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The Judgment of Jonah
This is not a commentary in the traditional sense. One might call it an existential commentary. An important aim of the author is to bring out the relevance of the story, of the person, mission and situation of Jonah, to Christians in our own time.
Above all, this is a Theological, or – more specifically – a Christological commentary. The author's chief aim is to relate the book, not to Christians, but to Christ. Ellul thinks Christ is the center of all Scripture, and he also takes seriously the specific reference which Christ makes to the sign of Jonah. If this reading is correct, and the Bible is indeed a unity, the exposition of Ellul, though not developed in detail, has a distinctive theological contribution to make.
Those who want acute Theological insight, and are not afraid of plain, hard-hitting application, will read this vivid study with relish and profit.
Above all, this is a Theological, or – more specifically – a Christological commentary. The author's chief aim is to relate the book, not to Christians, but to Christ. Ellul thinks Christ is the center of all Scripture, and he also takes seriously the specific reference which Christ makes to the sign of Jonah. If this reading is correct, and the Bible is indeed a unity, the exposition of Ellul, though not developed in detail, has a distinctive theological contribution to make.
Those who want acute Theological insight, and are not afraid of plain, hard-hitting application, will read this vivid study with relish and profit.
103 pages, Paperback
First published December 19, 1952
3 people are currently reading
141 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Ellul
119 books446 followersBaptised Catholic, Ellul became an atheist and Marxist at 19, and a Christian of the Reformed Church at 22. During his Marxist days, he was a member of the French Communist Party. During World War II, he fought with the French Underground against the Nazi occupation of France.
Educated at the Universities of Bordeaux and Paris, he taught Sociology and the History of Law at the Universities of Strausbourg and Montpellier. In 1946 he returned to Bordeaux where he lived, wrote, served as Mayor, and taught until his death in 1994.
In the 40 books and hundreds of articles Ellul wrote in his lifetime, his dominant theme was always the threat to human freedom posed by modern technology. His tenor and methodology is objective and scholarly, and the perspective is a sociological one. Few of his books are overtly political -- even though they deal directly with political phenomena -- and several of his books, including "Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes" and "The Technological Society" are required reading in many graduate communication curricula.
Ellul was also a respected and serious Christian theologian whose 1948 work, "The Presence of the Kingdom," makes explicit a dual theme inherent, though subtly stated, in all of his writing, a sort of yin and yang of modern technological society: sin and sacramentality.
Educated at the Universities of Bordeaux and Paris, he taught Sociology and the History of Law at the Universities of Strausbourg and Montpellier. In 1946 he returned to Bordeaux where he lived, wrote, served as Mayor, and taught until his death in 1994.
In the 40 books and hundreds of articles Ellul wrote in his lifetime, his dominant theme was always the threat to human freedom posed by modern technology. His tenor and methodology is objective and scholarly, and the perspective is a sociological one. Few of his books are overtly political -- even though they deal directly with political phenomena -- and several of his books, including "Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes" and "The Technological Society" are required reading in many graduate communication curricula.
Ellul was also a respected and serious Christian theologian whose 1948 work, "The Presence of the Kingdom," makes explicit a dual theme inherent, though subtly stated, in all of his writing, a sort of yin and yang of modern technological society: sin and sacramentality.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
December 30, 2018
The Judgment of Jonah was for me a serendipitous and unexpectedly meaningful book, chosen more or less at random to follow on my reading of Ellul's The Presence of the Kingdom. This is a truly excellent short exegesis. There are a few of Ellul's assumptions or applications I disagree with, but even so, this is easily the best thing I've read on Jonah and has given me several valuable ideas to ponder at this particular juncture in my spiritual life.
November 28, 2019
Ellul makes sense. His questions and answers are the ones that arise and burn in your heart after reading his last paragraph, so there's something satiating about reading him. I love his narrative approach to scripture, and how he reads Jonah through the gospels.
December 27, 2022
Punchy and poignant, described as an "existential" commentary. This has become my favourite Jacques Ellul book, though as the translator Geoffrey W. Bromiley sagely points out, at times Ellul appears to contradict himself.
December 27, 2020
I loved Ellul's tenaciously Christ-centered perspective on Jonah. Although Ellul would be considered liberal by most conservative Evangelicals and Fundamentalists (universalist, strongly influenced by Karls Barth and Marx, errantist view of the Bible, etc.), I think for the most part conservatives would agree with this book. Especially those who look for Christ in all of Scripture.
July 23, 2021
Short enough to be worth anyone's time, if you're interested in the full theological impact of the book of Jonah. The book of Jonah really is a remarkable book; one that sticks out like a sore thumb, but one which makes sense in light of a prophetic legend that takes an honest look at Israel's place in the world and looks forward to Jesus' fulfillment of that mission.
June 29, 2023
While I do not agree with Ellul at every point, he offers tremendous insight into this prophetic book.
February 11, 2024
Over Jona als voorafschaduwing van Jezus. Wederom een goed boek van Ellul.
February 6, 2017
A timely message to the Christian Church today, although it was written more than forty years ago.
February 10, 2016
The theological perspective of Jonah: a miracle play was strongly influenced by The Judgment of Jonah, by Jacques Ellul. I highly recommend this little book to all who want to understand the book of Jonah. Ellul's message is no less than this: the story of Jonah is a metaphor for the Gospel; the person of Jonah is both messenger and message, like Jesus; and Nineveh is the world and our hearts. So, thanks to the forgotten friend who first recommended this book to me.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews