Jacques Ellul

Jacques Ellul ( born January 6, 1912 in Bordeaux, † May 19, 1994 ) was a French sociologist and theologian.

Life

Ellul, son of a Protestant mother and an originally Greek Orthodox father, grew up in Bordeaux and began to study law, graduating in 1936 with a doctorate there. Subsequently, he was a lecturer at the Universities of Montpellier, Strasbourg and Clermont -Ferrand. In 1940 he was dismissed by the Vichy regime and withdrew into the village Martres, where he supported his family by farming. At the same time he presented his habilitation in 1943 for Roman Law finished. Ellul was active in the Resistance and rescued Jews from deportation. Appointed in 1944 to a professorship at the University of Bordeaux, he served there until April 1945 as a member of the provisional city administration. Then he focused on the activity as a professor, which ended in 1980 with the retirement.

Ellul had a conversion experience in 1930 and since then intensively with theology, esp with Karl Barth and Søren Kierkegaard. In numerous publications he treated biblical books and issues of the current church. From 1956 to 1971 he was a member of the National Council of the Reformed Church of France. In addition, he was active in the ecumenical movement.

Teaching

In The Technological Society Ellul tried to show that the technique was not scientific, but religious origin. The work, which deals critically with the relationship between humans and technology, was translated for 10 years after its release on the recommendation of Aldous Huxley into English.

In The Humiliation of the Word he shows how the industrialization and the mechanization of our society is dwindling ability in modern humans, the ( spoken ) word the meaning which it had once wrest. He puts the word over the image. The word as a linguistic statement is polarized: either a statement is true, or it is a lie, so wrong. This criterion can not afford the picture: It does not show categories such as true / false, but presented without comment a reality.

Honor

According to Yad Vashem Ellul is a Righteous Among the Nations, as it has saved the Jewish people during the Holocaust, recognized in 1981. He is one of 43 in the department of Gironde and one of 3654 people with this award in France

Works (selection)

  • Le Fondement théologique du droit, Delachaux et Niestlé, Neuchâtel 1946 in German: Otto Weber, eds: The theological justification of law. Kaiser, Munich 1948
  • In English: The Technological Society. Knopf, New York 1964; Paperback ISBN 0,394,703,901th
  • In German: Barbara Marx, Translator: life than modern man. Zwingli, Zurich 1958
  • In English: Propaganda. The formation of men 's attitudes. New York 1965. Neuaufl. Random House, ISBN 0394718747
  • In German: Kurt Sontheimer, eds: From revolution to revolt. Hoffmann & Campe, Hamburg 1974 ISBN 3-455-09115-6
  • In German: Jörg Meuth, Translator: Apocalypse: The Revelation of John. Unveiling of reality. Neukirchener, Neukirchen 1981 ISBN 3-7887-0628-7
  • In Engl: The humiliation of the word. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids ( Michigan) 1985
  • In Engl: The technological bluff. Eerdmans, Grand Rapids 1990 ISBN 080280960X
  • In German: Jörg Meuth, Translator: "If thou be the Son of God ... " sufferings and temptations of Jesus. Brockhaus, 1991 ISBN 3-417-12480-8 Wuppertal
Propaganda: The Formation of Men's Attitudes Grand Rapids (Michigan) Serge Moscovici Lewiston (town), New York Integrated Authority File
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