A Curious History

...measures me, and claims to be of the same stature as him. He wants his example to serve as a rule for all others, and it is a fact that the most arrogant of the Pharisees always spoke of himself and his great holiness with much more modesty and restraint than he does. And although he seems to have chosen the School of humility by formerly joining with JanseniusCornelius Jansen, a bishop whose teachings on grace and human frailty sparked the Jansenist movement, which emphasized deep piety and was often at odds with the Jesuits. on the subject of grace, it is nevertheless certain that he has always harbored, and still harbors in his breast, all the pride of Pelagius, Caelestius, and Julian Pelagius and his followers were ancient heretics who argued that humans could achieve salvation through their own will without divine grace—the theological opposite of Jansenism.. Indeed, Jansenism in his case has functioned much like the God of the Stoic Planetiades, who, according to Plutarch’s report, drove out vices through the front door only to receive them back through the rear. He has even reached that criminal presumption of Impeccability original: "Impeccance"; the belief that a person can reach a state where they are no longer capable of sinning. and of an entire perfection within this state of imperfection and infirmity. He undoubtedly claims this for himself as much as he has preached it and pressed it upon others, even to the point of putting a noose around their necks and driving them to despair, as could be shown by certain fatal examples that occurred under his very eyes in the city where he exercised his Pastorate.

Although no man ever spoke or wrote more poorly than he—yes, one who understood the Holy Scriptures less—he nevertheless wants his long and tedious—

—sermons (in which he relies much more on his lungs and his bile than on his reasoning and his brain) to be taken for proofs of his profound erudition and as highly finished works. And he would be very pleased if one took the "flow of his mouth"—or to put it better, his salivation, caused by his raw mercury In 17th-century medicine, "mercury" was used as a treatment, but here it likely refers to a "mercurial" or volatile and unstable temperament.—for a torrent of eloquence. The swelling of his pride is further noted by the fact that although he was but a simple Pastor, and in that capacity had only sheep to govern, he nonetheless set himself up, without a vocation and without any legitimate title, as a Doctor and Professor. He did this to gain disciples in Theology, whom he wished to prepare for the Holy Ministry by infatuating them with his mad fantasies and instilling his prejudices into them. All of these are incontestable proofs of his self-love, his eccentricity, and his pride.

As for Enthusiasm In this period, "Enthusiasm" was a derogatory term for those claiming direct, private revelations from God that bypassed Church tradition or scripture., he has been so possessed by it since the very time he was a Jesuit, Jansenist, IlluminéA member of a group claiming special spiritual "illumination" or direct sight of the divine., Carmelite, and AdamiteA radical sect that sought to return to the primal innocence of Adam, sometimes practicing religious nudity., without ever letting it go, that one will hardly find among the most visionary Quakers anyone who boasts so much of spirituality, presence, inspiration, irradiation, and the Anointing of the Holy Spirit. What is very remarkable—and we must mention it in passing—is that even during the time he was in the Society of the Jesuits, he boasted of having private conversations...