Spiritual Progress

by François Fénelon, Jeanne Guyon

“If the riches of the Indies, or the crowns of all the kingdoms of Europe, were laid at my feet in exchange for my love of reading, I would spurn them all”
Francois Fenelon

287 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2006

About the author

François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon, a Roman Catholic theologian and poet, wrote in France. He today is remembered mostly as one of the main advocates of quietism and as the author of The Adventures of Telemachus, a scabrous attack on the French monarchy, first published in 1699.

Reviews

[Timothy Darling · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume is actually five short works which each deserve attention of their own. As is often the case with brief anthologies, the works are seen as comprising a unified whole, where this work is actually only unified in the mutual aquaintence of the authors. Their works bear wonderful consistency in their ideas, but they were not written to comprise a single developed idea. Thus they should be read seperately as one would read essays or shorter works. The reader should expect an unevenness in quality and presentation in the works and should assess their value seperately.

Fenelon's letters stick with me much more readily than does the "Spiritual Councel" that is the first work of the book. Madame Guyon's work is a masterpiece of spiritual mysticism that defies analysis since it is not meant for the intellect but for the passive and receptive spirit. In fact, she recommends her method as one readily applicable by the simple minded and ignorant.

This is a very difficult book for a person given to the life of the mind. The encouragements of this school of thought are to abandon all, including reason for a life of naked faith. That is the abandonment of virtue as well as vice, to abandon the hope of salvation for a passive neglect of whether we are saved or lost so long as it it is God's will. I'm not sure it is actually attainable, or if it is, whether it is logical. Of course, it is not, but that does not matter.

This is a devotional classic and should be read but not swallowed without deep skepticism. I believe there is much good here for the person who needs to abandon self-reliance for self-denial and to abandon this world for things of the spirit. We may be able to reach Madame Guyon's second level of prayer, but I certainly have not reached the third and do not know if it is a good thing to pursue. I can easily see why the Church resisted the Quietist movement and can see the excesses and straying that could come from a less than scrupulous reading of the books.

Read the book for its devotional value and to learn to abandon self. But do not read it in isolation from other important deovotional ideas.

[Lynda Newman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The first half of this book is by Fenelon and is so good that I am going to start retreading it today. It spoke to me over and over! The next book is by Madame Guyon, I couldn't get a handle on it, so will retry later. I would have given 5stars if the second book was better.

[Jarm Boccio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Heavy but insightful!

Although this is written in yesterday’s language, this tome has deep insights for the Christian’s interior life. I consumed this book a few pages at a time, which resulted in a well-digested spiritual meal!

[Lynda Newman · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was the third time I have tried to read this book, still couldn't wade through it.