God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on Pascal's Religion and on the Spirit of Jansenism [Paperback]

Leszek Kolakowski (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0226450538 | ISBN-13: 978-0226450537 | Publication Date: May 22, 1998

God Owes Us Nothing reflects on the centuries-long debate in Christianity: how do we reconcile the existence of evil in the world with the goodness of an omnipotent God, and how does God's omnipotence relate to people's responsibility for their own salvation or damnation. Leszek Kolakowski approaches this paradox as both an exercise in theology and in revisionist Christian history based on philosophical analysis. Kolakowski's unorthodox interpretation of the history of modern Christianity provokes renewed discussion about the historical, intellectual, and cultural omnipotence of neo-Augustinianism.

"Several books a year wrestle with that hoary conundrum, but few so dazzlingly as the Polish philosopher's latest."—Carlin Romano, Washington Post Book World

"Kolakowski's fascinating book and its debatable thesis raise intriguing historical and theological questions well worth pursuing."—Stephen J. Duffy, Theological Studies

"Kolakowski's elegant meditation is a masterpiece of cultural and religious criticism."—Henry Carrigan, Cleveland Plain Dealer

Product Details

• Paperback: 248 pages
• Publisher: University Of Chicago Press (May 22, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0226450538
• ISBN-13: 978-0226450537
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #316,033 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #6 in Books > Religion & Spirituality > Other Eastern Religions > Jainism

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15 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and thought provoking!, June 3, 2006

By 

G. Stucco "mr guido" (usa) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on Pascal's Religion and on the Spirit of Jansenism (Paperback)

The title refers to the Augustinian-Jansenist view according to which human beings are absolutely incapable, through their efforts unaided by grace, to please God and to rightfully expect his mercy. The book consists of two parts: the first part focuses on the five Jansenist propositions that were condemned by the Church; the second part deals with Pascal's "sad religion," and its overly theocentric mentality (to shed tears for the death of on'e loved ones and to laugh are unorthy of a Christian).
The main points the author makes are:
* Jansenius correctly interpreted Augustine's theology of grace. Anybody who says otherwise is in bad faith. (Has anybody gotten a chance to peruse Jansenius's opus magnus, Augustinus? I have! There are HUNDREDS of quotations from Augustine's work: anybody who rejects Jansenius' understanding of Augustine OWES a major production of eveidence to that effect!)
* The Church rightly condemned Jansenius. It had to, in order to survive and avoid holing itself up or to go out of the socio-cultural scene as an obsolete phenomenon. The alternative would have been to turn into a little sect of saints (a la Amish), unable to influence the world at large and to become a cultural oddity. The author concludes that the Church loses out when it lives with a besieged fortress mentality. The all-or nothing mentality is a recipe for disaster.
* The Church therefore rightly condemned some Augustinian theological views.
* The Church began to de-Augustinize itself. "It was a momentous event in the history of the Church when it exploited this occasion, adopting practically the Jesuit (or semi-Pelagian) doctrine in the crucial questions of original sin, grace and predestination, and thereby breaking -tacitly, needless to say - with a very important part of its theological heritage and shaping its teaching accordingly." (p. 31)

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A good Introduction to Jansenism, September 24, 2008

By 

Quentin D. Stewart - See all my reviews
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This review is from: God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on Pascal's Religion and on the Spirit of Jansenism (Paperback)

There is very little in print about Jansenism in the English language. This book probably serves as a tentative introduction to the subject. St. Augustine, the foremost doctor of the Catholic church, has always vexed the Catholic church with his more extreme views on the fallenness of the human will and predestination. Jansenism could be seen as a reappropriation of some of Augustine's "unorthodox" views in the 16 and 1700s. The Jansenists are portrayed here as having a gloomy religion for the select few. Therefore the Catholic church and the Jesuits, in particular, had to crush them. To the point of razing their most famous monastery to the ground.
If you believe the Church has remained faithful to Augustine then read Henri de Lubac as he goes to great lengths in "Modern Augustinianism" to debunk the notion that Jansenius was a faithful interpreter of Augustine.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Intellectually challenging, February 11, 2008

By 

César González Rouco (Madrid, Madrid Spain) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: God Owes Us Nothing: A Brief Remark on Pascal's Religion and on the Spirit of Jansenism (Paperback)

After reading G. Stucco "mr. Guido"'s excellent review, I will only add that, in my opinion, this work (or more precisely, its first part) achieves something pretty difficult : to provide a sociological explanation of the reasons why a theological doctrine (augustinism/calvinism/jansenism) was dropped in favour of another one (semi-pelagianism). Its second part is a lucid sketch of Pascal's thought. And all that without being dry but interesting. To some extent, it reminds me of "The fear of freedom" by Erich Fromm and "The social thought of Bernard Mandeville" by Thomas Horne. Therefore, my rating is between 5 (content) and 4 (pleasure, sometimes falling to 3, sometimes raising to 5).

Besides, I think that anyone looking for a critique from a theological point of view will fruitfully read an article available in [...] which was written by the end of 1995 by Avery Dulles (elevated to cardinal of the Catholic church in 2001, author of "A History of Apologetics").