Giovanni Battista Scaramelli


Giovanni Battista Scaramelli was an Italian Jesuit, ethicist, and ascetical writer.

Biography

He was born at Rome and died at Macerata in 1752. He entered the Society of Jesus on 21 September 1706. He devoted himself to preaching and the ministry for fifteen years.

Legacy

According to Dominican theologian Jordan Aumann, Scaramelli was the first to use the term "asceticism" in contradistinction to the older word mystical after the term had been introduced by the Franciscan friar named Dobrosielski into the Latin usage of western theology in 1655. Scaramelli's work on ethics in his Directorium Asceticum has stood the test of time and integrates well with the evidence from modern psychology.

Writings