On Freedom, Love, and Power

Jacques Ellul (1912-1994) was a French law professor, historian, sociologist, lay theologian, and Christian anarchist. During the Second World War, he was active in the French resistance; his efforts to save Jews during this time eventually earned him the title "Righteous Among the Nations." A towering intellectual figure, Ellul taught in Paris and at the University of Bordeaux, wrote and published extensively, and engaged throughout his career in a dialogue between the realities of technology and contemporary life, the tenets of the Christian faith, and the principles of human freedom. Transcribed here for the first time, this series of talks refines and clarifies some of Ellul's most controversial insights into what it means to understand and live out God's wishes.

Ellul's evaluation of a number of interrelated books of Scripture, including Genesis, Job, Matthew, and John, challenges Jewish and Christian orthodoxies and more progressive interpretations alike by claiming that the Judeo-Christian tradition is both anti-moral and anti-religious. Promoting a life based on freedom and love, Ellul's thinking opens the door to, in his words, "thinking globally and acting locally."