Jansenism, a movement within the Catholic Church of the 17th and 18th centuries, especially in France and the Netherlands, represents one effort to solve the problem with which all Christian life is faced — that of reconciling the fundamental antagonisms inherent in Christianity. There is the acceptance of the world which has as its counterpart a condemnation of the world, and there is the necessity of working out one’s salvation responsibly while always knowing it to be a freely bestowed gift, …