Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A form of Christian mysticism enjoining passive contemplation and the beatific annihilation of the will.
  • noun A state of quietness and passivity.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun That form of mysticism which consists in the entire abnegation of all active exercise of the will and a purely passive meditation on God and divine things as the highest spiritual exercise and the means of bringing the soul into immediate union with the Godhead. Conspicuous exponents of quietism were Molinos and Mme. Guyon, in the seventeenth century. See Molinist.
  • noun The state or quality of being quiet; quietness.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • noun Peace or tranquillity of mind; calmness; indifference; apathy; dispassion; indisturbance; inaction.
  • noun (Eccl. Hist.) The system of the Quietists, who maintained that religion consists in the withdrawal of the mind from worldly interests and anxieties and its constant employment in the passive contemplation of God and his attributes.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A form of mysticism involving quiet contemplation.
  • noun A state of passive quietness.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun a form of religious mysticism requiring withdrawal from all human effort and passive contemplation of God

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

quiet +‎ -ism

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word quietism.

Examples

  • But progress, not quietism, is the principle which governs humanity and it is favoured by events of most different nature.

    The Book of The Thousand Nights And A Night 2006

  • In all the dispute on what is called quietism, there has been nothing good but the old tale revived of the honest woman who brought a torch to burn paradise, and a cruse of water to extinguish the fire of hell, that God should no longer be served either through hope or fear.

    A Philosophical Dictionary 2007

  • Staying quiet in the face of political strife is the reigning philosophy in Najaf and is known as quietism, or taquia, in Arabic.

    The Seattle Times 2009

  • Mr. Sistani, the true hero of Iraq's survival and incipient renaissance, is the standard-bearer of the traditional Shiite view of politics called "quietism," which rejects the clerical rule invented by the Ayatollah Khomenei in Iran.

    Coming to Terms With Iraqi Democracy Bartle Bull 2010

  • Mr. Sistani, the true hero of Iraq's survival and incipient renaissance, is the standard-bearer of the traditional Shiite view of politics called "quietism," which rejects the clerical rule invented by the Ayatollah Khomenei in Iran.

    Coming to Terms With Iraqi Democracy Bartle Bull 2010

  • Mr. Sistani, the true hero of Iraq's survival and incipient renaissance, is the standard-bearer of the traditional Shiite view of politics called "quietism," which rejects the clerical rule invented by the Ayatollah Khomenei in Iran.

    Coming to Terms With Iraqi Democracy Bartle Bull 2010

  • There is something to be said for the ' quietism ' of the Buddhist approach to the question of the Divine .

    Science, Idolatry, and Anthropomorphism James F. McGrath 2008

  • Spencer produced the venerable Basil Pennington now deceased with the abbot, whose name I cannot recall, who invented "centering prayer" - a form of prayer that is pretty much associated with "quietism".

    Archive 2006-11-05 Terry Nelson 2006

  • Spencer produced the venerable Basil Pennington now deceased with the abbot, whose name I cannot recall, who invented "centering prayer" - a form of prayer that is pretty much associated with "quietism".

    St. Joseph's Abbey, Spencer, MA Terry Nelson 2006

  • The fundamental Quaker idea of "quietism," as it was called, or peaceful, silent contemplation as a spiritual form of worship and as a development of moral consciousness, was very widespread at the close of the

    The Quaker Colonies, a chronicle of the proprietors of the Delaware Sydney George Fisher 1891

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.