Winner of Two 2022 Catholic Media Association Book Awards: History (Third Place) and History of Theology (Third Place)

Shortlisted for the 2022 Ecclesiastical History Society Book Prize

The concept of vocation in an early modern setting calls to mind the priesthood or religious life in a monastery or cloister; to be “called” by God meant to leave the concerns of the world behind. Beginning in the mid-seventeenth century, French Catholic clergy began to promote the innovative idea that everyone, even an ordinary layperson, was called to a vocation or “state of life” and that discerning this call correctly had implications for one’s happiness and salvation, and for the social good.

In Callings and Consequences Christopher Lane analyzes the origins, growth, and influence of a culture of vocation that became a central component of the Catholic Reformation and its legacy in France. The reformers’ new vision of the choice of a state of life was marked by four characteristics: urgency (the claim that one’s soul was at stake), inclusiveness (the belief that everyone, including lay people, was called by God), method (the use of proven discernment practices), and liberty (the belief that this choice must be free from coercion, especially by parents). No mere passing phenomena, these vocational reforms engendered enduring beliefs and practices within the repertoire of global Catholic modernity, even to the present day.

An illuminating and sometimes surprising history of pastoral reform, Callings and Consequences helps us to understand the history of Catholic vocational culture and its role in the modernizing process, within Christianity and beyond.


"It is hard to explain why the striking change in French discourse around vocation in the early modern era has gone almost unstudied, but from the point of view of the faithful, this was one of the biggest innovations of early modern Catholicism. Callings and Consequences provides a crucial introduction to the topic, filling a major gap in our understanding of the early modern Catholic world. All serious scholars of early modern Catholicism should read this book." Jotham Parsons, Duquesne University and author of The Church in the Republic: Gallicanism and Political Ideology in Renaissance France


From the Reviews:

“[Callings and Consequences] offers a fresh perspective on the topic of vocation or ‘calling’ in the context of Catholicism. Lane’s … analysis offers a useful framework for future scholarship on people’s life choices in both the early modern and modern eras.” Diane Margolf in French History

“[Lane] makes the case that our sense of the inclusivity of states of life, the broad availability of discernment tools, and the freedom to respond to God’s invitation are debts we owe to an era often overlooked.” Kevin G. Grove in Theological Studies

“Lane . . . points to the concept of vocational rigorism and in the process adds much-needed nuance to our view of the French clergy, whether Jansenist or Jesuit. . . . Lane’s welcome spotlight on this little-known concept is sure to stimulate further research and greater understanding of the impact of Catholic thought in the early modern period.” Karen E. Carter in Church History

"Callings and Consequences . . . is an important work that fills a gap in the historiography of the seventeenth-century. . . . Callings and Consequences is very clearly written and carefully argued. The book is accessible to academics, but also to undergraduates and reading groups. Lane speaks to a broad audience who will be able to read and discuss his ideas as the volume appears in paperback at a reasonable cost. The book is a welcome addition to the literature about the French Catholic Reformation." Susan E. Dinan in H-France Review

“Lane delivers a carefully crafted study that challenges the Jansenist–Jesuit divide in an interesting way and refocuses conversation about Catholic society and the means through which it was reshaped as it entered the modern era.” Annette Chapman-Adisho in The American Historical Review

"With a firm grasp of the period in question, Lane skillfully . . . illuminates the roots of spiritualist rigorism and excessive introspection that persist in contemporary Catholic vocational culture. Moreover, he weaves a rich tapestry of sources from spiritual works, treatises, sermons, conferences, and letters, as well as philosophical, theological, and sociological writings." Peter Faulk in Renaissance Quarterly

“A thought-provoking and significant addition to our understanding of the conception and expression of the Christian calling over time.” Alison Forrestal in University of Toronto Quarterly

"Lane argues persuasively that the approach to vocations he has demonstrated shows a kind of modernity in the Catholic Church that was not belated or later than that found among Protestants or other groups. The Catholic individualism he has documented challenges simplistic narratives that see Catholicism as always behind the times, and as stronger on conformity to institutional norms than on any individual freedom." Thomas Worcester in The Journal of Ecclesiastical History

"This discerning and subtle study tells a significant new story about early modern Catholicism. It reveals that Vatican II did not flash down into the twentieth century without much internal-church thundering about vocational reform for centuries. . . . And it uncovers resources for imagining multiple modernities, including ones that mitigate the characteristic challenges of atomization with community and of liquidity with commitment. In other words, this careful examination of an episode in mid-seventeenth century French ecclesiastical culture has the ambition to uncover not just a lost bridge to the present but also the flexibility and capaciousness of contemporary society to accommodate forms of life that critics of modernity too easily conclude are foreclosed." Daniel Cheely in The Sixteenth Century Journal