NIEREMBERG, JUAN EUSEBIO

Ordained priest in 1623, he taught humanities, natural history, and exegesis for several years, but he distinguished himself above all as a sought-after spiritual director and indefatigable writer. Of the 73 works he published on various subjects, the following remain vital in the ascetical field: *Aprecio y estima de la divina gracia* (Madrid 1638); *Diferenza entre lo temporal y lo eterno* (ibid. 1640); *Hermosura de Dios* (ibid. 1641), in which the well-developed practical doctrine is somewhat marred by the intrusion of revelations and strange tidings accepted out of a sense of pious, yet discordant credulity. The same defect is found in the *Vida de S. Ignacio* (ibid. 1631; new revised ed., ibid. 1882), whose first edition was placed on the Index *donec corrigatur* on 12 Dec. 1646 precisely because of the pious exaggerations and incredible narratives it contained; this defect also appears in the collection: *Varones ilustres de la Compañía de Jesús* (4 vols., ibid. 1643-47; revised and continued up to the 9th vol. by A. de Andrade and J. Cassani, ibid. 1736; reprinted in the first 6 vols. at Bilbao [1887-90]). The two works: *Curiosa filosofía* (Madrid 1630) and *Historia natural* (ibid. 1635) have no scientific value whatsoever and are filled with pleasant curiosities, a sign of the credulity of the times.