Francis A. Schaeffer: A Word of Thanksgiving

Though I never met him, I owe a debt of gratitude to him. Let me explain. It was the beginning of my freshman year of college, and my father gave me a rather big, hardcover book. A bold move, since I was never known for my voracious reading! My sister was always the reader of the family. Nevertheless, it was a book I knew he read, re-read, and read again. A book he often talked about, discussed with others, and gave to at least one other individual (which led to this man’s conversion). The book was in fact a trilogy of books. The book was by an obscure man named Francis A. Schaeffer.

Reading The God Who was There, He is There and He is not Silent, and Escape from Reason, I experienced an intellectual awakening. Never before had I considered the implications of the Lordship of Christ over every area of life. Never before had I thought about the biblical foundations for history, philosophy, and culture. Never before had I really enjoyed reading! Under the tutelage of Schaeffer, I realized the importance of thinking and living Christianly before the watching world and giving honest answers to honest questions. In short, my love for theology began with reading these works.

I suppose I will never know the full impact of Schaeffer upon my life. His writing impacted me enough to make a trip to L’Abri in Switzerland the summer between my Junior and Senior year of college where I even had the privilege of serving Mrs Schaeffer tea! But as we remember his death 22 years ago (15 May 1984), I am reminded of how God used this somewhat peculiar prophet (in the true sense of the word!) to enlighten the eyes of my heart to behold the all-of-life practicality and truthfulness of God’s word – what Schaeffer often called ‘true truth.’

I never met Francis Schaeffer, but I am thankful to God for his life, for his ministry, and for his writings. In the words of the author to the Hebrews, ‘although dead, he still speaks.’