Posted on 05/17/2009 7:39:41 AM PDT by Alex Murphy
Today is the 25th anniversary of the death of Francis Schaeffer. I find that so much of what Schaeffer wrote about has increased in relevancy since his death. In many areas—bioethics, sexuality, philosophy, media, culture—his words often seem chilling in their prophetic accuracy.
I most appreciate Schaeffer for his “whole man” emphasis, that the lordship of Christ is universal over all things and every aspect of humanity.
Here is a great quote from his book Art and the Bible:
The lordship of Christ over the whole of life means that there are no platonic areas in Christianity, no dichotomy or hierarchy between the body and the soul. God made the body as well as the soul and redemption is for the whole man. Evangelicals have been legitimately criticized for often being so tremendously interested in seeing souls get saved and go to heaven that they have not cared much about the whole man. The Bible, however, makes four things very clear: (1) God made the whole man, (2) in Christ the whole man is redeemed, (3) Christ is the Lord of the whole man now and the Lord of the whole Christian life, and (4) in the future as Christ comes back, the body will be raised from the dead and the whole man will have a whole redemption. It is within this framework that we are to understand the place of art in the Christian life. Therefore, let us consider more fully what it means to be a whole man whose whole life is under the lordship of Christ.
(1) God made the whole man,
(2) in Christ the whole man is redeemed,
(3) Christ is the Lord of the whole man now and the Lord of the whole Christian life, and
(4) in the future as Christ comes back, the body will be raised from the dead and the whole man will have a whole redemption.
So if you wanted to read a book of his, which one would you start with?
I remember also the first line from a book by Mark Knoll that Schaeffer would (probably) have agreed with.
“the problem with the evangelical mind is that there is not much of an evangelical mind” (hope my memory serves me well on that one).
BTTT in appreciation for all that Francis Schaeffer contributed to Christianity.
keeper
Francis Schaeffer was one the most profound Christian writer
of our times. (Alone with C.S. Lewis)
My wife,now almost 73,was saved under his ministry at a children’s summer camp in southern Indiana.(Back in about 1946 or 1947, when she was about 10 or 11 years old, All before he became so well known..
We have read most of his books and saw most of his films. They should be available in every home and church library.
Thank you for post and reminder of the anniversary of his death. And we give thanks for Francis and his wife Edith, and their children for their life and ministry for our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
When we were dating my husband and I attended a conference with Schaeffer and Koop, and I can’t recall which one it was, but it was excellent.
But I had previously heard him speak several times, and the sermon that sticks out in my mind was a sunrise service at the Miami Marine Stadium on Key Biscayne (this would have been late 70’s.) I can still remember phrases from the sermon to this day, it was on the reality of salvation.
Your available choices are few, as there aren't many of his books still in print. He wrote at least 24 books that I know of (and have read). His earliest books (60s, early 70s), form something of a "trilogy" (The God Who Is There, Escape From Reason, and He Is There and He Is Not Silent), and are perennially in print. His middle-era books (70s, Death And The City, The Church At The End of the 20th Century, Art And The Bible, The Mark of The Christian among them) largely took those earliest works, and applied them to specific areas of life and culture, while his last decade in books (among them Whatever Happened To The Human Race, A Christian Manifesto, The Great Evangelical Disaster) provided much of the intellectual and theological ammunition used by the "Christian Right" political movement of the 1980s. A new book was recently published for the first time, The Finished Work of Christ, although I haven't read it yet.
If I had to recommend starting somewhere, I would find a copy of his book The Church Before The Watching World. It's short, won't tax the brain, and covers at a high level many of the themes that he uses in his larger books. If you like what you find there, you'll be prepared for his larger, more apologetic-themed works. If you don't like it, your time invested will be minimal.
My second choice would be to read The Mark of The Christian online.
Related threads you might want to check out:
BAPTISM, by Francis Schaeffer [Schaeffer's defense of paedobaptism]
Gradually My Thinking Has Changed - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
On Resting - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
A Root Planted in a Garden - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
On Sickness - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
The Art of Spiritual Growth - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
No Perfect People, Physically or Psychologically - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
Being Angry at God - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
Something with Both Usefulness and Beauty - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
On Knowing the Presence of God - from The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer
There are others, but I've run out of time :D
He was a good man, if an imperfect father.
His son really has gone off the deep end.
I respected FS from the first time I picked up “How Shall We Then Live?” He was my first exposure to well-known Christian “intellectualism”.
He may not have been the best, but he was certainly a man whose heart was open to showing the lost how to find their way, with the Spirit’s help, back to God.
Very well put. I was thinking of posting something along those lines, but you have stated it more artfully (and diplomatically) than I could, so I'll just endorse your comment.
AMEN! AMEN!
Have you seen THE TRUTH PROJECT with Del Tacket sp? put out by FOCUS ON THE FAMILY?
I think even better than Schaeffer’s HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE film series . . . more thorough, if possible, more practically oriented, I think.
Both are excellent.
Get some of his audio tapes [either from L’Abri or a seminary] or watch the video series “How Shall We Then Live.”
ping
He might not have been a great Dad, but his son is definitely a schmuck. I am not willing to blame the father for the sins of the son, or vice versa.
Wow...very harsh. What’s wrong with his son? Is he in prison, or an athiest?
We can't ignore the teaching of scripture on the subject. For example, a leader must be '...a man whose children believe and are not open to the charge of being wild and disobedient.' Titus 1:6 and I Timothy 3:4 "He must manage his own household well, with all dignity keeping his children submissive"
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