- 1. Jeanne Marie Bouvier de La Motte Guyon Madam
Guyon1648-1717
2. Why Madam Guyon
- Her view on how we all can reach and attain God was life
changing for many at the time. She believed anyone could be close
to God which was not an accepted view in the Catholic Church. She
wrote that Gods divine wisdom is hidden from those who think they
have attained wisdom but are enveloped in their own works. In many
ways, her thoughts threatened religiosity in her time. Madame Guyon
strongly influenced the Moravians with her writings. I am
originally from Bethlehem, PA where the Moravian movement was very
strong. This is one of the reasons I chose her life to focus
on.
- Guyon also endured a very difficult life Abuse & neglect
from her mother, a horrible marriage, death of many close to her
including two children. She said in her biography had she known how
to make right use of this crucifying conduct, she wouldve made good
progress in her relationship with God. Far from turning me out of
the way, it would have turned me more wholly to God.
- This attitude to me is truly one of a surrendered, overcoming
heart given to God.
3.
- 1648- born in France and raised in convents for many of her
early years
- 1658- finds a bible in her room at age 10 and begins to study
it
- 1664- married at the age of 16 to wealthy older man Jacques
Guyon
- 1676- Left widowed with 3 children after a very difficult
marriage
- 1681- leaves two sons with family and takes daughter with her
to Duchy of Savoy where she learns under Father Lacombe she also
teaches her beliefs on prayer and mystical ideas
- 1682- Guyon wroteLes torrents spirituels(Spiritual Torrents)
her 1st written work
- 1685- A friend printsMoyen court et tres facile pour
l'oraison(A short and very easy method of prayer)
- 1686- Guyon returns to Paris and shortly after is interrogated
for 7 months at a Convent in Paris
- 1687- Guyon befriends Francois de Salignac de la Mothe-Fenelon.
A very important friendship in her life
Important Dates &Background 4.
- 1688- one part of Guyon's reflections on the Bible was
published asCommentaire au Cantique des Cantiques de
Salomon(Commentary on the Song of Songs of Solomon)
- 1689- A long letter to Fenelon circulates widely and would
eventually be published asPetit abrege de la voie et de la reunion
de l'ame a Dieu(Concise view of the way to God and of the union of
the soul with God)
- 1693- Rumors resurface surrounding her friendship with Fenelon
and her written works. She writesJustifications,a defense of her
earlier works
- 1694-Archbishop of Paris condemns the works of Guyon
- 1695- after further interrogation, Guyon serves seven
- 1703- Guyon is released from Prison and paroled to her
- elder son in Blois, she is ordered not to write or teach
but
- 1704- her works are published in the Netherlands and
5. Spiritual Journey
- Guyon believed that we should pray all the time, whatever one
was doing to be also spending time with God. "Prayer is the key of
perfection and of sovereign happiness; it is the efficacious means
of getting rid of all vices and of acquiring all virtues; for the
way to become perfect is to live in the presence of God. He tells
us this Himself: "walk before me, and be thou perfect"Genesis 17:1
. Prayer alone can bring you into His presence, and keep you there
continually.
- As she wrote in one of her poems: "There was a period when I
chose, A time and place for prayer ... But now I seek that constant
prayer, In inward stillness known ..."
Here [the contemplative state] everything is God. God is
everywhere and in all things."Madam Guyon 6. A life of
perseverance
- A product of French high society, Jeanne was raised in convents
from the age of two and a half. At ten years old, she found a Bible
left in her room and began earnestly to study and memorize it. From
then on, she pursued an exclusive devotion to God.
She married at 16 to an older man who left her a widow with
three young children at the age of 28. With the wealth her husband
had left her, she devoted the remaining 40 years of her life to
serving God through personal evangelism, writing, and helping the
poor. She founded hospitals and gave away much of her wealth
anonymously. 7.
- Guyon had some strange practices, she fasted to the extreme and
often went without sleep. She went into what some call trances,
which would leave her unable to speak for days. She claimed that
she and La Combe (a man she learned under) could communicate with
one another for hours without speaking verbally. She also believed
she could speak in the language of angels.
- The church eventually had her arrested for heresy and sent her
to prison for seven years, the last two in solitary confinement in
the Bastille. She continued to write, having produced a 20-volume
commentary on the Bible, an autobiography, and many short
works."
Interrogation before the French Court 8.
- Guyon traveled in her lifetime throughout France and
Switzerland teaching people how to pray and challenging them to
live holy lives. She mainly met with people privately and avoided
"preaching." All the while, she sought an ever-deeper union with
God to the point that she felt God possessed her, speaking and
acting through her.
- She shared a 25-year spiritual friendship with Archbishop
Francois de Fenelon, the most celebrated churchman of that day.
Their letters, over 100, have been called "one of the most precious
documents for the study of mystic thought transmitted to us from
the past.
- After King Louis XIV released her from prison, Madame Guyon
lived another 15 years, suffering patiently and glorifying God in
her illnesses, until she died at age 69.
Archbishop Fenelon 9. Contribution to Christian History
- Guyon wrote the following works that have been translated into
different books in many languages over the years
- Vie de Madame Guyon, Ecrite Par Elle-Mme ( Life of Madame
Guyon, Written by Herself ), 3 vols, Paris, 1791
- Le Moyen Court Et Autres crits Spirituels ( Short and Easy
Method of Prayer ) 1685
- Opuscules spirituels ( Spiritual Opuscules ), 2 vols, Paris,
1790
- Commentaire au Cantique des cantiques de Salomon ( Song of
Songs of Solomon ) 1688
- Les Torrents Spirituels ( Spiritual Torrents ) 1682
- Commentaire sur Livre de Job (1714)
- Rgles des assoces l'Enfance de Jsu
10. Some of Jeanne Guyons books What I had enjoyed before was
only a peace, a gift of God, but now I have received and possessed
the God of peace."-Jeanne Guyon 11. Guyon is well known forher
views on prayer
- Thefirstis meditation properly so-called,
- thesecondis "theprayerofsimplicity", which consists in keeping
oneself in a state of recollection andsilencein thepresence of God
;
- thethird , which is activecontemplation , the soul leaves Him
to act and remains in repose, abandoning itself to the Divine
influence which fills it.
12. Who did she influence?
- Madame Guyon's most devout disciples after her death were to be
found among the Protestants and especially the Quakers.Her writings
became popular amoung the Methodists, Lutherans and Moravians.
Evangelicals such as Spurgeon were also influenced. Her works were
translated into English and German, and her ideas, forgotten in
France, have been read across the world.
13. Compare/Contrast My thoughts
- In our generation we take for granted the wide range of
teaching and materials at our fingertips. For Guyon to have the
type of revelation she did in that period time is quite amazing. I
really like Guyons view on the Kingdom of God.
- In her book on prayer, Madame Guyon says, "God is, indeed found
with facility, when we seek Him within ourselves." In her
autobiography, Guyon says that when she was 19 years old, a
Catholic Franciscan monk told her, "It is, madame, because you seek
without what you have within. Accustom yourself to seek God in your
heart, and you will there find Him."
- Guyon started from that point forward looking within herself
for God and truth. She prayed, "O my Lord, Thou wast in my heart,
and demanded only a simple turning of my mind inward, to make me
perceive Thy presence. Oh, Infinite Goodness! how was I running
hither and thither to seek Thee, my life was a burden to me,
although my happiness was within myself. ... Alas! I sought Thee
where Thou wert not, and did not seek Thee where thou wert. It was
for want of understanding these words of Thy Gospel, The kingdom of
God cometh not with observation . . . The kingdom of God is within
you."
14.
- Although most of the time I could rationalize with some of the
extreme things Guyon had to say these are two things that I think
could be taken to an extreme. I do not believe in sinless
perfection and I believe we need to examine everything put before
us.
- SHE BELIEVED IN SINLESS PERFECTION.Madame Guyon believed that
her mystical experiences would "devour all that was left of self"
and that she would be rid of "troublesome faults.
- To the contrary, the apostle Paul, who called himself "the
chief of sinners," testified that in himself "dwelleth no good
thing" (Rom. 7:18). We are taught in Scripture that the sin nature
is not removed after salvation (1 John 1:8-10), and if we say we
have no sin, we deceive ourselves.
- SHE WARNED AGAINST "CRITICAL" EXAMINATION OF SPIRITUAL THINGS.
In the introduction to her book on prayer, Madame Guyon says,
"Beloved reader, read this little book with a sincere and honest
spirit. Read it in lowliness of mind WITHOUT THE INCLINATION TO
CRITICIZE. If you do, you will not fail to reap profit from
it.Although I think Guyon was trying to get people to think beyond
their religiousity it could be taken to extreme.
- If we do not test everything carefully by the Word of God, we
are open to spiritual deception (2 Cor. 12:1-4). Jesus warned that
we must not allow anyone to deceive us (Matt. 24:4).
15. Conclusion
- Madame Guyon still divides people. Modern critics say that
Jeanne-Marie used self-hypnosis to achieve her "spiritual" states
and trances and point out that she used "automatic writing" which
suggests spiritualist practice.
- But among Christians from many different denominations in
Northern Europe and in America, her writings are highly regarded
and have helped people develop a deeper relationship with God. They
view her experiences with God all together different than spiritual
trances. People see her as a women who encountered a living
God.
16. Bibliographic Information
- http:// www.thelastdays.net/whoguyon.htm
-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeanne_Marie_Bouvier_de_la_Motte_Guyon
- http://home.infionline.net/~ddisse/guyon.html#anchor174039
- http:// www.logosresourcepages.org/Believers/guyon.htm
- http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07092b.htm
- www.lighthousetrailsresearch.com/guyon.htm
- Autobiography of Madam Guyon by Jeanne Guyon
- The Unabridged Collected Works by Jeanne Guyon