ARTICLE: Living With Reality ~ By Dan Guinn

People sometimes ask me why I am so into Dr. Schaeffer. There are many reasons which I outline in a previous post called Why Schaeffer?. However the story of Francis Schaeffer's struggle, seeking for reality and the formation of L'Abri is a story that moves me to contemplate my own spirituality. It shows that Schaeffer was not flawless, he was human like the rest of us. It shows reality.

In the years after World War II, Francis Schaeffer, toured war torn Europe personally and witnessed the devastation on churches, society, and particularly children, all of which were the products of the Atheistic worldview. After over ten years of ministry in the states as a pastor of three churches, he and his wife Edith felt led to uproot from their pastorate in St. Louis, Missouri to take on a new role as missionaries. They would settle in Switzerland, and begin further establishing the children’s ministry in Europe they had started in the states. The ministry was called Children for Christ and was already an international ministry. Likewise, Schaeffer would further continue his lectures on the devastating affects of Modernism (now known as Religious Liberalism). Yet something was wrong. After all this time of service, Schaeffer said he was beginning to lose “reality.” There had been schisms and denominational conflicts related to both strict and moderate objections to Liberalism. These battles had taken their toll on Francis in addition to all of the pressures of life he was feeling during this time. He began to ask himself, “Where is the reality?” What he meant by this, was where is the truth of the gospel? How does it apply to everyday life? Where is the love of Christ? This story is recounted over and over by those who teach about Schaeffer, as it was a turning point for him. He stripped his viewpoint down to bare Agnosticism (“The view that we do not know if there is a God.”), and began to search for the basic answers to the questions of life. In a Swiss Chalet, he paced for many weeks. His final result was, “It’s true Edith! It’s all true!” Schaeffer realized that it was not only true, it brought meaning, it brought reality. He discovered that scripture gave sufficient answers for the questions of life. It answers where mankind came from. It answers mankind’s dilemma, and it answers where mankind is going, and if further brings transforming truth. Out of this experience, Schaeffer began to call the Christian system of belief by the couplet, “True-Truth.”

Now Schaeffer also realized the need for some changes. He realized that in many ways he had been living in contradiction to his own faith. He did not always live as if what he believed was absolutely true and really reality. He was comfortable, and did not always trust God. He realized that often he defended the purity of the Church in doctrine without showing the love of Christ. He realized that he had hurt people at times, and that the things he learned in feuds made a very harsh and rigid belief system with no compassion for people. He remembered that God was a personal God and had made us also personal in His image, and thus deserving of respect. In his fervor, Schaeffer had lost the reality of his faith, and the reality of a personal God. Yet he had also seen others cave in for the sake of institutional unity, and forsake Biblical teachings. He had seen others forsake truth for mere togetherness, and realized that this was no unity at all. He realized that this was equally wrong. Thus, Schaeffer sought to do something that was not being taught. He sought to balance truth and love.


Next there was one more thing. Schaeffer realized that the harsh divide between people of differing views needed a forum for discovery. A place where people could be personal and receive honest answers to honest questions. He called this place “L’Abri,” which is French for “The Shelter.” Fran, as he was called by his friends, along with his wife Edith and family would form a new establishment in their own home, where people could come to get answers. This methodology, would mold into a concept that is now sort of a buzz word at L’Abri. It was the word, “organic.” The term organic really just means "natural," but it carries a lot of significance. It means unforced, unoffending, gracious, compassionate, and welcoming. Yet it also means those things that are natural in creation. That the world was created and there is a supernatural reality. It means that people are created in the image of God and have meaning, value and purpose. It also means that the human nature and the world has been corrupted by the fall and that sin exist. Yet it means that all people need rescue, restoration and hope. It means that all people need the real Christ.


So I hope as you read this you are asking yourself what I do each time I think of the story.

How are you Living With Reality?

NEWS: Francis Schaeffer Studies Video Promotions

When we first launched Francis Schaeffer Studies we released a short teaser video to help with promotions of the web site. We are now releasing a second video with the introduction message from Dan Guinn. We invite you to use these two videos to promote http://francischaefferstudies.org on Twitter, Youtube, Facebook & Google Plus, your web site or wherever you share videos with others. Thanks in advance for spreading the word!

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 Introduction video to Francis Schaeffer Studies from Dan Guinn:



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Announcing The Asecular Truth Video Project

A special announcement from Dan: Francis Schaeffer Studies begins it's video production stage! 


Francis Schaeffer Studies.org will begin releasing a series of videos over the coming months and years breaking down the works of Francis Schaeffer. Our goal is to introduce Dr. Schaeffer to the next generation as well as make his thought and teachings of more accessible for general inquiry.

Our general feeling is that in our fast paced world many people find it difficult to take time to study at length. There are also the cultural problems such as alliteracy (people that can read and write, but don't want to), and the general illiteracy of theological and philosophical terms in our day. Thirdly, very often religion and spirituality have become privatized. Further still, many people are afraid of conflict and avoid valuable needed discussion. So how do we open the door to deeper thinking? Well miraculously people seem to be more free of the aforementioned inhibitions when online. While communication is more fragmented, and sometimes lacks the context of real person-to-person interaction, many find it gives them freedom in expression through the degree on anonymity that exist.

Ultimately, what we are seeking to offer a means to explore the works of Schaeffer online so that people can see the greater context of the worldview that they hold. This is what Schaeffer was good at during his lifetime and what his printed words, audio sermons, and videos are still doing. Whether Christian or non-Christian, the implications are very direct. If we can give people even simple morsels of sound thought, we believe it will take root and draw people into further exploration. In the end long to see the impact of truth on the human heart, the truth that only Jesus Christ can bring.

ARTICLE: Asecular Truth Blog: Depression & the Heart's Response To Truth

New blog entry by Dan on the Asecular Truth Blog - Depression & the Heart's Response To Truth 

Are you struggling with depression? According to studies, over 10% of Americans are, that's 27 million people! How many more are struggling throughout the world? Find spiritual answers from scripture to address this important problem.

Read Depression & the Heart's Response To Truth

ARTICLE: How Do You Know Schaeffer?

One of the truly astonishing things about the ministry of Francis and Edith Schaeffer is that it touched so many lives, so many disciplines, and so many subjects. While this is definitely a good thing, it can also be problematic when reintroducing people to Schaeffer’s work. Some may know Schaeffer from his view of culture, some from his take on philosophy, still others the matters of faith and spirituality he taught, the list goes on... art, music, psychology, sociology, politics, and who can forget the specific political issues like abortion? It seems there are many entry points to Schaeffer. Yet depending on your entry point and what works you have read, you may be missing the complete perspective. This happens especially with people who dismiss him. They often have consumed a limited slice of the big pie that is Schaeffer’s thought and judged him on that one perspective and moved on.

Thus I find that there are also a lot of red herrings swimming around about Schaeffer as well. Some think he was only about the abortion debate and say that he became too politically consumed. Some think he was too harsh on Aquinas or Kierkegaard in his perspectives on philosophy (I could say much on both of these issues, but I will leave that to another article). Others judge him because he was Presbyterian and Reformed. We could go on here as well. Yet the funny thing is, while these are good matters for debate, when you start to actually read Schaeffer you see that there was something much deeper at work. He was consistently gracious, even to those whose viewpoints he opposed. He lamented over the errors in thought, and hurt even more for the people. He was insistent on being both firm on truth, and yet enduring on love. His letters confirm this over and over. He was not a proud man, by all accounts, and abhorred putting on a show. He was mindful that he had a voice and he was careful in how he used it.

Yet the biggest misconceptions I believe from the findings of my studies on his works is that Schaeffer was ever focused entirely on just one issue. Schaeffer was never just about one piece of the pie. He was about following God wherever He led, and sometimes the logical train of thought would naturally lead him to different areas in his ministry and his work. Sometimes he was directly addressing the issues of his moment, and he felt deeply convicted to do so. Yet his writings were always timely and I believe providential.

While I say he never focused on just one issue, he did have one consistent theme that ruled over all and this is important. His theme was the Lordship of Christ over all things. Every piece of the pie of Schaeffer’s thought was always consumed with applying this principle. Whether it was on one end of the thought spectrum or not, it simply did not matter. If you have read all of his works you know this. You hear it from True Spirituality, the basis of all of his works (although published later) to The Mark of a Christian which champions his powerful concept of the balance of True Truth and the proper demonstration of Christian love, all the way to The Great Evangelical Disaster his final work. Despite his consistency, and all of his attempts, he still seems to get pigeon holed into the issues. It was never what he intended. Even in his later work, where he steps out and does the truly unthinkable... meshing religion with politics, it was never about just some issue. It was always about one single solitary thing. Is Jesus Lord here or not? So I ask you, How do you know Schaeffer? Maybe it's time to take another look.

http://francisschaefferstudies.org/

NEWS: The Life & Works of Francis Schaeffer Videos Coming This Fall.

Jason and Dan have began work on our class "The Life & Works of Francis Schaeffer," watch for videos this fall on francisschaefferstudies.org.