Jacques Ellul (1912–1994)
Author of The Technological Society
About the Author
Jacques Ellul, historian, theologian, and sociologist, is one of the foremost and widely known contemporary critics of modern technological society. Born in Bordeaux, France, Ellul received a doctorate in the history of law and social science in 1936 from the University of Bordeaux. In 1947 he was show more appointed professor of social history at the University of Bordeaux, remaining there until his retirement in 1980. Although influenced strongly by his early reading of the Bible Marx, Ellul has been unable to synthesize Marxist doctrine with Christianity. These readings and experiences have influenced his later philosophy and writing. Ellul has taught and written extensively in his areas of specialization - Roman law, the history and sociology of institutions, Marxism, propaganda, and technique in society. He also served in the French Resistance during World War II, worked as a lay pastor, and has been active with various theological organizations, including the World Council of Churches. In addition, Ellul has been active in the environmental movement and has worked to prevent juvenile delinquency and violence. Since 1969, he has been editor of Foi et Vie (Faith and Life). Although retired as a teacher, Ellul has continued writing. One of his writing projects is an autobiography to be published after his death. Ellul has provided a sociopolitical as well as a theological analysis of contemporary society in more than 40 books and 800 articles. The Technological Society (1954) established Ellul as a social critic. The book has had a major impact on the collective consciousness of a society just beginning to recognize the central role and force of technology. Here Ellul develops the notion of "technique," a concept much broader than technology: "Technique is the totality of methods rationally arrived at." In Ellul's view, technology in this sense tends to become all-encompassing. His subsequent books, especially The Political Illusion (1965) and Propaganda (1962), further develop and refine elements of this central theme. This "trilogy" of books reflects Ellul's desire to alert readers to the dangers of technological determinism and thereby help them transcend it. Because of a dialectical approach separating his sociopolitical and theological studies, Ellul has often been criticized as overly pessimistic in his sociologically based writings. His theological works, however, provide a more positive perspective and counterpoint to his sociological work. Most notable are The Politics of God and the Politics of Man (1966), The Meaning of the City (1970), and especially The Ethics of Freedom (1973). The main body of Ellul's sociopolitical critique of technical society is reflected by The Technological Society, The Political Illusion, Propaganda, and The Technological System. Among his other works are Autopsy of Revolution (1969), which questions what kind of revolution is realistically possible, The Humiliation of the Word (1981), which expands upon the concept of "human techniques", and The Technological Bluff (1990), which discusses the state of contemporary society, especially in regard to such technologies as computers and genetic engineering and the progressive "discourse" that surrounds their societal incorporation. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
Image credit: used by permission ©AIJE
Works by Jacques Ellul
In season, out of season: An introduction to the thought of Jacques Ellul (1982) 45 copies, 1 review
Jacques Ellul on Politics, Technology, and Christianity: Conversations with Patrick Troude-Chastenet (2005) 11 copies
La Pensée marxiste : Cours professé à l'Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux de 1947 à 1979 (2003) 11 copies
Les successeurs de Marx: Cours professé à l'Institut d'études politiques de Bordeaux (2007) 5 copies
Entre technique et liberté 2 copies
A técnica e o desafio do século 2 copies
A Palavra Humilhada 1 copy
The Judgment of Jonah 1 copy
The Ethics of Freedom 1 copy
Metamorphose Du Bourgeois 1 copy
Storia della propaganda 1 copy
Carstvo besmisla 1 copy
Contre Les violents 1 copy
Autopsie de la révolution 1 copy
Teknoloji Toplumu 1 copy
Het verraad van de techniek 1 copy
Il tradimento dell'Occidente 1 copy
Desert, Wilderness, Wasteland, and Word: A New Essay by Jacques Ellul and Five Critical Engagements (2023) 1 copy
HISTORIA DE LA PROPAGANDA 1 copy
Associated Works
Tagged
Common Knowledge
- Canonical name
- Ellul, Jacques
- Legal name
- Ellul, Jacques Cesar Emile
- Birthdate
- 1912-01-06
- Date of death
- 1994-05-19
- Gender
- male
- Education
- University of Bordeaux (Ph.D|1936)
University of Paris - Occupations
- historian
philosopher
theologian
sociologist
professor - Organizations
- University of Bordeaux
- Short biography
- a French philosopher, Law professor, sociologist, theologian, and Christian anarchist. He wrote several books about the "technological society", and about Christianity and politics, such as Anarchy and Christianity (1991)—arguing that anarchism and Christianity are socially following the same goal.
A philosopher who approached technology from a deterministic viewpoint, Ellul, professor at the University of Bordeaux, 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. His constant concern has been the emergence of a "technological tyranny" over humanity. As a philosopher and theologian, he further explored the religiosity of the technological society. - Nationality
- France
- Birthplace
- Bordeaux, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
- Places of residence
- Bordeaux, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Paris, France - Place of death
- Pessac, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
- Associated Place (for map)
- Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine, France
Members
Reviews
Ellul’s Subversion is a compelling and challenging read. It’s challenging because Ellul was a French Christian-anarchist with a thorough grasp of church history. He often addresses situations and theological issues that are opaque to the modern Western reader. It’s compelling due to his penetrating mind and strong opinions. Perhaps compelling is to weak a word. This book is an important challenge to modern Christendom.
The problem with Christianity is that Jesus’ message has been show more co-opted and twisted by various forces throughout history. The chief ways Jesus’ message has been twisted are:
1. Sacralization:Jesus’ message was essentially a desacralization of the world. No longer do we worship what we do not know—God was made flesh and lived with us. Humans, however, feel a deep need for the sacred, and history can be viewed as a pendulum swinging between eras of sacralization (i.e. the relic trade) and desacralization (i.e. the Protestant Reformation).
2. Moralism: Jesus’ message was radically free. For Ellul, that freedom cannot exist in community(!) Either it blows apart, or rules and morality enters.
3. Islam: This force has been largely ignored. The idea of holy war (a drastic perversion of Jesus’ message) influenced Christianity via Islam. Ellul also (dis)credits Islam with the origin of the slave trade which Christianity, to its shame, imitated.
4. Politics: When Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, he declined—the church has accepted with glee. This has always led to a perversion of the gospel.
5. Nihilism: Ellul credits Christianity’s understanding of absolute transcendence, desacralization, and sin as the root of modern nihilism. I have to admit that this chapter was somewhat obtuse to me.
6. Dominions and Powers: Behind all the worldly forces there is a spiritual power which (always aligning with humanity) twists Jesus’ message.
The good news is that the Holy Spirit is still at work and that God’s Church will never be defeated, even if it appears to be in exile with a slim remnant remaining. There will always be renewal and genuine Jesus-following life from the fringe. show less
The problem with Christianity is that Jesus’ message has been show more co-opted and twisted by various forces throughout history. The chief ways Jesus’ message has been twisted are:
1. Sacralization:Jesus’ message was essentially a desacralization of the world. No longer do we worship what we do not know—God was made flesh and lived with us. Humans, however, feel a deep need for the sacred, and history can be viewed as a pendulum swinging between eras of sacralization (i.e. the relic trade) and desacralization (i.e. the Protestant Reformation).
2. Moralism: Jesus’ message was radically free. For Ellul, that freedom cannot exist in community(!) Either it blows apart, or rules and morality enters.
3. Islam: This force has been largely ignored. The idea of holy war (a drastic perversion of Jesus’ message) influenced Christianity via Islam. Ellul also (dis)credits Islam with the origin of the slave trade which Christianity, to its shame, imitated.
4. Politics: When Satan offered Jesus all the kingdoms of the world, he declined—the church has accepted with glee. This has always led to a perversion of the gospel.
5. Nihilism: Ellul credits Christianity’s understanding of absolute transcendence, desacralization, and sin as the root of modern nihilism. I have to admit that this chapter was somewhat obtuse to me.
6. Dominions and Powers: Behind all the worldly forces there is a spiritual power which (always aligning with humanity) twists Jesus’ message.
The good news is that the Holy Spirit is still at work and that God’s Church will never be defeated, even if it appears to be in exile with a slim remnant remaining. There will always be renewal and genuine Jesus-following life from the fringe. show less
In 1954, Jacques Ellul published his most influential work: The Technological Society. He argues that "la technique" (the drive towards ultimate efficiency) harms humanity. The Meaning of the City can be viewed as a theological accompaniment to this work.
Ellul argues from the whole sweep of the Bible that the city represents humanity's self-alienation from God. When Cain was sent wandering, he founded a city. Babel, Babylon, Sodom, Nineveh—these all build exemplify life without God.
God, show more however is not content to leave humanity on its own. God chose to use Jerusalem to take "a foothold in man's world" (101). Despite God's beachhead, Jerusalem's character as a city often rose to the surface. Jesus found solace in the desert, and death in Jerusalem. Revelation refers to Jerusalem by it's parent-city: Babylon. Of course, God still used the city's rebellion for his redemptive purposes.
The Bible ends with a vision of a city that has the characteristics of a garden. God capitulates and works with humans in providing a city, but it will be a city redeemed. Creation begins in a garden and ends in a city.
The Meaning of City helped me to understand the theme of 'city' throughout scripture in a way I had never before put together. Ellul self-consciously analyses the entire Bible without getting bogged down in issues of "classical exegesis, of form criticism, of the extensive research into literary and cultural history, of the new hermeneutics, and even of the more recent studies of structuralism" (xvii).
I have mentioned my frustration with systematic theology before. Ellul has reminded me just how profitable an honest systematic approach can be. He draws out the overarching themes of the canon without twisting chapter-and-verse to fit his thesis.
The power of the Internet to make the entire world one global city makes Ellul's criticism and insight more valuable today than ever before. show less
Ellul argues from the whole sweep of the Bible that the city represents humanity's self-alienation from God. When Cain was sent wandering, he founded a city. Babel, Babylon, Sodom, Nineveh—these all build exemplify life without God.
God, show more however is not content to leave humanity on its own. God chose to use Jerusalem to take "a foothold in man's world" (101). Despite God's beachhead, Jerusalem's character as a city often rose to the surface. Jesus found solace in the desert, and death in Jerusalem. Revelation refers to Jerusalem by it's parent-city: Babylon. Of course, God still used the city's rebellion for his redemptive purposes.
The Bible ends with a vision of a city that has the characteristics of a garden. God capitulates and works with humans in providing a city, but it will be a city redeemed. Creation begins in a garden and ends in a city.
The Meaning of City helped me to understand the theme of 'city' throughout scripture in a way I had never before put together. Ellul self-consciously analyses the entire Bible without getting bogged down in issues of "classical exegesis, of form criticism, of the extensive research into literary and cultural history, of the new hermeneutics, and even of the more recent studies of structuralism" (xvii).
I have mentioned my frustration with systematic theology before. Ellul has reminded me just how profitable an honest systematic approach can be. He draws out the overarching themes of the canon without twisting chapter-and-verse to fit his thesis.
The power of the Internet to make the entire world one global city makes Ellul's criticism and insight more valuable today than ever before. show less
Take a quick look at Jacques Ellul and the descriptors pile up: historian, thinker, sociologist, philosopher, theologian, anarchist, christian, etc. It’s clear that he’s no one-dimensional academic. Excited to get a better grasp of the thinking that has influenced and challenged 20th century Christendom (not to mention culture in general), I picked up a copy of this slim CBC publication.
In 1979, Willem H. Vanderburg was tasked by the CBC to interview Ellul for a series of radio programs. show more The public response to the 1979 broadcast and 1980 rebroadcast led to the publication of the interviews.
When you read this book you’ll hear Ellul’s own voice, guided by Vanderburg, one of his personal acquaintances.
***Ellul’s Early Life***
Ellul was born in the South of France to a poor family. He became enamored at an early age by Marx and developed a disdain for the capitalism. Despite this early affinity, he became disillusioned by the hypocrisy evident in the Communist Party.
In 1932, Ellul became a Christian but didn’t give up Marxism. When he read Marx’s criticisms of Christianity he learned what Christians should not be. His background in Marxism gave him the sociological tools to criticize the established Church (which is not equivalent to the body of Christ).
Academic life was a natural fit for Ellul. He became an assistant lecturer at the University of Strasbourg, but after speech urging his students to stand up to German demands, he was dismissed. He was forced to join the Resistance where he raised sheep and grew potatoes.
***Ellul and Technology***
For Ellul, there have been two great sociological shifts in human existence. The first was the movement from hunter-gatherer society to agricultural community. As this shift happened, people were ripped from their familiar milieu (direct connection to the land) to a mediated relationship in villages and towns. The second shift is the shift to our technological society.
Technology was despised by Ellul. I should be more specific—he was against “the authoritarian power that the ‘technocrats’ seek to exercise, as well as the fact that technology determines our lives without our being able to intervene or, as yet, to control it” (26). This shift to a technological society has alienated many people. The elderly, for example, are particularly vulnerable.
As the first shift moved the base of power from the best hunter-gatherer to the best politician, the second shift has moved power from the aristocracy to the technical experts (the new, true aristocracy).
In response to our technological milieu, many have sought escape in religion. This explains why religion now usually takes the form of spiritualism.
Our shift to a technological society is especially difficult for the Third World. Western culture has had centuries to make the shift. “How then can the Third World endure the shock, psychologically and sociologically, when it is asked to absorb this technological apparatus and this technological system in just a few years” (77)?
It’s clear that we cannot return to a pre-technological society. We must teach our children to live simultaneously in and against technology—”a very delicate balance” (83).
***Religion v. Faith***
In light of the extreme challenge raised by our technological society and the changes it has foisted upon humanity, Ellul found firm footing in Christian faith.
It’s important to note that Christian faith is entirely different from religion. Religion is a natural product of every society—the glue which holds society together. Christian revelation is not only dissimilar to religion, it stands in opposition to it. Following Barth, Ellul believes that God is the Wholly Other who cannot be understood unless he reveals himself to us. Where religion comes from a feeling to rise toward God, Christian revelation is God’s descent to us.
In religion, we try to use the deity. In Christian revelation (95):
"We find a God who escapes us totally, whom we absolutely cannot influence, or dominate, much less punish; a God who reveals Himself when He wants to reveal Himself, a God who is very often in a place where He is not expected and only rarely in a place where He is expected, a God who is truly beyond our grasp. Thus, the human religious feeling is not at all satisfied by this situation."
Another hallmark of religion is morality. For Ellul, Christian morality is “ultimately an antimorality” (97). While we can genuinely speak of Christian ethics, Christian revelation has no morality. Here Ellul explains the difference (97):
"Morality is a kind of catalogue of rules that one must obey. An ethics is an orientation toward life that calls upon us to develop all our possibilities."
Christian revelation offers a reality—an other—that technology can never assimilate that gives the Christian a firm footing from which to criticize the systemic influence of the technological society. show less
In 1979, Willem H. Vanderburg was tasked by the CBC to interview Ellul for a series of radio programs. show more The public response to the 1979 broadcast and 1980 rebroadcast led to the publication of the interviews.
When you read this book you’ll hear Ellul’s own voice, guided by Vanderburg, one of his personal acquaintances.
***Ellul’s Early Life***
Ellul was born in the South of France to a poor family. He became enamored at an early age by Marx and developed a disdain for the capitalism. Despite this early affinity, he became disillusioned by the hypocrisy evident in the Communist Party.
In 1932, Ellul became a Christian but didn’t give up Marxism. When he read Marx’s criticisms of Christianity he learned what Christians should not be. His background in Marxism gave him the sociological tools to criticize the established Church (which is not equivalent to the body of Christ).
Academic life was a natural fit for Ellul. He became an assistant lecturer at the University of Strasbourg, but after speech urging his students to stand up to German demands, he was dismissed. He was forced to join the Resistance where he raised sheep and grew potatoes.
***Ellul and Technology***
For Ellul, there have been two great sociological shifts in human existence. The first was the movement from hunter-gatherer society to agricultural community. As this shift happened, people were ripped from their familiar milieu (direct connection to the land) to a mediated relationship in villages and towns. The second shift is the shift to our technological society.
Technology was despised by Ellul. I should be more specific—he was against “the authoritarian power that the ‘technocrats’ seek to exercise, as well as the fact that technology determines our lives without our being able to intervene or, as yet, to control it” (26). This shift to a technological society has alienated many people. The elderly, for example, are particularly vulnerable.
As the first shift moved the base of power from the best hunter-gatherer to the best politician, the second shift has moved power from the aristocracy to the technical experts (the new, true aristocracy).
In response to our technological milieu, many have sought escape in religion. This explains why religion now usually takes the form of spiritualism.
Our shift to a technological society is especially difficult for the Third World. Western culture has had centuries to make the shift. “How then can the Third World endure the shock, psychologically and sociologically, when it is asked to absorb this technological apparatus and this technological system in just a few years” (77)?
It’s clear that we cannot return to a pre-technological society. We must teach our children to live simultaneously in and against technology—”a very delicate balance” (83).
***Religion v. Faith***
In light of the extreme challenge raised by our technological society and the changes it has foisted upon humanity, Ellul found firm footing in Christian faith.
It’s important to note that Christian faith is entirely different from religion. Religion is a natural product of every society—the glue which holds society together. Christian revelation is not only dissimilar to religion, it stands in opposition to it. Following Barth, Ellul believes that God is the Wholly Other who cannot be understood unless he reveals himself to us. Where religion comes from a feeling to rise toward God, Christian revelation is God’s descent to us.
In religion, we try to use the deity. In Christian revelation (95):
"We find a God who escapes us totally, whom we absolutely cannot influence, or dominate, much less punish; a God who reveals Himself when He wants to reveal Himself, a God who is very often in a place where He is not expected and only rarely in a place where He is expected, a God who is truly beyond our grasp. Thus, the human religious feeling is not at all satisfied by this situation."
Another hallmark of religion is morality. For Ellul, Christian morality is “ultimately an antimorality” (97). While we can genuinely speak of Christian ethics, Christian revelation has no morality. Here Ellul explains the difference (97):
"Morality is a kind of catalogue of rules that one must obey. An ethics is an orientation toward life that calls upon us to develop all our possibilities."
Christian revelation offers a reality—an other—that technology can never assimilate that gives the Christian a firm footing from which to criticize the systemic influence of the technological society. show less
This is my first real attempt at reading one of Ellul’s books. He is an author about whom I have heard much. I have found that he is an author worth reading.
Politique de Dieu, politiques de l’homme (to give it its original French title) is a meditation on some particular narratives in 2 Kings in the Old Testament. It was written in 1966 and so stands in a different social and cultural milieu from us. It was written by a French intellectual in a provincial university who stood vis-a-vis show more the technocratic, centralising state based in Paris. Despite these contextual caveats, it has a message which is very relevant to our situation.
Ellul’s meditations are on the “big picture” characters of that biblical narrative: Israelite kings, prophets and foreign warlords. It is a reason, I think, why we can be alienated from this part of the Old Testament, because these concerns with national politics can seem distant from the concerns of we “little people.” Ellul does not “spiritualise” the narrative and package it for us in an easily digestible form for our private devotional consumption. He does meditate on the big picture, and how leaders behave, on how nations and societies conduct themselves.
However, I think that citizens in democratic societies should be interested in such matters because we are a direct part of the political system. If one widens the definition of politics to mean the way that power is used, then this book has even wider application. One might particularly think about church politics.
There is much in this book that also appeals directly to the individual. In the end, Ellul is concerned about how the individual operates in a technological society. He is insistent that the church cannot participate in the power games of the state, that it cannot be co-opted or co-opt. The prophetic voice of God’s people is compromised when they try to achieve God’s ends by dishonourable means. For Ellul, the means are as important as the end.
Ellul is insistent upon the absolute freedom of God and his independence from our methods and expectations. He is also insistent upon the absolute value of human freedom. His epilogue, “A Meditation on Inutility”, is a challenge to any illusions we may have that God depends on our actions and abilities. God doesn’t need our individual actions at all. Rather than a discouragement, Ellul sees this as a thing of great hope, because it frees us from the slavery of Usefulness, the thought that the only worthwhile actions are those which must be useful towards an end. Men and women who can operate in God’s world free of the need to see any result from their actions are free to truly obey God and are free from the bondage that oppresses most of us.
Ellul is refreshingly insistent upon the centrality of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. These events are not just dogmatic talismans for him: they make a real difference to the way we act and understand the world.
Jacques Ellul was a prophetic thinker. His works come with all the messiness of the prophet. Furthermore, he is dealing with the prophetic word of God, which has various applications. Read this book to be introduced to a way of reading the Old Testament with integrity. Read this book to be confronted by the God who will achieve his ends in spite of the various obstacles we may put in his way. Read this book and think deeply about how human beings may operate in God’s world. show less
Politique de Dieu, politiques de l’homme (to give it its original French title) is a meditation on some particular narratives in 2 Kings in the Old Testament. It was written in 1966 and so stands in a different social and cultural milieu from us. It was written by a French intellectual in a provincial university who stood vis-a-vis show more the technocratic, centralising state based in Paris. Despite these contextual caveats, it has a message which is very relevant to our situation.
Ellul’s meditations are on the “big picture” characters of that biblical narrative: Israelite kings, prophets and foreign warlords. It is a reason, I think, why we can be alienated from this part of the Old Testament, because these concerns with national politics can seem distant from the concerns of we “little people.” Ellul does not “spiritualise” the narrative and package it for us in an easily digestible form for our private devotional consumption. He does meditate on the big picture, and how leaders behave, on how nations and societies conduct themselves.
However, I think that citizens in democratic societies should be interested in such matters because we are a direct part of the political system. If one widens the definition of politics to mean the way that power is used, then this book has even wider application. One might particularly think about church politics.
There is much in this book that also appeals directly to the individual. In the end, Ellul is concerned about how the individual operates in a technological society. He is insistent that the church cannot participate in the power games of the state, that it cannot be co-opted or co-opt. The prophetic voice of God’s people is compromised when they try to achieve God’s ends by dishonourable means. For Ellul, the means are as important as the end.
Ellul is insistent upon the absolute freedom of God and his independence from our methods and expectations. He is also insistent upon the absolute value of human freedom. His epilogue, “A Meditation on Inutility”, is a challenge to any illusions we may have that God depends on our actions and abilities. God doesn’t need our individual actions at all. Rather than a discouragement, Ellul sees this as a thing of great hope, because it frees us from the slavery of Usefulness, the thought that the only worthwhile actions are those which must be useful towards an end. Men and women who can operate in God’s world free of the need to see any result from their actions are free to truly obey God and are free from the bondage that oppresses most of us.
Ellul is refreshingly insistent upon the centrality of Christ’s life, death and resurrection. These events are not just dogmatic talismans for him: they make a real difference to the way we act and understand the world.
Jacques Ellul was a prophetic thinker. His works come with all the messiness of the prophet. Furthermore, he is dealing with the prophetic word of God, which has various applications. Read this book to be introduced to a way of reading the Old Testament with integrity. Read this book to be confronted by the God who will achieve his ends in spite of the various obstacles we may put in his way. Read this book and think deeply about how human beings may operate in God’s world. show less
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