Bitesize Biographies: Francis Schaeffer by Mostyn Roberts

Bitesize Biographies: Francis Schaeffer,

Mostyn Roberts, EP Books, 2012, 144pp

As a young believer I would often make my way to the Evangelical Movement of Wales’ Christian Bookshop that sat in Wyndham Arcade, Cardiff (now closed). That was when Amazon was simply the name of a  river and books had to be bought from retail outlets in shopping centres. The old EMW bookshop was a like a lush, palm strewn oasis to my knowledge-thirsty soul. Many of the books that helped shaped my developing theological outlook were bought there. It was from that shop I purchased The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer. I can't remember what possessed me to invest in Schaeffer. Maybe it was reading Christopher Catherwood's Five Evangelical Leaders (Hodder and Stoughton) that put me on to him.  Francis Schaeffer was one of the 'Big Five' alongside Martyn Lloyd-Jones, John Stott, J. I. Packer and Billy Graham. 

Anyway, in my lunch breaks at British Steel Orb Works, Newport I began to make my way through the five brightly coloured volumes. Volume 1 contained the seminal trilogy, The God Who Is There, Escape From Reason and He Is There and He Is Not Silent. In these writings Francis Schaeffer offered a penetrating and far-sighted analysis of Western culture, exposing trends in philosophy, science and the arts to the scrutiny of biblical truth. His apologetic method involved giving honest answers to honest questions and showing the absurdity of unbelief when taken to its logical conclusion.

At a time when Evangelicals tended to be rather pietistic, with little interest in politics, the arts and culture, Schaeffer developed a rigorously biblical worldview that enabled him to engage with the world with critical, yet gracious honesty. He was no narrow-minded Fundamentalist, yet he robustly defended the inerrancy of the Bible and championed supernatural Christianity. Schaeffer was a stern critic of theological liberalism and the neo-orthodoxy alternative advocated by Karl Barth.

Those who know little of Schaeffer might think that he was a somewhat remote pointy-headed, goatee-bearded intellectual, who lacked knowledge of the real world. He did sport a goatee beard, but the rest of the caricature is deeply unfair. Roberts gives us an illuminating glimpse of the man behind the books and films. Amongst other things, Schaeffer experienced the stresses and strains of married life, a baby daughter’s exploding nappy and car crashes. Sometimes, much to his irritation, all at the same time.

Schaeffer’s life was dedicated to ‘speaking the truth in love’. But this involved more than words. He endeavoured to live out the truth by trusting in God and caring for other people. Francis and his wife, Edith pioneered work among children. They were interested in reaching the ordinary man and woman for Christ as well as academic types.  L’Abri, where their work was based in Switzerland was a not only a place for study and theological discussion, it was also a refuge for drug addicts and others whose lives had been broken by the destructive power of sin.

Mostyn Roberts, (who blogs at Harp from the Willows), has given us an insightful and gripping biography of Schaeffer, who he describes as a ‘pastor and evangelist’, rather than a ‘Christian philosopher’. He offers a well-judged account of Schaeffer’s thought. The writer is honest about his subject’s faults and failings, while appreciative of his achievements as a Bible teacher and apologist for the Christian faith. He shows us why today’s Evangelicals need to listen afresh to what Francis Schaeffer had to say.

Sadly, my copy of The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer isn’t so complete. Years ago I leant Volume 1 to a mate’s girlfriend and haven’t seen it since. I hope she read it and found it helpful, but every time I glance at the set I pine for that missing book, containing as it does the key trilogy mentioned above. Never mind. The brightly coloured volumes have faded with time, but Schaeffer’s message still endures: 'God is there and he is not silent'.

* Reviewed for Evangelical Times. 

The Problem Planet

I'm something of a news junkie. After the BBC News at Ten, I will often switch channels to watch either Newsnight on BBC2 or the ITV News at 10.30. This week, BBC news has been running daily features on the most polluted places on the planet. Linfen in China was the worst culprit. The town was slowly choking to death on the toxic fog generated by coal burning steel works and other factories. China's economy is booming, but the environmental costs of rapid industrialisation are very high.

Over at ITV, the news has featured "The Big Melt". Newscaster Mark Austen and Science Editor Lawrence McGinty reported daily from Antarctica on the problem of global warming. We cannot keep on polluting our world and expect that nothing will happen. On Wednesday 17th January, scientists moved the hands of the symbolic Doomsday Clock two minutes closer to midnight. The clock was originally set up to chart the danger of all-out nuclear war. But scientists now think that environmental catastrophe is the next big threat to life on our planet.

It seems that something is badly wrong with our world. Has the Christian faith any answers? The first thing to say is that God created our planet and declared it "very good". We can see the goodness and wisdom of God in the order and beauty of the earth. But that is not the whole story. Human beings were made in God's image that they might enjoy fellowship with him. They were charged with looking after the earth. But we chose to rebel against our Maker and go our own way. This had catastrophic consequences for humanity and the planet. Sin always results in decay and ultimately, death.

Human greed leads to more and more consumption. This leads to pollution which leads, in turn to environmental problems. We should not take the earth and its God-given resources for granted. But what can we do about all this? The Christian faith emphasises personal responsibility. We can all do our bit to cut down on consumption, recycle waste and try to make our homes more environmentally friendly. Yes, governments have a role to play on an international and national level, but that does not let us off the hook. Our Maker will hold us accountable for the way in which we have treated his world.

The Christian thinker Francis Schaeffer wrote Pollution and the Death of Man in 1970, long before environmental issues were fashionable. In this groundbreaking work, the philosopher/theologian rejected the Green Movement's often pantheistic thinking and argued for a thoroughgoing Biblical approach to ecological issues. He drew upon the doctrine of creation to remind us that we are not autonomous beings who can treat the earth how we like, "What God has made, I, who am also a creature, must not despise." (p. 36). God has affirmed the goodness of the created world in the incarnation and resurrection of Christ. Because of this, Christians should work for a substantial healing of creation,

Surely then, Christians, who have returned, through the work of the Lord Jesus Christ, to fellowship with God and have a proper place of reference to the God who us there should demonstrate a proper use of nature. We are to have dominion over it, but we are not going to use it as fallen man uses it. We are not going to act as though it were nothing in itself, or as though we will do to nature everything we can do. (p. 41)

In a beautifully written passage, Schaeffer reflects on his relationship to the buttercup:

There are things before me which I now face, not as a cow would face a buttercup - merely the mechanical situation - but facing it by choice. I look at the buttercup, and I treat the buttercup the way it should be treated. The buttercup and I are both created by God; but beyond this, I can treat it properly by personal choice. I act personally, I am a person! Psychologically I begin to breathe and live. Psychologically I am now dealing on a personal level, not only with men and women, but also with the things in nature that God has made which are less than personal in themselves, and the old hang-ups begin to crumble. My humanness grows, and the modern technological pit and pendulum is no longer closing in on me.

When we have learned this - the Christian view of nature - then there can be a real ecology; beauty will flow, psychological freedom will come, and the world will cease to be turned into a desert. Because it is right, on the basis of the whole Christian system - which is strong enough to stand it all because it is true - as I face the buttercup, I say: "Fellow-creature, fellow-creature, I won't walk on you, We are both creatures together". (p. 54-55)

God is concerned for this planet. He sent his Son Jesus not only to save us from our personal sin, but to rescue the world. Jesus' resurrection from the dead is the pledge of a new creation. God will act to renovate the earth, banishing all the effects of sin and death. This is the great Christian hope. What is your hope for the world as the Doomsday Clock continues to tick?

All Schaeffer quotes from:

The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: Volume 5, A Christian View of the West.