Lettres provinciales
Encyclopedia
The Lettres provinciales (Provincial letters) are a series of eighteen letters written by French
philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal
under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte. Written in the midst of the formulary controversy
between the Jansenists and the Jesuits, they are a defense of the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld
from Port-Royal-des-Champs, a friend of Pascal who in 1656 was condemned by the Faculté de Théologie at the Sorbonne
in Paris
for views that were claimed to be heretical
. The First letter is dated January 23, 1656 and the Eighteenth March 24, 1657. A fragmentary Nineteenth letter is frequently included with the other eighteen.
In these letters, Pascal humorously attacked casuistry
, a rhetorical method often used by Jesuit theologians, and accused Jesuits of moral laxity. Being quickly forced underground while writing the Provincial Letters, Pascal pretended they were reports from a Parisian to a friend in the provinces, on the moral and theological issues then exciting the intellectual and religious circles in the capital. In the letters, Pascal's tone combines the fervor of a convert with the wit and polish of a man of the world. Their style meant that, quite apart from their religious influence, the Provincial Letters were popular as a literary work. Adding to that popularity was Pascal's use of humor, mockery, and satire
in his arguments. The letters also influenced the prose of later French writers like Voltaire
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
. Brilliantly written by Pascal, the Provincial Letters would not have been possible without the work of theologians from Port-Royal; indeed, most of the arguments Pascal deployed were already to be found in Arnauld's Théologie morale des Jésuites, something which led the Jesuit Nicolas Caussin
to reply to Pascal's perceived libel. Pascal's main source on Jesuit casuistry was Antonio Escobar
's Summula casuum conscientiae (1627), several propositions of which would be later condemned by Pope Innocent XI
.
Paradoxically, the Provincial Letters were both a success and a defeat: a defeat, on the political and theological level, and a success on the moral level. Thus, King Louis XIV ordered that the book be shredded and burnt in 1660. The final letter from Pascal, in 1657, had defied the Pope himself, provoking Alexander VII
to condemn the letters. But that didn't stop most of educated France from reading them. Moreover, even Pope Alexander, while publicly opposing them, nonetheless was persuaded by Pascal's arguments. Just a few years later (1665–66, and then 1679), Alexander condemned "laxity" in the church and ordered a revision of casuistical texts.
, the debate concerned the respective role of grace
and free will
, Molinists
(i.e. Jesuits) claiming that an "efficacious grace" was not necessary to save man, but only a "sufficient grace" bestowed by God to all men, while Thomists claimed that the "sufficient grace," given to all men, had to be assisted by an "efficacious grace," bestowed only to the select few (in accordance also with Augustinism). Pascal thus highlighted, in the Second Letter, that neo-Thomists and Jesuits were using the same term, "sufficient grace", with two different senses, for political reasons.
," the Jesuits claiming that sin could only be committed if people had knowledge of the evil inherent to the planned action. The Jesuit priest with whom Pascal was speaking quoted Le Moyne, a professor to the Sorbonne from 1642 to 1654 — Le Moyne's definition had already been used by Arnauld in the Apologie pour les saints Pères:
Pascal replied, that this meant that all those whose "vices have got the better of their reason" and who indulge in "perpetual round of all sorts of pleasures", so long as they are ignorant of the immorality of their actions, were excused by this doctrine. While he argued, citing the Bible, that those who did believe in God but were deprived of knowledge of their evil actions (and thus deprived, for a moment, of the Jesuits' "actual grace") were still sinners.
Furthermore, Pascal ridiculed the attempt of Etienne Bauny
, author of a Somme des péchés qui se commettent en tous états (Paris, 1634), to use Aristotle
to justify this doctrine of sin (which could, according to Bauny, only be effective if man possessed the knowledge of the action). Bauny thus quoted the Nicomachean Ethics
, III, 1, alleging that a voluntary action needed knowledge of what was good or evil in it. Pascal replied, also quoting Aristotle (he seemingly was the only one to use this argument in this debate), that Aristotle spoke only of knowledge of the actual circumstances of the act, but not at all of the capacity to discriminate between good and evil — since Aristotle stated that one who was devoided of that capacity was not excused at all, but rather considered a vicious man.
. The Fifth letter, published in a hurry after a police search in Jansenist-friendly publishing houses, is particularly dedicated to criticisms against the Jesuits' doctrine of moral probabilism
, according to which one could adopt a "probable opinion," that is, an opinion made plausible by the authority of a theologian, even if it was less probable than another opinion — especially concerning conducts to adopt, the nature of sin
s, etc. Pascal relied heavily on this witty attack, composed of quotes from various books written by Jesuit casuists, in particular by Antonio Escobar y Mendoza
's Summula casuum conscientiae (1627), which had enjoyed a great success, and also Thomas Sanchez
, Vincenzo Filliucci
(Jesuit and penitentiary
at St Peter's), Antonino Diana
, Paul Laymann
, Etienne Bauny
, Louis Cellot
, Valerius Reginaldus, Bernard Lamy (censored on 8 October 1649 by the Faculty of Leuven for his defense of homicide), etc.
In this letter, he evoked passing-by the Chinese Rites controversy
which ended with the Jesuits' condemnation and the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide
's decision to prohibit idolatry
under any pretexts. He also alluded to the problem of the relations between Christian virtues and natural virtues, debated in particular during the first half of the 17th century. After Jean-Pierre Camus
and Arnauld, Pascal attacked the Jesuit Antoine Sirmond, who had practically admitted the identity between natural virtues and Christian virtues.
Starting at Letter VI, dated 10 April 1656, Pascal gives a number of examples of Jesuit casuistry and of its "relaxed moral," citing abundant sources (a lot of whom came from Escobar). He illustrated casuistry by citing mostly Jesuitic texts allowing excuses to abstain from fasting
(citing Vincenzo Filliucci
's Moralium quaestionum de christianis officiis et casibus conscientiae... tomus, Lyon, 1622; often cited by Escobar); from giving to the poor
(indirectly citing Gabriel Vasquez
from Diana; for a monk temporarily defrocking himself to go to the brothel
(citing an exact quote of Sanchez from Escobar, who was curving around Pius IV's Contra sollicitantes and Pius V's Contra clericos papal bulls, the latter directed against sodomite clergy
)); in the Seventh Letter, propositions allowing homicides (even to the clergy) and duel
s as long as the intention is not directed for revenge; others permitting corruption of judges as long as it is not intended as corruption; others allowing usury
or Mohatra contract
s; casuistic propositions allowing robbery and stealing from one's master; others allowing lying through the use of rhetorical "mental reservation" (restrictio mentalis; for instance: saying, loudly "I swear that...", silently "I said that...", and loudly again the object of the pledge) and equivocation
s. A number of these scandalous propositions were later condemned by Pope Innocent XI.
In the Ninth Letter, the Jesuit explains to the narrator easy ways to enter Heaven
, citing a book called “Paradise opened to Philagio, in a Hundred Devotions to the Mother of God, easily practised.” The Tenth Letter is dedicated to casuistic procedures to lighten the ritual of confession
and to the debate between the respective roles of attrition
and contrition
; the Jesuit character claiming that sole attrition combined with the sacrament of penance
is sufficient for man's salvation
, while the narrator insists on the necessity of contrition and of the love of God, citing extracts of the Bible often quoted by the Jansenists, the abbé de Saint-Cyran and Jansenius.
The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Letter s criticize the Jesuits' legitimation of homicide. In the latter, Pascal abstains himself from discussing the most scandalous Jesuit propositions, legitimizing tyrannicide
s and abortion
s. He quotes, among others, the Church's policies of penance for sinners guilty of willful murder officialized during the Synod of Ancyra
(341).
In the Seventeenth Letter, Pascal took again the problem of the efficacious grace and of the "de facto vs de juris" debate concerning the inclusion, or not, of the 5 Propositions condemned by the Pope in the Cum Occasione papal bull, in Jansenius's work (see Formulary controversy
for details). Port-Royal and Pascal argued that although the Pope had condemned these 5 Propositions as heretical, they were not to be found in Jansenius. Furthermore, they claimed that the Pope held authority only on matters of faith, and not on technical de facto matters. Thus, drawing on the Jesuits' argumentation itself, Pascal argued here that one could not be held heretical to believe that Jansenius' work did not include these 5 Propositions, and that the Papal condemnation only restricted itself to the heresy itself, not to the question of their inclusion in Jansenius' work. Thus, he recalled the Jesuit Cardinal Bellarmin's sentences concerning the authority of religious councils concerning matters of dogma
versus de facto issues; he also recalled the debate between St Athanasius and St Basil
concerning the interpretation of Dionysus of Alexandria, who was accused by Basil of Arianism
and therefore convoked before the Pope Dionysius in 262; or the various contradictory papal interpretations given to the Scythian monks
; as well as another debate concerning Pope Honorius I
, who had been later anathematized by the Third Council of Constantinople
, although Cardinal Bellarmin defended Honorius' orthodoxy, claiming that the condemned propositions were not to be found in Honorius.
, and in 1660 Louis XIV
banned the book and ordered it shredded and burned. Pascal himself had to enter clandestinity, living in cheap hostels. Nevertheless, the letters survived and influenced the prose of later French writers like Voltaire
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
. The extract of the Seventh Letter concerning the "direction of intention" influenced Molière
's Tartuffe
(Act IV, scene V, 1489–1493).
They were first translated into Latin by Antoine Arnauld
, and then into many other languages, including English in 1657 (Les Provinciales, or the Mystery of Jesuitisme, discovered in certain letters written upon occasion of the present differences at Sorbonne between the jansenists and the molinists, London, Royston, 1657) by the Anglican
theologian Henry Hammond
, while in 1684 a polyglot translation (in French, Latin, Spanish and Italian) was published by Balthasar Winfelt.
:
*On Antonino Diana
's justification of duel
s:
*On usury
and witchcraft
:
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
philosopher and theologian Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal
Blaise Pascal , was a French mathematician, physicist, inventor, writer and Catholic philosopher. He was a child prodigy who was educated by his father, a tax collector in Rouen...
under the pseudonym Louis de Montalte. Written in the midst of the formulary controversy
Formulary controversy
The Formulary Controversy, in 17th century France, pitted the Jansenists against the Jesuits. It gave rise to Blaise Pascal's Lettres Provinciales, the condemnation by the Vatican of Casuistry, and the final dissolution of organised Jansenism.- Context :...
between the Jansenists and the Jesuits, they are a defense of the Jansenist Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
from Port-Royal-des-Champs, a friend of Pascal who in 1656 was condemned by the Faculté de Théologie at the Sorbonne
Collège de Sorbonne
The Collège de Sorbonne was a theological college of the University of Paris, founded in 1257 by Robert de Sorbon, after whom it is named. With the rest of the Paris colleges, it was suppressed during the French Revolution. It was restored in 1808 but finally closed in 1882. The name Sorbonne...
in Paris
Paris
Paris is the capital and largest city in France, situated on the river Seine, in northern France, at the heart of the Île-de-France region...
for views that were claimed to be heretical
Heresy
Heresy is a controversial or novel change to a system of beliefs, especially a religion, that conflicts with established dogma. It is distinct from apostasy, which is the formal denunciation of one's religion, principles or cause, and blasphemy, which is irreverence toward religion...
. The First letter is dated January 23, 1656 and the Eighteenth March 24, 1657. A fragmentary Nineteenth letter is frequently included with the other eighteen.
In these letters, Pascal humorously attacked casuistry
Casuistry
In applied ethics, casuistry is case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning...
, a rhetorical method often used by Jesuit theologians, and accused Jesuits of moral laxity. Being quickly forced underground while writing the Provincial Letters, Pascal pretended they were reports from a Parisian to a friend in the provinces, on the moral and theological issues then exciting the intellectual and religious circles in the capital. In the letters, Pascal's tone combines the fervor of a convert with the wit and polish of a man of the world. Their style meant that, quite apart from their religious influence, the Provincial Letters were popular as a literary work. Adding to that popularity was Pascal's use of humor, mockery, and satire
Satire
Satire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
in his arguments. The letters also influenced the prose of later French writers like Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
. Brilliantly written by Pascal, the Provincial Letters would not have been possible without the work of theologians from Port-Royal; indeed, most of the arguments Pascal deployed were already to be found in Arnauld's Théologie morale des Jésuites, something which led the Jesuit Nicolas Caussin
Nicolas Caussin
Nicolas Caussin was a French Jesuit, a theorist of the passions. His treatise, The Holy Court Fourth Tome, was published in 1638. This work gives a Christianized account of what he calls the four principal passions: Love, Desire, Anger, and Envy, as well as many variants and sub-genres of these...
to reply to Pascal's perceived libel. Pascal's main source on Jesuit casuistry was Antonio Escobar
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza was a Spanish churchman of illustrious descent.Born in Valladolid, he was educated by the Jesuits, and at the age of fifteen took the habit of that order. He soon became a famous preacher. In addition he was a voluminous writer, and his collected works fill eighty-three...
's Summula casuum conscientiae (1627), several propositions of which would be later condemned by Pope Innocent XI
Pope Innocent XI
Blessed Pope Innocent XI , born Benedetto Odescalchi, was Pope from 1676 to 1689.-Early life:Benedetto Odescalchi was born at Como in 1611 , the son of a Como nobleman, Livio Odescalchi, and Paola Castelli Giovanelli from Gandino...
.
Paradoxically, the Provincial Letters were both a success and a defeat: a defeat, on the political and theological level, and a success on the moral level. Thus, King Louis XIV ordered that the book be shredded and burnt in 1660. The final letter from Pascal, in 1657, had defied the Pope himself, provoking Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII
Pope Alexander VII , born Fabio Chigi, was Pope from 7 April 1655, until his death.- Early life :Born in Siena, a member of the illustrious banking family of Chigi and a great-nephew of Pope Paul V , he was privately tutored and eventually received doctorates of philosophy, law, and theology from...
to condemn the letters. But that didn't stop most of educated France from reading them. Moreover, even Pope Alexander, while publicly opposing them, nonetheless was persuaded by Pascal's arguments. Just a few years later (1665–66, and then 1679), Alexander condemned "laxity" in the church and ordered a revision of casuistical texts.
Content of the letters
Structurally, the first three letters ridicule the dispute between the Thomists and the Jesuits on the nature of salvation, rather asserting a Jansenist understanding of salvation. Making allusion to the Congregatio de AuxiliisCongregatio de Auxiliis
The Congregatio de Auxiliis was a commission established by Pope Clement VIII to settle a theological controversy regarding divine grace that arose between the Dominicans and the Jesuits towards the close of the sixteenth century...
, the debate concerned the respective role of grace
Divine grace
In Christian theology, grace is God’s gift of God’s self to humankind. It is understood by Christians to be a spontaneous gift from God to man - "generous, free and totally unexpected and undeserved" - that takes the form of divine favour, love and clemency. It is an attribute of God that is most...
and free will
Free will
"To make my own decisions whether I am successful or not due to uncontrollable forces" -Troy MorrisonA pragmatic definition of free willFree will is the ability of agents to make choices free from certain kinds of constraints. The existence of free will and its exact nature and definition have long...
, Molinists
Molinism
Molinism, named after 16th Century Jesuit theologian Luis de Molina, is a religious doctrine which attempts to reconcile the providence of God with human free will. William Lane Craig is probably its best known advocate today, though other important Molinists include Alfred Freddoso, Alvin...
(i.e. Jesuits) claiming that an "efficacious grace" was not necessary to save man, but only a "sufficient grace" bestowed by God to all men, while Thomists claimed that the "sufficient grace," given to all men, had to be assisted by an "efficacious grace," bestowed only to the select few (in accordance also with Augustinism). Pascal thus highlighted, in the Second Letter, that neo-Thomists and Jesuits were using the same term, "sufficient grace", with two different senses, for political reasons.
Fourth Letter
The Fourth Letter deals with the question of "actual graceActual grace
Actual grace is, in Roman Catholic theology, a share in God's life. It is contrasted with sanctifying grace, which is a state of being that can be permanent, in that it consists only in a passing influence of God on the soul....
," the Jesuits claiming that sin could only be committed if people had knowledge of the evil inherent to the planned action. The Jesuit priest with whom Pascal was speaking quoted Le Moyne, a professor to the Sorbonne from 1642 to 1654 — Le Moyne's definition had already been used by Arnauld in the Apologie pour les saints Pères:
“1. On the one hand, God sheds abroad on the soul some measure of love, which gives it a bias toward the thing commanded; and on the other, a rebellious concupiscenceConcupiscenceConcupiscence is often defined as an ardent, usually sensual, longing or lust. The concept is most commonly encountered in Christian theology, as the selfish human desire for an object, person, or experience...
solicits it in the opposite direction. 2. God inspires the soul with a knowledge of its own weakness. 3. God reveals the knowledge of the physician who can heal it. 4. God inspires it with a desire to be healed. 5. God inspires a desire to pray and solicit his assistance.”
“And unless all these things occur and pass through the soul,” added the (Jesuit) monk, “the action is not properly a sin, and cannot be imputed, as M. le Moine shows in the same place and in what follows.
Pascal replied, that this meant that all those whose "vices have got the better of their reason" and who indulge in "perpetual round of all sorts of pleasures", so long as they are ignorant of the immorality of their actions, were excused by this doctrine. While he argued, citing the Bible, that those who did believe in God but were deprived of knowledge of their evil actions (and thus deprived, for a moment, of the Jesuits' "actual grace") were still sinners.
Furthermore, Pascal ridiculed the attempt of Etienne Bauny
Etienne Bauny
Etienne Bauny was a French Jesuit theologian.-Life:He was admitted into the Society of Jesus, 20 July 1593, and after teaching humanities and rhetoric he was promoted to the chair of moral theology which he occupied for sixteen years. He was for a time superior of the Jesuit residence at Pontoise...
, author of a Somme des péchés qui se commettent en tous états (Paris, 1634), to use Aristotle
Aristotle
Aristotle was a Greek philosopher and polymath, a student of Plato and teacher of Alexander the Great. His writings cover many subjects, including physics, metaphysics, poetry, theater, music, logic, rhetoric, linguistics, politics, government, ethics, biology, and zoology...
to justify this doctrine of sin (which could, according to Bauny, only be effective if man possessed the knowledge of the action). Bauny thus quoted the Nicomachean Ethics
Nicomachean Ethics
The Nicomachean Ethics is the name normally given to Aristotle's best known work on ethics. The English version of the title derives from Greek Ἠθικὰ Νικομάχεια, transliterated Ethika Nikomacheia, which is sometimes also given in the genitive form as Ἠθικῶν Νικομαχείων, Ethikōn Nikomacheiōn...
, III, 1, alleging that a voluntary action needed knowledge of what was good or evil in it. Pascal replied, also quoting Aristotle (he seemingly was the only one to use this argument in this debate), that Aristotle spoke only of knowledge of the actual circumstances of the act, but not at all of the capacity to discriminate between good and evil — since Aristotle stated that one who was devoided of that capacity was not excused at all, but rather considered a vicious man.
Casuistry
The rest of the letters are mainly an attack on Jesuit casuistryCasuistry
In applied ethics, casuistry is case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning...
. The Fifth letter, published in a hurry after a police search in Jansenist-friendly publishing houses, is particularly dedicated to criticisms against the Jesuits' doctrine of moral probabilism
Catholic Probabilism
In Catholic moral theology, probabilism provides a way of answering the question about what to do when one does not know what to do. Probabilism proposes that one can follow a probable opinion regarding whether an act may be performed morally, even though the opposite opinion is more probable...
, according to which one could adopt a "probable opinion," that is, an opinion made plausible by the authority of a theologian, even if it was less probable than another opinion — especially concerning conducts to adopt, the nature of sin
Sin
In religion, sin is the violation or deviation of an eternal divine law or standard. The term sin may also refer to the state of having committed such a violation. Christians believe the moral code of conduct is decreed by God In religion, sin (also called peccancy) is the violation or deviation...
s, etc. Pascal relied heavily on this witty attack, composed of quotes from various books written by Jesuit casuists, in particular by Antonio Escobar y Mendoza
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza
Antonio Escobar y Mendoza was a Spanish churchman of illustrious descent.Born in Valladolid, he was educated by the Jesuits, and at the age of fifteen took the habit of that order. He soon became a famous preacher. In addition he was a voluminous writer, and his collected works fill eighty-three...
's Summula casuum conscientiae (1627), which had enjoyed a great success, and also Thomas Sanchez
Thomas Sanchez
Tomás Sánchez was a 16th century Spanish Jesuit and famous casuist.- Life :In 1567 he entered the Society of Jesus. He was at first refused admittance on account of an impediment in his speech; however, after imploring delivery from this impediment before a picture of Mary at Córdoba, Spain, his...
, Vincenzo Filliucci
Vincenzo Filliucci
Vincenzo Filliucci was an Italian Jesuit moralist. The Provincial Letters of Blaise Pascal, and Les Extraits des Assertions, make much out of their quotations from his writings.-Life:...
(Jesuit and penitentiary
Apostolic Penitentiary
The Apostolic Penitentiary, formerly called the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Penitentiary, is one of the three tribunals of the Roman Curia. The Apostolic Penitentiary is chiefly a tribunal of mercy, responsible for issues relating to the forgiveness of sins in the Catholic Church.The...
at St Peter's), Antonino Diana
Antonino Diana
Antonino Diana was a Catholic moral theologian.Diana was born of a noble family at Palermo, Sicily. A famous casuist, he was a consultor of the Holy Office of the Kingdom of Sicily and an examiner of bishops under Urban VIII, Innocent X, and Alexander VII.Harshly attacked in Blaise Pascal's...
, Paul Laymann
Paul Laymann
Paul Laymann was an Austrian Jesuit and important moralist.Laymann was born at Arzl, near Innsbruck. After studying jurisprudence at Ingolstadt, he entered the Society of Jesus there in 1594, was ordained priest in 1603, taught philosophy at the University of Ingolstadt from 1603-9, moral...
, Etienne Bauny
Etienne Bauny
Etienne Bauny was a French Jesuit theologian.-Life:He was admitted into the Society of Jesus, 20 July 1593, and after teaching humanities and rhetoric he was promoted to the chair of moral theology which he occupied for sixteen years. He was for a time superior of the Jesuit residence at Pontoise...
, Louis Cellot
Louis Cellot
Louis Cellot was a French Jesuit, known as a theological writer.-Life:He was born in Paris, and entered the Society of Jesus in 1605. He was occupied in studied of Latin, Greek and Hebrew, and initially taught these subjects. He spent time at Rouen, and then La Flèche, before becoming provincial...
, Valerius Reginaldus, Bernard Lamy (censored on 8 October 1649 by the Faculty of Leuven for his defense of homicide), etc.
In this letter, he evoked passing-by the Chinese Rites controversy
Chinese Rites controversy
The Chinese Rites controversy was a dispute within the Catholic Church from the 1630s to the early 18th century about whether Chinese folk religion rites and offerings to the emperor constituted idolatry...
which ended with the Jesuits' condemnation and the Congregatio de Propaganda Fide
Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples
The Congregation for the Evangelization of Peoples in Rome is the congregation of the Roman Curia responsible for missionary work and related activities...
's decision to prohibit idolatry
Idolatry
Idolatry is a pejorative term for the worship of an idol, a physical object such as a cult image, as a god, or practices believed to verge on worship, such as giving undue honour and regard to created forms other than God. In all the Abrahamic religions idolatry is strongly forbidden, although...
under any pretexts. He also alluded to the problem of the relations between Christian virtues and natural virtues, debated in particular during the first half of the 17th century. After Jean-Pierre Camus
Jean-Pierre Camus
Jean-Pierre Camus de Pontcarré was a French bishop, preacher, and author of works of fiction and spirituality.-Biography:...
and Arnauld, Pascal attacked the Jesuit Antoine Sirmond, who had practically admitted the identity between natural virtues and Christian virtues.
Starting at Letter VI, dated 10 April 1656, Pascal gives a number of examples of Jesuit casuistry and of its "relaxed moral," citing abundant sources (a lot of whom came from Escobar). He illustrated casuistry by citing mostly Jesuitic texts allowing excuses to abstain from fasting
Fasting and Abstinence in the Roman Catholic Church
For Roman Catholics, fasting is the reduction of one's intake of food to one full meal a day. This may or may not be accompanied by abstinence from meat when eating....
(citing Vincenzo Filliucci
Vincenzo Filliucci
Vincenzo Filliucci was an Italian Jesuit moralist. The Provincial Letters of Blaise Pascal, and Les Extraits des Assertions, make much out of their quotations from his writings.-Life:...
's Moralium quaestionum de christianis officiis et casibus conscientiae... tomus, Lyon, 1622; often cited by Escobar); from giving to the poor
Charity (virtue)
In Christian theology charity, or love , means an unlimited loving-kindness toward all others.The term should not be confused with the more restricted modern use of the word charity to mean benevolent giving.- Caritas: altruistic love :...
(indirectly citing Gabriel Vasquez
Gabriel Vásquez
Gabriel Vasquez was a Spanish Jesuit theologian....
from Diana; for a monk temporarily defrocking himself to go to the brothel
Catholic teachings on sexual morality
Catholic teachings on sexual morality draw from natural law, Sacred Scripture and Sacred Tradition and are promulgated authoritatively by the Magisterium...
(citing an exact quote of Sanchez from Escobar, who was curving around Pius IV's Contra sollicitantes and Pius V's Contra clericos papal bulls, the latter directed against sodomite clergy
Homosexuality and Roman Catholicism
In Roman Catholicism, homosexual acts are considered contrary to natural law and sinful, while homosexual desires are considered "disordered" but not themselves sinful. The Catholic Church considers human sexual behavior to be sacred, when properly expressed...
)); in the Seventh Letter, propositions allowing homicides (even to the clergy) and duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
s as long as the intention is not directed for revenge; others permitting corruption of judges as long as it is not intended as corruption; others allowing usury
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
or Mohatra contract
Mohatra contract
A Mohatra contract is way of loaning money with interest without breaking the letter of the usury laws. The lender sells the borrower a trivial object to be paid for on the loan due date. The borrower then sells the same object back immediately for cash at the price minus the interest....
s; casuistic propositions allowing robbery and stealing from one's master; others allowing lying through the use of rhetorical "mental reservation" (restrictio mentalis; for instance: saying, loudly "I swear that...", silently "I said that...", and loudly again the object of the pledge) and equivocation
Equivocation
Equivocation is classified as both a formal and informal logical fallacy. It is the misleading use of a term with more than one meaning or sense...
s. A number of these scandalous propositions were later condemned by Pope Innocent XI.
In the Ninth Letter, the Jesuit explains to the narrator easy ways to enter Heaven
Heaven
Heaven, the Heavens or Seven Heavens, is a common religious cosmological or metaphysical term for the physical or transcendent place from which heavenly beings originate, are enthroned or inhabit...
, citing a book called “Paradise opened to Philagio, in a Hundred Devotions to the Mother of God, easily practised.” The Tenth Letter is dedicated to casuistic procedures to lighten the ritual of confession
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
and to the debate between the respective roles of attrition
Imperfect contrition
Imperfect contrition in Catholic theology is a desire not to sin for a reason other than love of God. Imperfect contrition is contrasted with perfect contrition....
and contrition
Contrition
Contrition or contriteness is sincere and complete remorse for sins one has committed...
; the Jesuit character claiming that sole attrition combined with the sacrament of penance
Confession
This article is for the religious practice of confessing one's sins.Confession is the acknowledgment of sin or wrongs...
is sufficient for man's salvation
Salvation
Within religion salvation is the phenomenon of being saved from the undesirable condition of bondage or suffering experienced by the psyche or soul that has arisen as a result of unskillful or immoral actions generically referred to as sins. Salvation may also be called "deliverance" or...
, while the narrator insists on the necessity of contrition and of the love of God, citing extracts of the Bible often quoted by the Jansenists, the abbé de Saint-Cyran and Jansenius.
The Thirteenth and Fourteenth Letter s criticize the Jesuits' legitimation of homicide. In the latter, Pascal abstains himself from discussing the most scandalous Jesuit propositions, legitimizing tyrannicide
Tyrannicide
Tyrannicide literally means the killing of a tyrant, or one who has committed the act. Typically, the term is taken to mean the killing or assassination of tyrants for the common good. The term "tyrannicide" does not apply to tyrants killed in battle or killed by an enemy in an armed conflict...
s and abortion
Abortion
Abortion is defined as the termination of pregnancy by the removal or expulsion from the uterus of a fetus or embryo prior to viability. An abortion can occur spontaneously, in which case it is usually called a miscarriage, or it can be purposely induced...
s. He quotes, among others, the Church's policies of penance for sinners guilty of willful murder officialized during the Synod of Ancyra
Synod of Ancyra
The Synod of Ancyra was an ecclesiastical council, or synod, convened in Ancyra , the seat of the Roman administration for the province of Galatia, in 314...
(341).
In the Seventeenth Letter, Pascal took again the problem of the efficacious grace and of the "de facto vs de juris" debate concerning the inclusion, or not, of the 5 Propositions condemned by the Pope in the Cum Occasione papal bull, in Jansenius's work (see Formulary controversy
Formulary controversy
The Formulary Controversy, in 17th century France, pitted the Jansenists against the Jesuits. It gave rise to Blaise Pascal's Lettres Provinciales, the condemnation by the Vatican of Casuistry, and the final dissolution of organised Jansenism.- Context :...
for details). Port-Royal and Pascal argued that although the Pope had condemned these 5 Propositions as heretical, they were not to be found in Jansenius. Furthermore, they claimed that the Pope held authority only on matters of faith, and not on technical de facto matters. Thus, drawing on the Jesuits' argumentation itself, Pascal argued here that one could not be held heretical to believe that Jansenius' work did not include these 5 Propositions, and that the Papal condemnation only restricted itself to the heresy itself, not to the question of their inclusion in Jansenius' work. Thus, he recalled the Jesuit Cardinal Bellarmin's sentences concerning the authority of religious councils concerning matters of dogma
Dogma
Dogma is the established belief or doctrine held by a religion, or a particular group or organization. It is authoritative and not to be disputed, doubted, or diverged from, by the practitioners or believers...
versus de facto issues; he also recalled the debate between St Athanasius and St Basil
Basil of Caesarea
Basil of Caesarea, also called Saint Basil the Great, was the bishop of Caesarea Mazaca in Cappadocia, Asia Minor . He was an influential 4th century Christian theologian...
concerning the interpretation of Dionysus of Alexandria, who was accused by Basil of Arianism
Arianism
Arianism is the theological teaching attributed to Arius , a Christian presbyter from Alexandria, Egypt, concerning the relationship of the entities of the Trinity and the precise nature of the Son of God as being a subordinate entity to God the Father...
and therefore convoked before the Pope Dionysius in 262; or the various contradictory papal interpretations given to the Scythian monks
Scythian monks
The Scythian monks were a community of monks from the region around the mouths of the Danube, who played an influential role in Christian theological disputes between the 4th and 6th centuries. The name Scythian comes from Scythia Minor, the classical name of the modern Dobruja region in Romania...
; as well as another debate concerning Pope Honorius I
Pope Honorius I
Pope Honorius I was pope from 625 to 638.Honorius, according to the Liber Pontificalis, came from Campania and was the son of the consul Petronius. He became pope on October 27, 625, two days after the death of his predecessor, Boniface V...
, who had been later anathematized by the Third Council of Constantinople
Third Council of Constantinople
The Third Council of Constantinople, counted as the Sixth Ecumenical Council by the Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox churches and other Christian groups, met in 680/681 and condemned monoenergism and monothelitism as heretical and defined Jesus Christ as having two energies and two wills...
, although Cardinal Bellarmin defended Honorius' orthodoxy, claiming that the condemned propositions were not to be found in Honorius.
Reactions and legacy
The reaction to the Lettres provinciales was substantial. Pascal's use of wit, humor, and mockery in attacking existing institutions made his work extremely popular. However, its publication was primarily via the underground pressUnderground press
The underground press were the independently published and distributed underground papers associated with the counterculture of the late 1960s and early 1970s in the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and other western nations....
, and in 1660 Louis XIV
Louis XIV of France
Louis XIV , known as Louis the Great or the Sun King , was a Bourbon monarch who ruled as King of France and Navarre. His reign, from 1643 to his death in 1715, began at the age of four and lasted seventy-two years, three months, and eighteen days...
banned the book and ordered it shredded and burned. Pascal himself had to enter clandestinity, living in cheap hostels. Nevertheless, the letters survived and influenced the prose of later French writers like Voltaire
Voltaire
François-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
and Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau
Jean-Jacques Rousseau was a Genevan philosopher, writer, and composer of 18th-century Romanticism. His political philosophy influenced the French Revolution as well as the overall development of modern political, sociological and educational thought.His novel Émile: or, On Education is a treatise...
. The extract of the Seventh Letter concerning the "direction of intention" influenced Molière
Molière
Jean-Baptiste Poquelin, known by his stage name Molière, was a French playwright and actor who is considered to be one of the greatest masters of comedy in Western literature...
's Tartuffe
Tartuffe
Tartuffe is a comedy by Molière. It is one of his most famous plays.-History:Molière wrote Tartuffe in 1664...
(Act IV, scene V, 1489–1493).
They were first translated into Latin by Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld
Antoine Arnauld — le Grand as contemporaries called him, to distinguish him from his father — was a French Roman Catholic theologian, philosopher, and mathematician...
, and then into many other languages, including English in 1657 (Les Provinciales, or the Mystery of Jesuitisme, discovered in certain letters written upon occasion of the present differences at Sorbonne between the jansenists and the molinists, London, Royston, 1657) by the Anglican
Anglicanism
Anglicanism is a tradition within Christianity comprising churches with historical connections to the Church of England or similar beliefs, worship and church structures. The word Anglican originates in ecclesia anglicana, a medieval Latin phrase dating to at least 1246 that means the English...
theologian Henry Hammond
Henry Hammond
Henry Hammond was an English churchman.-Early life:He was born at Chertsey in Surrey on 18 August 1605, the youngest son of John Hammond, physician. He was educated at Eton College, and from age 13 at Magdalen College, Oxford, becoming demy or scholar in 1619. On 11 December 1622 he graduated B.A....
, while in 1684 a polyglot translation (in French, Latin, Spanish and Italian) was published by Balthasar Winfelt.
Quotes
*On probabilismCatholic Probabilism
In Catholic moral theology, probabilism provides a way of answering the question about what to do when one does not know what to do. Probabilism proposes that one can follow a probable opinion regarding whether an act may be performed morally, even though the opposite opinion is more probable...
:
- "“Oh, yes,” said he, “we answer just as we please; or rather, I should say, just as it may please those who ask our advice. Here are our rules, taken from Fathers LaymanPaul LaymannPaul Laymann was an Austrian Jesuit and important moralist.Laymann was born at Arzl, near Innsbruck. After studying jurisprudence at Ingolstadt, he entered the Society of Jesus there in 1594, was ordained priest in 1603, taught philosophy at the University of Ingolstadt from 1603-9, moral...
, VasquezGabriel VásquezGabriel Vasquez was a Spanish Jesuit theologian....
, SanchezThomas SanchezTomás Sánchez was a 16th century Spanish Jesuit and famous casuist.- Life :In 1567 he entered the Society of Jesus. He was at first refused admittance on account of an impediment in his speech; however, after imploring delivery from this impediment before a picture of Mary at Córdoba, Spain, his...
, and the four-and-twenty worthies, in the words of Layman: ‘A doctor, on being consulted, may give an advice, not only probable according to his own opinion, but contrary to his own opinion, provided this judgement happens to be more favourable or more agreeable to the person that consults him—si forte haec favorabilior seu exoptatior sit. Nay, I go further and say that there would be nothing unreasonable in his giving those who consult him a judgement held to be probable by some learned person, even though he should be satisfied in his own mind that it is absolutely false.’”" (Letter V) - "“In other words,” said I, “they have got maxims for the clergy, the nobility, and the commons. Well, I am quite impatient to hear them.”" (Letter VI)
- "“You have a very short memory, returned the monk. “Did I not inform you a little ago that, according to our fathers Cellot and Reginald, ‘in matters of morality we are to follow, not the ancient fathers, but the modern casuists?’”" (Letter VI)
*On Antonino Diana
Antonino Diana
Antonino Diana was a Catholic moral theologian.Diana was born of a noble family at Palermo, Sicily. A famous casuist, he was a consultor of the Holy Office of the Kingdom of Sicily and an examiner of bishops under Urban VIII, Innocent X, and Alexander VII.Harshly attacked in Blaise Pascal's...
's justification of duel
Duel
A duel is an arranged engagement in combat between two individuals, with matched weapons in accordance with agreed-upon rules.Duels in this form were chiefly practised in Early Modern Europe, with precedents in the medieval code of chivalry, and continued into the modern period especially among...
s:
- "‘If a gentleman,’ says he, in a passage cited by DianaAntonino DianaAntonino Diana was a Catholic moral theologian.Diana was born of a noble family at Palermo, Sicily. A famous casuist, he was a consultor of the Holy Office of the Kingdom of Sicily and an examiner of bishops under Urban VIII, Innocent X, and Alexander VII.Harshly attacked in Blaise Pascal's...
, ‘who is challenged to fight a duel, is well known to have no religion, and if the vices to which he is openly and unscrupulously addicted are such as would lead people to conclude, in the event of his refusing to fight, that he is actuated, not by the fear of God, but by cowardice, and induce them to say of him that he was a hen, and not a man, gallina, et non vir; in that case he may, to save his honour, appear at the appointed spot—not, indeed, with the express intention of fighting a duel, but merely with that of defending himself, should the person who challenged him come there unjustly to attack him. His action in this case, viewed by itself, will be perfectly indifferent; for what moral evil is there in one stepping into a field, taking a stroll in expectation of meeting a person, and defending one’s self in the event of being attacked? And thus the gentleman is guilty of no sin whatever; for in fact it cannot be called accepting a challenge at all, his intention being directed to other circumstances, and the acceptance of a challenge consisting in an express intention to fight, which we are supposing the gentleman never had.’”
- “You have not kept your word with me, sir,” said I. “This is not, properly speaking, to permit duelling; on the contrary, the casuist is so persuaded that this practice is forbidden that, in licensing the action in question, he carefully avoids calling it a duel.” (Letter VII)
- "“A most pious assassinationAssassinationTo carry out an assassination is "to murder by a sudden and/or secret attack, often for political reasons." Alternatively, assassination may be defined as "the act of deliberately killing someone, especially a public figure, usually for hire or for political reasons."An assassination may be...
!” said I. “Still, however, pious though it be, it is assassination, if a man is permitted to kill his enemy in a treacherous manner.”" (Letter VII)
*On usury
Usury
Usury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
and witchcraft
Witchcraft
Witchcraft, in historical, anthropological, religious, and mythological contexts, is the alleged use of supernatural or magical powers. A witch is a practitioner of witchcraft...
:
- "UsuryUsuryUsury Originally, when the charging of interest was still banned by Christian churches, usury simply meant the charging of interest at any rate . In countries where the charging of interest became acceptable, the term came to be used for interest above the rate allowed by law...
, according to our fathers, consists in little more than the intention of taking the interest as usurious. EscobarAntonio Escobar y MendozaAntonio Escobar y Mendoza was a Spanish churchman of illustrious descent.Born in Valladolid, he was educated by the Jesuits, and at the age of fifteen took the habit of that order. He soon became a famous preacher. In addition he was a voluminous writer, and his collected works fill eighty-three...
, accordingly, shows you how you may avoid usury by a simple shift of the intentionIntentionIntention is an agent's specific purpose in performing an action or series of actions, the end or goal that is aimed at. Outcomes that are unanticipated or unforeseen are known as unintended consequences....
." (Letter VIII)
- "“Distinguo, as Sanchez says, here. If the magician be ignorant of the diabolic artEuropean witchcraftEuropean Witchcraft is witchcraft and magic that is practised primarily in the locality of Europe.-Antiquity:Instances of persecution of witchcraft are documented from Classical Antiquity, paralleling evidence from the Ancient Near East and the Old Testament.In Ancient Greece, for example, Theoris,...
—si sit artis diabolicae ignarus—he is bound to restore: but if he is an expert sorcerer, and has done all in his power to arrive at the truth, the obligation ceases; for the industry of such a magician may be estimated at a certain sum of money.’”
- “There is some sense in that,” I said; “for this is an excellent plan to induce sorcerers to aim at proficiency in their art, in the hope of making an honest livelihood, as you would say, by faithfully serving the public.”" (Letter VIII)
- "I would have written a shorter letter, but I did not have the time."" (Letter XVI)
Quotes about the Provincial Letters
- Said VoltaireVoltaireFrançois-Marie Arouet , better known by the pen name Voltaire , was a French Enlightenment writer, historian and philosopher famous for his wit and for his advocacy of civil liberties, including freedom of religion, free trade and separation of church and state...
concerning the greatness of the letters, "All types of eloquence are contained in these letters." He also called them "the best-written book that has yet appeared in France." - When BossuetJacques-Bénigne BossuetJacques-Bénigne Bossuet was a French bishop and theologian, renowned for his sermons and other addresses. He has been considered by many to be one of the most brilliant orators of all time and a masterly French stylist....
was asked what book he would rather have written had he not written his own, he answered, the Provincial Letters of Pascal.
See also
- Antoine Le MaistreAntoine Le MaistreAntoine Le Maistre was a French Jansenist lawyer, author and translator. His name has also been written Lemaistre and Le Maître, and he sometimes used the pseudonym of Lamy.-Background and early life:...
- CasuistryCasuistryIn applied ethics, casuistry is case-based reasoning. Casuistry is used in juridical and ethical discussions of law and ethics, and often is a critique of principle- or rule-based reasoning...
- Catholic moral theologyCatholic moral theologyCatholic moral theology is a major category of doctrine in the Roman Catholic church, equivalent to a religious ethics. Moral theology encompasses Roman Catholic social teaching, Catholic medical ethics, sexual ethics, and various doctrines on individual moral virtue and moral theory...
- Formulary controversyFormulary controversyThe Formulary Controversy, in 17th century France, pitted the Jansenists against the Jesuits. It gave rise to Blaise Pascal's Lettres Provinciales, the condemnation by the Vatican of Casuistry, and the final dissolution of organised Jansenism.- Context :...
- JansenismJansenismJansenism was a Christian theological movement, primarily in France, that emphasized original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination. The movement originated from the posthumously published work of the Dutch theologian Cornelius Otto Jansen, who died in 1638...
- JesuitismJesuitismJesuitism is a label given to particular casuistic approach to moral questions and problems often described by the adjective jesuitical, so called because it was promoted by some Jesuits of the 17th century rather than being the beliefs of the Society of Jesus as a religious order...
- Port-Royal LogicPort-Royal LogicPort-Royal Logic, or Logique de Port-Royal, is the common name of La logique, ou l'art de penser, an important textbook on logic first published anonymously in 1662 by Antoine Arnauld and Pierre Nicole, two prominent members of the Jansenist movement, centered around Port-Royal. Blaise Pascal...