Editing Jansenism (section)

=== The question of grace in the post-Tridentine period ===
Jansenism originated from a [[theological]] school of thought within the framework of the [[Counter-Reformation]], and appeared in the years following the [[Council of Trent]], but drew from debates older than the council. Although Jansenism takes its name from [[Cornelius Jansen]], it is attached to a long tradition of [[Augustinian theology|Augustinian thought]].[[File:Saint Augustine by Philippe de Champaigne.jpg|left|thumb|[[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]], (AD 354–430) bishop of [[Hippo (city)|Hippo]], [[Church Fathers|Church Father]], who is claimed as the progenitor of the Jansenist doctrine of grace]]

Most of the debates contributing to Jansenism concern the relationship between [[divine grace]] (which [[God in Christianity|God]] grants to man) and human freedom in the process of [[Salvation in Christianity|salvation]]. In the 5th century, the North African bishop [[Augustine of Hippo]] opposed the British monk [[Pelagius]] who maintained that man has, within himself, the strength to will the good and to practice virtue, and thus to carry out salvation; a position that reduces the importance of divine grace. Augustine rejected this and declared that God alone decides to whom he grants or withholds grace, which causes man to be saved. The good or evil actions of man (and thus, his will and his virtue) do not affect this process, since [[Total depravity|man's free will was lost]] as a result of the [[original sin]] of [[Adam]]. God acts upon man through [[efficacious grace]], in such a way that he infallibly regenerates him, without destroying his will.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=8}} Man thus receives an irresistible and dominant desire for the good, which is infused into him by the action of efficacious grace.

[[Medieval theology]], dominated by Augustinian thought, left little room for human freedom on the subject of grace. [[Thomas Aquinas]], however, attempted to organise a system of thought around Augustinianism in order to reconcile grace and human freedom. He both affirmed the action of the divine in each action of man, but also the freedom of man.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=8}} The [[Scholasticism|Scholastics]] of the 14th and 15th centuries moved away from Augustinianism towards a more optimistic view of human nature.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=8}}

The [[Reformation]] broke with Scholasticism,<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=8}} with [[Martin Luther]] and [[John Calvin]] both taking Augustine as a reference, but also representing radical views. For some Augustinians, it was only necessary to affirm the omnipotence of God against human freedom, as was over-exalted in [[Pelagianism]], whereas Luther and Calvin saw grace (freely granted or withheld by God) as causing man to be saved. Man's free will was therefore totally denied.<ref name="Chantin-1996" />{{Rp|page=10}}

To counter the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church in 1547 reaffirmed in the sixth session of the Council of Trent the place of free will, without pronouncing on its relationship with grace.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=9}} Afterwards, the Roman Catholic position was not entirely unified, with the [[Jesuits|Jesuit]] priest [[Diego Laynez]] defending a position that his detractors described as Pelagian.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=9}} Indeed, the Jesuits restarted the debate, fearing that excessive Augustinianism would weaken the role of the Church in salvation and compromise the rejection of [[Protestantism]].<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=9}} In the wake of [[Renaissance humanism]], certain Roman Catholics had a less pessimistic vision of man and sought to establish his place in the process of salvation by relying on [[Thomism|Thomistic theology]], which appeared to be a reasonable compromise between grace and free will.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=108}} It is in this context that Aquinas was proclaimed a [[Doctor of the Church]] in 1567.[[File:Michel De Bay (Baius).jpg|thumb|Michel de Bay (1513–1589), [[Augustinianism|Augustinian]] [[Roman Catholic]] theologian, whose theological system known as ''[[Baianism]]'' was a forerunner to Jansenism]]Nevertheless, theological conflict increased from 1567, and in [[Leuven]], the theologian [[Michel de Bay]] (Baius) was condemned by [[Pope Pius V]] for his denial of the reality of free will. In response to Baius, the Spanish Jesuit [[Luis de Molina]], then teaching at the [[University of Évora]], defended the existence of 'sufficient' grace, which provides man with the means of salvation, but only enters into him by the assent of his free will. This thesis was violently opposed by the Augustinians, which resulted in the [[Dicastery for the Doctrine of the Faith]] banning any publications on the problem of grace in 1611.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=15}}
The controversy was then concentrated in Leuven, where the Augustinian [[Old University of Leuven|(Old) University of Leuven]] opposed the Jesuits.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=11}} In 1628, Cornelius Jansen, then a professor at the university, undertook the creation of a theological work aimed at resolving the problem of grace by synthesising Augustine's thought on the matter. This work, a manuscript of nearly 1,300 pages with the title [[Augustinus (Jansenist book)|''Augustinus'']], was almost completed when Jansen died suddenly in an epidemic in 1638.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=31}} On his deathbed, he committed a manuscript to his [[chaplain]], ordering him to consult with [[Libert Froidmont]], a theology professor at Leuven, and [[Henricus Calenus]], [[Canon (priest)|canon]] at the metropolitan church, and to publish the manuscript if they agreed it should be published, adding<sub>,</sub> "If, however, the [[Holy See]] wishes any change, I am an obedient son, and I submit to that Church in which I have lived to my dying hour. This is my last wish."<ref name="Catholic">{{Catholic|wstitle=Jansenius and Jansenism|last=Forget|first=Jacques|volume=8|inline=1}}</ref> Jansen affirmed in ''Augustinus'' that since the [[Fall of man]], the human will is capable only of evil without divine help. Only efficacious grace can make him live according to the Spirit rather than the flesh, that is to say, according to the will of God rather than the will of man. This grace is irresistible and not granted to all men. Here Jansen agreed with [[Calvinist soteriology|Calvin's theory of predestination]]. The manuscript was published in 1640, expounding Augustine's system and forming the basis for the subsequent Jansenist controversy. The book consisted of three volumes:

# The first described the history of [[Pelagianism]] and Augustine's battle against it and against [[Semipelagianism]];
# The second discussed the [[fall of man]] and [[original sin]];
# The third denounced a 'modern tendency' (unnamed by Jansen but clearly identifiable as [[Molinism]]) as Semipelagian.

In the first decade of the 17th century, Jansen established a fruitful collaboration with one of his classmates at the University of Leuven, the Baianist [[Jean du Vergier de Hauranne]], later the abbot of [[Abbey of Saint-Cyran-en-Brenne|Saint-Cyran-en-Brenne]]. Vergier was Jansen's patron for several years, and got Jansen a position as a tutor in [[Paris]] in 1606, after they completed their theological studies. Two years later, he got Jansen a position teaching at the bishop's college in Vergier's hometown of [[Bayonne]]. The two studied the [[Church Fathers]] together in Bayonne, with a special focus on the thought of Augustine, until they both left Bayonne in 1617. The question of grace was not central to their works at that time.<ref name="Cognet-1967" />{{Rp|page=20}} Jansen returned to the University of Leuven, where he completed his [[Th.D.|doctorate]] in 1619 and was named professor of [[exegesis]]. Jansen and Vergier continued to correspond about Augustine, especially concerning his teachings on [[Grace (Christianity)|grace]]. Upon the recommendation of [[Philip IV of Spain|King Philip IV of Spain]], Jansen was consecrated as [[Diocese of Ypres|Bishop of Ypres]] in 1636. It was only after the publication of ''Augustinus'' in 1638 that Vergier became the chief proponent of Jansen's theses, initially more out of loyalty to his late friend than out of personal conviction.