Notwithstanding all that is said to me, my dear M., in opposition to my state, I cannot have one doubt of its reality. There is within me an inward testimony to the truth — so deep, that all the world could not shake it.
It is the work of God upon my heart, and partakes of His own immutability. It seems to me that all the difficulties of theologians concerning this state arise from viewing it, not in the light of divine truth and power, but in the light of the creature.
It is true, the creature, in itself, is only weakness and sin — but when it pleases God to new-create the soul, and make it one with Himself, it is then transformed into the likeness of Christ.
✦ The Immutability of What He Has Done
This is Guyon at her most fearless. A woman opposed by theologians, condemned by the religious establishment, imprisoned in the Bastille — and she says, calmly, without defiance, without performance: I cannot have one doubt of its reality. Not because she is stubborn. Not because she has constructed an impressive defense. Because what happened inside her is His work, not hers — and His work partakes of His own immutability.
That word — immutability — is doing everything. It means: what cannot change. What does not shift with circumstances, with feelings, with the opinions of theologians, with the walls of a prison. God does not change — and what He has done in the soul partakes of that same unchangeability. The assurance is not Guyon's assurance. It is His assurance, deposited in the soul He new-created.
And then the move that silences her critics: the difficulties of theologians arise from viewing this state in the light of the creature. Of course the creature is weakness and sin — Guyon does not deny this. She affirms it. But when it pleases God — and that word is important, it is His pleasure, His initiative, His delight — to new-create the soul, the soul is transformed into the likeness of Christ. Not improved. Not repaired. Not educated into something better. New-created. 🙏
It is the work of God upon my heart, and partakes of His own immutability — this was a great revelation to my heart. It pleases the Lord to new-create the soul, and make it one with Himself, in the likeness of Christ. It is His own immutability that holds me. 🙏
Not her grip on Him. His grip on her. The 500 denari soul does not hold onto God by the strength of her faith. God holds onto her by the strength of His nature — which cannot change, which cannot fail, which cannot be shaken by all the world. The assurance is not in the quality of the holding — it is in the identity of the One who holds. 🙏
"It is His own immutability that holds me."
Le · The 500 denari soul · Held by what cannot changeWho will dare limit the power of God? Who will say that God, whose love is infinite as it is free, cannot give such proofs of love as He pleases, to His creatures? Has He not the right to love me as He does?
Yes, He loves me, and His love is infinite. I do not doubt it. And He loves you, too, dear M., in the same manner.
This is eternal love manifested — the heart of God drawn out — expressed towards His creature.
✦ The Dare — And the Declaration
Guyon throws down a challenge that echoes across three centuries and lands in a motorhome in Cognac this morning. She is not asking a theological question. She is issuing a dare. Who will dare? Who will stand before the infinite God and say — You cannot love that much. You cannot give that freely. You cannot new-create that completely. Who has the audacity to draw a line around God's love and say this far and no further?
And then the simplest, most devastating declaration in all her letters: Yes, He loves me, and His love is infinite. I do not doubt it. A woman. In the Bastille. Opposed by theologians. And she says — without hesitation, without apology, without qualifying — He loves me. Not I hope He loves me. Not I believe theologically that His love extends to all creatures. He loves me. I do not doubt it.
And then — the generosity that always marks a genuine encounter with God's love: And He loves you too, dear M., in the same manner. The soul that has received infinite love does not hoard it. It overflows. A boca do justo é fonte de vida. What the fountain has received, it gives. 🙏
This is eternal love manifested — the heart of God drawn out — expressed towards His creature. Expressed. Not hidden. Not withheld. Not locked behind theological conditions. Drawn out and expressed. The heart of God turned inside out — toward us.
Thank you, Madame Guyon, for your testimony. Being a woman does not make you weak — and you say with confidence that God loves you. 🙏
Guyon did not speak with borrowed authority. She did not wait for a theologian to validate her experience. She spoke from the inside of what God had done in her — and it partakes of His own immutability. The Bastille could not shake it. The theologians could not argue it away. Because it was His work, not hers. The 500 denari soul recognizes a sister across three centuries — a woman who knew the size of what she had received and would not be silenced about it. 🙏
Immutability
What cannot change. What does not shift with circumstances, feelings, or the opinions of theologians. God does not change — and what He has done in the soul partakes of that same unchangeability. His grip. Not ours.
New-Created
When it pleases God to new-create the soul and make it one with Himself — transformed into the likeness of Christ. Not improved. Not repaired. New-created. The same free gift. The same 500 denari miracle. His pleasure. His initiative.
Infinite and Expressed
Who will dare limit the power of God? His love is infinite and free. Eternal love manifested — the heart of God drawn out — expressed. Not hidden. Not withheld. Drawn out toward His creature. She does not doubt it. Neither should we.
Guyon's third day in the journal — and she is building something magnificent. From the religion of the heart, through faith not sight, and now to assurance. The interior life she described on day one has now been given its foundation: not the soul's capacity for devotion, but God's immutability. The foundation is not in us. It is in Him.
James Smith in the "Only Believe" entry: "Give Him credit for meaning what He says." Guyon says the same from the Bastille: "I cannot have one doubt of its reality." Both arrive at the same faith — not confidence in their own spiritual state, but confidence in the God who does not change. Unbelief calls God a liar. Guyon's assurance calls Him faithful — and refuses to be moved.
The Almodôvar entry — Extraordinary and Lavished with Love: "See what great love the Father has lavished on us." 1 John 3:1. And Guyon: "Who will dare limit the power of God? Has He not the right to love me as He does?" John and Guyon stand side by side — both pointing at the same love, both astonished, both refusing to diminish it. The Greek word was δέδωκεν — lavished, poured out without measure. Guyon's word is infinite. The same extravagance. The same refusal to be reasonable about how much God loves.
Le's testimony from the Canal du Midi — the youthful atheist: "He gave me a new life. I was born again." And Guyon: "When it pleases God to new-create the soul, and make it one with Himself, it is then transformed into the likeness of Christ." The same miracle. Not resilience. Not self-improvement. New creation. And new creation partakes of His immutability — because it is His work, not ours. The 500 denari soul did not improve herself into salvation. She was new-created — and what He new-created, He holds.
George Bowen on the Costa de la Luz: "To the unbeliever, a mere word. But to the initiated — a means of finding forever and everywhere the brightness of the divine glory." And Guyon: "There is within me an inward testimony to the truth — so deep, that all the world could not shake it." The initiated and the assured are the same soul. The one who has received the Word not as mere word but as living reality — and found it unshakeable. The theologians view it in the light of the creature. The initiated view it in the light of divine truth and power. The difference is interior — and it is everything.
Guyon's testimony and Le's testimony meet across three centuries in Cognac today: two women who knew the size of what they had received — and would not be silenced about it. Neither spoke with borrowed authority. Both spoke from the inside of what God had done. And both said, simply: He loves me. I do not doubt it. 🙏