The Meaning of the City
E448938
The Meaning of the City is a theological and sociological study by Jacques Ellul that explores the city as a symbol of human rebellion against God and a central locus of modern alienation and idolatry.
All labels observed (1)
| Label | Occurrences |
|---|---|
| The Meaning of the City canonical | 1 |
How this entity was disambiguated
This entity first appeared as the object of triple T4515031 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.
NED1
Entity disambiguation (via context triple)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Meaning of the City Context triple: [Jacques Ellul, notableWork, The Meaning of the City]
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A.
The City
The City is a common nickname for Manhattan, the densely populated and iconic borough of New York City known for its skyscrapers, cultural landmarks, and role as a global financial and media hub.
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B.
The City
"The City" is an atmospheric, synthesizer-driven track by Vangelis that showcases his signature cinematic and electronic sound.
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C.
The City
The City is a 1919–1920 Cubist painting by Fernand Léger that depicts the dynamism and fragmentation of modern urban life through bold colors and geometric forms.
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D.
The City
The City is the English title of Surah Al-Balad, a chapter of the Qur’an that reflects on the challenges of human life and the moral path of righteousness.
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E.
The City
The City was a short-lived late-1960s folk-rock trio featuring Carole King that blended pop, rock, and soul influences and is often remembered as an early showcase of her songwriting and performing talents.
- F. None of above. chosen
- G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.
NED2
Entity disambiguation (via description)
gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07
Target entity: The Meaning of the City Target entity description: The Meaning of the City is a theological and sociological study by Jacques Ellul that explores the city as a symbol of human rebellion against God and a central locus of modern alienation and idolatry.
-
A.
The City
The City is a common nickname for Manhattan, the densely populated and iconic borough of New York City known for its skyscrapers, cultural landmarks, and role as a global financial and media hub.
-
B.
The City
"The City" is an atmospheric, synthesizer-driven track by Vangelis that showcases his signature cinematic and electronic sound.
-
C.
The City
The City is a 1919–1920 Cubist painting by Fernand Léger that depicts the dynamism and fragmentation of modern urban life through bold colors and geometric forms.
-
D.
The City
The City is the English title of Surah Al-Balad, a chapter of the Qur’an that reflects on the challenges of human life and the moral path of righteousness.
-
E.
The City
The City was a short-lived late-1960s folk-rock trio featuring Carole King that blended pop, rock, and soul influences and is often remembered as an early showcase of her songwriting and performing talents.
- F. None of above. chosen
Statements (42)
| Predicate | Object |
|---|---|
| instanceOf |
book
ⓘ
sociological study ⓘ theological study ⓘ |
| analyzes |
Babel
ⓘ
Babylon ⓘ Jerusalem ⓘ Nineveh ⓘ biblical cities ⓘ |
| author | Jacques Ellul ⓘ |
| centralTheme |
judgment and grace in relation to the city
ⓘ
the city as locus of alienation ⓘ the city as locus of idolatry ⓘ the city as symbol of human rebellion against God ⓘ |
| countryOfOrigin | France ⓘ |
| critiques |
modern urban civilization
ⓘ
technological society ⓘ |
| discipline |
sociology
ⓘ
theology ⓘ |
| hasPerspectiveOn |
relationship between city and redemption
ⓘ
relationship between city and sin ⓘ spiritual meaning of urban life ⓘ |
| influencedField |
Christian social thought
ⓘ
religion and society studies ⓘ urban theology ⓘ |
| language | French ⓘ |
| mainSubject |
alienation
ⓘ
biblical interpretation ⓘ idolatry ⓘ modernity ⓘ sociology of the city ⓘ theology of the city ⓘ urbanization ⓘ |
| originalTitle | La signification de la ville ⓘ |
| relatedWorkByAuthor |
The Presence of the Kingdom
ⓘ
The Technological Society ⓘ |
| religiousPerspective | Christianity ⓘ |
| theologicalPerspective | Reformed Christianity ⓘ |
| usesMethod |
biblical theology
ⓘ
sociological analysis ⓘ |
| viewOnCity |
the city can also be a place where God’s grace is manifested
ⓘ
the city concentrates human power and autonomy ⓘ the city intensifies human estrangement from God ⓘ |
How these facts were elicited
The pipeline generated the facts above by prompting gpt-5.1 with this entity's name + description and the instruction below.
Instruction
You are a knowledge base construction expert. Given a subject entity and a description of it, return factual statements that you know for the subject as a JSON list of dictionaries(triples), where keys must be "subject", "predicate" and "object". The number of facts may be very high, between 25 to 50 or more, for very popular subjects. For less popular subjects, the number of facts can be very low, like 5 or 10. # Requirements - If you don't know the subject at all, return an empty list. - If the subject is not a named entity, return an empty list. - Include at least one triple where predicate is "instanceOf". - Do not get too wordy. - Separate several objects into multiple triples with one object.
Input
Subject: The Meaning of the City Description of subject: The Meaning of the City is a theological and sociological study by Jacques Ellul that explores the city as a symbol of human rebellion against God and a central locus of modern alienation and idolatry.
Referenced by (1)
Full triples — surface form annotated when it differs from this entity's canonical label.