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The Walk Leader Guide: Five Essential Practices of the Christian Life (The Walk)
by Adam HamiltonHow do we walk with Christ—daily follow him, grow in him, and faithfully serve him? In the Gospels, Jesus modeled for us the Christian spiritual life. The apostles taught it in their writings. And the Church has, through the last 2,000 years, sought to pursue this Christian spiritual life. In The Walk, Adam Hamilton focuses on five essential spiritual practices that are rooted in Jesus’ own walk with God and taught throughout the New Testament. Each of these practices is intended as part of our daily walk with Christ while also being an essential part of growing together in the church. In each chapter, Hamilton explores one of these practices, its New Testament foundation, and what it looks like to pursue this practice daily in our personal life and together in the life of the church. Deepen your walk with Christ as we explore the five essential practices of worship, study, serving, giving, and bearing witness to our faith. The Leader Guide contains everything needed to guide a group through the six-week study including session plans, activities, and discussion questions, as well as multiple format options.
The Walk Out Woman: When Your Heart Is Empty and Your Dreams Are Lost
by Alice Gray Steve StephensEvery woman longs to be appreciated, respected, and adored, but when her needs aren't met within her marriage, she could be tempted to walk away. As little hurts and disappointments accumulate and her heart hardens, a woman's loneliness and vulnerability take over, and she might find emotional fulfillment elsewhere, perhaps in even a casual encounter with another man. When the marriage enters this realm of real danger, the woman believes it will be less painful to walk away than try to work on it. With heart and wisdom, Dr. Steve Stephens and Alice Gray offer practical advice for how to stop this epidemic of walk-out women. They outline the warning signs of severe marital discontent and share how to reconnect with your spouse, communicate your hurt, and open your heart. If both partners are willing to work at it, any marriage can be saved. Are You Even Thinking About Walking Out? "I'm at the point where I don't think it is worth the effort anymore. " "The only reason I'm staying is because of the children. " "Surely God doesn't want me to be this unhappy. " Every woman longs to be appreciated, valued, and cared for. When these needs go unmet, she may be tempted to leave the husband she once loved-but walking out is seldom the path to happiness. Like trusted friends, Dr. Steve Stephens and Alice Gray offer wise and gentle advice to restore hope to your marriage. You'll discover proven methods for how you can move toward each other rather than away, build up instead of tear down, and find love rather than lose it. Story Behind the Book Although a growing number of women are walking away from their marriages, there are no books to help them realize that this is not the path to happiness. A woman's discontentment settles like dust on furniture, and although she tries, she fails to make her husband understand. His responses seem too little and too late. Many women mistakenly believe it is easier emotionally to leave the marriage than try to restore it. We want a woman to realize that even when her heart seems closed to her husband, there is a way to open it and become one again. Loss of love does not equal loss of marriage. Loss of hope does not mean the relationship should be abandoned. From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Walk Series: The Walk, Miles to Go, Road to Grace, Step of Faith, Walking on Water (The Walk Series)
by Richard Paul EvansFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Christmas Box, an inspiring and uplifting series about one man's search for faith as he walks across America.What would you do if you lost everything--your job, your home, and the love of your life--all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christofferson, he's tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Alan leaves behind all that he's known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life--and inspire yours. The Walk series is a life-changing journey, and an unforgettable story about one man's search for hope. This ebook boxed set contains all five books in the Walk series.
The Walk Youth Study Book: Five Essential Practices of the Christian Life (The Walk)
by Adam HamiltonHow do we walk with Christ—daily follow him, grow in him, and faithfully serve him?In the Gospels, Jesus modeled for us the Christian spiritual life. The apostles taught it in their writings. And the Church has, through the last 2,000 years, sought to pursue this Christian spiritual life. In The Walk, Adam Hamilton focuses on five essential spiritual practices that are rooted in Jesus’ own walk with God and taught throughout the New Testament. Each of these practices is intended as part of our daily walk with Christ while also being an essential part of growing together in the church.In each chapter, Hamilton explores one of these practices, its New Testament foundation, and what it looks like to pursue this practice daily in our personal life and together in the life of the church. Deepen your walk with Christ as we explore the five essential practices of worship, study, serving, giving, and bearing witness to our faith.This Youth Study Book takes the ideas presented in Adam Hamilton’s book and interprets them for young people grades 6-12.
The Walk at Work: Seven Steps to Spiritual Success on the Job
by Andria HallGod Is at WorkWhether you work with your hands or your head, God wants your heart to be at work for Him. However, with all the confrontation, conflict, and frustration in the workplace, too often we leave God out of the equation. Amid the all-out pursuit of our hopes and dreams, we find ourselves wondering, How can my faith sustain me through challenges of work? How can I daily honor God on the job? The Walk at Work is a guidebook that combines daily inspirational readings with a seven-step plan for personal spiritual growth to answer those questions about faith at work. Whether you face difficult relationships, job anxiety, or office politics, Andria Hall will show you how to experience success by aligning your priorities with God's. Through the down-to-earth, practical wisdom in these pages you will:· receive daily wisdom from God· discover the benefits of praying for others· learn how to carry out your God-given tasks in the workplace with integrity· unearth a new commitment to honor God in all that you do, say, and think· settle your mind and nurture your spirit through timely daily readingsExcellent as a daily devotional or group study, The Walk at Work also includes a topical index of common work-related challenges, questions for further reflection, and recommendations for additional reading.From the Trade Paperback edition.
The Walk of the Cross: Christian Discipleship: Dying to Self
by Robert MakrushThe &“Walk of the Cross&” is a Lenten study designed to help Christians search their hearts and souls as well as rededicate themselves to be faithful Disciples of Christ. It is a daily devotional which examines fundamental Biblical beliefs in context with several scriptures each day. Daily readings are followed by questions for reflection and journaling. Jesus used this method of rabbinic teaching when he asked questions of His disciples such as &“Who do you say (believe) I am?&”, &“Why do you call me good?&”, or &“To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?&”. Journaling, scripture reading, and Spirit-led prayers form the foundation of this personal study as we consider what we really believe concerning issues such as God&’s calling, grace, salvation, sanctification, and regeneration. The process allows the Holy Spirit to confront false beliefs as well as alleviate areas of doubt in our faith.As for those that may be asking what difference it makes how one believes, professionals have long known that our beliefs, especially those concerning morals, ethics, and religion control how we think, feel and behave. Our beliefs do this by coming together to form attitudes and prejudices concerning who we are and the world around us. Because our belief systems work with a high degree of automation, they can be easily influenced and even corrupted by the culture of the world. Therefore, we should always actively consider what and how we believe under the guidance of the Spirit.Christians have traditionally used the forty days prior to Easter, known as Lent, as a time to rededicate ourselves to the imitation of Christ. Some of us abstain from pleasurable things such as chocolate or TV in an attempt to purify ourselves from worldly desires. Others prefer to add some additional religious aspect to our lives like a Lenten devotional, additional prayer time, or some worthy church social function. Whether we abstain or add, there is a conscious effort to revive our Christian discipleship by identifying with Christ&’s teaching and journey of passion for our salvation. Doing these activities in small groups makes this also a time to renew fellowship within church.
The Walk of the Spirit -- The Walk of Power: The Vital Role of Praying in Tongues
by Dave RobersonIt is advocated in most Christian circles that Believers should read God's written Word, the Bible, in order to learn about God, Jesus and His plan for mankind.
The Walk: A Novel (The Walk Series #1)
by Richard Paul Evans"My name is Alan Christoffersen. You don't know me. 'Just another book in the library,' my father would say. 'Unopened and unread.' You have no idea how far I've come or what I've lost. More important, you have no idea what I've found." --Prologue What would you do if you lost everything--your job, your home, and the love of your life--all at the same time? When it happens to Seattle ad executive Alan Christoffersen, he's tempted by his darkest thoughts. A bottle of pills in his hand and nothing left to live for, he plans to end his misery. Instead, he decides to take a walk. But not any ordinary walk. Taking with him only the barest of essentials, Al leaves behind all that he's known and heads for the farthest point on his map: Key West, Florida. The people he encounters along the way, and the lessons they share with him, will save his life--and inspire yours. Richard Paul Evans's extraordinary New York Times bestsellers have made him one of the world's most beloved storytellers. A life-changing journey, both physical and spiritual, The Walk is the first of an unforgettable series of books about one man's search for hope.
The Walk: Clear Direction and Spiritual Power for Your Life
by Shaun AlexanderAre you walking with God, dragging your feet, or running ahead of Him? Take the first step in living at God's pace. When you start walking with God, it’s easy to misplace the emphasis. You might think it’s about seeking perfection or impressing God with your level of commitment. But God isn’t looking for perfection, and no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to impress him.Walking with God is exactly what it says: God invites you to get in step with what he is doing in the world. When you walk with God, you allow him to set the pace for every aspect of your life. And that is when you discover faith and strength that overcome doubt, fear, and temptation.Let Shaun Alexander help you get started on the greatest adventure possible. If you are ready to know God as your Walking Companion, you are ready to begin The Walk.God invites you to grow through five stages of spiritual maturityWalking with God is not a contest or a competition, and it has nothing to do with how you look in front of others. Your walk with Christ is the most extreme, dangerous, and intimate adventure you will ever be part of. But all you have to do is walk, which takes you to a place where it’s not about you—instead, you will become part of something that is much bigger than anything you canimagine.God leads his followers through five stages of spiritual maturity. He begins by working in us even before we trust him, drawing us while we are still Unbelievers. He walks with us when we become Believers, training us so that we can grow to live as Examples of Christ. He works with Examples, showing them how to explain what they believe and making them Teachers. And God calls some Teachers to serve as Imparters, those who do the miraculous work of Jesus on earth.While our tendency is to run ahead of God or lag behind, just walking with God through the stages of spiritual maturity will transform your life with biblical wisdom, God’s direction, and the power of the Holy Spirit. With God at your side, your life will have an unprecedented impact on others.From the Hardcover edition.
The Walk: Five Essential Practices of the Christian Life (The Walk)
by Adam HamiltonHow do we walk with Christ—daily follow him, grow in him, and faithfully serve him?In the Gospels, Jesus modeled for us the Christian spiritual life. The apostles taught it in their writings. And the Church has, through the last 2,000 years, sought to pursue this Christian spiritual life. In The Walk, Adam Hamilton focuses on five essential spiritual practices that are rooted in Jesus’ own walk with God and taught throughout the New Testament. Each of these practices is intended as part of our daily walk with Christ while also being an essential part of growing together in the church.In each chapter, Hamilton explores one of these practices, its New Testament foundation, and what it looks like to pursue this practice daily in our personal life and together in the life of the church. Deepen your walk with Christ as we explore the five essential practices of worship, study, serving, giving, and bearing witness to our faith.Additional components for a six-week adult study include a comprehensive Leader Guide and a DVD featuring the engaging teachings of author and pastor Adam Hamilton. Also available are resources for children and youth.
The Walking Qur'an
by Rudolph T. WareSpanning a thousand years of history--and bringing the story to the present through ethnographic fieldwork in Senegal, Gambia, and Mauritania--Rudolph Ware documents the profound significance of Qur'an schools for West African Muslim communities. Such schools peacefully brought Islam to much of the region, becoming striking symbols of Muslim identity. Ware shows how in Senegambia the schools became powerful channels for African resistance during the eras of the slave trade and colonization. While illuminating the past, Ware also makes signal contributions to understanding contemporary Islam by demonstrating how the schools' epistemology of embodiment gives expression to classical Islamic frameworks of learning and knowledge.Today, many Muslims and non-Muslims find West African methods of Qur'an schooling puzzling and controversial. In fascinating detail, Ware introduces these practices from the viewpoint of the practitioners, explicating their emphasis on educating the whole human being as if to remake it as a living replica of the Qur'an. From this perspective, the transference of knowledge in core texts and rituals is literally embodied in people, helping shape them--like the Prophet of Islam--into vital bearers of the word of God.
The Walking with God Study Guide Expanded Edition: How to Hear His Voice
by John Eldredge Craig McconnellOur deepest need is to live in conversation with God. To hear his voice. To follow him intimately. This is the most life-changing habit that we can adopt, because it brings us back to the source of life. Yet most Christians have never been taught how to have a conversation with the Creator. In this revised and updated study guide, bestselling author John Eldredge dives deeper into his personal journals to tell his stories about walking and talking with the Lord. By putting words to the things God has shown him through some amazing experiences, he will help you shed light on the miraculous truths that God is showing you right now. Packed with questions, stories, and discussion topics, this study guide features: Journaling Prompts: Questions to help you tell your own story of walking with God Relevant Passages: Scriptures to study and memorize to help you along the way Clarity Readings: Short notes to solidify certain key points in your mind Leader’s Guide: A new leader’s guide to help you guide groups through the material These stories and reflections will help you recall lessons you didn’t know had been forgotten, open up new horizons, and help you tell and interpret your own story of your walk with God. Includes a new study to accompany the new chapter added to the trade book.
The Wall
by H. G. Adler Peter FilkinsNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY PUBLISHERS WEEKLY. Compared by critics to Kafka, Joyce, and Musil, H. G. Adler is becoming recognized as one of the towering figures of twentieth-century fiction. Nobel Prize winner Elias Canetti wrote that "Adler has restored hope to modern literature," and the first two novels rediscovered after his death, Panorama and The Journey, were acclaimed as "modernist masterpieces" by The New Yorker. Now his magnum opus, The Wall, the final installment of Adler's Shoah trilogy and his crowning achievement as a novelist, is available for the first time in English. Drawing upon Adler's own experiences in the Holocaust and his postwar life, The Wall, like the other works in the trilogy, nonetheless avoids detailed historical specifics. The novel tells the story of Arthur Landau, survivor of a wartime atrocity, a man struggling with his nightmares and his memories of the past as he strives to forge a new life for himself. Haunted by the death of his wife, Franziska, he returns to the city of his youth and receives confirmation of his parents' fates, then crosses the border and leaves his homeland for good. Embarking on a life of exile, he continues searching for his place within the world. He attempts to publish his study of the victims of the war, yet he is treated with curiosity, competitiveness, and contempt by fellow intellectuals who escaped the conflict unscathed. Afflicted with survivor's guilt, Arthur tries to leave behind the horrors of the past and find a foothold in the present. Ultimately, it is the love of his second wife, Johanna, and his two children that allows him to reaffirm his humanity while remembering all he's left behind. The Wall is a magnificent epic of survival and redemption, powerfully told through stream of consciousness and suffused with daydream, fantasy, memory, nightmare, and pure imagination. More than a portrait of a Holocaust survivor's journey, it is a universal novel about recovering from the traumas of the past and finding a way to live again.
The Wall
by John HerseyJohn Hersey's novel documents the Warsaw ghetto both as an emblem of Nazi persecution and as a personal confrontation with torture, starvation, humiliation, and cruelty -- a gripping and visceral story, impossible to put down.
The Wall
by John HerseyRiveting and compelling, The Wall tells the inspiring story of forty men and women who escape the dehumanizing horror of the Warsaw ghetto. John Hersey's novel documents the Warsaw ghetto both as an emblem of Nazi persecution and as a personal confrontation with torture, starvation, humiliation, and cruelty -- a gripping and visceral story, impossible to put down.
The Wall Around Your Heart
by Mary DemuthFamily members hurtus. Friends betray us. Fellow Christians deceive us. But Jesus provides a paththrough the pain--the Lord's Prayer.In The Wall AroundYour Heart, Mary DeMuth shows you that you can reach wholeness and healing in the aftermath of painfulrelationships by following the road map of the Lord's Prayer. You'll walkthrough story after story of hurt people who are led through biblical truth intoamazing, life-sustaining, joyful growth.Life is hard. Peoplecan be mean and petty and awful. But they can also be amazing and beautiful andsacrificial. God is good. He is faithful. You can trust him with yourrelationships. "He'll send people to call out what is hard in your heart," Maryshares. "And that's a gift to you." Allow God to access the wall around your heart. Dare to say,"Tear down the bricks, Lord, whatever it takes." Pray first. Ask forbravery--for yourself and for others. Risk engaging despite your hurt. Seek theshelter of Jesus. You don't have to resign yourself to your wounds! You can rise above the pain. You'll usher in a newlife--an openhearted way of relating to others that expands the kingdom of God. Inthe process, you'll draw closer to Jesus, be healed, and become an agent ofhealing to others.
The Walled City
by Esther DavidRich in observation and insight, and written in a highly individualistic style, The Walled City is a haunting study of the powerful forces that both unite and divide generations and communities.
The Wallflower That Bloomed: Finding Your Place at the Lunch Table of Life
by Cally LoganIntroducing The Wallflower that Bloomed by Cally Logan, an empowering and thought-provoking exploration of the hidden potential within each of us. <P><P> In this profound and introspective book, author Cally Logan, renowned for her impactful works Hang In There, Girl! and Dear Future Husband, unveils the untapped brilliance often overlooked in those who adorn the walls of life like forgotten decorations. As children, many of us are burdened with labels such as "shy," "quiet," "awkward," or simply "different." These descriptors, casually assigned by others or even self-imposed, confine us to the sidelines, rendering our voices faint and our presence unnoticed. But within the depths of our being lies a multitude of stories to be shared, perspectives to be offered, and reflections to be pondered. <P><P> The Wallflower that Bloomed challenges societal norms that pigeonhole individuals into these predetermined roles of invisibility. With heartfelt sincerity, Cally Logan urges us to strip away the stigma associated with being an outsider, to cease judging those who prefer solitude, and, most importantly, to learn to truly see others for who they authentically are. Moreover, this captivating exploration compels us to reflect upon our own journey towards self-acceptance and self-love. <P><P> Instead of resigning ourselves to a life of isolation and judgment, we are invited to embrace the notion that we can stand proudly in our uniqueness, fully blooming into the remarkable beings we were always meant to be. <P><P> What if we shattered the preconceived notions and misconceptions that surround individuals labeled as "wallflowers"? <P><P> What if we focused on truly knowing, accepting, and appreciating one another for the awe-inspiring qualities that set us apart? <P><P> And what if, in the process, we also learned to extend this grace and understanding to ourselves?
The Wallflower's Mistletoe Wedding: A Christmas Historical Romance Novel
by Amanda McCabeA country Christmas at Barton ParkPlain, sensible Rose Parker is a self-proclaimed wallflower, but she’s always dreamed of dancing with Captain Harry St George…Once, Harry wouldn’t even have noticed Rose. But now, after a hard war, Harry knows he’s a different man. Shy, sweet Rose intrigues him more than any gregarious young lady—but he must marry a rich bride to save his mortgaged estates…and Rose is no heiress. Now, more than ever, Harry needs the magic of a mistletoe kiss…
The Walls of Cartagena
by Julia DurangoCalepino was blessed with good fortune. After his mother died giving birth to him on a slave ship, he was taken in by a wealthy woman who gave him every advantage. Then on his thirteenth birthday, Father Pedro, a devout priest, asks Calepino to assist him with the slaves coming into Cartagena. Soon he's fighting seasickness, living in squalor, and cursing every minute. That all begins to change when he meets Mara and Tomi, a mother and son who remind him of his own past. When Tomi and Mara are sold to a cruel man, Calepino is more determined than ever to find a way to save them. Will this be his chance to change someone else's fortune, or will he put them all in more peril?Richly detailed and researched, Julia Durango's gripping first novel brings to life what it means to be truly free.
The Wandering Holy Man: The Life of Barsauma, Christian Asceticism, and Religious Conflict in Late Antique Palestine (Transformation of the Classical Heritage #60)
by Johannes Hahn Volker MenzeBarsauma was a fifth-century Syrian ascetic, archimandrite, and leader of monks, notorious for his extreme asceticism and violent anti-Jewish campaigns across the Holy Land. Although Barsauma was a powerful and revered figure in the Eastern church, modern scholarship has widely dismissed him as a thug of peripheral interest. Until now, only the most salacious bits of the Life of Barsauma—a fascinating collection of miracles that Barsauma undertook across the Near East—had been translated. This pioneering study includes the first full translation of the Life and a series of studies by scholars employing a range of methods to illuminate the text from different angles and contexts. This is the authoritative source on this influential figure in the history of the church and his life, travels, and relations with other religious groups.
The Wandering Mind: What Medieval Monks Tell Us About Distraction
by Jamie KreinerA revelatory account of how Christian monks identified distraction as a fundamental challenge—and how their efforts to defeat it can inform ours, more than a millennium later. The digital era is beset by distraction, and it feels like things are only getting worse. At times like these, the distant past beckons as a golden age of attention. We fantasize about escaping our screens. We dream of recapturing the quiet of a world with less noise. We imagine retreating into solitude and singlemindedness, almost like latter-day monks. But although we think of early monks as master concentrators, a life of mindfulness did not, in fact, come to them easily. As historian Jamie Kreiner demonstrates in The Wandering Mind, their attempts to stretch the mind out to God—to continuously contemplate the divine order and its ethical requirements—were all-consuming, and their battles against distraction were never-ending. Delving into the experiences of early Christian monks living in the Middle East, around the Mediterranean, and throughout Europe from 300 to 900 CE, Kreiner shows that these men and women were obsessed with distraction in ways that seem remarkably modern. At the same time, she suggests that our own obsession is remarkably medieval. Ancient Greek and Roman intellectuals had sometimes complained about distraction, but it was early Christian monks who waged an all-out war against it. The stakes could not have been higher: they saw distraction as a matter of life and death. Even though the world today is vastly different from the world of the early Middle Ages, we can still learn something about our own distractedness by looking closely at monks’ strenuous efforts to concentrate. Drawing on a trove of sources that the monks left behind, Kreiner reconstructs the techniques they devised in their lifelong quest to master their minds—from regimented work schedules and elaborative metacognitive exercises to physical regimens for hygiene, sleep, sex, and diet. She captures the fleeting moments of pure attentiveness that some monks managed to grasp, and the many times when monks struggled and failed and went back to the drawing board. Blending history and psychology, The Wandering Mind is a witty, illuminating account of human fallibility and ingenuity that bridges a distant era and our own.
The Wandering Signifier: Rhetoric of Jewishness in the Latin American Imaginary
by Erin Graff ZivinWhile Jews figure in the work of many modern Latin American writers, the questions of how and to what end they are represented have received remarkably little critical attention. Helping to correct this imbalance, Erin Graff Zivin traces the symbolic presence of Jews and Jewishness in late-nineteenth- through late-twentieth-century literary works from Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Mexico, Colombia, and Nicaragua. Ultimately, Graff Zivin's investigation of representations of Jewishness reveals a broader, more complex anxiety surrounding difference in modern Latin American culture. In her readings of Spanish American and Brazilian fiction, Graff Zivin highlights inventions of Jewishness in which the concept is constructed as a rhetorical device. She argues that Jewishness functions as a wandering signifier that while not wholly empty, can be infused with meaning based on the demands of the textual project in question. Just as Jews in Latin America possess distinct histories relative to their European and North American counterparts, they also occupy different symbolic spaces in the cultural landscape. Graff Zivin suggests that in Latin American fiction, anxiety, desire, paranoia, attraction, and repulsion toward Jewishness are always either in tension with or representative of larger attitudes toward otherness, whether racial, sexual, religious, national, economic, or metaphysical. She concludes The Wandering Signifier with an inquiry into whether it is possible to ethically represent the other within the literary text, or whether the act of representation necessarily involves the objectification of the other.
The Wanting: A Novel
by Michael LavigneFrom the author of Not Me, this powerful novel about an Israeli father and his daughter brings to life a rich canvas of events and unexpected change in the aftermath of a suicide bombing. In the galvanizing opening of The Wanting, the celebrated Russian-born postmodern architect Roman Guttman is injured in a bus bombing, causing his life to swerve into instability and his perceptions to become heightened and disturbed as he embarks on an ill-advised journey into Palestinian territory. The account of Roman's desert odyssey alternates with the vivacious, bittersweet diary of his thirteen-year-old daughter, Anyusha (who is on her own perilous path, of which Roman is ignorant), and the startlingly alive witnessings of Amir, the young Palestinian who pushed the button and is now damned to observe the havoc he has wrought from a shaky beyond. Enriched by flashbacks to the alluringly sad tale of Anyusha's mother, a famous Russian refusenik who died for her beliefs, The Wanting is a poignant study of the costs of extremism, but it is most satisfying as a story of characters enmeshed in their imperfect love for one another and for the heartbreakingly complex world in which that love is wrought.
The Wanton Jesuit and the Wayward Saint: A Tale of Sex, Religion, and Politics in Eighteenth-Century France
by Mita ChoudhuryThis microhistory investigates the famous and scandalous 1731 trial in which Catherine Cadière, a young woman in the south of France, accused her Jesuit confessor, Jean-Baptiste Girard, of seduction, heresy, abortion, and bewitchment. Generally considered to be the last witchcraft trial in early modern France, the Cadière affair was central to the volatile politics of 1730s France, a time when magistrates and lawyers were seeking to contain clerical power. Mita Choudhury’s examination of the trial sheds light on two important phenomena with broad historical implications: the questioning of traditional authority and the growing disquiet about the role of the sacred and divine in French society. Both contributed to the French people’s ever-increasing disenchantment with the church and the king. Choudhury builds her story through an extensive examination of archival material, including trial records, pamphlets, periodicals, and unpublished correspondence from witnesses. The Wanton Jesuit and the Wayward Saint offers new insights into how the eighteenth-century public interpreted the accusations and why the case consumed the public for years, developing from a local sex scandal to a referendum on religious authority and its place in French society and politics.