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Ellul: The World’s Will Is Always a Will to Suicide
August 30, 2023
Let’s see if I can wrap up my notes on Chapter 1 of Jacques Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World. In the last post, we discussed the redemption of time, and how it depends solely on Christian “behavior and preaching.” Ellul concludes the chapter by noting that, if Christians are going to participate in the …..
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Ellul: Walking the Talk, Redeeming the Time
August 26, 2023
A friend of mine who has been following along with my blog posts about Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World asked if, based on the discussion of actions in this post, Ellul was dismissive of “the way words are also actions?” Here we come to the answer, which is no, he isn’t dismissive; in fact, …..
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Ellul: Thoughts & Prayers
August 25, 2023
Let’s continue on with Chapter 1 of Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World, shall we? Blog post #5, and I haven’t even finished page 12 yet! Earlier, commenter Mike mentioned salt’s use for preservation in the ancient Near East, which was a bit of a foretaste of the next section. As we’ve seen, Ellul believes …..
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Ephemera, 8/21/23
August 21, 2023
Yesterday’s lectionary included Matthew 15, featuring the infamous Canaanite woman and the dogs-eating-crumbs metaphor. It’s a cringe-inducing gospel that lately has been used by certain mainline preachers as a way to show Jesus experiencing a “teachable moment” about his own racism, which is really a bizarre sort of anti-Christian Christology. In this fascinating essay, Ben …..
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Ellul: Stop Making Sense
August 21, 2023
Let’s keep going with Chapter 1 of Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World, because by God, I want to finish it. In the last post – well, let’s see if I can summarize Ellul thus far (and please correct me where I’m wrong): Whew, ok. Does this mean that a Christian can do, willy-nilly, whatever …..
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Ephemera, 8/20/23
August 20, 2023
I have a personal interest in the Paris-Brest-Paris ride this year, since my husband is attempting it for the first time. If you’re not familiar with this quadrennial 1200-km ride that attracts thousands of people from all over the world, that’s fine; most Americans aren’t. We always explain it by starting, “Have you seen that …..
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Ellul: Do Not Confuse Christian Ethics with Morality
August 18, 2023
Returning to Chapter 1 of Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World. (Remember, I’m taking these notes as I go, section by section, so I reserve the right to realize later that I’m making incorrect assumptions and assertions! In other words, maybe I’m getting it wrong; feel free to tell me so.) In my last post, …..
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Ephemera, 8/15/23
August 15, 2023
I recently read Clare Carlisle’s biography of Kierkegaard; it was illuminating about Kierkegaard, but also a well-written and insightful work in its own right. She writes here about the way in which marriage impacted the life and work of both Kierkegaard and George Eliot. Of SK, she says: “Kierkegaard once wrote that marriage requires complete …..
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Laypeople of the World, Unite (I Mean, Unite Two Opposing Concepts and Hold Them in Tension)
August 14, 2023
Continuing with my (extremely slow) reading of Ellul’s Presence in the Modern World. There’s still a lot of Chapter 1 left, so if I don’t step up the pace, this book may take the better part of my remaining life to finish. And it’s not even a very long book! In the last post, I …..
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Ephemera, 8/13/23
August 13, 2023
The title I used for the last post came from a Philip K. Dick story I originally read in The Best Science Fiction of the Year #9. I bought a copy of that book when I was 10 or 11 from the paperback racks at a local discount store, and it remained in my possession …..