Jansenism

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A theological movement within Christianity emphasizing original sin, human depravity, the necessity of divine grace, and predestination, often opposing Jesuit doctrines and stressing strict moral rigor
2. A doctrine originating in the 17th century that highlights the fallen nature of humanity and the absolute need for God's grace for salvation, challenging more lenient religious teachings and advocating for strict adherence to moral discipline
3. A belief system based on the teachings of Cornelius Jansen, focusing on human sinfulness and divine grace's role in redemption while rejecting certain practices of contemporary Catholic theology and promoting austere religious observance

Etymology: Cornelius Jansen was a Dutch-born bishop of Ypres whose posthumous book "Augustinus" (published in 1640, two years after his death) argued, following Saint Augustine, that human nature was so corrupted by the Fall that salvation depended wholly on God's grace. The movement that grew around his ideas, centred on the convent of Port-Royal near Paris, took its name from him, so the word is simply the man's name with the suffix "-ism" attached. The label was a convenient one for opponents, who saw in these teachings a rigorous austerity they wanted to condemn. The suffix itself comes from Greek "-ismos", a noun-forming ending that named a practice, belief or condition, which English borrowed through Latin and French. Attaching it to a person's name to label a doctrine follows the same pattern as "Lutheranism" and "Calvinism". The result is a word that carries its founder's name into every discussion of the teaching, even though Jansen himself never saw the movement take shape.

Synonyms: Augustinianism, Calvinism-like doctrine