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Madame
Jeanne Guyon— Mystic and Contemplative
1647-1717 |
 "Here
[the contemplative state] everything is God. God is everywhere
and in all things." —Madam Guyon
"May
I hasten to say that the kind of prayer I am speaking
of is not a prayer that comes from your mind. It is a
prayer that begins in the heart.... Prayer that comes out of the heart is not interrupted by thinking!"—Madam
Guyon, Experiencing The Depths of
Jesus Christ p. 4]
"All
that is of your doing, all that comes from your life-even
your most exalted prayer-must first be destroyed before
union can come about. All the prayers that proceed from
your mind are merely preparations for bringing you to a passive state; any and all active contemplation
on your part is also just preparation for bringing you
to a passive state. They are preparations. They are not
the end. They are a way to the end. The end is union
with God!" —Madame Guyon - Experiencing
Union with God Through Inner Prayer "
THE
MINDLESS MYSTICISM OF MADAME GUYON
G. Richard Fisher
"The
school of mysticism that Guyon adhered to, sometimes called
Quietism, was an extreme form of Roman Catholic mysticism that
emphasized the cleansing of one's inner life and included the
belief that one could see Christ visibly. Before Guyon's day,
in the Middle Ages, this took strange forms in erotic "bride
mysticism" with some visionaries believing they were married
to Jesus. Guyon and the Quietists went further, into something
called essence mysticism. They believed that their being was
merged with God's being and the two became one. This unbiblical
idea survives today in the New Age and other non-Christian religions.
In her autobiography, Guyon wrote that "divine wisdom is
unknown." She made no attempt to speak of God's revelation
of Himself in nature and creation (Psalm 19, Romans 1) and the
specific revelation of God in Jesus Christ and His Word. She
taught that we can know of God by "passing forward into
God," going into a mindless, meditative state where we
can get in touch with the Christ within the self, merge with
that Christ and be lifted into ecstasy." THE
MINDLESS MYSTICISM OF MADAME GUYON, G. Richard Fisher
"Madame
Guyon was a Roman Catholic mystic who lived during the 17th
and 18th century that was a promoter of 'quietism,' which
involved becoming so passive that you become indifferent
to everything. This was an extreme form of Roman Catholic
mysticism that emphasized the cleansing of one's inner life
and included the belief that one could see Christ visibly.
"Misinterpreting Jesus words in Luke 17:21 she began
her lifelong journey within. She responded to the Lord,
'Thou wast in my heart, and demanded only a simple turning
of my mind inward, to make me perceive Thy presence....
The kingdom of God is within you.' Madame Guyon said that
she had reached the point where she was no longer capable
of sinning. She said that sin involves self, and she had
become free of self. Therefore, she could no longer sin." —Let Us Reason, Community Connections
July
22, 1680 •
Madame Guyon Believed She Achieved Union with God
"Modern
critics say that Jeanne-Marie used self-hypnosis to achieve
her 'spiritual' states and trances and point out that she
used 'automatic writing' which suggests spiritualist practice.
They wonder that she had so little to say about Christ (in
proportion to the total number of words she wrote)."
—Christian
History Institute
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Featured Resources
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Contemplative Spirituality: A belief system that
uses ancient mystical practices to induce altered states of consciousness
(the silence) and is rooted in mysticism and the occult but often wrapped
in Christian terminology. The premise of contemplative spirituality
is pantheistic (God is all) and panentheistic (God is in all). Common
terms used for this movement are "spiritual formation," "the
silence," "the stillness," "ancient-wisdom,"
"spiritual disciplines," and many others.
Spiritual Formation: A movement that has provided a platform and a channel through which contemplative prayer is entering the church. Find spiritual formation being used, and in nearly every case you will find contemplative spirituality. In fact, contemplative spirituality is the heartbeat of the spiritual formation movement. |
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