Der Jansenismus

The question of Man's determination - and thus of the freedom of his will - belongs to the old questions in the history of Man. Within the context of Christian history it was born out - and found its basic theological and ecclesiastical answer - in the controversy between St Augustine of Hippo with Pelagius in the early 5th century A.D. The problem of divine grace and human freedom, however, offered repeatedly occasion for vehement theological debates. Not least the question of Man's "justification", focussed so much by the Reformation, acted as a catalyst. Between the emerging denominations there developed a fight for the 'legacy' of St Augustine. The problems connected with the theology of grace led to severe inner-catholic controversies, which culminated during the middle of the 17th century in the conflict about the Augustine by Cornelius Jansenius (1585-1638). The work, which claimed to be the authentic interpretation of the Church Father, soon ended up on the Roman Index of prohibited books. Moreover, in 1653 five propositions (purportedly) taken from Augustine were condemned as heretical by the Papal bull 'Cum occasione'. The explosive force of this act was obvious: had the Church herewith condemned the grace theology positions of Augustine the Church Father themselves? The volume takes into account the complex, multifaceted phenomenon of "Jansenism", concentrates, however, on the theological issues as well as on the importance of St Augustine, a hitherto neglected aspect in the scholarship on "Jansenism".