“I do not insist that you live in the mountains and the deserts but that you be good and moderate and chaste, while dwelling in the midst of the city” (Chrysostom, Homilies on Matthew).
Let Us Make a Name
“And it is this solidarity in a name, this unity in separation from God, which was to keep men from ever again being separated on earth. And the sign and symbol of this enterprise is the city they wanted to build together” (Ellul, The Meaning of the City, p. 16).
Conflict Early On
But “we can already perceive the extraordinary declaration that the city is the great enemy of the church” (Jacques Ellul, The Meaning of the City, p. 15).
Conqueror and Builder
“Urban civilization is warring civilization. Conqueror and builder are no longer distinct. Both are included in one man, and both are an expression of that desire for the might which is revolt against the Lord. The Scriptures have given us here one more secret about the city. And our modern world hardly gives it the …
Symbiotic Sin
“All of man’s history is not limited to the history of the city and its progress. But they have nevertheless intermingled, and neither can be understood alone” (Jacques Ellul, The Meaning of the City, p. 8).
An Alter Eden
“The city is the direct consequence of Cain’s murderous act and of his refusal to accept God’s protection. Cain has built a city. For God’s Eden, he substitutes his own . . .” (Jacques Ellul, The Meaning of the City, p. 5).
Then or Now
As Edmund in Mansfield Park put it, “We do not look in great cities for our best morality”