Moral Theology: Its Method and Masters
Louis Abelly
Drawn from the authors' own words; every quotation links to its place.
1604–1691
In the Index: Abelly
In Prümmer's Catalogue and Haringer's Index
- “Abelly, Lud. (1604-1691), bishop of Rodez, wrote several works, especially ascetical. He was familiar with St. Vincent de Paul, whose life he also wrote. He is called by St. Alphonsus "a grave author and a classic probabilist." His moral work, Medulla theologica, has been very often edited, also at Regensburg, 1839, 3 volumes in 8vo.” — Prümmer, Catalogue of authors
- [**: weighty, probabilist] “Abelly Ludovicus, French, Bishop of Rodez and familiar of St. Vincent de Paul, whose life he wrote (Theological Marrow), born 1604, died 1691.” — Haringer's index of writers (Gury-Ballerini) (p. XI, sign read on the page)
His Moral System, as Our Authors Report It
Every report quoted in the author's own words and linked to its place; point at a name to see his words. Haringer's signs give St. Alphonsus's judgment as Haringer found it in St. Alphonsus's works (his notice, Gury-Ballerini, 1884, p. XI); a sign on a writer the 1884 editor added to the list is the editor's own, and is said to be his.
| Probabilist | |
|---|---|
| “According to St. Alphonsus, Abelly is "a classic in probabilism."”Koch-Preuss report St. Alphonsus's judgment of him | Koch-Preuss, Handbook I, history of moral theology |
| “He is called by St. Alphonsus "a grave author and a classic probabilist."”Prümmer: St. Alphonsus calls him a classic probabilist | Prümmer, Catalogue of authors |
| “Abelly Ludovicus, French, Bishop of Rodez and familiar of St. Vincent de Paul, whose life he wrote (Theological Marrow), born 1604, died 1691.”Haringer marks him **, giving St. Alphonsus's judgment of him (weighty and probabilist) | Haringer's index, Index of writers, p. XI |
| “These agree in substantial matters with the equiprobabilists, and can be called moderate probabilists. Such are Suarez, Vasquez, Lugo, Lessius, Laymann, Sylvius, Palaus, Viva, Abelly, Reuter, Voit, etc.”Moderate probabilist. Marc calls him a moderate probabilist, agreeing in substance with the equiprobabilists, and will not attack him | Marc, Institutiones I, n. 86 |
Where Our Authors Discuss Him
Each read in its full passage; the words quoted are the author's own. Where several authors say the same thing, one is quoted and the others follow “in nearly the same words”; point at a name to see his words.
| “For those heretics, deceitfully simulating great piety and a singular fervor for protecting moral science, brought it about that in France, Italy, and other provinces they drew many learned men to their side: among whom were also Peter Collet (the celebrated continuator of Honore Tournely), Louis Habert, and Natalis Alexander, who, although they rejected other errors of the Jansenists, nevertheless accommodated themselves in many things to their immoderate rigor. Indeed there were not lacking those who defended more benign opinions, such as Louis Abelly, Eusebius Amort, Castropalaus, Gobat, Roncaglia, Cardenas, Viva, Lacroix, Sporer, Reiffenstuel, Reuter, Voit, Holzmann, Elbel, Mazzotta, etc., without however being able wholly to repress the swelling rigor of doctrine.”Marc names him among those who defended more benign opinions against the rigor of the Jansenist age | Marc, Institutiones I, n. 6 |
| “Now he is esteemed a great theologian who possesses the greatest authority among theologians on account of his distinguished doctrine, prudence, and probity”Konings names him among the great theologians whose word that an opinion is probable makes it so | Konings, Compendium, n. 57 |
In the Catholic Encyclopedia (1913)
“Louis Abelly”, vol. 1, by Thomas Campbell. Public domain; transcription at New Advent (which expands some of the print's abbreviations).
Louis Abelly (1603-91) was Vicar-General of Bayonne, a parish priest in Paris, and subsequently Bishop of Rodez in 1664, but in 1666 abdicated and attached himself to St. Vincent de Paul in the House of St. Lazare, Paris. His ascetical works reveal his deep and sincere piety. He was a bitter foe of the Jansenists, chiefly of St. Cyran, against whom he directed his Life of St. Vincent de Paul, a work which Hurter describes as "full of unction." His Medulla Theologica went through many editions, and is characterized by its "solidity, directness, and usefulness." According to St. Alphonsus, Abelly is "a classic in probabilism." His Défense de la hiérarchie de l'Église was directed against an anonymous Gallican writer. He wrote also two Enchiridions, one for bishops, another for priests; a treatise entitled De l'obéissance et soumission due au Pape; and another called Traité des Hérésies. Replying to a Jansenist work known as Monita Salutaria, he published his Sentiments des SS. Pères, touchant les excellences et les prérogatives de la T.S. Vierge.
Sources: HURTER, Nomenclator, VII, 586.