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André Trocmé

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  • Pastor and apostle of nonviolence
  • Sheltered hundreds of Jews from the Nazis
  • Recognized by Yad Vashem as “Righteous among the Nations”
  • Secretary of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation
When France surrendered to the Nazis in 1940 it agreed to arrest and deport any German refugees. The villagers of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, who had formed a rescue network to take in and hide Jewish refugees, refused to accept this mandate. The Protestant pastor of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon, André Trocmé (1901–1971), along with his co-worker Edouard Theis, encouraged his parishioners to resist the orders of the state whenever these demanded actions incompatible with their moral convictions. “We shall resist whenever our adversaries demand of us obedience contrary to the orders of the gospel,” said Trocmé in a sermon the day after the German invasion of France.  Read Full Biography

Trocmé had a privileged childhood and at a young age found a strong, personal faith that stayed with him throughout his life. What he saw of the injustice and pointlessness of war during World War I persuaded him that a life of nonviolence was the only truly Christian way. Trocmé was threatened, arrested, and forced into hiding because of his civil disobedience, but the shield of resistance wielded by the villages in the area succeeded in protecting the lives of around 2,500 Jews and other refugees. After World War II, Trocmé became a leading voice for pacifism and reconciliation, working for peace in Algeria and Morocco and serving as European secretary of the International Fellowship of Reconciliation for about twelve years. He wrote two books, published in English as The Politics of Repentance and Jesus and the Nonviolent Revolution.

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Acclaim

  • The heart of Easter can be found in the pages of this collection of read-aloud tales. Step inside the works of well-known authors such as C.S. Lewis, Leo Tolstoy, Oscar Wilde, and others, as they explore the true meaning of the Easter season. Short and spiritual, these stories are perfect to be read again and again.

    US Catholic

  • This thoughtfully curated collection is remarkable for its range and breadth. The stories come from all over the world and represent many genres, such as parables, animal fables, historical fiction, fairy tales and Christian fantasy. Most of the stories are from the first half of the 20th century, but the earliest is from an 1857 edition of Grimm’s Fairy Tales, and the most recent selections were written in 2015. Definitely read these stories at Easter, but keep the book close and pull it out whenever you and your family need a reminder of the great Easter themes of transformation, reconciliation and the triumph of life over death.

    Clare Walker, National Catholic Register

  • In a time when the church is being seduced by the concentration of power and violence, this book gives us the ethic we need to remain faithful.

    Glen Stassen, Fuller Theological Seminary

  • Plough has done scholars, pastors, and laypersons all a great service by reprinting this classic. Not everyone will agree with every detail, but all will feel the compelling force of Trocmé’s cumulative case. This is a book worth pondering at length.

    Craig L. Blomberg, Denver Seminary

  • Trocmé has the prophetic gift of bypassing doctrinal fluff and cutting to the heart of Jesus’ message: a stark call for repentance, love, and socio-economic change. Read him with caution: this book may change your life.

    Donald Kraybill, author, The Upside-Down Kingdom

  • This book – and especially this newly expanded edition – deserves to be more widely known. Trocmé’s focus saves any account of salvation from pietistic distortion…His comparison of Gandhi and Jesus is also extremely important.

    Stanley Hauerwas, Duke Divinity School

  • One of the most important writings on nonviolence ever penned. Trocmé not only laid out his principles with astonishing clarity, but he lived them out at great risk. I can think of no better place to begin the study of this timely subject.

    Walter Wink, author, Jesus and Nonviolence

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