Prophet of Reconciliation

"Ellul speaks to our guts and our heads." Against the racial division and violence rampant in the American South in the 1960s, a group of Christians called the Committee of Southern Churchmen preached a powerful message of radical reconciliation. They published a journal, Katallagete (Be reconciled), inviting intellectuals, theologians, sociologists, and writers of many stripes into dialogue about the need to discover new communal forms to encourage renewed spiritual life. Foremost among these voices was the French sociologist and theologian Jacques Ellul (1912-1994). Ellul's writings struck them as a timely prophetic word with the power to overturn the divisions which plagued America. His singular influence led them to dub Ellul the "patron saint of the Committee of Southern Churchmen." This volume collects ten of Ellul's articles published in Katallagete from 1968-1987. Here we find the fruitful tension between sociology and theology which characterizes Ellul's works presented in a nutshell. With a foreword from renowned theologian Gabriel Vahanian, and an introduction which situates the articles in Ellul's thought, in their own time, and in our own, this volume invites the reader to careful reflection on what faithfulness to the priestly vocation of the Christian looks like in a fragmented world.

About the Author :
Jacob Marques Rollison is co-president of the International Jacques Ellul Society. He is co-author of Jacques Ellul in the Cascade Companions series and has translated Ellul's two-volume work To Will & To Do: An Introduction to Christian Ethics. He serves as a worker at L'Abri Fellowship in Huemoz, Switzerland.

Review :
"Prophet of Reconciliation provides timely access to some of Jacques Ellul's crucial but more obscure essays. The editors offer a truly excellent introduction to a neglected movement within Ellul's American reception. In a cultural moment characterized by 'Lust for Power' (one of these vital essays), this book not only enhances understanding of Ellul; it also speaks powerfully and provocatively about the church's reconciling mission."
--Daniel J. Treier, Knoedler Professor of Theology, Wheaton College

"This is a valuable book for our deeply polarized, increasingly violent, and highly confused times. Where might we turn for much-needed social, political, and theological insight? Once again, the time has come to listen carefully to Jacques Ellul, one of the twentieth century's leading Christian thinkers. Ellul's provocations always spark fresh thinking and invite readers into constructive, searching dialogue. This readable volume is a welcome and accessible addition to the growing corpus of Ellul's writings."
--Jeffrey P. Greenman, Research Professor of Theology and Ethics, Regent College

"In this wonderful essay collection, editor Marques Rollison presents an Ellul inspired by the doctrine of the incarnation and the existentialist experience of alienation--the world is 'both loved and lost.' In today's climate of 'culture wars, ' this is a blueprint for a beautiful rapprochement. The reader finds Ellul an astute sociologist, but also an insightful theologian of anarchy, or love-against-power. Ellul calls for an awakening of Christianity--especially as a response the broken promises of modernity."
--Sarah Louise MacMillen, Associate Professor, Department of Sociology, Duquesne University