Bill W. meets the Spanish Armada: Sinners’ and saints’ retold epiphanies from A.A. to Cursillo

Abstract

This article expands our bodies of knowledge about turning points in peoples' lives by drawing upon information from studies of addiction and from the available information about the religious movement called cursillo. A retold epiphany, like a drunk-a-log in Alcoholics Anonymous, represents the recounted con­version story which provides information about a life of abuse or misdirection, the actual turning point or paradigm shift, and evidence which substantiates the reborn person. While retold epiphanies are different from many private and communal disclosures and their environments, all three forms of self-examination are present in the cursillo movement which is directed toward the spiritual re-creation of the participant.