Ignacio de Loyola y Teresa de Ávila. Inspectores de Espíritus : Institución y Carisma en los albores da la Era confesional

Abstract

After During the late Middle Ages, the discernment of spirits went through a revolutionary transformation: from a wonderful charism invested by the Holy Ghost, it became a human science, based upon probabilities and conjectures, and under the tight control of the theological corporation. This new discretio spirituum paradigm is known as «gersonian revolution» (because of Jean Gerson’s role in its propagation). Were the great Sixteenth Century charismatic saints enemies or supporters of this process of clericalization of religious enthusiasm? The aim of this paper is to offer some clues to the resolution of this dilemma, using as a test-case the figures of Ignatius Loyola and Teresa of Avila, two of the major references of early Counter-Reformation

Keywords

• discernment of spirits
• institution
• charism
• Ignatius Loyola
• Teresa of Avila
• Counter-Reformation