Pope Clement XI condemned Jansenism through the papal bull "Unigenitus," published in 1713. This action was a response to the growing influence of the theological and spiritual movement that emerged in 17th-century France, opposing certain aspects of Catholic thought and practice. In truth, it was yet another manifestation of the "karstic river" of an ancient heresy, resurfacing under a new guise to attack the doctrine of salvation (Fedeli, 2011).
Jansenism, based on the ideas of Bishop Cornelius Jansenius, sought to delve deeper into the doctrine of divine grace and predestination in his work "Augustinus." However, this "deepening" represented a radical distortion of Augustinian doctrine, bringing it dangerously close to Gnostic pessimism. By positing a human nature irremediably corrupted by original sin, Jansenism denies the fundamental goodness of creation, echoing the Gnostic belief in a flawed world, the work of an inferior Demiurge (Fedeli, 2011, p. 160). Grace, in this system, is not an aid that elevates and perfects a good, albeit fallen, nature, but an irresistible force that imposes itself upon a will that is powerless and essentially evil. Jansenism emerged in the context of the theological controversies of the post-Reformation period, especially regarding the questions of grace and free will. The movement gained strength mainly in France, with the monastery of Port-Royal-des-Champs becoming an important center of Jansenist thought.In "Unigenitus," the Pope officially condemned 101 propositions extracted from the works of Pasquier Quesnel, a Jansenist theologian. These propositions were declared heretical, contrary to Catholic doctrine, and subversive to papal and ecclesiastical authority. The condemnation was not merely disciplinary, but a defense of the very metaphysical structure of the faith, which includes the goodness of creation, the reality of free will, and man's cooperation with divine grace. The bull demanded that the Jansenists retract and abandon their positions.
This condemnation reaffirmed the importance of papal authority and the Church's position regarding doctrines and practices considered contrary to its teachings. In doing so, the Church defended the Catholic synthesis against the dualistic and pessimistic tendencies that, ultimately, oppose the Creator to creation and grace to nature.
📜Some of the condemned propositions included:
The denial of the Church's power to use physical force.
This proposition reveals the underlying Gnostic ecclesiology, which yearns for a "pneumatic church," purely spiritual and invisible, despising the incarnate and temporal reality of the Church Militant, which, as a perfect society, possesses the necessary means to govern and protect its faithful in the material world (Fedeli, 2011, p. 271).
The assertion that man always cooperates with God's commandments.
This apparent orthodoxy conceals the doctrine of irresistible grace. Man "cooperates" not by a free act, but because grace moves him ineluctably, nullifying free will. This denial of freedom is a fundamental trait of Anthropotheism, which seeks to exempt man from moral responsibility and from the state of trial in which he finds himself in this "valley of tears" (Fedeli, 2011, p. 64).
The criticism of the study of contemporary moral philosophy by the Church's ministers.
Such criticism reflects the Gnostic aversion to reason ('logikoi'), seen as a tool of the Demiurge, incapable of understanding divine mysteries. Salvation would come not through the intellect seeking truth in created reality, but through an inner "illumination" that despises the natural order.
The idea that grace diminished after Adam's sin.
This is the central thesis of the Jansenist error and its clearest connection to Gnosticism. For Catholic doctrine, grace is a supernatural, gratuitous gift that elevates nature without destroying it. In Jansenism, human nature after sin is so radically evil that grace does not perfect it, but replaces or nullifies it. Here we have a reenactment of the Gnostic division of humanity: the "pneumatics," who receive an irresistible grace that saves them by their predestined nature, and the "hylics" or "psychics," the condemned mass, abandoned in their corruption without effective grace. Salvation ceases to be a possibility offered to all and becomes an arbitrary decree reflecting an irreconcilable dualism between God and a part of His creation (Fedeli, 2011, p. 94).
The elevation of individual conscience as the supreme judge of morality.
Here, Gnostic subjectivism manifests itself, replacing the objective authority of the Church and God's Law with the "divine spark" or "inner light" of the "elect" individual. It is the negation of the visible and hierarchical Church in favor of a "church of the spirit" without dogmas and without external authority (Fedeli, 2011, p. 269).
The limitation of human rules and obligations only to secular laws.
The permission to censure acts and decrees of the Apostolic See.
The subordination of ecclesiastical authority to the secular tribunal.
The dependence of ecclesiastical power on secular power.
These propositions, taken together, aim to strip the Church of its supernatural authority and its sovereignty in the spiritual order. Reducing the Church to a mere association subject to temporal power is the logical consequence of an ecclesiology that denies its divine foundation and its sacramental and hierarchical nature, transforming it into a purely human institution.
The controversial interpretation of polygamy in marriage.
Although it may seem a distinct theme, the disorder in marital morality is a direct consequence of the Gnostic hatred for matter and procreation. By considering the flesh and generation as works of evil, Gnosticism paves the way for both an unnatural asceticism and the most abject licentiousness, as both stances deny the intrinsic good of marriage as a divine institution (Fedeli, 2011, p. 252).
📚References
Fedeli, O. (2011). Antropoteísmo: a religião do homem. Editora Celta.