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If You Are the Son of God: The Suffering and Temptations of Jesus
This significant book, written a few years before his death, presents Ellul's fullest understanding of the meaning of Jesus' life. One finds all of the major themes of Ellul's writings. The first half of this book deals with Jesus' sufferings, which are by no means limited to Good Friday. Through Jesus' identification with "the whole human condition," we are offered the possibility of both enduring and overcoming suffering.
Similarly, the temptations are understood beyond the wilderness temptation narrative since Jesus experiences them throughout his ministry. Ellul believes temptations are ultimately human avenues for tempting God, and so focuses on the discussion power and "non-power," be it on personal or political levels. Appropriately, Ellul enters into the passion narrative not simply in the context of suffering but in the context of temptation, where Jesus could have easily "proved his divinity," but chose instead to reveal both the character and way of God.
Similarly, the temptations are understood beyond the wilderness temptation narrative since Jesus experiences them throughout his ministry. Ellul believes temptations are ultimately human avenues for tempting God, and so focuses on the discussion power and "non-power," be it on personal or political levels. Appropriately, Ellul enters into the passion narrative not simply in the context of suffering but in the context of temptation, where Jesus could have easily "proved his divinity," but chose instead to reveal both the character and way of God.
104 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1991
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81 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Ellul
125 books453 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
October 9, 2018
J’aimerais attribuer cinque étoiles, mais c’est le livre d’Ellul le plus contaminé par son universalisme. Quand même, valable par son regard précis et logique sur les implications pratiques de l’Incarnation.
February 12, 2014
Livro excelente! "impossível lê-lo sem ser levado a um profundo questionamento da vida e fé". "tem muito a contribuir na compreensão da natureza das tentações e do sofrimento do Filho de Deus". Leia-o criticamente, principalmente porque Ellul não trata o Diabo como espírito, não o considera um ente personificado.
September 27, 2022
Ellul is correct that today's Christians are unduly scandalized by Jesus' humanity and suffering. Today's churches have created a caricature of Jesus that emphasizes his divinity and deemphasizes his humanity.
This book is a useful tool for diagnosing the caricature of Jesus that lives in your head and bringing that caricature more in line with reality. Having a more accurate view of Jesus as man is important because it helps us understand the gospel. Key to the gospel is Jesus accompanying us in the suffering that is inherent to humanity. People that deeply understand Christ as the suffering man have less of a problem with the problem of evil and more of an appreciation of the incarnation. The incarnation was not a gimmick, it was the greatest act of love in human history.
Despite all of its merits, I rate this book a three star because Ellul sometimes borders on heresy. I don't know if he does this for shock value or for the sake of originality. As an example, he repeats a number of times that God the Father is tempted by humanity. He provides no scriptural basis for this claim, implicit or explicit, but nevertheless makes it a central point of the book. In making this claim, Ellul never acknowledges James 1:13, which seems to preclude this claim. The book contains other examples of Ellul bordering on heresies that, on their face, seem to be contradicted by scripture, or in the very least contradicted by orthodox Christianity. For instance, Ellul claims that we cannot know from scripture whether or not Jesus knew he was divine. And Ellul seems to discard the notion that Satan is a being (Ellul proposes instead that Satan is abstract and that he lives and exists wherever men make accusations).
Faults aside, this book is useful for people that want to possess a more accurate view of Jesus, Jesus' humanity, and what Jesus' humanity means to the gospel.
This book is a useful tool for diagnosing the caricature of Jesus that lives in your head and bringing that caricature more in line with reality. Having a more accurate view of Jesus as man is important because it helps us understand the gospel. Key to the gospel is Jesus accompanying us in the suffering that is inherent to humanity. People that deeply understand Christ as the suffering man have less of a problem with the problem of evil and more of an appreciation of the incarnation. The incarnation was not a gimmick, it was the greatest act of love in human history.
Despite all of its merits, I rate this book a three star because Ellul sometimes borders on heresy. I don't know if he does this for shock value or for the sake of originality. As an example, he repeats a number of times that God the Father is tempted by humanity. He provides no scriptural basis for this claim, implicit or explicit, but nevertheless makes it a central point of the book. In making this claim, Ellul never acknowledges James 1:13, which seems to preclude this claim. The book contains other examples of Ellul bordering on heresies that, on their face, seem to be contradicted by scripture, or in the very least contradicted by orthodox Christianity. For instance, Ellul claims that we cannot know from scripture whether or not Jesus knew he was divine. And Ellul seems to discard the notion that Satan is a being (Ellul proposes instead that Satan is abstract and that he lives and exists wherever men make accusations).
Faults aside, this book is useful for people that want to possess a more accurate view of Jesus, Jesus' humanity, and what Jesus' humanity means to the gospel.
July 20, 2019
An excellent book by French philosopher (and Christian anarchist) Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), in which (as the subtitle suggests) he examines the suffering and temptations of Jesus.
My first foray into Ellul's stuff, I will probably revisit this book again in the future. It proved to be a pleasure with a number of insights into the life and mission of Christ.
Jesus undergoes real human suffering while always resisting the temptation to avoid that suffering and avoid partaking in the human experience. In the temptations in the wilderness Jesus, Ellul argues, "overcame in himself all covetousness and all will to power" and these overcomings become the hallmark of his life as he continues to make that move again and again throughout his ministry.
In a high impact finale, Ellul says Jesus was able to say "it is finished" on the cross because he had first said "my God, why have you forsaken me" thereby experiencing the strongest form of human suffering - despair.
"Now that I have known the worst of what a person can experience, there can be nothing beyond. There can be no temptation that has not been mine, and I have accomplished everything. Suffering and temptation in their entirety are now in God... There can be nothing horrible for people that has not been experienced by this man and taken up by God himself. 'Why have you forsaken me?' For, 'it was necessary.' It was necessary, not to please God, but to carry all of human misery into the heart of God."
My first foray into Ellul's stuff, I will probably revisit this book again in the future. It proved to be a pleasure with a number of insights into the life and mission of Christ.
Jesus undergoes real human suffering while always resisting the temptation to avoid that suffering and avoid partaking in the human experience. In the temptations in the wilderness Jesus, Ellul argues, "overcame in himself all covetousness and all will to power" and these overcomings become the hallmark of his life as he continues to make that move again and again throughout his ministry.
In a high impact finale, Ellul says Jesus was able to say "it is finished" on the cross because he had first said "my God, why have you forsaken me" thereby experiencing the strongest form of human suffering - despair.
"Now that I have known the worst of what a person can experience, there can be nothing beyond. There can be no temptation that has not been mine, and I have accomplished everything. Suffering and temptation in their entirety are now in God... There can be nothing horrible for people that has not been experienced by this man and taken up by God himself. 'Why have you forsaken me?' For, 'it was necessary.' It was necessary, not to please God, but to carry all of human misery into the heart of God."
May 8, 2022
An important read, especially for those who question Ellul's center
Ellul is my favorite author. His writing energizes deeply felt emotions in me and, in the process, forms words around them. I found several "gems" in this text. In it. I sensed a different style compared to other books of Ellul's that I have read, including; "To Will and to Do," (my first), "The Technological Society," "Hope in Time of Abandonment," "Subversion of Christianity," and "The Humiliation of the Word."
In my view, this book offers a wonderfully grounded perspective of the Gospel that can help us lay aside the noise that emanates from other attempts to describe Jesus as Messiah, Savior, and Lord.
Ellul is my favorite author. His writing energizes deeply felt emotions in me and, in the process, forms words around them. I found several "gems" in this text. In it. I sensed a different style compared to other books of Ellul's that I have read, including; "To Will and to Do," (my first), "The Technological Society," "Hope in Time of Abandonment," "Subversion of Christianity," and "The Humiliation of the Word."
In my view, this book offers a wonderfully grounded perspective of the Gospel that can help us lay aside the noise that emanates from other attempts to describe Jesus as Messiah, Savior, and Lord.
December 16, 2023
really a 3.5, at times brilliant and others not so, very uneven, and I've added lots of notes and questions
November 23, 2022
There is some interesting stuff in here, and Ellul is helpful at exploring all the different ways that Jesus was truly tempted, but overall this may be the worst book I've read by Ellul. I love him, but this isn't his best work.
This review by Drew captures quite a bit of my thoughts around this book.
This review by Drew captures quite a bit of my thoughts around this book.
Currently reading
December 2, 2016Jacques Ellul was not known to me until a chance encounter several years ago while speaking to a man in a developing suburb of the Atlanta Metro. Somewhere during our conversation we began to discuss books that we were reading and how we read books. It was at this point that Jacques Ellul was brought to my attention. According to the man I was talking to, he had been pouring over a book by Ellul called "The Meaning of a City." In his words, which I paraphrase, "I have been reading the book for over a year now because of how complex the thoughts and ideas cast by Elull are." Now, if you tell me that you have been spending over a year reading a book due to its complexity I immediately think... "another Karl Barth?" Those who have read Barth will understand what I mean. Well, Jacques Ellul is not too hard of a read, but he is philosophically esoteric. That is the fundamental premise you must have when reading his materials.
Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) was born into a poor family, yet he was not unhappy. His father, considering honor higher than wealth and one who whose personality often conflicted with employers, would be unemployed for much of Jacques' childhood, while his mother forged out a living teaching art for a private school. By the age of 17, Jacques was seen to be a brilliant student, mastering the languages of French, German, and Latin. He was also, as his writing will reveal, an avid student of history.
Forced to study law, Jacques enrolled at the University of Bordeaux in 1930. It was here that his faith took a turn toward a radical fervor. According to Jacques, God appeared to him in a vision. Sadly, when pressed about this vision, Jacques refused to give details of and remained, until his death, tight-lipped about what he had supposedly seen. Over the course of the years to come, Jacques would obtain his PhD and pass his examination to teach Roman Law at the University.
That being said, I will review "The Meaning of a City" in the future, but as for now, I will begin to unravel what is another of his works: "If you are the Son of God: The Suffering and Temptations of Jesus."
Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) was born into a poor family, yet he was not unhappy. His father, considering honor higher than wealth and one who whose personality often conflicted with employers, would be unemployed for much of Jacques' childhood, while his mother forged out a living teaching art for a private school. By the age of 17, Jacques was seen to be a brilliant student, mastering the languages of French, German, and Latin. He was also, as his writing will reveal, an avid student of history.
Forced to study law, Jacques enrolled at the University of Bordeaux in 1930. It was here that his faith took a turn toward a radical fervor. According to Jacques, God appeared to him in a vision. Sadly, when pressed about this vision, Jacques refused to give details of and remained, until his death, tight-lipped about what he had supposedly seen. Over the course of the years to come, Jacques would obtain his PhD and pass his examination to teach Roman Law at the University.
That being said, I will review "The Meaning of a City" in the future, but as for now, I will begin to unravel what is another of his works: "If you are the Son of God: The Suffering and Temptations of Jesus."
February 24, 2024
As David Gill says in the foreword, "As always, Ellul is full of bold ideas and assertions, brilliant and original flashes of insight, and debatable conclusions."
They're debatable because, as usual, he argues mainly by baseless assertion. This is proclamation, not persuasion.
If I didn't already agree with him, nothing he says would lead me to reconsider. I generally agree, but often found myself paraphrasing Dame Edna: "With some evidence and logic, you might be able to work that up into a little argument."
They're debatable because, as usual, he argues mainly by baseless assertion. This is proclamation, not persuasion.
If I didn't already agree with him, nothing he says would lead me to reconsider. I generally agree, but often found myself paraphrasing Dame Edna: "With some evidence and logic, you might be able to work that up into a little argument."
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews