The Subversion of Christianity

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The Subversion of Christianity is an essay written in 1984 by Jacques Ellul and published by Éditions du Seuil. Released four years before Anarchy and Christianity, it offers a anarchist and Christian reflection on Christianity.

The author argues that the message and actions of Jesus were fundamentally radical and anti-political. These, however, would have been corrupted through various dynamics, including Christians’ participation in the State and their increasing collusion with money. Ellul also presents feminist ideas, notably suggesting that the centrality of Mary in Christianity contributed to the establishment of patriarchy by creating a distinction between "ordinary" women and the mother of Jesus.