Jaques Ellul's book The Meaning of the City was both a great surprise and an exciting read. A sociologist and a "lay" theologian, Jacques Ellul was able to see both the city and God from a unique perspective. It is amazing to learn that he was more popular among non-Christians due to his sharp criticism of the modern, technological society, than among Christian for his theology.
Starting with Genesis and finishing with Revelation, Ellul presents an amazingly comprehensive theology of the city. He points to the repeating patterns of human sin and rebellion exemplified in man's conscious self-alienation from God that culminates in creation of the city - an alternative environment of false security and temporal support for himself. Ellul follows this attitude as it grows and becomes a symbol of wickedness and a sign of divine judgment epitomized in the autonomous world system that became known as `Babylon, the Great.' Paradoxically, God adopts the city and changes her meaning as a place for His people to live and as an arena of His salvific activity. But human creation is inherently and ultimately seducing and inadequate, and therefore doomed to the eschatological fall. Still, God in His loving mercy and through His grace will reconcile and rebuild everything in the end. Both the city of human aspirations, this time of divine creation, and the paradise of God will coexist together as a fulfillment of God's purposes and a pinnacle of His intentions: His abiding presence with man.
Ellul's vision of the city at the present age is pessimistic. The city is a "concentration of all condemned activities" (page 48), a "repository of sin" (page 52) that can not be reformed since "applying the balm of Gilead won't help" (page 57). She has life, spirit and mind of her own and follows her own logic of power, economy and creativity. She devours her inhabitants throwing them in poverty, despair and anonymity while constantly demanding more human flesh. In this regard, Ellul differs considerably from others, like Bekke, who think that problem is in people and that by changing them the city will be changed. Ellul's opinion is that the inherent autonomous nature of the city is the issue and that repentance, though able to amend social sin does not touch the essence of the city. Therefore, we are called not to build the city, but to live in her (page 74), our participation is one humor not seriousness (page 181). As Abraham once saved Sodom (page 182), we should pray for the welfare of the city. But, when the time comes we should obey the voice that calls, "Come out of her, my people!" Only New Jerusalem will be place of tranquility and perfect communication with God (page 192).
Ellul did not use the Scriptures as a springboard to make a theological pie in the sky of preferred and selective reading. Instead he allowed the Bible to talk to him. He moved on armed with two important premises. First, that the Scripture is an essential unity, and second that paradoxically its text is both economical in expression and extremely rich in meaning. Therefore, Ellul is not easy to read. His every sentence is very dense and heavy loaded with deep reflection. In a painstaking manner, he does not leave any word of the biblical narrative unturned until all significance is explored and every meaning considered. And he does it covering a wide ground without slipping into allegorization or nonsense. While others might not be able to observe more than bare words and contradictions in the Bible, Ellul is a profound thinker who knows his text and can see in it wholeness, harmony and substance. Being so passionate in his exploration and exposition he speaks with powerful convictions and at times sounds like a prophet.
The Meaning of the City is a work of serious biblical scholarship. I find Elluls's method and premises compelling; and, therefore, essentially agree with his conclusions. The missing point though, in his approach is the lack of elaboration on the connection between Adam's sin and Cain's rebellion. It is obvious that sin and rebellion are not two separate issues, yet at the same time they can not be reduced to two different aspects of an essentially singular problem. Rather, they are steps or stages in a process or evolution of the initial disobedience. In the background of both is death: in Adam and Eves' case a "suicide," and in Cain's case the murder of Abel. The consequence of the first was lost communion with God, the consequence of the second was a conscious rejection of the communion with God. Adam lives as a peasant in the vicinity of Eden, Cain moves away and builds a city. With Adam the sickness begins, and with Cain it is already an acute disease. Therefore, the city is both the symptom and the chronic stage of the progressively sinful human state that only God can rectify.
The Meaning of the City is a book that raises some troubling issues apart from its message for several reasons. John Wilkinson in his introduction gives almost a wholesale apology for Ellul's holistic approach to the Scriptures. This attitude can indeed be found later on in Ellul's words referring to the same point. His embarrassment for taking the text of the Bible as a consistent and coherent historical, though theological message is obvious. The fact that forty years ago, when the book was written, the winds of theological liberalism were still present and probably strong enough to compel one to take a distance vis-à-vis the Scriptures still does not justify need for self-flagellation. Especially so, since Ellul does not waver in his holistic approach.
Related to this is the treatment of Ellul as essentially a "lay" theologian, or a fossilized remnant of the ages past. Considering that The Meaning of the City is a comprehensive and coherent theological book it raises questions concerning its intended audience and nature of the theology itself. The answer to the first question is related to the policies of the publisher, who obviously struggled with how to classify Ellul, thus the choice of Wilkinson and his words. But, the question what is theology, or how to do theology is beyond Wilkinson's judgment.
The third and most disturbing issue related to the book is the quiet disregard of its content by the evangelical theologians. Ellul has sufficiently demonstrated that a consistent concept of the city can be found throughout the Bible regardless of the genre and date of a particular book. The place, validity and value of his ideas can be and should be discussed, but they deserve more than to be ignored by those to whom they should be relevant. The problematic that he so eloquently touched is not treated either in dogmatic theology or works on urban theology per se. Sadly, the silence surrounding Ellul's observations, conclusions and suggested solutions is deafening. As for me, his book will definitely hold a respectful place in my library.
Loading your book clubs
There was a problem loading your book clubs. Please try again.
Not in a club? Learn more
Join or create book clubs
Choose books together
Track your books
Bring your club to Amazon Book Clubs, start a new book club and invite your friends to join, or find a club that’s right for you for free.
Download the free Kindle app and start reading Kindle books instantly on your smartphone, tablet, or computer - no Kindle device required.
Read instantly on your browser with Kindle for Web.
Using your mobile phone camera - scan the code below and download the Kindle app.
Book recommendations, author interviews, editors' picks, and more. Read it now.
Similar items that may deliver to you quickly
Page 1 of 1 Start overPage 1 of 1
About the author
Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.
