Jacques Ellul on Politics, Technology, and Christianity

Jacques Ellul on Politics, Technology, and Christianity
Author: Jacques Ellul
Publisher: Wipf and Stock Publishers
Total Pages: 153
Release: 2005-06-16
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 159752266X

The Final Interviews Before Jacques Ellul Died Jacques 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 Scranton Jacques 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).

Democracy and the Church (Classic Reprint)

Democracy and the Church (Classic Reprint)
Author: Samuel George Smith
Publisher: Forgotten Books
Total Pages: 374
Release: 2018-01-19
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780483402331

Excerpt from Democracy and the Church For a long time I have wondered why it is that many intelligent persons who accept the genetic View of the development of life have no open-mindedness for the genetic view of history. They recognize that there are certain periods in the history of life when old environments give way, new forms of life appear showing a fresh summertime, and sustaining heart and hope. This class of persons may recognize that there is a history of art, and if they do not glory in the pre-raphaelite as Beauty's last word or accept the impressionist's school as the final despair of the creative gods, they do see continuity in Art; they do recognize that every time must create its own artistic forms in harmony with the terms and the conditions of its life. Literature in successive periods may flower out in the great secular bibles; the works of Homer, zeschylus, Dante, Shakespeare, Goethe. But even these men are social products as well as social forces, and literature has its continuity, its progress and its invincible relationships. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Responsible Technology

Responsible Technology
Author: Stephen V. Monsma
Publisher: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1986
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 9780802801753

This is a print on demand book and is therefore non- returnable. This book provides a multi-disciplinary Christian analysis of the forces shaping the operation of modern technology, and offers an alternative framework of biblically rooted normative principles. It argues that technology is a value- laden activity and presents principles for basing it on God's will.

Christianity and Democracy

Christianity and Democracy
Author: John W. De Gruchy
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Total Pages: 314
Release: 1995-06
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780521458412

The need for global democratisation is now widely recognised, but there is considerable debate about what this means and how it can be achieved. In this important study John de Gruchy examines the historic and contemporary roles of Christianity in the development of democracy. He traces the gestation of modern democracy in medieval Christendom, and then describes the virtual breakdown of the relationship as democracy becomes the polity of modernity. Five twentieth-century case studies - the USA, Nicaragua, sub-Saharan Africa, Germany and South Africa - demonstrate the extent to which ecumenical Christianity has begun to reconnect with democracy and act as its contemporary midwife. De Gruchy argues that democracy needs to rediscover its spiritual heritage, while Christianity needs to develop a theology adequate for its participation in the realisation of a just democratic world order.

The Christian Democracy

The Christian Democracy
Author: John McDowell Leavitt
Publisher: Forgotten Books
Total Pages: 406
Release: 2015-07-23
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9781330874776

Excerpt from The Christian Democracy: A History of Its Suppression and Revival When we turn from State to Church we find three theories of supreme power, corresponding to mon archy, aristocracy, and democracy. Where is ec clesiastical sovereignty? Is it an autocracy in the pope? Is it an oligarchy in bishops? Is it a de mocracy of all believers, including clergy and laity, and whom we will call the people? Before answer ing these questions the three theories of ecclesias tical sovereignty should be more fully stated. I. The papal claim.-early as A. D. 496 Ge lasius asserted for himself all political and pontifical power. His successors proclaimed their right to rule the world. Centuries before Hildebrand and Innocent III and Boniface VIII this was the uni form view of Roman pontiffs as implied or expressed in the Vatican Decree of Pio Nono. The papal system is an autocracy. It vests all sovereignty in its pontiff. He is source of power and grace. These, through him'alone, flow to bishops, and from bish ops to priests, and from priests to people. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

Christianity and the Mass Media in America

Christianity and the Mass Media in America
Author: Quentin J. Schultze
Publisher: MSU Press
Total Pages: 480
Release: 2005-11-09
Genre: Language Arts & Disciplines
ISBN: 0870139525

The mass media and religious groups in America regularly argue about news bias, sex and violence on television, movie censorship, advertiser boycotts, broadcast and film content rating systems, government regulation of the media, the role of mass evangelism in a democracy, and many other issues. In the United States the major disputes between religion and the media usually have involved Christian churches or parachurch ministries, on the one hand, and the so-called secular media, on the other. Often the Christian Right locks horns with supposedly liberal Eastern media elite and Hollywood entertainment companies. When a major Protestant denomination calls for an economic boycott of Disney, the resulting news reports suggest business as usual in the tensions between faith groups and media empires. Schultze demonstrates how religion and the media in America have borrowed each other’s rhetoric. In the process, they have also helped to keep each other honest, pointing out respective foibles and pretensions. Christian media have offered the public as well as religious tribes some of the best media criticism— better than most of the media criticism produced by mainstream media themselves. Meanwhile, mainstream media have rightly taken particular churches to task for misdeeds as well as offered some surprisingly good depictions of religious life. The tension between Christian groups and the media in America ultimately is a good thing that can serve the interest of democratic life. As Alexis de Tocqueville discovered in the 1830s, American Christianity can foster the “habits of the heart” that ward off the antisocial acids of radical individualism. And, as John Dewey argued a century later, the media offer some of our best hopes for maintaining a public life in the face of the religious tribalism that can erode democracy from within. Mainstream media and Christianity will always be at odds in a democracy. That is exactly the way it should be for the good of each one.

Christianity, Democracy, and the Shadow of Constantine

Christianity, Democracy, and the Shadow of Constantine
Author: George E. Demacopoulos
Publisher: Fordham Univ Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2016-11-01
Genre: Religion
ISBN: 0823274217

Winner of the 2017 Alpha Sigma Nu Award The collapse of communism in eastern Europe has forced traditionally Eastern Orthodox countries to consider the relationship between Christianity and liberal democracy. Contributors examine the influence of Constantinianism in both the post-communist Orthodox world and in Western political theology. Constructive theological essays feature Catholic and Protestant theologians reflecting on the relationship between Christianity and democracy, as well as Orthodox theologians reflecting on their tradition’s relationship to liberal democracy. The essays explore prospects of a distinctively Christian politics in a post-communist, post-Constantinian age.

God, Technology, and the Christian Life

God, Technology, and the Christian Life
Author: Tony Reinke
Publisher: Crossway
Total Pages: 306
Release: 2021-12-09
Genre: Technology & Engineering
ISBN: 1433578301

What Does God Think about Technology? From smartphones to self-driving cars to space travel, new technologies can inspire us. But the breakneck pace of change can also frighten us. So how do Christians walk by faith through the innovations of Silicon Valley? And how does God relate to our most powerful innovators? To build a biblical theology of technology, journalist and tech optimist Tony Reinke examines nine key texts from Scripture to show how the world's discoveries are divinely orchestrated. Ultimately, what we believe about God determines how we respond to human invention. With the help of several theologians and inventors throughout history, Reinke dispels twelve common myths in the church and offers fourteen ethical convictions to help Christians live by faith in the age of big tech. Biblical, Informed Look at Technology: Written by the author of 12 Ways Your Phone Is Changing You and Competing Spectacles: Treasuring Christ in the Media Age Gathers Ideas from Industry Experts and Theologians: Interacts with Christian and non-Christian sources on technology and theology including John Calvin, Herman Bavinck, Wendell Berry, and Elon Musk Educational: Discusses the history and philosophy behind major technological innovations