Books by Jean Vanier
Called to Community: The Life Jesus Wants for His People
by C. S. Lewis, Eberhard Arnold, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Joan Chittister, Dorothy Day, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Richard J. Foster, Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove, David Janzen, Søren Kierkegaard, Chiara Lubich, Thomas Merton, Henri J. M. Nouwen, John M. Perkins, Eugene H. Peterson, Christine D. Pohl, Howard A. Snyder, Mother Teresa, Saint Benedict, Jean Vanier
Fifty-two readings on living in intentional Christian community to spark group discussion.
Gold Medal Winner, 2017 Illumination Book Awards, Christian Living
Silver Medal Winner, 2017 Benjamin Franklin Award in Religion, Independent Book Publishers Association
Why, in an age of connectivity, are our lives more isolated and fragmented than ever? And what can be done about it? The answer lies in the hands of God’s people. Increasingly, today’s Christians want to be the church, to follow Christ together in daily life. From every corner of society, they are daring to step away from the status quo and respond to Christ’s call to share their lives more fully with one another and with others. As they take the plunge, they are discovering the rich, meaningful life that Jesus has in mind for all people, and pointing the church back to its original calling: to be a gathered, united community that demonstrates the transforming love of God.
Of course, such a life together with others isn’t easy. The selections in this volume are, by and large, written by practitioners—people who have pioneered life in intentional community and have discovered in the nitty-gritty of daily life what it takes to establish, nurture, and sustain a Christian community over the long haul.
Whether you have just begun thinking about communal living, are already embarking on sharing life with others, or have been part of a community for many years, the pieces in this collection will encourage, challenge, and strengthen you. The book’s fifty-two chapters can be read one a week to ignite meaningful group discussion.
Contributors include: John F. Alexander, Eberhard Arnold, J. Heinrich Arnold, Johann Christoph Arnold, Alden Bass, Benedict of Nursia, Christoph Friedrich Blumhardt, Leonardo Boff, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, Joan Chittister, Stephen B. Clark, Andy Crouch, Dorothy Day, Anthony de Mello, Elizabeth Dede, Catherine de Hueck Doherty, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Jenny Duckworth, Friedrich Foerster, Richard J. Foster, Jodi Garbison, Arthur G. Gish, Helmut Gollwitzer, Adele J Gonzalez, Stanley Hauerwas, Joseph H. Hellerman, Roy Hession, David Janzen, Rufus Jones, Emmanuel Katongole, Arthur Katz, Søren Kierkegaard, C. Norman Kraus, C.S. Lewis, Gerhard Lohfink, Ed Loring, Chiara Lubich, George MacDonald, Thomas Merton, Hal Miller, José P. Miranda, Jürgen Moltmann, Charles E. Moore, Henri J. M. Nouwen, Elizabeth O’Connor, John M. Perkins, Eugene H.Peterson, Christine D. Pohl, Chris Rice, Basilea Schlink, Howard A. Snyder, Mother Teresa, Thomas à Kempis, Elton Trueblood, and Jonathan Wilson-Hartgrove.
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Made for Happiness: Discovering the Meaning of Life with Aristotle
by Jean Vanier
In Made for Happiness, Jean Vanier offers an uplifting, contemporary, and practical application of philosophy to human needs and yearnings. Inviting readers to look with fresh eyes at theories of happiness written over two millennia ago, Vanier builds on the philosophical work of his youth as he examines the basis for modern moral philosophy and its role in people's lives today.
The book uncovers useful links between psychology, spirituality, and morality: psychology helps readers face their fears and limitations; spirituality gives them strength; and morality helps them to choose the best actions - those that will increase their happiness, and thus their humanity. The combination of these paths to knowledge and wisdom gives meaning to people's lives and allows them to make the best use of their freedom on their way to that most elusive but always obtainable qualityhappiness.
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Made for Happiness: Discovering the Meaning of Life with Aristotle
by Jean Vanier
This bestselling work is an uplifting and practical look at philosophy and how it can be applied in our everyday lives from the author of the international bestseller, Becoming Human.
In Made for Happiness, Jean Vanier examines the basis for modern moral philosophy and its role in our lives today. Having discovered through his work with the intellectually disabled the degree to which our society is divided, and our values misplaced, Vanier invites us to read with fresh eyes theories of happiness written 2,400 years ago.
The book follows the links between psychology, spirituality, and morality: psychology helps us face our fears and limitations; spirituality gives us strength; and morality helps us to choose the best actions, those that will make us happier, and thus more human. The combination of these paths to knowledge and wisdom gives meaning to our lives and allows us to make the best use of our freedom on our way to happiness.
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We Need Each Other: Responding to God's Call to Live Together (Volume 1)
by Jean Vanier
In April 2008, Jean Vanier led a simple retreat in Nyahururu, Kenya, a place recently shattered by violence between people, and bloodshed. People there were shaken. With frequent reference to the Gospel of John, this book comprises the talks that Vanier gave.
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Finding Peace
by Jean Vanier
One of our deepest human desires and needs is to live in peace. We all yearn for peace, but what is it exactly? How do we find it, and how can we bring peace to our lives and our communities? Jean Vanier reflects on recent world events, identifying the sources of conflict and fear within and among individuals, communities, and nations that thwart us in our quest for peace. Peace is not just the work of governments or armies or diplomats, he argues, but the task of each one of us. We can all become makers of peace. We can do our part. And though it's easy to be a love of peace and much more difficult to be a worker for peace, Vanier shows us that ordinary people, unknown and unrecognized, are transforming our world little by little, finding peace in our neighborhoods, and lighting the way to change.
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Community and Growth Community and Growth
by Jean Vanier
A guide to communal life. Completely revised. †
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Man and Woman, God Made Them
by Jean Vanier
In a new and fully revised edition of a classic text, Jean Vanier examines the significance and sources of human sexuality. Drawing on his years of experience of Christian community life with and for people with disabilities, he explores the implications of the relationship of man and woman from a Christian and community standpoint. When Vanier speaks of the cry for love within a person who is disabled, he draws the wider parallel of that same search within every man and woman; the fragility and vulnerability of each person at the level of the heart and in the search for relationship. An intimate and searching book, Man and Woman God Made Them contains a wealth of insight into the meaning and sources of human sexuality. "This is a very remarkable book, full of wisdom, humour and profound insight into the mystery of human sexuality... In reading this book I touched again the great mystery of the divine gift of love, offered to us through a deeply wounded humanity." From the Foreword by Henri J. M. Nouwen +
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Befriending the Stranger
by Jean Vanier
In Befriending the Stranger, Jean Vanier reflects on who we are and how we build our communities, and in particular asks, can we be truly compassionate towards others if we are not compassionate towards ourselves? In a series of six meditative pieces, he opens up God's invitation to us today, in the midst of all the violence and corruption of the world, to create new places of belonging and sharing, of peace and kindness, where each one is loved and accepted with one's own fragility, abilities, and disabilities. †
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Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John
by Jean Vanier
Jean Vanier celebrates the gospel of John in his highly anticipated latest work, Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus through the Gospel of John. Thoroughly personal and inspiring, Drawn into the Mystery challenges all Christians to encounter the fullness of life lived in close communion with God. Vanier writes: “These insights that I share in this book come from the life of Jesus in me . . . They also flow from my life with people who are weak and who have taught me to welcome Jesus from the place of the poverty in me.” Jean Vanier was a friend and influential mentor to the late Henri Nouwen. Toward the end of his life, Nouwen left Harvard to live and work at one of Jean Vanier’s L’Arche communities. This was perhaps the most profound experience of Christianity Nouwen experienced. The thought and spiritual direction/discipleship of Jean Vanier is available to all in Drawn into the Mystery of Jesus–through the Gospel of John. †
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Seeing Beyond Depression
by Jean Vanier
One of the great spiritual writers of our time explores how we can move out of the darkness of depression into the light. +
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Becoming Human
by Jean Vanier
Acclaimed as a man "who inspires the world," (Maclean's) and a "nation builder" (Globe and Mail), Jean Vanier has made a difference in the lives of countless people. In this provocative book, Vanier shares his profoundly human vision for creating a common good that radically changes our communities, our relationships, and ourselves. He proposes that by opening ourselves to outsiders, those we perceive as weak, different, or inferior, we can achieve true personal and societal freedom. Becoming Human is not only a book of extraordinary ideas, but a revolutionary call to action. The 10th anniversary edition includes a new Introduction by the author. †
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Tears of Silence
by Jean Vanier
Re-released to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of l’Arche, an international network of communities for people with and without developmental disabilities, Tears of Silence is an inspiring book of meditative poetry on the topics of alienation and belonging, featuring intimate, never-before-published black and white photographs by Jonathan Boulet-Groulx.
This edition includes a new preface by Jean Vanier and a foreword by author and education activist Parker J. Palmer.
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