Emma Leslie

Faithful, but Not Famous: a Tale of the French Reformation Emma Leslie

In the spring of A. D. 1510, young Claude Leclerc leaves his widowed mother and two sisters in southern France and travels to Paris to begin his training for the priesthood. The Church is very powerful but also very corrupt, and Claude is not sure what he believes about God. One day he learns the words to an old hymn and is drawn to the lines about "David's Royal Fountain" that will "purge every sin away." Claude yearns to find this fountain and receive its cleansing, and at last he dares to approach the famous Dr. Lefèvre, a Doctor of Divinity at the renowned Sorbonne University. Claude's question puzzles the doctor but soon he sets aside his study of the saints and begins to study the Scriptures in earnest. As Dr. Lefèvre grasps the wonderful truth of salvation by grace, he wants to share it with the young student, but Claude has mysteriously disappeared. Through the efforts of Dr. Lefèvre, and his young associate, Guillaume Farel, many learn the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and great hope is born that a true Reformation is beginning in France that will spread to all the world.