“Modern man can no longer have confidence in the virtues of the individual, in his kindness, or his energy, because we are no longer confronted by individual sins but by the state of sin of humanity.”

[What I hear in this is the echo of systemic evil, systemic injustice, rather than individual evil/piety which we in American Christianity have tended to focus on]

https://www.gatheringinlight.com/jacques-ellul-the-presence-of-the-kingdom/

#jacquesellul #resistingempire

“…we must give up the idea that we can decrease our sin by our virtues…At the same time, if we take this situation of the Christian seriously, we must refuse to further the disintegrating tendency in the world. We must not say to ourselves, ‘We can’t do anything about it!”

#jacquesellul #resistingempire

“the Christian must not act in exactly the same way as everyone else. [They have] a part to play in this world which no one else can possibly fulfill. [They are] note asked to look at the various movements which men have started, choose those which seem ‘good,’ and then support them. [They are] not asked to give his blessing to any particular human enterprise, nor to support the decisions of man.”

#jacquesellul #resistingempire