‘Pelagianism’, the Rule of Reason and the ’pruritus scribendi’. Jansenius’ Sources and the Authority They Are Ascribed

Abstract

While concentrating on the first volume of Cornelius Jansenius’ Augustinus (1640), this study considers both the historical information Jansenius provides on the Pelagians/ Semipelagians and the polemic accents he adds to that. The working hypothesis is that Jansenius’presentation of ‘Pelagianism’ as a ‘sect’ or a theological ‘movement’, in which all positions are allegedly harmonized, contains polemic undertones, which suggest that Pelagian/ Semipelagian views have been perpetuated until much later, in Jansenius’ own time, by the Molinists and the Louvain Jesuits. Especially Jansenius’ criticism of the Pelagians/ Semipelagians, on the one hand, and of the Molinists/ Louvain Jesuits, on the other hand, for their excessive use of philosophy or secular learning in discussing divine grace, seems to bring in specific polemic hints. The major authority for Jansenius in this endeavour is, needless to say, Augustine and predominantly his criticism of Julian of Æclanum’s views. However, Jansenius quotes numerous other sources and it is worth noting what authority he ascribes also to these sources and in which context he uses them.