The Humiliation of the Word

2021-10-14 Religion

Author : Jacques Ellul
Release : 2021-10-14
Genre : Religion
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 563/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Humiliation of the Word by : Jacques Ellul

Download or read book The Humiliation of the Word written by Jacques Ellul. This book was released on 2021-10-14. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “Western people no longer hear; everything is grasped by sight. They no longer speak; they show.” -- Jacques Ellul Well-known for his many books on sociology and theology, Jacques Ellul creatively braids these two strands together in this provocative examination of how reality (which is visual) has superseded truth (which is verbal) in modern times. Ellul explores biblical texts for distinguishing visual cultural forms from the communicative (divine and human) Word, then examines how this distinction plays out with the rise of audiovisual media in the 20th-century West. Even in human speech, visual forms dominate contemporary life and devalue the word; this insight informs discussion of the image/word clash in religion, politics, and art. After a scathing critique of present-day idolatry, Ellul places his hope for nonviolent community in the fragile spoken word. Ultimately, Ellul sees the Bible as presenting a hopeful vision of reconciliation—between visual reality and spoken truth. A new afterword by Jacob Marques Rollison contextualizes Ellul’s stance within French postmodern thought, illuminating Humiliation of the Word as an outspokenly “Protestant communication ethic” in contemporary philosophical and theological discussions of language.

Humiliation

2011-08-02 Biography & Autobiography

Author : Wayne Koestenbaum
Release : 2011-08-02
Genre : Biography & Autobiography
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 289/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Humiliation by : Wayne Koestenbaum

Download or read book Humiliation written by Wayne Koestenbaum. This book was released on 2011-08-02. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Wayne Koestenbaum considers the meaning of humiliation in this eloquent work of cultural critique and personal reflection. The lives of people both famous and obscure are filled with scarlet-letter moments when their dirty laundry sees daylight. In these moments we not only witness the reversibility of "success," of prominence, but also come to visceral terms with our own vulnerable selves. We can't stop watching the scene of shame, identifying with it and absorbing its nearness, and relishing our imagined immunity from its stain, even as we acknowledge the universal, embarrassing predicament of living in our own bodies. With an unusual, disarming blend of autobiography and cultural commentary, noted poet and critic Wayne Koestenbaum takes us through a spectrum of mortifying circumstances—in history, literature, art, current events, music, film, and his own life. His generous disclosures and brilliant observations go beyond prurience to create a poetics of abasement. Inventive, poignant, erudite, and playful, Humiliation plunges into one of the most disquieting of human experiences, with reflections at once emboldening and humane.

The Betrayal of the West

1978 Civilization, Modern

Author : Jacques Ellul
Release : 1978
Genre : Civilization, Modern
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : /5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Betrayal of the West by : Jacques Ellul

Download or read book The Betrayal of the West written by Jacques Ellul. This book was released on 1978. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jacques Ellul is primarily known for his insightful critiques of Western culture. His recent books describe the "new demons" let loose upon the contemporary world by the double-edged achievements of science and industry. But he asserts in this latest book, the critics have gone too far. The West is the victim of a betrayal--that of its own children. Its intellectuals, most notably those of the Left, are necessarily that products of a civilized society. Yet they so loudly reproach this civilization for the atrocities and the destruction of rich local culture which have accompanied its growth that we are deaf to the reasoned voice which proclaims our debts to this Western tradition. When Ellul acknowledges the validity of many of these accusations, in The Betrayal Of The West he points out that they are not peculiar to the West, that they are indeed inherent in the growth of any civilization. And Ellul, as an historian, is a lover of civilization. He especially emphasizes the importance of the legacy of our own civilization. We are indebted to the West for our concepts of freedom, equality, and above all, the idea of the individual. In his words, "The West represents values for which there is no substitute. The West is a past, a difference, a shared history, and a shared human project ... The end of the West today would mean the end of any possible civilization." The Betrayal of the West explores the need for defense as well as critique of our culture. It explains the origins of the contradiction at the heart of Western Civilization and traces the course of this dialectic in three supreme chapters constructed around metaphors which correspond to the promise, the challenge, and, ultimately, the failure of the political left in Western societies.

Anarchy and Christianity

2011-05-18 Religion

Author : Jacques Ellul
Release : 2011-05-18
Genre : Religion
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 714/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis Anarchy and Christianity by : Jacques Ellul

Download or read book Anarchy and Christianity written by Jacques Ellul. This book was released on 2011-05-18. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Jacque Ellul blends politics, theology, history, and exposition in this analysis of the relationship between political anarchy and biblical faith. While he clarifies the views of each and how they can be related, his aim is not to proselytize either anarchists into Christianity or Christians into anarchy. On the one hand, suggests Ellul, anarchists need to understand that much of their criticism of Christianity applies only to the form of religion that developed, not to biblical faith. Christians, on the other hand, need to look at the biblical texts and not reject anarchy as a political option, for it seems closest to biblical thinking. After charting the background of his own interest in the subject, Ellul defines what he means by anarchy: the nonviolent repudiation of authority. He goes on to look at the Bible as the source of anarchy (in the sense of nondomination, not disorder), working through Old Testament history, Jesus' ministry, and finally the early church's view of power as reflected in the New Testament writings.

The Word of the Speechless

2019-10-22 Fiction

Author : Julio Ramón Ribeyro
Release : 2019-10-22
Genre : Fiction
Kind : eBook
Book Rating : 238/5 ( reviews)

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Book Synopsis The Word of the Speechless by : Julio Ramón Ribeyro

Download or read book The Word of the Speechless written by Julio Ramón Ribeyro. This book was released on 2019-10-22. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Available in English for the first time, a collection of deeply humane stories depicting marginalized populations by one of the greatest South American writers of the 20th century. The Peruvian writer Julio Ramón Ribeyro is one of the masters of the short story and a major contributor to the great flourishing of Latin American literature that followed the Second World War. In a letter to an editor, Ribeyro said about his stories, “in most of [them] those who are deprived of words in life find expression—the marginalized, the forgotten, those condemned to an existence without harmony and without voice. I have restored to them the breath they’ve been denied, and I’ve allowed them to modulate their own longings, outbursts, and distress.” This is work of deep humanity, imbued with a disorienting lyricism that is Ribeyro’s alone. The Word of the Speechless, edited and translated by Katherine Silver, introduces readers to an indispensable and unforgettable voice of Latin American fiction.

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