Les élus de Dieu et l’expérience de l’enfer au XVIIe siècle : les fruits de l’abandon spirituel dans l’ordo salutis
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3 septembre 2018
- handle: 10670/1.nefumq
- isbn: 9782878542950
- eisbn: 9782878548594
https://www.openedition.org/12554 , info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
Mots-clés
Renaissance plaisir diable féminin enfers Literature, British Isles Medieval & Renaissance Studies LIT019000 DSBDSujets proches
Sheol Eternal punishment Endless punishment Everlasting punishment HadesCiter ce document
Anne Dunan, « Les élus de Dieu et l’expérience de l’enfer au XVIIe siècle : les fruits de l’abandon spirituel dans l’ordo salutis », Presses Sorbonne Nouvelle, ID : 10670/1.nefumq
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This article examines the notion of «spiritual desertion» as perceived by XVIIth century Puritan ministers and theologians. This was generally considered a necessary passage through hell that believers had to experience at some stage in their spiritual pilgrimage. After proposing a reading of some biblical commentaries on Christ’s suffering on the cross and his descent into hell, this article explores XVIIth-century treatises on the notion of the «hell» of God’s children. In these texts, spiritual desertions are distinguished from other, rather similar, spiritual ailments, like despair or doubt. The puritan writers use the term «heavenly hell» to characterise spiritual desertions that they constantly envisage as a manifestation of God’s grace, rather than as a withdrawal of his love. Finally, the article turns to the question of why a theological understanding of this notion is necessary for a reading of some literary texts of the period, most notably the spiritual autobiography of the Baptist minister John Bunyan, Grace Abounding, and the narratives of the last moments of some prominent puritans, such as Thomas Peacock.