The first attack on Molinos’s "Guide" (though without specifically mentioning the "Guide" or Molinos) appeared in 1678, written by Gottardo Bell’huomo. Molinos evidently felt that Bell’huomo’s book could not be ignored, because shortly after he wrote (though never published) an apologia for his "Guide" entitled "Defence of Contemplation", aiming to defend the "Guide" against charges of theological innovation. Specifically, he marshalled a long list of past writers and saints (including Francisco Suarez and Jean-Joseph Surin) in order to demonstrate that the "Guide"’s principal thesis – that in order to pass to the state of contemplation one must leave behind meditative practices was a well-established part of church doctrine. (He was aware of the focus in the writings of Ignatius of Loyola on meditation, and the likelihood that Jesuit writers would react poorly to any perceived attack on Ignatius’s thought. He was quick to emphasise that these are certainly an important stage of the spiritual life.) Instead of publishing the book, Molinos took up his case with the superior general of the Jesuits, Giovanni Paolo Oliva. In a series of letters from February 1680 onwards, Molinos sought to assure Oliva that he had nothing but praise and respect for the Jesuits and their spirituality.