Revivalism and Social Christianity

Christophe Chalamet is Associate Professor of Theology at the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He is the author of Dialectical Theologians: Wilhelm Herrmann, Karl Barth and Rudolf Bultmann (2005).

"People marvel that the folk at Le Chambon took in the Jews. But what Chalamet helps us see is this did not come out of the blue. Rather, this was made possible by people such as Henri Nick and Jacques Kaltenbach, whose discovery of the social dimensions of the gospel made [the actions of] Trocmé possible. The implications are clear-heroism is the outworking of lives that never appear heroic."-Stanley Hauerwas, Professor of Theological Ethics, Duke Divinity School"Based on original archival research, Chalamet richly fills in the background of the famous events at Le Chambon, where the Christian community, led by André Trocmé, saved the lives of thousands of Jewish children during the Nazi occupation of France. . . . Nonviolent social action and spirituality were forged in a crucible of courage and suffering to produce a new and compelling version of the Social Gospel."-George Hunsinger, Professor of Systematic Theology, Princeton Theological Seminary"This book helps us rediscover the deep spiritual and social influence in the first half of the twentieth century of the Protestant movement known as the Social Gospel. The author unveils the ties between two great pastors, Henri Nick and André Trocmé, who sought to evangelize the workers and who contributed to the rescue of Jews during the Holocaust. The result is a real contribution to the history of twentieth-century France."-Patrick Cabanel, Professor of Late Modern History, University of Toulouse-Le Mirail"Anyone interested in Trocmé and Le Chambon will find this book to be very informative as it successfully contextualises the man and the events on the Plateau during the war within a broad and complex history. Chalamet also deserves credit for bringing more attention to Henri Nick and other members of le Christianisme social, thereby demonstrating how noble actions are rarely the result of one person at a given moment, but of many people over time."- Alicia Batten, Modern Believing, Ocotober 2020

• List of Images and MapAcknowledgmentsAbbreviationsIntroductionPart OneThe Meanings of Conversion-Henri NickPart TwoAndré Trocmé's First Steps in Spiritual and Social ChristianityPart ThreeThe 'Conspiracy of Good' in Le Chambon-sur-LignonPart FourAfter the WarEpilogueAppendixDeclaration Read by Pastors André Trocmé and Édouard Theis in the Church of Le Chambon on Sunday, June 23, 1940BibliographyIndex Nominum