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H e r e s y o f t h e M o n t h
QUIETISM
By Todd M. Aglialoro
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This Rock
Volume 5, Number 2
 February 1994 
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Dates
1675-1715
Founder
Miguel de Molinos (1628-1696)
Principal errors
Denies the necessity of human activity in contemplation
and sanctification. Asserts that the highest spirituality is attained
when the mind and will are completely inactive; any sort of attachment
to a divine image and all external forms of worship are hindrances
to union with God.
History
The name "Quietism" is derived from the
Latin quietus, which means passivity, and it is accurate in
describing the state of mind and soul which Quietists sought in order
to achieve spiritual perfection.
Similar heresies and errors can be traced back as far as the fourth
century, when a group known as the Euchites, or Messalians, taught
that external acts of sanctification, such as the sacraments, were
useless, for prayer alone would free the body from attachment to evil.
The medieval Hesychasts believed that a perfect contemplation of God
was possible through repose of the body and stilling of the will.
The Brethren and Sisters of the Free Spirit (thirteenth through fifteenth
centuries) and the Alumbrados of Spain (sixteenth and seventeenth
centuries) took this idea further, to the point where not only external
worship and discursive prayer are useless, but obedience to moral
law and personal mortification become unnecessary; the soul being
mystically united to God, the body's every desire can be indulged
without incurring sin.
These movements helped set the stage for Miguel de Molinos, who crystallized
Quietism into its most recognizable form. The first proposition of
his work, Dux Spiritualis, sums up the heresy: "Man must
annihilate his powers and this is the inward way [via interna];
in fact, the desire to do anything actively is offensive to God and
hence one must abandon oneself entirely to God and therefore remain
as a lifeless body."
This "inward way" involves refraining from traditional acts
of piety and prayer: contemplation of reward and punishment, heaven
and hell; meditation on the divine attributes; petition or thanksgiving
directed at God; even contrition for sins. Instead, said Molinos,
one "must remain in `obscure faith' and in quiet . . . abiding
in God's presence to adore, love, and serve him, but without producing
any acts because with these God is not pleased." The Catholic
Encyclopedia concludes that this "inward way" of Quietism
has "nothing to do with confession, confessors, cases of conscience,
theology or philosophy."
Quietism is a caricature of genuine mysticism as taught by Teresa
of Avila and John of the Cross. These too preached detachment from
the senses in the highest levels of mystical prayer and a simple,
loving union with God dependent not on active or discursive effort.
They never went so far as to disavow more ascetic forms of prayer
and indeed held they always must precede higher levels. Nor did these
great saint-mystics deny the value of corporal mortification, the
sacraments, or external forms of worship. Instead, they held these
things to be indispensable to the development of the spiritual life,
sure foundations for mystical union with God.
Orthodox response
The Jesuits, whose spirituality stressed the active
contemplation that Quietism condemned, preached and wrote against
the heresy for several years. Molinos was arrested on July 18, 1685--more,
it is believed, for his moral misconduct (the extent of which remains
a secret) than for his heretical teachings.
On September 3, 1687 he retracted the 68 propositions, after which
he was sentenced to lifetime "penitential imprisonment."
In November of that year Pope Innocent XI condemned 68 propositions
of Dux Spiritualis in his constitution Caelestis Pastor.
Molinos died in prison nine years later.
Modern parallels
Quietism bears similarity to certain elements of
Eastern mysticism and the New Age movement, and it is mirrored in
one of the chief principles of Protestantism.
Like Quietism, many Eastern religions (Hinduism and Buddhism, for
instance) aim at a state of detachment or indifference, whether it
be Nirvana for the Buddhists, tranquil oneness with the pantheistic
"all-god," or the Tao.
Elements of Quietism can be seen in the quasi-mysticism of the New
Age movement. In emphasizing subjective mystical experience or "feeling,"
downplaying personal moral responsibility, and eliminating sacrament
and ritual, many moderns are unaware of the debt they owe to a seventeenth-century
writer for their "modern" religion.
The Reformation doctrine of sola fides is a cousin to Quietism
in that it rejects mankind's reciprocal role (through obedience and
good works) in the process of salvation.
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