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Rich or poor, we all face the problem of money. But is money chiefly a personal problem of how we manage our resources or a societal problem of how we organize the economy?Jacques Ellul exposes the folly of a purely societal approach -- whether communism, collectivism, socialism, or capitalism -- and argues for individual responsibility. Money, he says, is not neutral, somthing we can use as we like. Instead it is a powerful agent that sets itself against God's kingdom. Tracing the scriptural attitudes toward wealth from Old Testament sacramentalism through New Testament renunciation, he challenges Christians to live by the law of grace and not by the law of the marketplace.

Jacques Ellul, a former member of a Law Faculty at the University of Bordeaux, was recognized as a brilliant and penetrating commentator on the relationship between theology and sociology. In the Meaning of the City he presents what he finds in the Bible--a sophisticated, coherent theology of the city fully applicable to today's urbanized society. Ellul believes that the city symbolizes the supreme work of man--and, as such, represents man's ultimate rejection of God. Therefore it is the city, where lies man's rebellious heart, that must be reformed. The author stresses the fact that the Bible does not find man's fulfillment in a return to an idyllic Eden, but points rather to a life of communion with the Savior in the city transfigured. The Meaning of the City, says John Wilkinson in his introductory essay to the book, is the ""theological counterpoint"" to Ellul's Technological Society, a work that analyzed the phenomenon of the autonomous and totally manipulative post-industrial world. Ellul takes issue with those who idealistically plan new urban environments for man, as though man alone can negate the inherent diabolism of the city. For Ellul, the history of the city from the times of Cain and Nimrod through to Babylon and Jerusalem reveals a tendency to destroy the human being for the sake of human works. Nevertheless, continuing the theme of the tension between two realities that characterizes all his works, Ellul sees God as electing the city as itself an instrument of grace for the believer. William Stringfellow describes The Meaning of the City as a book of ""startling significance,"" which ""should rank beside Reinhold Niebuhr's Moral Man and Immoral Society as a work of truly momentous potential."" Douglass D. McFerran adds that it is ""a book worth serious consideration by anyone interested in the relationship between religious commitment and secular involvement."" And John Wilkinson sums it up: ""There are very few convincingly religious analyses of the sociological phenomena of the present day. . . . Ellul's biblically based sociology is today furnishing the matter for a large and growing group of social protestants, particularly in the United States.""

""What is politization? . . . (It is that) all problems have, in our time, become political."" --J. Ellul, from the IntroductionJacques Ellul, the author of The Technological Society and Propaganda, here examines modern man's passion for politics, the roles he plays in them, and his place in the modern state. He holds that everything having now been ""politized,"" anything not directly political fails to arouse widespread interest among contemporary men--and in fact might be said not to exist. He shows that political activity is now a kaleidoscope of interlocking illusions, among which the most basic and damaging are those of popular participation in government, popular control of elected and other officials, and popular solution of public problems. This domination by the political illusion, Ellul demonstrates, explains why men now turn to the state for the solution of all problems--most of them problems that the state could not solve if it tried. This close-reasoned, brilliant diagnosis and prognosis is, like Jacques Ellul's earlier books, an alarming analysis of present-day life.""The Political Illusion completed Ellul's trinity of social criticism that includes The Technological Society and Propaganda. On this 50th anniversary of the book's publication, his insight still holds strong that politics is no longer possible as the free pursuit of external goals to support the general good.""--David Lovekin, Philosophy, Hastings CollegeJacques Ellul (1912-1994), a French sociologist and lay theologian, was Professor Emeritus of Law and of the History and Sociology of Institutions at the University of Bordeaux. He wrote more than forty books, including The Technological Society, The Humiliation of the Word, and Technological Bluff .

Description:The writings of Jacques Ellul have brought him into the first rank as theologian and social critic. Martin Marty commented that if he had to introduce one man from the Protestant world to tell the church what its agenda should be, that man would be Ellul.The eminent Frenchman now brings us his most profound, most moving theological statement. For years, Jacques Ellul tells us in his preface, he had wanted to write a book on ""The Age of Abandonment,"" for it seemed to him that both society and the church had reached that point described in Scripture when God turns his back and is silent. But when he came to elaborate this theme, Ellul found himself inexplicably writing on the theme of hope, despite the fact that his analysis of society remained unchanged. Hope was now no longer a matter of intellect, but a word asked by God of the heart for its salvation.More than ever before, in this book Jacques Ellul shares with readers not only the darkest forebodings of contemporary man''s soul, but also his own struggle to emerge from despair to a stronger level of Christian faith--and hope. He writes of hope, not in the vein of Moltmann and Metz, but in a highly original and penetrating manner.About the Contributor(s):Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), a French sociologist and lay theologian, was Professor Emeritus of Law and of the History and Sociology of Institutions at the University of Bordeaux. He wrote more than forty books, including The Technological Society, The Humiliation of the Word, and The Technological Bluff.

Description:Living Faith is a groundbreaking exploration of the meaning and dynamics of Christian faith today by a major theologian and social critic of our time. Jacques Ellul thoughtfully examines all aspects of the phenomenon we call faith to distill the essential characteristics of true Christianity. He argues cogently for a crucial distinction between religion, based on a faith that is nothing more than a reflection of our own circumstances and consciousness, and genuine Christian Faith, which concerns itself primarily with revelation. Such a Living Faith, he points out, is an open, honest, courageous response to a divine disclosure of the Wholly Other God that impels us beyond comfortable answers to see ""everything in a light which is not that of reason, experience, or common sense.""Endorsements:""Disquieting yet optimistic . . . . Ellul distinguishes between the authentic and inauthentic manifestations of Christian faith and points the way toward a solid foundation for personal and social renewal.""--Spiritual Life""Stimulating and provocative . . . compels us to reflect on the current state of ''faith'' and the condition of our own faith and belief.""--The Christian Century""In the midst of darkness Ellul bears witness, in a highly self-critical form, to ''the specificity, the unique and irreplaceable character of the Christian faith [which] gives a point-by-point answer to our excesses and our misery.''""-- New Oxford ReviewAbout the Contributor(s):Jacques Ellul (1912-1994), a French sociologist and lay theologian, was Professor Emeritus of Law and of the History and Sociology of Institutions at the University of Bordeaux. He wrote more than forty books, including The Technological Society, The Humiliation of the Word, and The Technological Bluff.

""This is not a commentary in the traditional sense. One might call it an existential commentary. An important aim of the author is to bring out the relevance of the story, of the person, mission, and situation of Jonah, to Christians in our own time."" ""Above all, this is a theological, or --more specifically -- a christological commentary. The author's chief aim is to relate the book, not to Christians, but to Christ. Ellul thinks Christ is the center of all Scripture, and he also takes seriously the specific reference which Christ makes to the sign of Jonah. If this reading is correct, and the Bible is indeed a unity, the exposition of Ellul, though not developed in detail, has a distinctive theological contribution to make."" ""Those who want acute theological insight, and are not afraid of plain, hard-hitting application, will read this vivid study with relish and profit."" -- From the Preface by G. W. Bromiley

The Final Interviews Before Jacques Ellul DiedJacques Ellul on Politics, Technology, and Christianity is the best and most satisfying set of interviews ever carried out with Jacques Ellul and we are most fortunate to have this rich legacy of thought now available to a broader audience. Patrick Chastenet knew Ellul personally as well as intellectually. His questions display a rare balance of respect, boldness and insight that perhaps no one else could have achieved. Chastenet elicits Ellul''s thoughts in Ellul''s voice and refuses to edit or re-organize the text in any way that would diminish the realism and authenticity of the conversation. Chastenet truly takes the reader into Ellul''s salon for a rare and wonderful experience.David W. Gill, President of the International Jacques Ellul Society Patrick Chastenet''s interviews are a ""must read"" for anyone interested in Jacques Ellul or in issues pertaining to modern France. This book is full of important insights into an impressive range of issues, from technology and ecology to theology.Professor Joyce Hanks, University of ScrantonJacques Ellul (1912-1994) was Professor of the History of Institutions at the University of Bordeaux, France, from the end of World War II until his retirement in 1980. He is best known for his brilliant, path-finding analysis of our world in The Technological Society (original French edition, 1954) and many other writings, such as The Technological System, The Technological Bluff, and The Political Illusion. Ellul was also a powerful lay voice for a renewed and reformed Christian theology and ethics. Many of his Christian writings, such as Presence of the Kingdom, Living Faith, and Hope in Time of Abandonment continue to challenge and inspire. For more information, visit www.ellul.org, the web site of the International Jacques Ellul Society.Patrick Troude-Chastenet is Professor of Political Science at the University of Poitiers. He studied with Professor Ellul at the Institute for Political Studies, University of Bordeaux, 1974-76. He is author of an introduction to Ellul''s thought, Lire Ellul: Introduction a l''oeuvre socio-politique de Jacques Ellul (1992) and editor of two anthologies on Ellul''s thought: Sur Jacques Ellul: Un penseur de notre temps (1994) and a forthcoming collection from the international colloquium at Poitiers, October 2004, entitled Jacques Ellul: Libre examen d''une pensee sans frontieres. Chastenet is the founding president of L''Association Internationale Jacques Ellul (www.jacques-ellul.org) and founding editor of the annual Cahiers Jacques Ellul. The interviews in the present volume were conducted over a fourteen-year period, 1981-1994, and were originally published as Entretiens avec Jacques Ellul (1994).