Paoletti (Jesuit missionary)

Paoletti was the name of a Jesuit missionary to South America, who, according to the account of Joseph Octave Delepierre and others, was imprisoned due to madness, and during his incarceration wrote two books: the first, a work of apparent opposition to the theology of Sir Thomas Aquinas, relating to predestination and the issuance of grace by holy instruments; and the second, a genealogy of the natives of South America, finding them to be the off-spring of the Devil and one of Noah's daughters, and thus ineligible to receive salvation or grace.

Joseph Octave Delepierre (1802-1879)
"Durant le moyen âge, Thomas d'Acquin excita une grande admiration parmi les théologiens, par sa doctrine et fes opinions sur la Prédestination et le Libre Arbitre, confîdérées comme des chefs d'œuvre de dialecique. Ses ouvrages furent l'objet d'une composition des plus bizarres, par un Jésuite dont l'esprit sêtait dérangé depuis plulîeurs années, par suite de ses rudes travaux de missionaire dans l'Amérique du Sud. Cet infortuné, nommé Paoletti, qui avait été enfermé depuis cinq ans, lorsqu'il écrivit son livre contre Thomas d'Acquin et ses docrines, cherchait à prouver que Dieu employait les instruments symboliques du culte Juif, pour déterminer qui recevrait ou ne recevrait pas la faveur divine. Il deffina un tableau ou diagramme des diverfes manières dont on employait les ustensils sacrés dans le Tabernacle, pour déterminer la condition future des fils d'Adam, relativement à la Prédestination. Une gravure accompagne l'ouvrage, dans laquelle Dieu est representé, entouré d'anges, et présîdant à la manipulation de ces ustensils symboliques: la volonté divine et la volonté humaine figurent fous la forme de deux boules se mouvant dans une direction circulaire opposée, mais qui cependant finissent par se rencontrer dans un centre commun. Paoletti écrivit un autre traité durant sa folie, où il montrait que les aborigènes de l'Amérique étaient les descendants direéts du diable et d'une des filles de Noé, conséquemment qu'ils sont dans l'impossibilité absolu d'obtenir ni le salut, ni le grâce."

"During the Middle Ages, Thomas Aquinas excited a great admiration among theologians for his doctrine and his opinions on Predestination and Free Will, considered masterpieces of dialectic. His works were the subject of a most bizarre composition, by a Jesuit whose mind had been disturbed for several years, as a result of his hard missionary work in South America. This unfortunate man, named Paoletti, who had been imprisoned for five years when he wrote his book against Thomas Aquinas and his doctrines, sought to prove that God employed the symbolic instruments of Jewish worship to determine who would receive or not receive divine favor. He gave a picture or chart of the various ways in which the sacred instruments were used in the Tabernacle to determine the future condition of the sons of Adam in relation to Predestination. An engraving accompanies the work, in which God is represented, surrounded by angels, and presiding over the manipulation of these symbolic instruments: the divine will and the human will appear in the form of two balls moving in an opposite circular direction, which, however, end up meeting in a common center. Paoletti wrote another treatise during his madness, in which he showed that the aborigines of America were the descendants of the devil and one of the daughters of Noah, and consequently it is absolutely impossible for them to obtain salvation or grace."

A reissue, in revised and enlarged form, of two papers which first appeared in the Miscellanies of the Philobiblon Society, v. 3-4, under titles "Études bio-bibliographiques dur les four littéraires," and "Essai biographique sur l'histoire littéraire des fous."



Journal of Psychological Medicine and Mental Pathology
https://books.google.com/books?id=PVTOAAAAMAAJ&pg=PA169; April 1, 1859. Art. I. Literary Fools. &mdash; Guillaume Postel, Christopher Smart, and Others. *

"He had been in confinement on account of his madness five years, when he composed a work confuting the doctrines of Thomas Aquinas, and he endeavoured to prove that God used the symbolical instruments of the Jewish rites to determine who should or who should not receive the divine favour. He designed a diagram purporting to show the mode in which the holy vessels employed in the Tabernacle were made use of in order to indicate the future lot of the children of Adam relatively to predestination. In an engraving accompanying the work, God is represented as surrounded by angels, and presiding at the manipulation of the symbolical vessels; the divine and the human are represented as two balls moving in a circle, but in different directions, and in the end finishing by meeting in a common centre. Paoletti wrote also another treatise during his madness. In this work he argues that the aborigines of America are the direct descendants of the devil and one of the daughters of Noah; consequently that it is impossible for them to obtain either safety or grace. * 'Essai Biographique sur l'Historie Littéraire des Fous.' Par Octave Delepierre. (Privately printed.)"

The St. James's Magazine and United Empire Review
A.H. Moxon, 1868; volume 2, page 132

"Coming more strictly within its pale are the records of one Paoletti, a Jesuit, who for a long time was deranged from his arduous labours as a missionary in South America. After he had been in confinement five years, he composed a work confuting the doctrines of Thomas Aquinas, and in which he endeavoured to prove that God used the symbolical instruments of the Jewish rites to determine who should or who should not receive the divine favour. He formed a diagram purporting to show the manner in which the holy vessels employed in the Tabernacle were made use of in order to indicate the future lot of the children of Adam relatively to predestination. In an engraving which accompanies the work, the Almighty is shown surrounded by angels, and presiding at the manipulation of the symbolical vessels. The divine and the human will are represented as two balls moving in a circle, but in different directions, and in the end finishing by meeting in a common centre. Paoletti wrote another treatise during his madness. In this work he argued that the aborigines of America were the direct descendants of the devil, and one of the daughters of Noah; consequently that it was impossible for them to obtain either safety or grace."

Cesar Lombroso (1835-1909)
"Il missionario gesuita Paoletti, scrisse un libro contro S. Tommaso e vi designò un quadro degli utensili usati nel tabernacolo per determinare la condizione futura dei figli d'Adamo in rapporto alla predestinazione. La volontà divina e la volontà umana figurano come due palle che girano in direzione opposta, e poi s’incontrano in un centro comune."

"The Jesuit missionary, Paoletti, wrote a book against St. Thomas, and illustrated it with a drawing of the vessels used in the Tabernacle, so as to determine the future condition of the sons of Adam with regard to predestination. The Divine and human wills are figured as two balls revolving in opposite directions, and finally meeting at a common centre."

Later References


"Paoletti was een jezuïet die een hekel had aan Thomas van Aquino. Delepierre noemt geen titels maar noteert dat Paoletti probeerde te bewijzen dat 'God de symbolische instrumenten van de Joodse cultus' gebruikte 'om te bepalen wie de goddelijke genade zou ontvangen en wie niet.' Een hemelse loterij. In een tweede geschrift van Paoletti werd 'aangetoond' dat de autochtone American..."