The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions (1912 page)

Quietism
.

Used broadly of any spirituality that minimizes human activity and initiative, leaving all to the will of God. More strictly, it is applied in Christianity to the teaching of certain 17th-cent. writers, especially Miguel de Molinos (condemned in 1687), but also Mme. Guyon and Archbishop
Fénelon
. In its essence, it takes teaching about the importance of simple surrender to God's will (characteristic of
contemplation
) out of its context as the end-result of a life of moral discipline and participation in the sacraments. Christian perfection is attained by
contemplatio passiva infusa
, in which the powers of the self are suspended, to be replaced by God himself.

 
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(Lat., ‘fiftieth [day]’). The Sunday before
Lent
, seven weeks before
Easter
.

 
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(Lat., Five Ways). Five classical arguments pointing to the existence of God, summarized by
Aquinas
at the opening of the
Summa
Theologica
:
The first way is the argument from motion [which requires a first Mover] … The second is from the nature of efficient cause [the chain of causation requires an uncaused Cause] … The third way is taken from possibility and necessity [roughly, ‘why there is something rather than nothing’ requires a necessary being] … The fourth way is taken from the gradation to be found in things [comparisons, e.g. ‘hotter’, relate to a perfect standard, ‘hottest’, so overall to God as the cause of perfection] … The fifth way is taken from the governance of the world [that things are evidently designed to an end, requiring a Designer]. (
ST
I, qu. 2, art. 3).
The first four are related to the
Cosmological Argument
, the fourth remotely to the
Ontological Argument
, the fifth to the
Teleological Argument
.

 
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see
CHOIR
.

 
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Qumran community
.

Jewish monastic community which lived near the shores of the Dead Sea. Major archaeological excavations have taken place in the area. Khirbet Qumran is the site of a building complex which includes a large cemetery. It has been suggested that it was the site of the
Essene
community described by Pliny the Elder (but see further
DEAD SEA SCROLLS
). The occupants of the site clearly aimed at self-sufficiency with large storerooms and an elaborate system of customs. These have been connected to the elaborate cleansing prescriptions laid down in the
Manual of Discipline
in the
Dead Sea Scrolls
. The buildings were destroyed and burnt
c.
70 CE, presumably by the Romans during the Jewish war (see
JOSEPHUS
).

 
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see
PETER, ST
.

 
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