mystics like Teresa of Avila. The Imitation of Christ, with its emphasis on inner spirituality and the renunciation of self, was of special appeal to those embarked on the way toward holiness. Puritans made use, as well, of the manuals of ignatius loyola and de sales, adapting the techniques of Catholic spirituality, such as meditation and x Experimental Theology in America self-examination, to their own purposes.2 The vitality of these Puritan devotional practices was still apparent in the eighteenth century. To cite just one instance, the educated Bostonian sarah Prince Gill (1728–1771) was a friend of Esther Edwards Burr and began to keep a spiritual diary in 1743 at the height of the Great Awakening. Her entries reveal the peaks and valleys in her efforts to grow toward godliness and to follow these devotional practices. For example, part of the entry for February 18, 1757, is sarah’s response to the fourth chapter of the song of solomon and the phrase3 “Behold thou art fair; there is no spot in thee,” when she feels overcome with her “sinning heart.” This could well be interpreted as a form of lectio divina. Christ is speaking to her. Come by Faith and take a view of the heaven i am now preparing for you; don’t allways [sic] pore on the darkness of the present state, but solace yourself with glorious views of the aproaching [sic] state i design for you and will prepare for you; i have begun to purifye you in the work of renovation; then i implanted a vital Principle of Holiness in you and that is reaching after a perfection of Holiness agreeable to its nature; it will (under my care) thrive and grow and in one happy Moment (vis at Death) arrive at perfection. i now behold you with tender pity, groaning under your Burden of sin. These groans are a part of my Work in delivering you. i see all your distress [and] all your secret struggles. i behold my image in you with delight, and in due time i shall fully deliver you. Although unmentioned by Ward, the writings of Jeanne de la Mothe Guyon and of François de Fénelon, two French Catholics linked to the Quietist Molinos, also figured prominently among the preferred devotional authors of Protestants, both on the Continent and in north America. However, Ward has also described the Protestant frame of mind from 1670–1789 from a different angle, labeling it “early Evangelicalism.” Among the more radical mystics contributing to the intellectual roots of Evangelicalism, he has discussed Molinos and Madame Guyon, attributing the latter’s popularity to her status as a religious martyr. indicating that her writings were not very “distinctive” and added nothing particularly new to Quietist mysticism, Ward has seemed puzzled by her popularity in Germany, switzerland, Holland, and scotland.4 The overarching narrative of this book is precisely the transmission or voyage from the Continent and England to the new American colonies of Quietism, the seventeenth-century movement within continental Catholicism ,inwhichMolinos,JeanneGuyon,andFénelonweremajorfigures.The dominant characters are Madame Guyon, a lay teacher, and her defender Fénelon, a bishop and a tutor to the grandson of louis Xiv. The story [3.147.205.154] Project MUSE (2024-04-25 06:25...