50 years ago, two books were published that shaped the evangelical conscience. First, Presbyterian pastor and apologist Francis Schaeffer released How Should We Then Live?, which was released both as a book and a companion film series. Schaeffer, who with his wife Edith begin the ministry L’Abri in the mountains of Switzerland, had previously written The God Who Is There (1968), Escape from Reason (1968), and He Is There and He Is Not Silent (1972) critiquing the West’s abandonment of the moral framework that produced the freedoms it so readily took for granted. But How Should We Then Live?, which sold millions of copies, was widely read by pastors, church leaders, and ordinary lay people. This book urged Christians to abandon a pietistic approach to faith that ceded cultural influence to malign forces and perverse ideologies.
What’s more, Schaeffer helped generations of Christians begin to understand that every human being approaches life with a “worldview,” a set of presuppositions and lenses through which he or she sees the world. Schaeffer said, “Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society, the way that a child catches the measles. But people with understanding realize that their presuppositions should be chosen after a careful consideration of which worldview is true.” His later Whatever Happened to the Human Race? is credited for awakening the pro-life conscience of evangelicals.
Schaeffer, whose volume of work touched on the range of scriptural and cultural issues, not only urged a vocal, prophetic, spirit-filled church but, till the day he died, lamented the lack of unity among Bible-believing Christians. In one of his final works, The Mark of the Christian, he asserted that our genuine love for one another was the “final apologetic.”
One leader greatly influenced by Schaeffer was a disgraced former White House staffer who had experienced a dramatic conversion to Christianity. Charles Colson, a Marine officer who was one of Richard Nixon’s top lieutenants, was sentenced to seven months in federal prison for crimes committed during Watergate. Just before his imprisonment, Colson, at the urging of a friend, read a copy of Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis. This hardened political operative—who had bragged that he’d “run over his grandmother” if it meant achieving political victory—had his heart transformed by the Spirit of Christ.
Click Here to Read More (Originally Published at World Magazine)
Daniel is the director of the Land Center for Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. He is the author of several books, including The Dignity Revolution, Agents of Grace, and his forthcoming book, In Defense of Christian Patriotism. Dan is a graduate of Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. He and his wife, Angela, have four children.
