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True Spirituality / He Is There and He Is Not Silent
This collection bundles two of popular author Francis A. Schaeffer’s spirituality classics into one e-book for a great value!
True Spirituality
Francis Shaeffer had been serving as a pastor for over a decade when he began to wonder if Christianity really made a difference in people’s lives. True Spirituality , a twentieth-century spiritual classic, outlines the result of his effort to “start at the beginning” and re-examine his faith. The book is a treasure trove of wisdom for Christians trying to discover what true spirituality looks like in everyday life. Includes a foreword by Chuck Colson and an introduction by Dr. Jerram Barrs, director of the Schaeffer Institute.
He Is There and He Is Not Silent
In He Is There and He Is Not Silent , Francis Schaeffer—philosopher, popular speaker, and founder of L’Abri Fellowship in the Swiss Alps—addresses some of the most perplexing questions to believers and unbelievers During his life, Francis Schaeffer welcomed questioners and doubters from all walks of life to L’Abri Fellowship. For Schaeffer, Christianity expressed the ultimate truth. That is why he never shunned doubts and questions by honest seekers. He knew the truths in the Bible would always prove themselves when they were thoroughly investigated by an open mind and heart.
From the intriguing, late-night discussions at L’Abri came a series of compelling books from Francis Schaeffer— The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, True Spirituality , and this classic book every Christian should own, He Is There and He Is Not Silent .
True Spirituality
Francis Shaeffer had been serving as a pastor for over a decade when he began to wonder if Christianity really made a difference in people’s lives. True Spirituality , a twentieth-century spiritual classic, outlines the result of his effort to “start at the beginning” and re-examine his faith. The book is a treasure trove of wisdom for Christians trying to discover what true spirituality looks like in everyday life. Includes a foreword by Chuck Colson and an introduction by Dr. Jerram Barrs, director of the Schaeffer Institute.
He Is There and He Is Not Silent
In He Is There and He Is Not Silent , Francis Schaeffer—philosopher, popular speaker, and founder of L’Abri Fellowship in the Swiss Alps—addresses some of the most perplexing questions to believers and unbelievers During his life, Francis Schaeffer welcomed questioners and doubters from all walks of life to L’Abri Fellowship. For Schaeffer, Christianity expressed the ultimate truth. That is why he never shunned doubts and questions by honest seekers. He knew the truths in the Bible would always prove themselves when they were thoroughly investigated by an open mind and heart.
From the intriguing, late-night discussions at L’Abri came a series of compelling books from Francis Schaeffer— The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, True Spirituality , and this classic book every Christian should own, He Is There and He Is Not Silent .
294 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 8, 2016
77 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
Francis A. Schaeffer
95 books805 followersFrancis August Schaeffer was an American Evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri community in Switzerland. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics which he believed would answer the questions of the age.
Wife: Edith Schaeffer
children: Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Wife: Edith Schaeffer
children: Susan Schaeffer Macaulay
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
January 7, 2024
HE IS THERE AND HE IS NOT SILENT
A few weeks ago I finished reading “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell. I was not impressed. For the most part I find Christian apologists arrogant, condescending, wooden headed and, most of all, profoundly dishonest to the core. This is not at all the impression I got from this book. Francis Schaeffer comes off as a deeply sincere, passionate, intelligent and intellectually curious thinker. He was writing at a time when society seemed to be spiraling out of control, and young people were feeling anxious and lost in an increasingly hostile and meaningless world.
As I understand it, Shaffer ran a sort of Christian hippie commune in the Swiss Alps, where he welcomed young people and spiritual seekers of all kinds. I get the impression that it was actually a pretty wonderful place full of lively intellectual conversation. Schaeffer himself is said to have preferred the word “dialogue” to “debate”. I like that.
I very much enjoyed that in the book he talks a lot about philosophy, epistemology, postmodernism & relativism (what is it with these Christian apologists and postmodernism/relativism?), Platonism, linguistics, and many other interesting topics. Can’t really say that I was terribly impressed with how he treated many of these subjects, though.
THE CENTRAL THESIS
The main idea holding up Schaeffers entire thesis goes something like this (apologies for paraphrasing): Because complexity cannot rise from simplicity, and the non-material cannot rise from the material, then it follows that the human personality could not have risen out of simple matter because of “chance and time”. Instead, the human personality, with its capacity to love, reason, feel compassion could not have possibly arisen from simple matter, but rather from a vastly larger (infinite, in fact), human personality. You know, the way a cake cannot be assembled from eggs, flour, and vanilla, but could have only emerged from an infinitely more complex cake.
This is just a variation on a very common apologist theme. After reading, and listening to countless apologist state their cases for the existence of God, I’ve come to believe there is only one argument most of them rely on:
“If there is no God, then who created did X?”
Basically, Schaeffer is arguing “If there’s no God, then where did the human personality come from?”
While this argument is generally considered a “mike drop” with Christian audiences, it is hardly convincing to somebody who isn’t already convinced. Any reasonably intelligent eight year old, can come up with the obvious reply: “Then who created god?”, to which the apologist smugly replies “God is endless, infinite and uncreated, because he exists outside of time and space“. Of course, the eight year old is then justified in saying “OK then the universe is endless, infinite and uncreated and existed before time and space“.
What’s good for the one, is good for the other
This may not prove that a god doesn’t exist, but it certainly doesn’t prove that it does. The best we can say is that whatever caused matter and energy to come into existence, existed outside of time and space.
ON PLATO
As I was reading Schaefer’s argument, it occurred to me that it sounded an awful lot like Plato’s theory of the forms.
“The theory of Forms or theory of Ideas is a philosophical theory attributed to Plato, that the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas. According to this theory, ideas in this sense, often capitalized and translated as "Ideas" or "Forms", are the non-physical essences of all things, of which objects and matter in the physical world are merely imitations”
A few paragraphs after I began to notice how similar Schaeffer’s premises are to Platos, Schaeffer says as much himself. Plato was essentially correct, Shaffer argues, but his conception of divinity (that is, the Hellenic gods) was too small to actually bring this theory to it’s logical (and correct) conclusion: the theory of the forms is correct, but all the forms derive from the ultimate “form”, God.
He then mentions the Trinity (but disappointingly does not go into detail), and how God, in his infinite and immaterial form, does not interact directly with the universe, but through a material incarnation. This is straight up Neoplatonism, as put forth by Plotinus.
ON HOW ONLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE REALITY IS REALLY REAL
What’s ironic here is that later in the book, Schaeffer expounds on a pretty strange notion that he has. He argues that nonbelievers, as well as all the eastern religions. Don’t actually believe the real world is actually real. Apparently, Buddhists, scientists, atheists, Hindus and pretty much anybody who isn’t an Evangelical Christian doesn’t actually believe reality is real. Only Christians (more specifically, Christians, who adhere to Schaeffer’s own brand of Christianity) believe in the reality of… Well… Reality. The rest of us think we are living in the matrix, presumably.
This is a bizarre notion which Schaeffer doesn’t even try to prove. Instead, he vaguely gestures towards relativism and postmodernism (without either defining or giving examples of them), as if these were the twin religions of every non-Christian. I have personally never met a “postmodernist“, nor do I know of any influential public figure who describes themselves as such, but to hear Schaeffer, Jordan Peterson, and any number of Christian apologist these people are absolutely everywhere, controlling all positions of power and academia, government, and corporate boardrooms.
It seems to me that the postmodernists serve the same function for Christian apologist as psychology serves Scientology. They are presented as rival religions to be demonized before the flock of believers, though least psychologists have the courtesy of existing.
________________________________________________
In the end, I do think this book was worth reading. Even if I disagree with him, I don’t get the impression Francis Schaeffer is trying to deceive anyone. He appears to be a sincere and thoughtful person who is justifiably alarmed at the direction, the world and society are going, and doing his best to convince people to correct course before destruction.
A few weeks ago I finished reading “Evidence That Demands a Verdict” by Josh McDowell. I was not impressed. For the most part I find Christian apologists arrogant, condescending, wooden headed and, most of all, profoundly dishonest to the core. This is not at all the impression I got from this book. Francis Schaeffer comes off as a deeply sincere, passionate, intelligent and intellectually curious thinker. He was writing at a time when society seemed to be spiraling out of control, and young people were feeling anxious and lost in an increasingly hostile and meaningless world.
As I understand it, Shaffer ran a sort of Christian hippie commune in the Swiss Alps, where he welcomed young people and spiritual seekers of all kinds. I get the impression that it was actually a pretty wonderful place full of lively intellectual conversation. Schaeffer himself is said to have preferred the word “dialogue” to “debate”. I like that.
I very much enjoyed that in the book he talks a lot about philosophy, epistemology, postmodernism & relativism (what is it with these Christian apologists and postmodernism/relativism?), Platonism, linguistics, and many other interesting topics. Can’t really say that I was terribly impressed with how he treated many of these subjects, though.
THE CENTRAL THESIS
The main idea holding up Schaeffers entire thesis goes something like this (apologies for paraphrasing): Because complexity cannot rise from simplicity, and the non-material cannot rise from the material, then it follows that the human personality could not have risen out of simple matter because of “chance and time”. Instead, the human personality, with its capacity to love, reason, feel compassion could not have possibly arisen from simple matter, but rather from a vastly larger (infinite, in fact), human personality. You know, the way a cake cannot be assembled from eggs, flour, and vanilla, but could have only emerged from an infinitely more complex cake.
This is just a variation on a very common apologist theme. After reading, and listening to countless apologist state their cases for the existence of God, I’ve come to believe there is only one argument most of them rely on:
“If there is no God, then who created did X?”
Basically, Schaeffer is arguing “If there’s no God, then where did the human personality come from?”
While this argument is generally considered a “mike drop” with Christian audiences, it is hardly convincing to somebody who isn’t already convinced. Any reasonably intelligent eight year old, can come up with the obvious reply: “Then who created god?”, to which the apologist smugly replies “God is endless, infinite and uncreated, because he exists outside of time and space“. Of course, the eight year old is then justified in saying “OK then the universe is endless, infinite and uncreated and existed before time and space“.
What’s good for the one, is good for the other
This may not prove that a god doesn’t exist, but it certainly doesn’t prove that it does. The best we can say is that whatever caused matter and energy to come into existence, existed outside of time and space.
ON PLATO
As I was reading Schaefer’s argument, it occurred to me that it sounded an awful lot like Plato’s theory of the forms.
“The theory of Forms or theory of Ideas is a philosophical theory attributed to Plato, that the physical world is not as real or true as timeless, absolute, unchangeable ideas. According to this theory, ideas in this sense, often capitalized and translated as "Ideas" or "Forms", are the non-physical essences of all things, of which objects and matter in the physical world are merely imitations”
A few paragraphs after I began to notice how similar Schaeffer’s premises are to Platos, Schaeffer says as much himself. Plato was essentially correct, Shaffer argues, but his conception of divinity (that is, the Hellenic gods) was too small to actually bring this theory to it’s logical (and correct) conclusion: the theory of the forms is correct, but all the forms derive from the ultimate “form”, God.
He then mentions the Trinity (but disappointingly does not go into detail), and how God, in his infinite and immaterial form, does not interact directly with the universe, but through a material incarnation. This is straight up Neoplatonism, as put forth by Plotinus.
ON HOW ONLY CHRISTIANS BELIEVE REALITY IS REALLY REAL
What’s ironic here is that later in the book, Schaeffer expounds on a pretty strange notion that he has. He argues that nonbelievers, as well as all the eastern religions. Don’t actually believe the real world is actually real. Apparently, Buddhists, scientists, atheists, Hindus and pretty much anybody who isn’t an Evangelical Christian doesn’t actually believe reality is real. Only Christians (more specifically, Christians, who adhere to Schaeffer’s own brand of Christianity) believe in the reality of… Well… Reality. The rest of us think we are living in the matrix, presumably.
This is a bizarre notion which Schaeffer doesn’t even try to prove. Instead, he vaguely gestures towards relativism and postmodernism (without either defining or giving examples of them), as if these were the twin religions of every non-Christian. I have personally never met a “postmodernist“, nor do I know of any influential public figure who describes themselves as such, but to hear Schaeffer, Jordan Peterson, and any number of Christian apologist these people are absolutely everywhere, controlling all positions of power and academia, government, and corporate boardrooms.
It seems to me that the postmodernists serve the same function for Christian apologist as psychology serves Scientology. They are presented as rival religions to be demonized before the flock of believers, though least psychologists have the courtesy of existing.
________________________________________________
In the end, I do think this book was worth reading. Even if I disagree with him, I don’t get the impression Francis Schaeffer is trying to deceive anyone. He appears to be a sincere and thoughtful person who is justifiably alarmed at the direction, the world and society are going, and doing his best to convince people to correct course before destruction.
May 31, 2024
Clear thinking.
These Francis Schaeffer's books are so clear thinking and explained so well. His love and gentleness to people is combined with a penetrating analysis of worldviews and a demonstration that the Christian worldview based on the verbal communication on the infinite-personal and triune God is the only one that corresponds to the reality we see around and within us.
These Francis Schaeffer's books are so clear thinking and explained so well. His love and gentleness to people is combined with a penetrating analysis of worldviews and a demonstration that the Christian worldview based on the verbal communication on the infinite-personal and triune God is the only one that corresponds to the reality we see around and within us.
November 7, 2021
Francis is such a great writer. These are classics.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews