Jansen, Cornelius

Cornelius (1585-1638), a Dutch theologian. He was professor of theology in the University of Louvain. He founded a theological party that developed into the sect still known in the Netherlands as Jansenists. According to the Statesman's Year Book, they now number 8,754, including one archbishop, two bishops, twenty-seven clergymen, and twenty-six churches. Though they reject the doctrine of papal infallibility, in other tenets they profess to be Roman Catholics. The pope refuses their clergy his sanction. Jansen professed to uphold the doctrines taught by Augustine, bishop of Hippo, and came under the condemnation and active opposition of the Jesuits. He upheld the doctrine of predestination, yet aimed to show that it was not wholly inconsistent with free will and human merit. The contest with Jansen and his followers created quite a din at one time.