Timeline

• Aug 05, 2025: started reading.
• Aug 12, 2025: finished reading.

Review

Reading this toward a manuscript that’s currently in progress. Rather surprised I didn’t come across this part of Ellul’s oeuvre earlier.

In material terms, I’m not really a fan of these print-to-order cheap books. There were several printing errors in the forward to the text. Fortunately, the facsimile of the original English translation was in good condition.

I find Ellul’s approach to religious writing eminently enjoyable. Maybe it’s because of my upbringing, but his rigorously logical structure serves him better here than in his sociological texts. I think it’s the combination of him setting up an argument I’m very familiar with and then going over every minute detail only to reach a conclusion that would have led to his execution for heresy if he were not writing in the late 20th century.

As with all Ellul, there are plenty of broad claims without citation, some poorly aged rhetoric that aligns a bit too well with today’s reactionary politics (there are a few paragraphs against state-mandated vaccination), and conclusions that don’t feel entirely earned. But also some very delightfully unconventional, well supported, insights into our present condition - and in this case, biblical texts.