Notes from my 2023-2024 read-through of Jacques Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World (translated by Lisa Richmond; original published 1948, second edition 1988, translation 2016).
Chapter 1 – The Christian in the World
- Salt, Light, Sheep (pp. 1-4)
- Sin & Scandal (pp. 4-6)
- We Cannot Solve Sin’s Consequences by Human Means (pp. 7-8)
- Laypeople of the World, Unite (pp. 8-9)
- Do Not Confuse Christian Ethics with Morality (pp. 9-11)
- Stop Making Sense (pp. 11-12)
- Thoughts & Prayers (pp. 12-13)
- Walking the Talk, Redeeming the Time (pp. 13-14)
- The World’s Will Is Always a Will to Suicide (pp. 14-16)
Chapter 2 – Revolutionary Christianity
- The World Is Ending Today and Yesterday and Tomorrow (pp. 17-19)
- Things Fall Apart, But the Center, It Holds (pp. 19-21)
- Ellul on the Revolutionary Spirit Against the Facts (pp. 22-26)
- Ellul on the State of Permanent Christian Revolution (pp. 26-27)
- Ellul on Being Christian in a Disordered World (pp. 27-30)
- Ellul on Living into the Future (pp. 30-32)
- Ellul on Christian Realism (pp. 32-36)
- Ellul on Christian Freedom (pp. 36-38)
Chapter 3 – End and Means
- Ellul on the Disappearing End (pp. 39-45)
- Ellul on Self-Justifying Means (pp. 45-48)
- Ellul on the Illusion of Inner Freedom (pp. 48-51)
- Ellul on God’s Unified Means and End (pp. 51-55)
- Ellul on the True Value of Means (pp. 55-58)
- Ellul on Being Alive (pp. 58-62)
Chapter 4 – Communication
- Ellul on the Unreal Life (pp. 65-68)
- Ellul on the Renewed Mind and the Fog of Facts (pp 63-65, 68-70)
- Ellul on the Suicide of the Mind (pp 70-71)
- Ellul on the Death of Contemplation and Intuition (pp 71-74)
- Ellul on the Void and the Wasteland (p. 74-77)
- More to come
Chapter 5 – Prologue & Conclusion
- To come