The Life History of Francis Schaeffer
Schaeffer’s life spans a tumultuous period in American history–from World War One, the Great Depression, World War Two, then the debate over inerrancy among evangelicals (the only time I met and spoke with Schaeffer was at The International Congress on Biblical Inerrancy held in San Diego in 1980), and finally the initial phase of the culture wars and the rise of political activism among evangelicals closely associated with the pro-life movement (from the “Silent Majority” to the “Moral Majority”).
1912 - Francis August Schaeffer was born January 30 in Germantown, PA. He was an only child.
1930 - Schaeffer became a Christian at the age of eighteen after reading the Bible for a six-month period.[2]
1932 - Met Edith Seville (his future wife) at the First Presbyterian Church of Germantown.
1935 - Graduated from Hampden-Sydney College. Schaeffer was second in his senior class and graduated magna cum laude. Married Edith in the same year.
1935 - Entered Westminster Theological Seminary, where he studied under Cornelius Van Til, Oswald T. Allis and J. Gresham Machen and was further immersed in confessional Calvinism.
1937 - After a split with Westminster, Schaeffer transferred to Faith Theological Seminary (under Carl McIntire, Allan MacRae, and J. O. Buswell), which he helped to found.
1938 - After graduation from Faith, he became the first ordained pastor in the new Bible Presbyterian Church.
1938-47 - Served as pastor of several Bible Presbyterian Churches (most notably in St. Louis) throughout the east and midwest.
1947 - After WWII, Schaeffer traveled throughout Europe as a representative of the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions.
1948 - Moved to Lausanne, Switzerland as missionaries, helping Children for Christ.
1951 - Schaeffer experienced a deep and profound spiritual crisis. This event drastically changed Schaeffer's ministry.
1953-54 - Traveled extensively through the United States, lecturing on the subject of true spirituality.
1955 - Resigned from the Independent Board of Foreign Missions, marking the formal beginning of the L'Abri Fellowship.
1968 - Schaeffer publishes The God Who Is There, based upon a series of lectures given at Wheaton.
1974 - Begins work on the book and film series, How Should We Then Live?
1977 - Helped found International Congress on Biblical Inerrancy (ICBI).
1977 - Began work on the Whatever Happened to the Human Race? book and film series.
1978 - Diagnosed as having lymphoma cancer.
1982 - Publication of The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer.
1983 - Received honorary Doctor of Laws from the Simon Greenleaf School of Law.
1984 - Died in his home in Rochester, Minnesota on May 15.
To read the rest (including Schaeffer’s crisis of faith) follow the link below
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