Jacques Ellul

Jacques Ellul
Jacques Ellul in 1990
Born	January 6, 1912 Bordeaux, France
Died	May 19, 1994(1994-05-19) (aged 82) Pessac, France
Era	20th century philosophy
Region	Western philosophy
School	non-conformist
Influences John Calvin, Søren Kierkegaard, Pierre-Joseph Proudhon, Karl Marx, Christoph Blumhardt, Karl Barth, Nikolai Berdyaev
Influenced Langdon Winner, Ivan Illich, Greg Boyd

Jacques Ellul (January 6, 1912 – May 19, 1994) was a French philosopher, sociologist, theologian, and Christian anarchist. He wrote several books about the "technological society", and about Christianity and politics, such as Anarchy and Christianity (1991) – anarchism and Christianity are socially following the same goal. A philosopher who approached technology from a deterministic viewpoint. Ellul was professor at the University of Bordeaux. He authored some 40 books and hundreds of articles over his lifetime, the dominant theme of which has been the threat to human freedom and Christian faith created by modern technology. Ellul spoke often about the emergence of a "technological tyranny" over humanity.

Ellul has been credited with saying the phrase, "Think globally, act locally."

Books

• Étude sur l'évolution et la nature juridique du Mancipium. Bordeaux: Delmas, 1936.
• Le fondement théologique du droit. Neuchâtel: Delachaux & Niestlé, 1946.
  • The Theological Foundation of Law. Trans. Marguerite Wieser. Garden City NY: Doubleday, 1960. London: SCM, 1961. New York: Seabury, 1969.
• Présence au monde moderne: Problèmes de la civilisation post-chrétienne. Geneva: Roulet, 1948. Lausanne: Presses Bibliques Universitaires, 1988.
  • The Presence of the Kingdom. Trans. Olive Wyon. Philadelphia: Westminster, 1951. London: SCM, 1951. New York: Seabury, 1967. Colorado Springs: Helmers and Howard, 1989.
• Le livre de Jonas. Paris: Cahiers Bibliques de Foi et Vie, 1952.
  • The Judgment of Jonah. Trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1971.
• L'homme et l'argent (Nova et vetera). Neuchâtel: Delachaux & Niestlé, 1954. Lausanne: Presses Bibliques Universitaires, 1979.
  • Money and Power. Trans. LaVonne Neff. Downers Grove IL: InterVarsity Press, 1984. Basingstoke, England: Marshall Pickering, 1986.
• La technique ou l'enjeu du siècle. Paris: Armand Colin, 1954. Paris: Économica, 1990.
  • The Technological Society. Trans. John Wilkinson. New York: Knopf, 1964. London: Jonathan Cape, 1965. Rev. ed.: New York: Knopf/Vintage, 1967. with introduction by Robert K. Merton (professor of sociology, Columbia University). This may be his best-known work; Aldous Huxley brought the French edition to the attention of an English publisher, and thus brought it to English readers. Theodore Kaczynski had a copy in his cabin and said he read it five times—his "manifesto" addresses similar themes.
• Histoire des institutions. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France; volumes 1 & 2,
• L'Antiquité (1955); vol. 3, Le Moyen Age (1956); vol. 4, Les XVIe-XVIIIe siècle (1956); vol. 5, Le XIXe siècle (1789–1914) (1956).
• Propagandes. Paris: A. Colin, 1962. Paris: Économica, 1990
  • Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes. Trans. Konrad Kellen & Jean Lerner. New York: Knopf, 1965. New York: Random House/ Vintage 1973
• Fausse présence au monde moderne. Paris: Les Bergers et Les Mages, 1963.
  • False Presence of the Kingdom. Trans. C. Edward Hopkin. New York: Seabury, 1972.
• Le vouloir et le faire: Recherches éthiques pour les chrétiens: Introduction (première partie). Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1964.
  • To Will and to Do: An Ethical Research for Christians. Trans. C. Edward Hopkin. Philadelphia: Pilgrim, 1969.
• L'illusion politique. Paris: Robert Laffont, 1965. Rev. ed.: Paris: Librairie Générale Française, 1977.
  • The Political Illusion. Trans. Konrad Kellen. New York: Knopf, 1967. New York: Random House/Vintage, 1972.
• Exégèse des nouveaux lieux communs. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1966. Paris: La Table Ronde, 1994.
  • A Critique of the New Commonplaces. Trans. Helen Weaver. New York: Knopf, 1968.
• Politique de Dieu, politiques de l'homme. Paris: Éditions Universitaires, 1966.
  • The Politics of God and the Politics of Man. Trans./ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1972.
• Histoire de la propagande. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France, 1967, 1976.
• Métamorphose du bourgeois. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1967. Paris: La Table Ronde, 1998.
• Autopsie de la révolution. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1969.
  • Autopsy of Revolution. Trans. Patricia Wolf. New York: Knopf, 1971.
• Contre les violents. Paris: Centurion, 1972.
  • Violence: Reflections from a Christian Perspective. Trans. Cecelia Gaul Kings. New York: Seabury, 1969. London: SCM Press, 1970. London: Mowbrays, 1978.
• Sans feu ni lieu: Signification biblique de la Grande Ville. Paris: Gallimard, 1975.
  • The Meaning of the City. Trans. Dennis Pardee. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1970. Carlisle, Cumbria, England: Paternoster, 1997.
• L'impossible prière. Paris: Centurion, 1971, 1977.
  • Prayer and Modern Man. Trans. C. Edward Hopkin. New York: Seabury, 1970, 1973
• Jeunesse délinquante: Une expérience en province. Avec Yves Charrier. Paris: Mercure de France, 1971. 2nd ed.: Jeunesse délinquante: Des blousons noirs aux hippies. Nantes: Éditions de l'AREFPPI, 1985.
• De la révolution aux révoltes. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1972.
• L'espérance oubliée. Paris: Gallimard, 1972.
  • Hope in Time of Abandonment. Trans. C. Edward Hopkin. New York: Seabury, 1973.
• Éthique de la liberté, 2 vols. Geneva: Labor et Fides, I:1973, II:1974.
  • The Ethics of Freedom. Trans. and ed. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1976. London: Mowbrays, 1976.
• Les nouveaux possédés. Paris: Arthème Fayard, 1973.
  • The New Demons. Trans. C. Edward Hopkin. New York: Seabury, 1975. London: Mowbrays, 1975.
• L'Apocalypse: Architecture en mouvement. Paris: Desclée, 1975.
  • Apocalypse: The Book of Revelation. Trans. George W. Schreiner. New York: Seabury, 1977.
• Trahison de l'Occident. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1975.
  • The Betrayal of the West. Trans. Matthew J. O'Connell. New York: Seabury,1978.
• Le système technicien. Paris: Calmann-Lévy, 1977.
  • The Technological System. Trans. Joachim Neugroschel. New York: Continuum, 1980.
• L'idéologie marxiste chrétienne. Paris: Centurion, 1979.
  • Jesus and Marx: From Gospel to Ideology. Trans. Joyce Main Hanks. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1988.
• L'empire du non-sens: L'art et la société technicienne. Paris: Press Universitaires de France, 1980.
• La foi au prix du doute: "Encore quarante jours . . ." Paris: Hachette, 1980.
  • Living Faith: Belief and Doubt in a Perilous World. Trans. Peter Heinegg. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1983.
• La Parole humiliée. Paris: Seuil, 1981.
  • The Humiliation of the Word. Trans. Joyce Main Hanks. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1985.
• Changer de révolution: L'inéluctable prolétariat. Paris: Seuil, 1982.
• Les combats de la liberté. (Tome 3, L'Ethique de la Liberté) Geneva: Labor et Fides, 1984. Paris: Centurion, 1984.
• La subversion du christianisme. Paris: Seuil, 1984, 1994. réédition en 2001, La Table Ronde;
  • The Subversion of Christianity. Trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1986.
• Conférence sur l'Apocalypse de Jean. Nantes: AREFPPI, 1985.
• Un chrétien pour Israël. Monaco: Éditions du Rocher, 1986.
• Ce que je crois. Paris: Grasset and Fasquelle, 1987.
  • What I Believe. Trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1989.
• La Genèse aujourd'hui. Avec François Tosquelles. Ligné: AREFPPI, 1987.
• La raison d'être: Méditation sur l'Ecclésiaste. Paris: Seuil, 1987
  • Reason for Being: A Meditation on Ecclesiastes. Trans. Joyce Main Hanks. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.
• Anarchie et christianisme. Lyon: Atelier de Création Libertaire, 1988. Paris: La Table Ronde, 1998
  • Anarchy and Christianity. Trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.
• Le bluff technologique. Paris: Hachette, 1988.
  • The Technological Bluff. Trans. Geoffrey W. Bromiley. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1990.
• Ce Dieu injuste . . .?: Théologie chrétienne pour le peuple d'Israël. Paris: Arléa, 1991, 1999.
• Si tu es le Fils de Dieu: Souffrances et tentations de Jésus. Paris: Centurion, 1991.
• Déviances et déviants dans notre société intolérante. Toulouse: Érés, 1992.
• Silences: Poèmes. Bordeaux: Opales, 1995.
• Oratorio: Les quatre cavaliers de l'Apocalypse. Bordeaux: Opales, 1997.
• Sources and Trajectories: Eight Early Articles by Jacques Ellul that Set the Stage. Trans./ed. Marva J. Dawn. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1997.

Interviews

• "A temps et à contretemps: Entretiens avec Madeleine Garrigou-Lagrange". Paris: Centurion, 1981.
• "In Season, Out of Season: An Introduction to the Thought of Jacques Ellul: Interviews by Madeleine Garrigou-Lagrange." Trans. Lani K. Niles. San Francisco: Harper and Row, 1982.
• "Perspectives on Our Age: Jacques Ellul Speaks on His Life and Work". Ed. Willem H. Vanderburg. Trans. Joachim Neugroschel. Toronto: CBC, 1981. New York: Seabury, 1981. Concord, Ontario: House of Anansi, 1997.
• "L'homme à lui-même: Correspondance". Avec Didier Nordon. Paris: Félin, 1992.
• "Entretiens avec Jacques Ellul". Patrick Chastenet. Paris: Table Ronde, 1994.
• "Jacques Ellul on Religion, Technology, and Politics: Conversations with Patrick Troude-Chastenet". Trans. Joan Mendès France. Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1998.
• "Jacques Ellul on Politics, Technology, and Christianity: Conversations with Patrick Troude-Chastenet". Eugene, Oregon: Wipf and Stock, 2005.

Related pages

• Christian anarchism
• Indoctrination
• Propaganda
• Randal Marlin
• List of anarchists

References

Other websites

• International Jacques Ellul Society Archived 2010-06-12 at the Wayback Machine
• Association Internationale Jacques Ellul Archived 2011-02-11 at the Wayback Machine
• AIJE, groupe Marseille / Aix-en-Provence
• Wheaton College Library's Jacques Ellul page Archived 2012-08-06 at the Wayback Machine (with biographical information and listings of their holdings of rare Ellul manuscripts)
• Jacques Ellul works on Jesus Radicals Archived 2008-12-28 at the Wayback Machine
• Jacques Ellul at Anarchist Archive Archived 2008-11-06 at the Wayback Machine
• A Politics of God and a Politics of Man Archived 2013-02-21 at the Wayback Machine