It’s hard to summarize a year-long study, especially when the focus of that study involves such a complex figure like Francis Schaeffer. Schaeffer is complex. There are some who might like to reduce the man to a few moments in time, a few publications, a few films, but he does not easily fit into a box. The diverse appeal that Schaeffer possessed throughout his lifetime reveals his complexity and his significance.
As a student, trying to understand Schaeffer, I found it difficult to categorize him. Is he best described as a Fundamentalist? Perhaps, the better terms is Evangelical? Perhaps, still we could look at some of his views as a bit more progressive? He certainly found himself at home with Evangelicals at times, and yet was, himself, often drawn towards a type of separatism (and at various stages of his life and ministry). Still, many unbelievers, liberals, and progressive were drawn and attracted to Schaeffer. They found him a great conversation partner, a kind and generous host, and a compelling public figure. The thousands of young people who flocked to L’Abri did so almost entirely because of Schaeffer. He had diverse appeal.
Schaeffer was a prolific writer and teacher. His books were the product of his many lectures, most given at L’Abri, and revealed just how wide-ranging his interests were. He wrote most frequently about the issue of worldviews, offering cultural critiques and attempting to present a coherent Christian view (The God Who Is There; He is There and He is Not Silent; Escape from Reason). He could, however, also write about art (Art and the Bible), or more cultural/political topics like abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia (Whatever Happened to the Human Race?). He could write on issues of spirituality (The Mark of the Christian; True Spirituality), or ecology (Pollution and the Death of Man). He would publish Bible studies (Basic Bible Studies; Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History), or a political manifesto (A Christian Manifesto). He would write to defend Creationism (Genesis in Space and Time), but he would also write to denounce racism (“Race and Economics”, published in Christianity Today, 1974). It wasn’t that Schaeffer was always an expert in these matters, but he wrote about a wide array of issues.
The three phases of his ministry also demonstrate his different alliances. In his early days of ministry, Schaeffer can very easily be labeled as a hyper-Fundamentalist and a separatist. Even before he finished seminary he left Westminster over their views on alcohol and eschatology. His first pastorate was marked by separatism and preaching against pastors and theologians whom he deemed liberal. He aligned himself with other separatists and was part of the initial launch of a new denomination and a new seminary. But, his time in Europe was vastly different. He spent his days with young progressives, and threw himself into cultural engagement. His public discussions of film, the music of the Beatles, and modern art were highly controversial when he spoke on Christian college campuses in the United States. These years saw him much more engaged with culture and many progressives were drawn to Schaeffer. The final phase of his career, however, saw him much more engaged in American culture wars and aligned more closely with the Evangelical movement. He was rubbing elbows with politicians, throwing his support behind the Moral Majority, and engaging in battles for the Bible. He was an Evangelical.
Schaeffer’s wide appeal and diverse interests make him hard to classify, but these are also one of the reasons he is such an influential figure in American Christianity. He wrote about things that made (make?) Evangelicals uncomfortable. He partnered with people that Fundamentalists would never partner with. He held views that no progressive would respect. Schaeffer was a man of conviction but he was also a man who was open to learning and engaging. This is perhaps Schaeffer’s most significant contribution to modern American Christianity: he sought to apply Scripture to his time.
Schaeffer was always engaged with the present world in which he lived. Weather in America or in Europe he wanted to be immersed in the priorities, concerns, and people of his age. “Honest answers to honest questions,” meant knowing what influenced the people of the day and what those influences believed deep down at their core. He needed to understand art, film, music, and philosophy. He needed to talk with people, believers and unbelievers alike. He needed to engage with culture and church. He needed to study his Bible and his newspaper. Schaeffer was a man of God, but he was also a man of his time and context. Barry Hankins summarizes this influence of Schaeffer’s well when he writes:
That Schaeffer heavily influenced these three groups within evangelicalism (defenders of the faith, evangelical scholars, and Christian Right culture warriors) makes him easily one of the most important evangelicals of the twentieth century, but what his followers seem to have learned most from him were neither the details of his intellectual arguments nor the techniques of his politics. In intellectual matters, those influenced by Schaeffer have gone well beyond their teacher. Instead evangelicals today look to Schaeffer as an example of one who lived deeply within his own time and immersed himself in his own culture while somehow keeping his eye on what was ultimate…The enduring lesson for evangelicals who count Schaeffer as an influence is not to duplicate his message in its details, but to follow his example as a model of how to bear witness to Christ within a particular time and place. (Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelical America, 239).
Undoubtedly, Francis Schaeffer has made an impact on the theological landscape of America. His diverse interests reveal his complexity and significance, but it is his example that Christians today should appreciate and emulate.
Pastor Dave Online 