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.
My goodness! What a gem of a book! It's like Paul and Solomon got together and wrote a series of letters together. This tiny book, which consists of 49 letters of exhortation, is thought provoking, inspirational, convicting, and full of so much wisdom! I agree with the little acknowledgement at the beginning which states; "Other than the book of Proverbs, I have not found wisdom of this caliber." 5 stars! Will most definitely be reading this again!
Though there are some things I'd want more clarity on theologically, this book reads much more like an evengalical text than a Papist text. I'd be very curious if Francois was one of the Roman Catholics who rejected things like Papal infallibility and said that it was Proteatant propaganda, until it was dogmatized after his death of course. Many wonderful nuggets of wisdom and great advice on daily living out the Christian faith.
(The read date is wrong, but it was within the past two weeks)
I loved how each chapter was candid, not wasting the reader's time with unnecessary words. They were extremely short, making this book the perfect choice for anyone who has a tendency to get distracted while reading. I appreciated Fenelon's approach to demonstrating pure, humble, quiet surrender to God -not shying away from what some may see as repugnant. He reminds his readers to daily take up the cross. Only through our daily suffering of doing so can we experience true joy and satisfaction in God.