Bernard McGinn's final volume in his history of western Christian mysticism addresses the ‘crisis’ of Quietism in Spain, Italy and France at the end of the seventeenth century. Debates over the nature and legitimacy of mysticism in the period led to the condemnation of several influential ‘Quietist’ figures, an episode which left an indelible mark on the Christian mystical tradition. Insisting that ‘it would be an error to see Quietism and its condemnation as a kind of “blip on the screen” of the history of mystical traditions’ (p. 6), McGinn instead shows how the controversy resulted in a decline in mysticism that lasted almost two centuries.
Chapter i seeks to answer the question ‘What is Quietism?’ by looking seriously at the key spiritual characteristics that feature in many Quietist works, including spiritual passivity, illuminism and pure love, while also exploring the historical precedent for such features throughout the history of Christianity. Noting that ‘the Quietist condemnations were the final fruit of problems that went back over four centuries’ (p. 10), McGinn explores the historic tensions between orthodox Christianity and mystical movements from 1250 to 1625, highlighting episodes such as the condemnation of the beguine Marguerite Porete's writings in the fourteenth century, as well as the Spanish Inquisition's crusade against the Alumbrados in the early sixteenth century. Of particular interest is McGinn's exploration of the influence of the seventeenth-century writer Juan Falconi de Bustamante (1596–1638) on emerging Quietist spirituality, a figure who is today ‘almost unknown outside Spain’ (p. 23). The groundwork laid in this chapter stresses the ‘growing tensions between mystics and ecclesiastical authorities’ (p. 31), situating the reader well for the discussions that follow.
Chapter ii addresses the development of Quietism in Italy by exploring the writings of Miguel de Molinos (1628–96) and Cardinal Pier Matteo Petrucci (1636–1701). For those new to studying the period, McGinn introduces the life and writings of Molinos well. He details Molinos's increasing influence in Rome in the 1670s and 1680s, as Molinos became well known as a teacher and confessor. Initially his work, the Spiritual guide, enjoyed such a level of success that ‘few, if any, mystical works enjoyed more’ (p. 43), and the first edition printed in Rome featured six approving prefaces from representatives of different religious orders, as well as an imprimatur from the pope's own theologian. Yet his views on the prayer of quietude and passive resignation to God soon earned him critics, including Jesuits who resented his attacks on meditative prayer. He was arrested on 18 July 1685 and was eventually sentenced to life imprisonment, while his works were deemed heretical. What breaks new ground is McGinn's exploration of the life of Petrucci, ‘a Quietist in the Heart of the Vatican’ (p. 68). This little-known figure is rescued from obscurity and given a significant role in the narrative of the condemnation of Quietism. McGinn explores the writings of Petrucci, an Oratorian who was consecrated bishop of Jesi in 1681, and who was a prolific author of mystical works. Eventually he too was silenced, and his work censured.
Chapter iii directs the narrative towards early French Quietists François Malaval (1627–1719) and Jean Guyon (1648–1717). Malaval, blinded by an accident in his youth, was educated by the Oratorians and Dominicans and gained a doctorate in theology from the Sorbonne. He was renowned for his piety and for his role as a spiritual advisor. McGinn rescues Malaval from being a simple disciple of Molinos, showing that his works pre-date Molinos's own writings and have an originality and influence of their own. After a rich and detailed survey of Malaval's works, McGinn highlights the work of several lesser-known French Quietists before moving on to the main focus of the chapter: the early life of Guyon. Described as ‘one of the most widely read and elusive women in the history of Christian mysticism’ (p. 139), Guyon's thirty-nine volumes of writings were influential on Catholic and Protestant mystical circles alike. McGinn traces her early life and teachings for the majority of the chapter, describing how her spirituality formed ‘a new and unusual mysticism inseparable from her own controversial personality’ (p. 182).
Chapter iv, titled ‘The climax of Quietism’, addresses the famous debate over Quietism between Guyon, François de Fénelon (1651–1715) and Jacques-Bénigne Bossuet (1627–1704) in what McGinn describes as an ‘epic controversy’ (p. 195). Guyon and Fénelon first met in 1688, the latter being unimpressed initially. Soon, however, the influential and well-respected cleric became convinced that Guyon was ‘a mystic who had had direct experience of God's overwhelming love’ (p. 204). While he did not agree with everything outlined in her mystical writings, Fénelon eventually found himself having to defend her writings very publicly against the criticisms of Bossuet. Fénelon was made archbishop of Cambrai in 1695, and in 1696 his ‘great intellectual and literary struggle’ (p. 256) with Bossuet began, producing an almost incessant pamphlet war that lasted until the end of the century. The debate ended with Fénelon censured by Rome, an act that stood as ‘witness to the anti-mystical wave of the end of the seventeenth century … it was a sign of the times … the growth of anti-mysticism’ (p. 286).
The volume closes with chapter v, ‘Aftermath and conclusion’, in which McGinn offers several poignant and useful reflections on the aftermath of Quietism. He notes, for example, how the Quietist controversy ‘led to an eclipse of many old and formerly approved mystics’ (p. 301), as well as a severe decline in new mystical writings, highlighting just how important the episode is to our more recent understanding of the Christian mystical tradition. The work ends with an appendix of the texts of several official condemnations of Quietism that students and scholars alike will find useful.
It was over forty years ago that McGinn first realised there was a real need for a comprehensive theological account of the history of Christian mysticism. Originally conceived as three volumes, the nine books which have emerged in the series, of which this is the final one, have helped to legitimise an entire field of study. McGinn's final words in the series are a hopeful request for the continued study of mysticism past the end of the seventeenth century to be ‘taken up by the younger folk’ (p. 312). Given McGinn's overwhelming influence on the field, there is undoubtedly a generation of scholars formed by his work that will seek to rise to the challenge.
