| Francis Schaeffer | |
|---|---|
Founder of the L'Abri community |
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| Born | January 30, 1912 Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Died | May 15, 1984 (aged 72) Rochester, Minnesota |
| Occupation | Christian philosopher and church leader |
| Spouse | Edith Seville |
| Children | Priscilla Sandri; Susan Macaulay; Debbie Middleman; Frank Schaeffer |
Francis August Schaeffer (30 January 1912 – 15 May 1984[1]) was an American Evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri community in Switzerland. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics which he believed would answer the questions of the age. A number of Christian leaders, authors, and evangelists credit Schaeffer's ideas with helping spark the rise of the Christian Right in the United States and were strongly influenced by him. Among them are Operation Rescue founder Randall Terry, Focus on the Family's James Dobson, the 700 Club's Pat Robertson, Prison Fellowship's Charles Colson, columnist Cal Thomas, preacher and author Tim LaHaye, former Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris, and Liberty University and Moral Majority founder Jerry Falwell [2].
Schaeffer's wife, Edith (Seville) Schaeffer, has become a prolific author in her own right.[3] Schaeffer was also the father of - and at times collaborator with, and at times the object of criticism from - Frank Schaeffer, an author, film-maker and painter.
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Schaeffer was born on January 30, 1912, in Germantown, Pennsylvania to Franz A. Schaeffer III and Bessie Williamson.[4]
In 1935, Schaeffer graduated magna cum laude from Hampden-Sydney College. The same year he married Edith Seville, the daughter of missionary parents who had been with China Inland Mission founded by Hudson Taylor. Schaeffer then enrolled at Westminster Theological Seminary in the fall and studied under Cornelius Van Til (presuppositional apologetics) and J. Gresham Machen (doctrine of inerrancy).
In 1937, Schaeffer transferred to Faith Theological Seminary, graduating in 1938. This seminary was newly formed as a result of a split in the Presbyterian Church of America (now the Orthodox Presbyterian Church) and the Bible Presbyterian Church, a Presbyterian denomination more identified with Fundamentalist Christianity and premillennialism. Schaeffer was the first student to graduate and the first to be ordained in the Bible Presbyterian Church. He served pastorates in Pennsylvania (Grove City and Chester) and St. Louis, Missouri. He later left the BPC and joined the Reformed Presbyterian Church, Evangelical Synod,[5] a forerunner of the Presbyterian Church in America, an evangelical denomination.
In 1948, the Schaeffer family moved to Switzerland and in 1955 established the community called L'Abri (French for "the shelter").[1][6] Serving as both a philosophy seminar and a spiritual community, L’Abri attracted thousands of young people, and was later expanded into Sweden, France, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In 1954, Schaeffer was awarded the honorary Doctor of Divinity degree from Highland College in Long Beach, California.[7]
In 1971, Schaeffer received the honorary Doctor of Letters degree from Gordon College in Wenham, Massachusetts.[8]
In 1982, John Warwick Montgomery nominated Schaeffer for an honorary Doctor of Laws degree, which was conferred in 1983 by the Simon Greenleaf School of Law, Anaheim, California in recognition of his apologetic writings and ministry.[9]
Schaeffer died of lymphoma on May 15, 1984, in Rochester, Minnesota.[10][11]
In contrast to Schaeffer's own experience as a single child of father with a third-grade education and a disappointed mother, he grew up with a drive to understand reality in its complexity, including the glorious and tragic human realities. He was deeply engaged in the lives of each of his four children, continuously available to them, showing and explaining art, history, city and country life, philosophy, Roman ruins and medieval and Renaissance efforts to civilize a damaged human history. He enjoyed watching people, engaging them in conversation and showing his children the joy and tragedy of human existence. He laid out for them the philosophic foundations of societies without being idealistic about any of them.
In Crazy for God, Schaeffer's son Frank presents a portrait of his father that is far more nuanced and multi-dimensional than was suggested by his public persona. He states, for example, that Schaeffer's primary passions in life were not the Bible and theology but rather art and culture. "And what moved him was not theology but beauty"(p. 140). Schaeffer's son claims he had frequent bouts with depression and a verbally and physically abusive relationship with his wife, Edith.[12] Those in the inner circle at L'Abri challenge Frank's account. Os Guinness, who lived with the Schaeffers and was a close friend of both the younger and elder Schaeffer, described Crazy for God as a "scurrilous caricature" and said, "[N]o one should take Frank's allegations at face value."[13]
Schaeffer's approach to Christian apologetics was primarily influenced by Herman Dooyeweerd, Edward John Carnell, and Cornelius Van Til, but he was not known to be a strict presuppositionalist in the Van Tillian tradition. His approach to culture was heavily influenced by his friendship with Hans Rookmaaker. In a 1948 article in The Bible Today, Schaeffer explained his own apologetics and how he walked a middle path between evidentialism and presuppositionalism, noting that "If the unsaved man was consistent he would be an atheist in religion, an irrationalist in philosophy (including a complete uncertainty concerning 'natural laws'), and completely a-moral in the widest sense."[14] J. Budziszewski summarizes the article about this middle path approach by writing:
Schaeffer came to use this middle path as the basis for his method of evangelism which he called Taking the roof off.[16] An example of Taking the roof off in written form can be found in Schaeffer's work entitled Death in the City.[17] Nancy Pearcey also describes two books by Schaeffer, Escape From Reason and The God Who Is There in this way:
In the 1960s Schaeffer read the works of Reconstructionist theologian Rousas John Rushdoony with appreciation, "and it is quite likely that Schaeffer’s belief that the United States was founded on a Christian base came in part from Rushdoony."[4] Schaeffer later lost this fervor because Rushdoony was a postmillennialist (holding the doctrine that the kingdom of God will be built on earth before the second coming of Jesus) while Schaeffer was a premillenialist (holding that the kingdom of God will only be ushered in with the second coming). Further Schaeffer thought that Rushdoony’s system would require a merger of church and state, which he opposed. He held that the principles, not the actual details, of Old Testament civil law were applicable under the New Covenant of Jesus. He wrote "The moral law [of the Old Testament], of course, is constant, but the civil law only was operative for the Old Testament theocracy. I do not think there is any indication of a theocracy in the New Testament until Christ returns as king."[4]
Today, roughly twenty-five years after his death (from lymphoma), his teachings continue in the same informal setting at The Francis A. Schaeffer Foundation in Gryon, Switzerland. It is led by one of his daughters and sons-in-law as a small-scale alternative to the original L'Abri Fellowship International which is still operating in nearby Huemoz-sur-Ollon and other places in the world. On the other hand, Schaeffer's son Frank Schaeffer initially supported his father's ideas and political program, but has since distanced himself from many of those views and has converted to the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Covenant Theological Seminary has established the Francis A. Schaeffer Institute directed by a former English L'Abri member, Jerram Barrs. The purpose of the school is to train Christians to demonstrate compassionately and defend reasonably what they see as the claims of Christ on all of life.[19]
Francis Schaeffer’s work and legacy continues today. In 1978, Schaeffer asked a group of Reformed Episcopal Clergy to research his thoughts and current trends, forming a church guild called “The Society of Reformed Philosophical Thinkers” that later in 1988 merged with “Into Thy Word Ministries,” also envisioned by Schaeffer, and then the remnants of the “Charles E. Fuller Institute” in 1998 were merged forming, “The Francis A. Schaeffer Institute of Church Leadership Development.” Its purpose is continuing the work which started in Carmel California as a think-tank and Bible literacy project, currently in Pasadena, Ca. This endeavor came into fruition the late 70's by Schaeffer’s personal bible study at L’Abri and his lectures worldwide which inspired a vision to strategize how to reach and train pastors and church leaders to focus on Christ centered principles. The vision continues for over thirty years and calls for a commitment to point the church back to “true-Truth” and “true spirituality” onto the path of making disciples. For the last twenty years they have been doing church and bible research in a deep doctoral level, not snapshots and phone surveys and publish comprehensive studies. And with ministry partners, develop comprehensive curriculums and equipping helps for pastors, church planters and church leaders. “It is our passion and directive to lead Christians away from our false perceptions and into His way.”
Schaeffer popularized, in the modern context, a conservative, though not a fully Calvinism|Reformed perspective.
Francis Schaeffer is credited with helping spark a return to political activism among Protestant evangelicals and fundamentalists in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially in relation to the issue of abortion. In his memoir Crazy for God, Schaeffer's son Frank takes credit for pressing his father to take on the abortion issue, which Schaeffer initially considered "too political."[12] Schaeffer called for a challenge to what he saw as the increasing influence of secular humanism. Schaeffer's views were expressed in two works, his book entitled A Christian Manifesto, as well as the book and film series, Whatever Happened to the Human Race?.
Schaeffer's A Christian Manifesto[20] was published in 1981. The name of the book is intended to position its thesis as a Christian answer to The Communist Manifesto of 1848 and the Humanist Manifesto documents of 1933 and 1973. Schaeffer's diagnosis is that the decline of Western Civilization is due to society having become increasingly pluralistic, resulting in a shift "away from a world view that was at least vaguely Christian in people’s memory... toward something completely different". Schaeffer argues that there is a philosophical struggle between the people of God and the secular humanists.
In a sermon also titled "A Christian Manifesto", Schaeffer defines secular humanism as the worldview where "man is the measure of all things," and in the book he claims that critics of the Christian Right miss the mark by confusing the "humanist religion" with humanitarianism, the humanities, or love of humans. He describes the conflict with secular humanism as a battle in which "these two religions, Christianity and humanism, stand over against each other as totalities." He writes that the decline of commitment to objective truth that he perceives in the various institutions of society is "not because of a conspiracy, but because the church has forsaken its duty to be the salt of the culture." Schaeffer explains:[21]
He then suggests that similar tactics be used to stop abortion. But Schaeffer argues he is not talking about a theocracy:
State officials must know that we are serious about stopping abortion,...First, we must make definite that we are in no way talking about any kind of theocracy. Let me say that with great emphasis. Witherspoon, Jefferson, the American Founders had no idea of a theocracy. That is made plain by the First Amendment, and we must continually emphasize the fact that we are not talking about some kind, or any kind, of a theocracy.[22]
Christian Reconstructionists Gary North and David Chilton were highly critical of A Christian Manifesto and Schaeffer.[23]
Their critical comments were prompted, they wrote, by the popularity of Schaeffer's book (pp. 116–17). They suggested that Schaeffer supports pluralism because he sees the First Amendment as freedom of religion for all; and they themselves reject pluralism (pp. 128–29). Pointing out negative statements Schaeffer made about theocracy, North and Chilton then explain why they promote it (pp. 121–22). They extend their criticism of Schaeffer:
Christian Right leaders such as Tim LaHaye have credited Schaeffer for influencing their theological arguments urging political participation by evangelicals.[24] Randall Terry, the founder of Operation Rescue, also acknowledged the influence of Schaeffer.
Beginning in the 1990s, critics began exploring the intellectual/ideological connection between Schaeffer’s political activism and writings of the early 1980s to contemporary religious-political trends in the Christian Right, sometimes grouped under the name Dominionism, with mixed conclusions.
Sara Diamond and Frederick Clarkson[25] have written articles tracing the activism of numerous key figures in the Christian Right to the influence of Francis Schaeffer. According to Diamond: "The idea of taking dominion over secular society gained widespread currency with the 1981 publication of...Schaeffer's book A Christian Manifesto. The book sold 290,000 copies in its first year, and it remains one of the movement's most frequently cited texts."[26] Diamond summarizes the book and its importance to the Christian Right:
Frederick Clarkson explains that this had practical applications:
Analyses of Schaeffer as the major intellectual influence on Dominionism can be found in the works of authors such as Diamond[28] and Chip Berlet.[29] Other authors argue against a close connection with dominionism, for example Irving Hexham of the University of Calgary, who maintains that Schaeffer's political position has been misconstrued as advocating the Dominionist views of R. J. Rushdoony, who is a Christian Reconstructionist. Hexham indicates that Schaeffer's essential philosophy was derived from Herman Dooyeweerd, not Rushdoony, and that Hans Rookmaaker introduced Schaeffer to his writings.[30] Dooyeweerd was a Dutch legal scholar and philosopher, following in the footsteps of Neo-Calvinist Abraham Kuyper.
Congresswoman and 2012 United States presidential candidate Michele Bachmann has cited Schaeffer's documentary series How Should We Then Live? as having a "profound influence" on her life and that of her husband Marcus.[31]
Francis A. Schaeffer wrote twenty-two books, which cover a range of spiritual issues. They can be roughly split into five sections, as in the edition of his Complete Works (ISBN 0-89107-347-7):
In addition to his books, one of the last public lectures Schaeffer delivered was at the Law Faculty, University of Strasbourg. It was published as "Christian Faith and Human Rights", The Simon Greenleaf Law Review, 2 (1982–83) pp. 3–12. Most of his writings during his Bible Presbyterian days have not been collected, nor reprinted in decades.
In addition to the five volume Complete Works listed above there were also two books by Dr. Schaeffer published after his death: