The Subversion of Christianity

Rating:
Summary: A Challenging Work for all Christian Scholars
Review: Jacques Ellul is the author of some forty books, and this one lives up to the high standards that he sets with each one. "The Subversion of Christianity" is an Academic work that is both challenging to read, and thought consuming, but for a true Christian Scholar, beyond the difficult prose lies a strong arguement against the current state of Christianity today. Ellul refutes several issues of the church such as morality, anti-feminism and practices to show that Christianity of the current world is a complete contradiction of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Ellul does not waver in pointing out the causes of this subversion, and supports his thesis with a wealth of knowledge and resources. The purpose of Ellul's work is of course, the repairation of the church and the obedience to the revelation of Christ.

Rating:
Summary: A Challenging Work for all Christian Scholars
Review: Jacques Ellul is the author of some forty books, and this one lives up to the high standards that he sets with each one. "The Subversion of Christianity" is an Academic work that is both challenging to read, and thought consuming, but for a true Christian Scholar, beyond the difficult prose lies a strong arguement against the current state of Christianity today. Ellul refutes several issues of the church such as morality, anti-feminism and practices to show that Christianity of the current world is a complete contradiction of the revelation of Jesus Christ. Ellul does not waver in pointing out the causes of this subversion, and supports his thesis with a wealth of knowledge and resources. The purpose of Ellul's work is of course, the repairation of the church and the obedience to the revelation of Christ.

Rating:
Summary: an important work for all contemporary church-lovers
Review: When I first read this book, so many things fell into place that I've been buying up copies and giving them to my friends to read. Ellul ably holds to the essential core of Christian teaching while showing how the church throughout history has consistently been led away from truly living out the gospel -- whether by outside forces or by the weight of its own success, the church has continually done exactly the opposite of what the New Testament writers tell us to do. This book is fairly easy to read, and is very straightforward: Ellul takes us through some of the most important missteps in church history and shows how the good news of Grace and Freedom was forced to the side, even with the best of intentions. Ellul challenges us to find a new way of living out the Gospel, without either conforming ourselves to our present age or rejecting the essential elements of Christian doctrine. If the church is to have any effect, he says, we must return to our origins as a group of subversive individuals who refuse to play along with society's expectations. Only by being subversive ourselves (as all the heroes of faith have been), can we return Christianity to its place as bearer of good news to a world which needs to hear it.