By Dianne Guenin-Lelle
Quaker Theology and Silent Worship
The purpose of this paper is to re-establish an historical link between Quaker theology and practice of silent worship and the Quietist movement of seventeenth-century Europe, especially France, Italy and Spain. The most evident connection between Quakers and seventeenth-century Quietists is the nineteenth century text A Guide to True Peace or the Excellency of Inward and Spiritual Prayer Compiled Chiefly from the Writings of Fénelon, Guyon, and Molinos, compiled anonymously by two Quakers. In this study, we will examine the contributions of the three authorsFénelon, Guyon, and Molinos, whose works were translated and compiled into A Guide to True Peace, in order to rediscover the distinct connection between Friends theology and this particular mystical tradition within Christianity.
This analysis attempts to address the concern of contemporary Friends, especially in unprogrammed meetings, who see the lack of understanding of theology and insight into the historical grounding of Quaker beliefs as a problem. For example, in a recent article in Friends Journal, Robert Griswold examines the importance of rediscovering Friends’ theology in order to regain what he sees as lost vitality. In no uncertain terms he states, “Theology is generally considered an arcane subject that deals with meaningless questions having no relevance to our lives. This is not so. We are famished for meaning in our lives and in our actions.” He claims that a theological understanding of Friends’ beliefs can help us grow in understanding of Truth. (13) Griswold then states five principles of Friends theology: Divine Love, Divine Power, and Divine Authority exist and are known to exist by direct personal experience; this Light, this Christ, is universal and there for all people; Christ (by whatever name) is a reality that we can know personally and be in a relationship with now; the self we acquire in the process of our immersion in our culture, the ego we learn to defend and support in our daily lives, is not our most fundamental reality; and finally God finds us – not the other way around. Griswold concludes by mentioning our rich heritage, and inviting us to add our own thoughts on this issue so that “we can work to bring our understanding together and strengthen our witness in the world. (13-16)
One historical basis of Griswold’s five tenets of Friends’ theology is indeed A Guide to True, a text considered one of the most important books on spiritual practice ever written for Quakers. It draws principally from Guyon’s Moyen court et très facile de faire oraison, Fénelon’s Maximes des saints and Molinos’ Guía espiritual. Howard Brinton states in his history of Quakerism, “The works of Madame Guyon, Fénelon and Molinos, valuable guides in the life of prayer, could at one time be found in almost every Quaker library”(72). In a well-known introduction to the Guide to True Peace, Brinton speaks of the popularity of this particular work:
This little book was written to nourish the spiritual life. Evidently it succeeded in its purpose, for it passed though at least twelve editions and reprintings from 1813 to 1877. Compiled anonymously by two Quakers, William Backhouse and James Janson, from the writings of three great mystics of a century earlier, Fénelon, Guyon, and Molinos, it was widely used as a devotional book by members of the Society of Friends.” (vii)
The popularity came from the fact that this book spoke clearly to the needs of Friends as spiritual seekers who wanted more instruction on how to cultivate contemplative prayer because it offered an accessible method for this practice. For some today, A Guide to True Peace represents a lost tradition that Quakers should redis-cover. In a Pendle Hill Pamphlet from 1983 John Yungblut writes:
There is a curious analogy between this period [when A Guide to True Peace was first published] and our present situation. Now, since Friends are failing once more to provide an instrument for the instruction of their own, young Friends are turning to the theory and practice of Eastern meditation. As we have already acknowledged, there is much to be learned from other approaches to the cultivation of mystical consciousness. But we need to be aware that there are differences in the objectives of different disciplines. A Guide to True Peace proposes a technique that has an avowedly Christian purpose. (18)
Let us now examine the religious context of these three writers whose works were the basis of A Guide to True Peace. The historical period when Molinos, Fénelon and Guyon lived and wrote is very interesting to Quakers, because it is this time when George Fox lived, and Quakerism was born. As in England, we find deep socio-political upheaval, intellectual skepticism and religious persecution throughout France, Italy and Spain. We only need to remember that this was the time of the Inquisition, the Thirty-Years War, the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes, and the beginning of experiential scientific inquiry.
Those practicing Quietism, particularly in the Catholic countries of France, Spain and Italy, were mystics of the tradition who believed that God’s love was immediately available through the act of contemplation and through abandoning oneself to the will of God. During the late seventeenth century, Guyon, Fénelon and Molinos, all devout Catholics, developed notoriety and popularity within the Catholic Church, which led to their ultimate condemnation by the Vatican itself. In other periods, those following this same mystical tradition, such as Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross and Francis de Sales, were considered saints. However, at this point in history, Guyon, Fénelon and Molinos were considered heretics, becoming embroiled in what was known as the “Quietist Affair.”
Some Quakers and other scholars have assumed that Quietism began with Madame Guyon, but the tradition is much older, as Davis claims, beginning with Clement of Alexandria (c. 160-220), and includes Teresa of Avila (translated into French in 1601), Roysbroeck (translated into French in 1606), Harphius (translated into French in 1617), and John of the Cross (translated into French in 1621), to name just a few of the mystics whose works were influential during much of the seventeenth century. (74) The term Quietism was first used, according to Davis, during the time that Molinos was gaining in popularity. (77) The term took on negative connotations when used by the Catholic Church to first persecute Molinos, and later Guyon and Fénelon.
The end of the seventeenth century was a period of retrenchment on the part of powerful components of the Catholic Church, in part, as a kind of backlash against the sweeping religious changes and social upheaval throughout Europe during this period. Quietists presented a further threat to the power base of the Catholic Church, and therefore could not be tolerated. Much of the hierarchy of this period feared that Quietism would weaken Catholicism because these followers of Quietism placed less value on external aspects of faith such as the sacraments, the need for redemption, the need of the clergy to act as an intermediary between the seeker and God, as well as the importance of the role of Jesus as the Christ. Therefore, Molinos, Fénelon and Guyon endured condemnation and censorship of their writings, as well as banishment and, except for Fénelon, imprisonment. Let us now examine Fénelon, Guyon and Molinos’ lives and the importance to A Guide to True Peace of these three individuals.
When readers consider the full title of this text, A Guide to True Peace or the Excellency of Inward and Spiritual Prayer Compiled Chiefly from the Writings of Fénelon, Guyon, and Molinos, it implies an equality in their contributions, in part because there is no indication of any difference in status among them and because their names appear in alphabetical order. This is, however, not the case. As we will see, Molinos had, perhaps, the least direct influence on the text, whereas Guyon had the most influence both on this text and on Quakerism in general.
When Miguel de Molinos (1640-1697) was born in Saragossa, Spain. He became a well-respected priest, enjoying prominence within the Catholic Church in Rome and developing a considerable following throughout Europe. His text Guía espiritual was, at first, well received. However, because of the premise that much of the outward manifestations of Catholic doctrine and practice were superficial to true spirituality, Molinos was criticized first by the Jesuits and ultimately condemned by the Pope to life in prison, where he endured torture and solitary confinement. Following his trial in 1687, an anti-mystical movement emerged in Rome, and Guyon and Fénelon’s critics were part of this anti-mystical movement.
The primary themes of Molinos’ text relate to how seekers can know God by simply turning inward, and in silence, finding God in the midst of a hostile world, thereby knowing God’s love and grace:
The sort of prayer to which we have alluded is that of inward silence; wherein the soul, abstracted from all outward things, in holy stillness, humble reverence, and lively faith, waits patiently to feel the Divine presence, and to receive the precious influence of the Holy Spirit. And when you retire for this purpose, which should be your frequent practice, you should consider yourselves as being placed in the Divine Presence, looking with a single eye to him, resigning yourselves entirely into his hands, to receive from him whatsoever he may be pleased to dispense to you; calmly endeavouring, at the same time, to fix our minds in peace and silence; quitting all your own reasonings, and not willingly thinking on any thing, how good and how profitable soever it may appear to be. (A Guide to True Peace, 24-25)
These are the same practices found in Fénelon’s and Guyon’s texts, which found themselves in A Guide to True Peace, as we will see later in this study.
However, Molinos’ most distinct contribution to A Guide to True Peace were passages, directly translated from Guía espiritual, on the subject of temptation and strife as necessary to spiritual growth:
The Lord makes use of the veil of dryness, to the end we may not know what he is working in us, and so may be humble; because, if we felt, and knew, what he was working in our souls, satisfaction and presumption would get in; we should imagine we were doing some good thing; and this self-complacency would prevent our spiritual advancement. (A Guide to True Peace, 38)
Most of the direct quotes from Molinos’ work are found, not surprisingly, in the eighth chapter “On Temptation and Tribulations.” According to Molinos, temptation and strife cleanse and purify the soul, and act like a fire to take away any element in the soul that is not God-like:
The Lord polishes the soul which he draws to himself, with the rough file of temptation; freeing it thereby from the rust of many evil passions and propensities. – By means of temptation and tribulation he humbles, subjects, and exercises it; showing it its own weakness and misery. It is thus that he purifies and strips the heart, in order that all its operations may be pure, and of inestimable value. Oh, how happy would you be, if you could quietly believe that all the trials and temptations, wherewith you are assaulted, are permitted for your gain and spiritual profit ! (A Guide to True Peace, 52-53)
Those passages come uniquely from the first book of the Guía espiritual, in particular chapters nine through eleven. By contrast, there is virtually no part of the second book of the Guía espiritual, which focuses more on the need and role of spiritual directors,to be found in A Guide to True Peace.
Our second author, François de Salignac de la Mothe-Fénelon (1651-1715) was born in southwestern France to a noble although relatively poor family. He became a priest in his mid-twenties, and rose in prominence becoming the Preceptor of Louis XIV’s grandsons, a member of the French Academy and the Archbishop of Cambrai. But, more importantly for this study, he was the spiritual son of Madame Guyon from their first encounter in 1688. This relationship grew in part because of intense correspondence over nearly a two-year period (1688-89), with Guyon’s aim being Fénelon’s spiritual development. She was inwardly led to seek him out and guide him to grow in faith and knowledge of God.
His Maximes des saints (1697), which was incorporated into A Guide to True Peace, was written as a defense of Guyon as she was being attacked and defamed by the Roman Catholic Church in France, and especially by the French Archbishop Bossuet. As the preface of the English version of Maximes des saints states, this work was “an exposition of [Guyon’s] views as Fénelon understood them, and as she had explained them to him in private.” (7) The fact that this work was a defense of Guyon, and her Moyen court et très facile de faire oraison in particular,was obvious to Bossuet, who in turn actively persecuted Fénelon. Both Bossuet and Louis XIV urged Pope Innocent XII to condemn the text, which the Pope eventually did do. The result was Fénelon’s permanent banishment from the Royal Court to his archdiocese of Cambrai, where he remained until his death in 1715.
What does it mean for the Maximes des saints to be a defense of Guyon? For Fénelon, it meant to be a defense of what was known at the time as “pure love.” He states, “All interior ways tend toward pure or disinterested love.” (Davis, 83) Pure love is basically the kind of love that can exist within a seeker who holds God in the center of his or her soul, and whose actions are carried out while fixed on the will of God. In the following quote from Maximes, Fénelon explains:
All interior ways tend toward pure or disinterested love; because they must always tend toward the highest perfection and because this pure love is the highest degree of Christian perfection. It is the terminus of all the ways which the saints have known. . . . This disinterested love, always inviolably attached to all of God’s wills . . . performs the same acts and exercises all the same distinct virtues as interested love, with the sole difference that it usually carries them out in a simple, peaceful manner, separate from any motive of self-interest. (Davis, 83)
By using the device of maxims, Fénelon was able to state what was true and false in religious doctrine and matters of spirituality, as relating to this concept of pure love. These maxims build on the method of spiritual development posited by Guyon, and for which she was persecuted and imprisoned.
Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Motte Guyon (1648-1717) was born at Montargis, in central France. Married at sixteen, she bore five children during a very unhappy marriage. She was known at the court of Louis XIV and invited by the Queen of France, Madame de Maintenon, to educate young noblewomen at her school of Saint-Cyr. However, when the school began to be a bastion of Quietist theology and practice, she was released from her duties and lost the favor of the French royal family. As a result of teachings, she suffered calumny, disgrace and persecution, which included three different periods of imprisonment, one of which was at the Bastille.
Although it might seem unlikely that a laywoman in the French court would cultivate mysticism, we only need to point out that the early and mid-seventeenth century in France was a time of great mystical faith, most notably Francis de Sales (1567-1622) who was later canonized. But, in the later part of the century, as we have already seen, political fear and spiritual entrenchment reigned especially in the wake of Molinos’ condemnation.
Ironically it was her identity as a woman and as a layperson that allowed Guyon the freedom to perform a most subversive act that neither Molinos nor Fénelon as priests could undertake: She was able to cultivate followers, sometimes known as disciples, educating them in her spiritual path. This happened after her final release from prison, during the last years of her life. Her followers came primarily from outside of France and included such notable Protestants as John Wesley. As Patricia Ward states, Guyon “quickly became both a martyr figure and an authority on spirituality among Pietists, Quakers, Methodists, and other such movements of the time.” (484)
However, her influence among Friends seems to have been her most important. It was Friends who first translated her works into English, and Friends who followed her method. In a Founders Lecture delivered at Bryn Mawr College in 1900, the prominent British Friend J. Rendel Harris states:
[T]here is no Society that has been so influenced by Guyon as the Quakers have been. If we ever had as a Society a mother-in-grace it is she; and even down to the present time there are not a few who are very great admirers of her doctrine of the spiritual life. We may go further and say that when we estimate the influence of outside teachers upon us, the Society has been profoundly affected by the teaching and life of Guyon, and no one else. (5-6) (emphasis his)
For Harris, Guyon was the teacher from whom I “received more help and guidance in the things of God than from any other person.” (3)
There are other historical documents to support Harris’ claim that Guyon was central to Quakerism, even during her life, such as an English translation of Bossuet’s attack against Guyon, Fénelon and Quietism, with the intriguing title Quakerism A-la Mode: or a History of Quietism, Particularly That of the Lord Arch-Bishop of Cambray and Madam Guyone. (1698). The title page states that the book contains “An Account of [Guyon’s] Life, her Prophecies and Visions, her way of Communicating Grace by effusion to those about her at Silent Meetings, etc.” The preface states, “It will also appear but too too evidently from this Treatise, that Quakerism owes its Origine to that Anti-christian [Quietist] Church. . . .” (A3)
Perhaps one reason that this tradition has not been remembered by Friends is because, as some readers might already suspect, it was Guyon’s version of Quietism, based on her teaching that led to the nineteenth-century Quietist movement among Friends, a difficult era in Quaker history. Harris says as much in the following passage:
Guyon’s relation to our society is almost unique. We constantly hear those whose aim is to banish mysticism from amongst us declaring that the period of decline in the Society is the period of the influence of the writings of Madame Guyon, and that we must get back from Quietism to Christ. In treating the two as antagonistic, the influence of our French mother-in-grace is conceded. (6)
Now let us analyze the links between Guyon’s text Le Moyen court et très facile de faire oraison and A Guide to True Peace. Passages from Guyon’s Moyen court are found in every chapter of A Guide to True Peace, unlike Molinos and Fénelon’s influences, which are more thematic in nature and appear much less frequently as direct translations. With Guyon, we find that her method for finding true peace through contemplative prayer forms the basis of the method proposed in A Guide to True Peace. But, her metaphors and images are also found throughout the Quaker text, and there are lengthy passages that are a direct translation from Le Moyen court. What follows, then, is a description of the many links, which exist between the Le Moyen court and A Guide to True Peace.
Both books claim to be “little works” short and simple, offering seekers a path to follow for spiritual fulfillment. Guyon states in the introduction to Le Moyen court that she never thought of publishing ce petit ouvrage conceived in une grande simplicité but enough people began to ask for copies that she was moved to have the worked published for leur propre satisfaction (their own satisfaction). (57)
In the preface of A Guide to True Peace, we read:
“Whilst some, into whose hands this little treatise may fall, may receive it as a messenger of glad tidings, there will, doubtless, be others, who may not feel disposed to place much dependence on the simple manner here pointed out of drawing near to their Creator. . . .” (xv) (emphasis mine).
This is in contrast to the much longer work of Molinos and the maxim form of Fénelon. Both Le Moyen court and A Guide to True Peace offer the same prescribed steps to spiritual growth and knowing God: “All things should be done in their season: every state has its commencement, its progress, and its consummation; and it is an unhappy error to stop in the beginning” (A Guide to True Peace, 94).
The first stage is to give oneself over to God and follow his will. Second, once a person consents to this, there should be no going back. One is therefore engaged in a progressive method, calling for different types of engagement at different steps in the journey. Both texts claim that contemplative or inner prayer is accessible to everyone and they insist on the fact that all people, the rich and poor, the illiterate and the educated, have the same access to the Spirit of God:
Children draw near to your Father, and he will embrace you in the arms of love. Come, ye poor, stray, wandering sheep, return to your Shepherd. Come, ye who have been seeking happiness in worldly pleasures and pursuits, but have failed to find in them that satisfaction ye expected: come, and learn how to be truly happy here, and eternally happy hereafter. – Come, sinners, to your Saviour. Come, ye dull, ignorant, and illiterate; ye who think yourselves the most incapable of prayer: ye are more peculiarly called and adapted thereto. Let all, without exception, come; for Christ hath called all. (A Guide to True Peace, 14)
Conversely, according to these two works, the well-educated and successful individual would have a much more difficult time establishing this divine union.
Le Moyen court and A Guide to True Peace present the idea that perfect union with God is possible through virtuous practices, that prayer relies on the heart, rather than on reason, and that through giving oneself fully to God, with all one’s heart, all vices can be erased:
Prayer is the guide to perfection, and the sovereign good; it delivers us from every vice, and obtains for us every virtue; for the one great means to become perfect is to walk in the presence of Infinite Purity. He himself has said, “Walk in my presence and be thou perfect.” (A Guide to True Peace, 15-16)
As is typical within mystical tradition, the method that both propose is to retire from the world in silence, and focus on the divine presence. Distracting thoughts will come to mind, they explain, but the person engaged in worship should do no more than simply turn away from those thoughts: “And should any vain thoughts present themselves, you should gently turn from them; and thus faithfully and patiently wait to feel the Divine Presence” (A Guide to True Peace, 25). This is similar to the advice that both texts give on avoiding temptation: One should simply turn away from it: “A little child, on perceiving a monster, does not wait to fight with it, and will scarcely turn its eyes towards it; but quickly shrinks into the bosom of its mother, in total confidence of safety” (A Guide to True Peace, 55).
This turning away from sin and turning to God, without belaboring the sinful or wayward act, comes from recognition that humans and human nature are flawed, and naturally sinful. Christ’s suffering on the cross functions as an important analogy in both texts, because it offers a tangible example of how human suffering can lead to divine growth. Mortification of self also has a role in their methods: “In the mortification of the eye and ear, which continually supply the busy imagination with new subjects, there is little danger of falling into excess; we have only to follow where the divine Spirit guides” (A Guide to True Peace, 71). Mortification should never be its own primary aim, both texts claim, because this would only exacerbate physical senses and passions. However, mortification represents an important step in the individual’s process away from outward concerns and toward an ongoing focus on the inner life:
The soul has a double advantage by proceeding thus: for, in withdrawing from outward objects, it draws the nearer to God; and the nearer its approaches are made to him, besides the secret sustaining power and virtue it receives, it is farther removed from sin; so that, at length, to have the mind turned inward, becomes, as it were, habitual. (A Guide to True Peace, 71-72)
Each text also explores the phenomenon of periods of dryness, which they accept as part of spiritual growth. This phenomenon of seeking God and not finding Him pushes us to further spiritual growth, both texts assert, as it also serves to prevent us from spiritual complacency:
Though Almighty Goodness hath no other desire than to impart himself to those that love and seek him, yet he frequently conceals himself from us, that we may be roused from sloth, and induced to seek him with fidelity and love. But, with what abundant goodness doth he recompense our faithfulness! and how sweetly are these apparent withdrawings of himself succeeded by the consolations of his love! (A Guide to True Peace, 43)
The solution to this problem is simply to continue to wait for the Spirit to return, trusting that union with God is possible through this process of individual spiritual transformation. As in Le Moyen court, so in A Guide to True Peace, this transformation can only happen if there is complete abandonment of self-will where the ego, in spite of itself, is displaced so that God inhabits the individual. The virtue born out of this relationship to God, these texts assert, only has value because it springs from God, and not the world and its creation.
Perfect conversion is a realizable goal, according to both Guyon and A Guide to True Peace and can become a “natural state”:
When the soul is one turned to God, it
finds a wonderful facility in continuing
steadfast in its conversion; and the
longer it remains thus converted, the
nearer it approaches, and the more
firmly it adheres to God; and the nearer
it draws to him, of necessity, the farther
it is removed from that spirit, which is
contrary to him: thus the soul is so
effectually established and rooted in its
conversion, that a state of conversion
becomes in some measure natural to it.
(A Guide to True Peace, 81)
This conversion is ongoing, with the individual remaining in constant prayer, perpetually turned inward toward God. In presenting the more advanced steps toward conversion, A Guide to True Peace relies on Guyon’s analogies to describe the soul’s way of progression at this stage. The converted soul’s relationship to God is compared to a magnetic attraction, with God pulling the seeker forever more powerfully to Him, or like water that is evaporated by the sun, with water vapor representing converted souls, and rising toward the sun, representing God.
Finally, it is compared to the intense fire used by a goldsmith to purify gold, with the soul of the converted represented by the purified gold, and the transformative power of God represented by the fire. It is a transformation that is represented by a fire, which purifies the soul. This is part of a more complex passage in A Guide to True Peace that also incorporates Molinos’ passage discussed earlier in this study, where temptation and strife cleanse and purify the soul, and act like a fire to take away any element in the soul that is not God-like. Although to outsiders it can appear like a sterile dearth of action, this relationship of the converted to God represents an extremely dynamic and active process, with humans fully participating within God’s agency.
In describing the similarities between Guyon’s text and A Guide to True Peace, I do not wish to ignore some important differences between them. Let us not forget that Guyon was a devout Catholic, and the method she proposes to lead seekers toward union with God includes reference to certain elements of Catholicism not found in A Guide to True Peace. These include reference to the Lord’s Prayer, the sacraments, confessing sins, intercessory prayer, evangelism.
A Guide to True Peace also differs from Le Moyen court with its emphasis on the sinful nature of humanity and the reality of evil and temptation in the world, relying perhaps more on Molinos’ theology that stresses the importance of temptation and strife for spiritual growth. It is certainly ironic that Guyon’s work might speak more to the sensibilities and needs of contemporary Quakers than A Guide to True Peace does, because of its stronger emphasis on the peace and joy to be found in contemplative prayer, and its relative lack of concern with sin, temptation and evil in the world.
Let us once again consider Griswold’s five theological tenets presented at the beginning of this study, through the following summary: Divine Love exists and is known through personal experience; this Light is available to all people; this Light, this “Christ” is a reality for us now; our ego is not our most fundamental reality; and God finds us. These tenets recall the seventeenth-century Quietists theology present in the works of Fénelon, Guyon and Molinos, which I would summarize as follows: Pure Love, accessible to all, relies on deep faith calling us to turn inward and, in silence, abandon our will to the will of God, letting Him operate within us, growing through faith and love to the point of perfect union. Michael Marsh speaks eloquently of the joy of cultivating this type of relationship with the Divine in his Pendle Hill Pamphlet, where he states:
Gradually this belief took hold in me. I found myself surprisingly sustained. The inner light truly is a seed of God in me. The short deep emptiness that had seemed so trivial in my earlier experience with the light now took on a sweet warmth. At odd moments during the day I drift into it. It’s always momentary. And it’s always there, always sustaining when I touch it. I don’t need a long straining effort to reach and grasp this sweet source. A moment’s dropping down is enough. It’s always present; I need not worry. (27)
Works Cited or Consulted
Bossuet, Jacques. Quakerism A-la-Mode: or a History of Quietism, Particularly That of the Lord Arch-bishop of Cambray and Madam Guyone. Containing An Account of her Life, her Prophesies and Visions, her way of Communicating Grace by Effusion to those about her at Silent Meetings, etc. London: Harris at the Harrow, 1698.
Brinton, Howard. Friends for 300 Years: The History and Beliefs of the Society of Friends Since George Fox Started the Quaker Movement. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill Publications, 1952.
Davis, James Herbert. Fénelon. Twayne’s World Author Series 542. Boston: Twayne Publishers, 1979.
Fénelon. Maxims of the Saints. Heart and Life Booklets, No. 16. London: Allenson, 1903.
Griswold, Robert. “No Creed is Not the Same as No Theology.” Friends Journal. August 2001: 13-16.
Guenin-Lelle, Dianne. “Jeanne Guyon’s Influence on Quaker Practice: A Guiding Voice in Silence.” Forthcoming in Actes de Tempe, published by the North American Society of French Seventeenth Century Literature.
A Guide to True Peace Or the Excellency of Inward and Spiritual Prayer Compiled Chiefly from the Writings of Fénelon, Guyon, and Molinos. New York and London: Harper Brothers, 1946.
Guyon, Jeanne-Marie Bouvier de la Mothe. Le Moyen court et d’autres récits: Une simplicité subversive. Texte établi et présenté par Marie-Louise Gondal. Grenoble: Jérôme Millon, 1995.
Harris, J. Rendel. The Influence of Quietism on the Society of Friends. A Lecture delivered at Bryn Mawr College on April 30, 1900. Philadelphia: Leeds Press, 1900.
Marsh, Michael. Philosophy of the Inner Light. Pendle Hill Pamphlet 209. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill Publications, 1976.
Miguel de Molinos, Guia Espiritual, Madrid, Universidad Pontificia de Salamanca, 1976.
Ward, Patricia. “Madame Guyon and Experiential Theology in America.” The American Society of Church History. 67:3 (September 1998): 484-498.
Yungblut, John. Speaking as One Friend to Another on the Mystical Way Forward. Pendle Hill Pamphlet 249. Wallingford, PA: Pendle Hill Publications, 1983.