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On Freedom, Love, and Power: Expanded Edition
One of the most important and original thinkers of the twentieth century, Jacques Ellul (1912 1994) was a noted sociologist, historian, law professor, and self-described Christian anarchist. At the University of Bordeaux, Ellul taught and wrote extensively on the relationship between technology and contemporary culture, the tenets of the Christian faith, and the principles of human freedom and responsibility. On Freedom, Love, and Power is the transcription of a series of talks given by Ellul in 1974 in which he refines and clarifies some of his most controversial insights on the Jewish and Christian Bibles and their relevance to contemporary society.
This expanded edition of Ellul s talks features additional material, previously unavailable, that focuses on Christianity s potential service to humanity as a community that exemplifies a society where people are reconciled with one another and with God."
This expanded edition of Ellul s talks features additional material, previously unavailable, that focuses on Christianity s potential service to humanity as a community that exemplifies a society where people are reconciled with one another and with God."
- GenresTheologyPhilosophy
324 pages, Paperback
First published September 30, 2010
16 people are currently reading
88 people want to read
About the author
Jacques Ellul
123 books449 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 3, 2013
This book challenged many of my habits of mind and body where my religion is concerned. I loved the experience. I don't know that can fully embrace Ellul's ideas - but they are good to consider anyway. He was clearly a smart man who spent a great deal of time studying the bible in the original languages and different translations. He brings great insight about the beautiful complexity of Hebrew, the danger of Greek rational thought applied to a spiritual message, and the awesomeness of love and the freedom that must come with it.
Don't read this unless you are ready for your worldview to be grabbed and shaken (hopefully awake!).
Don't read this unless you are ready for your worldview to be grabbed and shaken (hopefully awake!).
September 16, 2011
It's a collection of lectures he gave with students. Great commentaries on Genesis, Job, Jesus' parable in Matthew, and Revelation.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews