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Jacques Ellul

(French, 1912–1994)

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The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology

Part of the book series: Radical Theologies and Philosophies ((RADT))

Abstract

Known primarily for his work on technology and Christian anarchism, Ellul is nevertheless an important figure within radical theology as well. Along with his good friend, Gabriel Vahanian, Ellul is one of radical theology’s most sociologically oriented thinkers. This chapter begins by covering the ways in which Ellul was influenced by Barth, Kierkegaard, and Marx. It then describes Ellul’s sociological and theological works in depth. The chapter concludes by discussing Ellul’s relationships with other radical theologians, Harvey Cox and William Hamilton.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    A. Goddard, Living the Word, Resisting the World (Carlisle: Paternoster, 2002); J. Greenman, Read Schuchardt, and Noah Toly, Understanding Jacques Ellul (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2012).

  2. 2.

    Goddard, 21–30.

  3. 3.

    Ibid., 11.

  4. 4.

    Ibid., 31.

  5. 5.

    D. B. Clendenin, Theological Method in Jacques Ellul (Lanham, MD: University Press of America, 1987), 6–9.

  6. 6.

    V. Eller, “Ellul and Kierkegaard,” in Jacques Ellul, eds. C. Christians and J. Van Hook (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1981): 52–66.

  7. 7.

    Ibid., 63. Here Eller compares Kierkegaard’s Attack Upon “Christendom” (trans. W. Lowrie [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1968]) with Ellul’s The New Demons (1975).

  8. 8.

    A fine source for Ellul’s thoughts about Barth is “Karl Barth And Us” (1978b).

  9. 9.

    Goddard, 14.

  10. 10.

    Clendenin, 10–13.

  11. 11.

    Goddard, 124.

  12. 12.

    See Greenman, Schuchardt, and Toly, 38–59; Ellul (1975) 154, 216; and Ellul (1985), 202.

  13. 13.

    For a survey of commentaries on Ellul efforts, see David Gill, The Word of God in the Ethics of Jacques Ellul (London: Scarecrow, 1984).

  14. 14.

    W. Brueggemann, Review of The Politics of God and the Politics of Man by J. Ellul, Journal of Biblical Literature 92.3 (1973): 470–471.

  15. 15.

    C. Lasch, “The Social Thought of Jacques Ellul,” in Introducing Jacques Ellul, ed. J. Holloway (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1970), 64–65.

  16. 16.

    See A. Dulles, Models of Revelation (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 1992).

  17. 17.

    D. Fasching, “Jacques Ellul—The Little Giant,” The Ellul Forum 13 (July, 1994), 14.

  18. 18.

    L. Terlizzese, Hope in the Thought of Jacques Ellul (Eugene, OR: Cascade, 2005); Jacob Van Vleet, Dialectical Theology and Jacques Ellul (Minneapolis: Fortress, 2014); J. Shaw, Illusions of Freedom (Eugene, OR: Pickwick, 2014).

  19. 19.

    Harvey Cox, The Secular City (New York: Macmillan, 1965).

  20. 20.

    Ellul (1975), pp. 163–165, gives much more value to Cox’s The Feast of Fools (New York: Harper Row, 1969).

  21. 21.

    See also Harvey Cox, “The Ungodly City,” Commonweal 94 (9. July 1971): 351–357.

  22. 22.

    William Hamilton, “The Shape of a Radical Theology,” in Frontline Theology, ed. D. Peerman (Louisville, KY: John Knox, 1967), 73.

  23. 23.

    Jacob Vleet, Jacques Ellul: Essential Spiritual Writings (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis, 2016).

  24. 24.

    J. Ellul, Sources and Trajectories, ed. and trans. M. Dawn (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 1997).

  25. 25.

    The Betrayal by Technology: A Portrait of Jacques Ellul (Amsterdam: ReRun Productions, 1992).

  26. 26.

    Goddard (2002); see note 1.

  27. 27.

    Clifford Christians and Jay Hook, Jacques Ellul: Interpretive Essays (Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press, 1981).

Works Cited

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Pacific Theological College, Suva, Fiji

    Richard A. Davis

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  1. Richard A. Davis
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. St. Paul’s United Church of Christ, Dallastown, PA, USA

    Christopher D. Rodkey

  2. Independent, Newport, RI, USA

    Jordan E. Miller

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Davis, R.A. (2018). Jacques Ellul. In: Rodkey, C., Miller, J. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Radical Theology. Radical Theologies and Philosophies. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-96595-6_12

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