Antonio Escobar y Mendoza

Antonio Escobar y Mendoza

Antonio Escobar y Mendoza (Latin: Antonius de Escobar et Mendoza) (* 1589 Valladolid , † July 4, 1669 Valladolid) was a Spanish Jesuit and theological writer .

Life

Escobar came from a noble family. He was educated by the Jesuits and entered their order in 1605. He later became rector of the Jesuit College of Valladolid for a few years, where he worked until the end of his life. He was a famous preacher. He lived modestly, strictly adhered to the rules of the order and cared for prisoners, the poor and the sick.

plant

Escobar's extensive theological literature comprises 83 volumes in Latin. His first literary attempts were verses in praise of Ignatius of Loyola (1613) and the Virgin Mary (1618). The later major works dealt with exegesis , but especially with moral theology and casuistry . Escobar is considered to be the main representative of laxism , a school of thought in moral theology that deviates from strict church morality. Escobar's main writing, Summula casuum conscientiae (1627), was the cause of a dispute with Blaise Pascal , who accused Escobar of questioning church morals. Escobar advocated the now famous maxim that purity of intention is enough to justify human action. The dispute with Pascal led to the fact that Escobar's works in Paris, Bordeaux, Rennes and Rouen were publicly burned by decision of the city councils. In 1679 - ten years after Escobar's death - Pope Innocent XI. put some of the writings of Escobar, Francisco Suárez, and other casuists on the index for laxism.

Fonts

• Summa causa conscientiae (1627)
• Liber theologiae moralis (1644, Munich, Wagner 1646)
• Universae theologiae moralis problemata (1652–1666)

literature

• Karl Weiss: Fr. Antonio de Escobar y Mendoza as a moral theologian in Pascal's illumination and in the light of truth. Herder, Freiburg 1911.