Introduction
These lecture notes on “Schaeffer’s Apologetics” were prepared for a course taught at the Simon Greenleaf School of Law in Anaheim, CA, in the Fall of 1988, and taught several times subsequently. The notes were revised and updated in 2007 for an Academy series at Christ Reformed Church. They are dated, but hopefully still of value.
Why Study Schaeffer?
1). To gain a basic understanding of the apologetic methodology of Francis Schaeffer.[1]
2). A study of Schaeffer’s life, times, and apologetic methodology will help us to hone and refine our own approach to unbelievers in both evangelistic and apologetics contexts.
3). Such a study can also shed great light on the on-going debate within the Reformed tradition on apologetic method.
a. To answer the broad question, “of what significance is the work of Schaeffer as an evangelist, pastor, and apologist for us today?”
b. To identify those things we can learn from Schaeffer not only in defending our faith, but in communicating, applying, and living out our Christian faith in the twenty-first century.
Cautions When Studying Schaeffer
1). I am not an expert on Schaeffer. I have never been to L'Abri, nor to any of the L'Abri conferences in the States.[2]
2). I never had the privilege of studying under Schaeffer in any personal forum.
3). Schaeffer’s own stated concerns present several areas of difficulty in working through his apologetic material. In his essay “The Question of Apologetics” (which is an appendix to Schaeffer’s book, The God Who Is There), Schaeffer expresses some perplexity over how his readers and students evaluated his work. Therefore, we need to be sensitive to Schaeffer’s clearly-stated desire to have his endeavors understood in the manner in which he intended. Yet, that is easier said than done, as Schaeffer’s work is profound in some areas and perplexing in others.
4). Schaeffer made it clear in a number of places that in some sense he wished to avoid the type of treatment that we will be giving to him in this series of lectures.
a. Schaeffer makes his sentiments clearly known:
“The answer as to whether I am an apologete depends upon how the concept of apologete or apologetics is defined. First. I am not an apologete if that means building a safe house to live in, so that we Christians can sit inside with safety and quiescence. Christians should be out in the midst of the world as both witness and salt, not sitting in a fortress surrounded by a moat. Second . . . as we turn to consider in more detail how we may speak to men of the twentieth century, we must emphasize first of all that we cannot apply mechanical rules. We, of all people, should realize this, for as Christians we believe that personality really does exist and is important. We can lay down some general principle, but there can be no automatic application. If we are truly personal, as created by God, then each individual will differ from everyone else. Therefore each man must be dealt with as an individual, not as a case or static or machine. If we would work with these people; we cannot mechanically apply the things of which we have been speaking in this book. We must look to the Lord in prayer, and to the work of the Holy Spirit, for effective use of these things.”[3]
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