Originally broadcast on CBC Radio's Ideas as a series of interviews, Jacques Ellul's first-person approach here makes his ideas accessible to readers looking for new ways of understanding our society, and also gives unique new insight into Ellul's life, his work, and the origins and development of his beliefs and theories. Jacques Ellul, historian, theologian, and sociologist, was one of the foremost and widely known contemporary critics of modern technological society.

Presence in the Modern World is Jacques Ellul's most foundational book, combining his social analysis with his theological orientation. Appearing first in French in 1948, it has reached the status of a classic that retains all of its relevance today in the face of the challenges that beset us. How should we respond toward such complex forces as technology or the state? How can we communicate with one another, despite the problems inherent in modern forms of media? Do we have hope for the f...

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 te...

This seminal study and critique of propaganda from one of the greatest French philosophers of the 20th century is as relevant today as when it was first published in 1962. Taking not only a psychological approach, but a sociological approach as well, Ellul’s book outlines the taxonomy for propaganda, and ultimately, it’s destructive nature towards democracy. Drawing from his own experiences fighting for the French resistance against the Vichy regime, Ellul offers a unique insight into the ...

To Will & To Do presents one of the most significant theological contributions of the dynamic twentieth-century thinker Jacques Ellul. Benefiting from recent scholarship on Ellul and a discovery of a lost manuscript, this new edition renders the full text available in English for the first time, combining a fresh translation of Volume I with a first English translation of Volume II. Together, the two volumes constitute the introductory first part of Ellul's planned four-part treatment of C...

Theology and Technique is a posthumous, incomplete volume drafted in the 1970s that nevertheless constitutes a significant addition to the Ellul corpus. Working from Jacques Ellul's original outline, a collaborative team including three of Ellul's children, a grandson, and Ellul scholars has assembled previous partial publications that Ellul himself approved for eventual incorporation along with relevant unpublished essays and notes into a book which throws the relationship between Ellul's...

To Will & To Do presents one of the most significant theological contributions of the dynamic twentieth-century thinker Jacques Ellul. Benefiting from recent scholarship on Ellul and a discovery of a lost manuscript, this new edition renders the full text available in English for the first time, combining a fresh translation of volume I with a first English translation of volume II. Together, the two volumes constitute the introductory first part of Ellul's planned four-part treatment of C...

As insightful and wise today as it was when originally published in 1954, Jacques Ellul's The Technological Society has become a classic in its field, laying the groundwork for all other studies of technology and society that have followed.Ellul offers a penetrating analysis of our technological civilization, showing how technology—which began innocuously enough as a servant of humankind—threatens to overthrow humanity itself in its ongoing creation of an environment that ...

First-timeTranslation in English - - - The relationship between Christians and Jews has often been very tense, with misunderstandings of Paul's teachings contributing to the problem. Jacques Ellul's careful exegesis of Romans 9-11 demonstrates how God has not rejected Israel. The title is taken from the verse, "Is there some injustice in God?" The answer is a clear "no." God's election simply expanded outward beyond Israel to reach all peoples of the earth. In the end, there will be a reco...

The theme of Islam and Judeo-Christianity is the relationship between these three faiths under three headings that are often promoted as a basis for commonality between them (sons of Abraham, monotheism, and religions of the book). Ellul incisively critiques these expressions, finding less common ground than is generally accepted and a pattern of conformism. The English edition of Islam and Judeo-Christianity includes a foreword by David Gill and Dominique North Ellul, and Alain Besancon's...

Desert, Wilderness, Wasteland, and Word features an English translation of a recently discovered and until-now unpublished essay of Jacques Ellul's that examines the significance of the desert from biblical, theological, and ethical perspectives. It also provides an introduction that contextualizes Ellul's piece, and five incendiary essays that critically reflect on Ellul's work. Altogether, this volume offers fresh and provocative insight into the writings of Jacques Ellul during a histor...

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 ...