Abstract

Almost without exception, interpretations of Jacques Ellul’s work focus either on his sociopolitical thought or on his Christian reflections. However, each one drives the other, thereby exposing how we collectively journey through time and reality on amagic carpet of myths (in the sense of cultural anthropology). Ellul challenges us to give up these myths and face the relational character of our being in the world, which leads to an iconoclasm and a need for genuine reference points for life. Turning this into a theoretical system of any kind (be it sociopolitical, philosophical, or theological) is a negation of life and an invitation to a new totalitarianism.