The Providential Letters

Letters to a Provincial (Les Provinciales) is a series of 18 letters written by Blaise Pascal between 1656 and 1657, addressing the controversy between the Jansenists and the Jesuits. Originally published anonymously, the letters were intended to defend the Jansenist theologian Antoine Arnauld, who had been condemned by the Sorbonne for his views on grace and predestination. In these letters, Pascal criticized Jesuit moral theology, especially its use of "casuistry," which he saw as a way o...