Christian Perfection

Christian Perfection by Francois de Salignac de La Mothe Fenelon, edited with an introduction by Charles F Whiston, translated by Mildred Whitney Stillman, 208 pages

Fenelon was archbishop of Cambrai in France at the beginning of the eighteenth century, having previously served in the court of Louis XIV as the protege of the great orator Bossuet, the bishop of Meaux.  Bossuet and Fenelon had a falling out in later years, due in large part to the former's Gallicanism and the latter's Quietism.  Since Bossuet seems to be enjoying a minor revival of late, Fenelon might likewise be worth revisiting.

Christian Perfection is a devotional work, having been distilled primarily from letters and lectures given by Fenelon to those under his spiritual direction.  It is, perhaps, a bit too Quietist for strict orthodoxy, emphasizing the need for surrender, or even annihilation, of one's own will, but given modernity's Pelagian tendencies, this may be less a flaw than a useful over-corrective.  Certainly, it is well-written (and well-edited and well-translated), moving in places, thought-provoking in others, and never insincere.