Michael Morelli: Jacques Ellul & the Technological Society

Homebrewed Christianity

Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 13 July 2024

⏱️ 101 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On this episode, I am joined by a leading Jacques Ellul scholar, Dr. Michael Morreli, as we unpack his reflections on technology, idolatry, modernity, and Christian Anarchism. If you enjoy the conversation, check out his book Theology, Ethics, and Technology in the Work of Jacques Ellul and Paul Virilio. Michael Morelli is Assistant Professor of Theology & Ethics and Program Manager, Life-Long Learning at Northwest Seminary & College (a founding member of ACTS Seminaries, and affiliate of Trinity Western University). He holds a PhD in Theological Ethics from the University of Aberdeen, Scotland, is the author of Theology, Ethics, and Technology in the Work of Jacques Ellul and Paul Virilio: A Nascent Theological Tradition (2021), and editor of Desert, Wilderness, Wasteland, and Word: A New Essay by Jacques Ellul and Five Critical Engagements (2023). He publishes and presents on a variety of topics within the fields of theology, morality, culture, politics, and technology. He has also worked in local church ministry and continues to serve the church in a lay capacity. Follow Michael’s work on Twitter: @mchlmorelli 00:00 Introduction to the Podcast and Dr. Morelli 04:31 Michael Morelli's Academic Journey 14:03 Jacques Ellul's Background and Influences 19:25 Understanding Technique and Its Implications 32:28 The Idol of Technology and Its Consequences 37:09 Power Dynamics and Non-Power in Modernity 46:54 The Dark Side of Innovation 47:12 War and Technology: A Chilling Connection 48:04 Propaganda and Political Power 51:29 The Seduction of Technology 54:39 The Role of Idols in Modern Society 57:42 The Ethics of War and Political Decisions 01:00:38 The Future of Technology and Society 01:14:16 Christian Anarchism and Local Governance 01:22:47 Hope and Despair in Modern Times 01:36:26 Upcoming Projects and Final Thoughts WATCH THE CONVERSATION HERE Join my Substack - Process This! Join our upcoming class - THE GOD OF THE BIBLE: An Absolutely Clear and Final Guide to Ultimate Mystery ;) Come to THEOLOGY BEER CAMP. Follow the podcast, drop a review, send feedback/questions or become a member of the HBC Community. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	What is up theology nerds? This is Tripp.
0:04.5	And today on the Homebrewed Christianity podcast, we are joined by Michael Morelli.
0:10.7	He's the assistant professor of theology, culture, and ethics at Northwest Seminary, which is in Canada.
0:19.5	And we're going to be talking about artificial intelligence, technology, and the wisdom, the challenge, the profundity of Jacques-a-Loul, a brilliant philosopher, social critic, and Christian anarchist who wrestled directly with just what technology was doing,
0:40.9	how it created us as we created it, and raised a series of critical and suspicious questions
0:47.9	about the future of humanity, civilization, and our relations as modernity and its obsession and connection the technology
0:57.1	revealed itself in Auschwitz and through the dropping of nuclear bombs. He invites us to
1:04.0	wrestle with it then and again today in light of the increasing kinds of technological challenges, AIs We've been this.
1:13.7	Conversations an exciting one is part of our artificial intelligence series.
1:19.1	And if you enjoy it, if you want to hear more of it, get the resources we've been putting together, extended additions,
1:28.4	add free versions of the podcast,
1:30.1	and just head over to process this.substack.com.
1:35.0	Join up.
1:36.1	It's good stuff, and we are wrestling with the question of artificial intelligence
1:40.6	for multiple disciplines.
1:43.2	And very excited to have Michael on the podcast.
1:46.1	I absolutely love this book and the little guided tour of Jacques
1:51.1	Olull's work that we ended up on.
1:54.2	Before we hop in, if you are saying to yourself, Trip, I love, nerding out, with my geek
1:59.2	out, I just don't want to go to a school and end up
2:04.2	with a large amount of debt well well well well well we've done over 45 different classes at
2:10.2	homebrewd christianity and guess what guess what guess what oh you're right they're all now available
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Dr. Tripp Fuller | Theologian, Philosopher, Minister and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.