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Anarchy and Christianity QUOTES

Anarchy and Christianity QUOTES

1 " No matter what God's power may be, the first aspect of God is never that of the absolute Master, the Almighty. It is that of the God who puts himself on our human level and limits himself. "

― Jacques Ellul , Anarchy and Christianity

2 " And the extraordinary thing is that according to these texts all powers, all the power and glory of the kingdoms, all that has to do with politics and political authority, belongs to the devil. It has all been given to him and he gives it to whom he wills. Those who hold political power receive it from him and depend upon him. (It is astonishing that in the innumerable theological discussions of the legitimacy of political power, no one has ever adduced these texts! [Matthew 4:8-9; Luke 4:6-7]) This fact is no less important than the fact that Jesus rejects the devil's offer. Jesus does not say to the devil: It is not true. You do not have power over kingdoms and states. He does not dispute this claim. He refuses the offer of power because the devil demands that he should fall down before him. This is the sole point when he says: 'You shall worship the Lord your God and you shall serve him, only him' (Matthew 4:10). We may thus say that among Jesus' immediate followers and in the first Christian generation political authorities - what we call the state - belonged to the devil and those who held power received it from him. "

― Jacques Ellul , Anarchy and Christianity

3 " What seems to be one of the disasters of our time is that we all appear to agree that the nation-state is the norm... Whether the state be Marxist or capitalist, it makes no difference. The dominant ideology is that of sovereignty. "

― Jacques Ellul , Anarchy and Christianity

4 " [Politics] is always a means of conquering others and exercising power over them. "

― Jacques Ellul , Anarchy and Christianity

5 " No matter what God's power may be, the first aspect of God is never that of absolute Master, the Almighty. It is that of the God who puts himself on our human level and limits himself. "

― Jacques Ellul , Anarchy and Christianity

6 " Faith has to come to birth as a free act, not a forced one. Otherwise it has no meaning. "

― Jacques Ellul , Anarchy and Christianity