The subject matter of Schaeffer’s speaking tours would eventually become the content of three important books, The God who is There, Escape from Reason, He is There and He is Not Silent, published in 1968, 1969, and 1972 respectively. In these books Schaeffer sought to demonstrate, from a sweeping account of Western intellectual history, how the paradigm for the understanding of truth had changed dramatically over the last seven-hundred years and how Christianity, which requires an antithetical framework in order to maintain coherence, had become exceptionally difficult to communicate in the contemporary setting which did not believe in a unified answer to knowledge and life (Bryan Follis, Truth with Love: The Apologetics of Francis Schaeffer).
Schaeffer tackled this communication problem by not only making his readers aware of the epistemological shift, but also by encouraging them to consider how denial of Christian presuppositions leads to a denial of reality. Christians not only need to understand where men and women had come from (in regards to the influence of Western thought upon their own presuppositions), but also how to “push [them] towards the logic of [their] own positions…” in order to help them see the inadequacy of their presuppositions (Schaeffer, Trilogy: The God who is There, 139).
As a result of his many talks at colleges and universities throughout the United States and the subsequent publishing his first two books, The God who is There and Escape from Reason, Schaeffer’s popularity steadily grew. He would publish another book shortly after Escape from Reason entitled Death in the City, which called Christians to reclaim pure doctrine amidst growing liberalism and to renew their commitment to a biblical lifestyle.
Schaeffer expressed the concern that, as the culture drifted from absolutes maintained by a biblical world-view, people lost what it meant to be human and made in the image of God. This devastating trend needed a strong counter, and Schaeffer argued the answer to this impending crisis would come from Christians as they demonstrated that the Christian life was meant to fulfill the entire person and return man to what he was always meant to be (Hankins, 112). Materialistic philosophy—which denied the supernatural—led to meaninglessness and despair; Christianity rightly understood would lead to joy and purposeful living—to being fully human.
In 1970, Schaeffer began to expend efforts in applying Christian truth to other important but heretofore neglected areas. In Pollution and the Death of Man, Schaeffer would argue for a Christian understanding of ecology. Schaeffer would argue that pantheism, while attempting to save the natural environment, actually removed the grounds for human preservation and protection of the environment—if there is no difference between a man and a plant, then on what basis can we appeal to unique human responsibility? He would also establish the truth that only a biblical world-view provides the framework within which to develop a proper environmentalism (Hankins, 119). Nature, because it has its origin from God, has value in itself (Schaeffer, Pollution and the Death of Man, 48).
Thus, although Christians were to exercise dominion over the creation, they were also morally obligated to avoid exploitation of the creation—they are to “[exercise] dominion without being destructive:” trees should be plundered and animals should be killed for the purpose of providing shelter and food, not for mere sport (Schaeffer, Pollution, 72). Proper care for the environment flowing from a Christian world-view would, Schaeffer believed, diminish current ecological problems. Schaeffer would also voice what he perceived as a biblical position in the area of economics in his book, No Little People.
Throughout No Little People and throughout other writings related to the issue of economics, Schaeffer would admonish Christians to a “compassionate use of accumulated wealth” and exhort Christian employers to take less profit so their employees could make considerably more than the going wage rate (Hankins, 133). Schaeffer believed the world would wake up and listen to the church as she spoke and lived counter to the treasured American principle of undisturbed personal peace and prosperity. Another major work—one by which Schaeffer would become especially known—was his film, How Shall We Then Live.
In 1973, Schaeffer embarked on a filmmaking project that would trace the history of western thought, beginning with the Greeks and Romans, demonstrating that when a society drifts from presuppositions that provide a basis for transcendent morality (like Rome), that society eventually self-destructs. Schaeffer would further argue that the church, through the middle ages, had been guilty of imbibing Greek and Roman ideas which eventually led to a distortion of biblical Christianity. The Reformation, while not perfect, reclaimed much of biblical Christianity and had profound and positive affects on Western culture. The Enlightenment, however, led to a strong affirmation of human autonomy and had devastating affects on human society. According to Schaeffer, Hankins writes, “The message was clear: The Reformation, with its Christian base, leads to democracy; the Enlightenment, with its humanistic and secular base, leads to dictatorship and communism” (Hankins, 165-171; George Marsden, Fundamentalism and American Culture, 245).
How Shall We Then Live, which three years after the release of the film became a popular book, finally was a call to culture war. Schaeffer held out two options to Christians: they could either compromise and accept the culture’s prevailing humanistic notions, or they could go to battle with the culture (Hankins, 175). The issue that pervaded this call to action was the volatile matter of abortion; this would lead Schaeffer personally into the fray alongside others in the pro-life movement.
Next: Compassionate Engagement, Part 5: Political Activism
