Macht has an informative post regarding alternative Neocalvinist views on Ellul, specifically those of Egbert Schuurman, who found Ellul’s critique of Technique rather useful. Schuurman, in fact, sounds almost Ellulian/Illichian in his perspective:

It needs to be understood that contemporary technological development in alliance with economics fosters materialism, threatens Christian spirituality, and renders life, including cultural life, shortsighted and shallow. There is little sensitivity, consequently, for the actual threats.

Despite the fundamental differences between himself and Ellul (specifically on the nature of the Cultural Mandate and the state of Creation before and after the fall), Schuurman sees the web that technology and economics weave around us, and how easy it is to become trapped in it. Even worse, we may attempt to support the alliance through our theology. It is this point that brings me into this discussion. I am less concerned with the nature of the Cultural Mandate, or the state of Creation before and after the Fall (as Ellul focuses on in his essay on Genesis)–I am concerned with how we use technology, especially as it encroaches on every aspect of our lives. Perhaps a study of Illich’s Tools for Conviviality would be in order.

Posted on 10 September 2006