4 | A Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer

I can definitely tell that writing these blogs is helpful for me. It's amazing how fast I forget what I read if I don't sit down and think about the ideas within a text! Can anyone else relate with this? I also think writing helps me process the questions raised by a particular text.

I picked up Francis Schaeffer's manifesto on clearance at Half Price Books a few years ago. (Is this anyone else's guilty pleasure?) I thought it would be interesting based on other Schaeffer I read in my undergrad. It was a faster read than other works I've read by Schaeffer, but just as enjoyable.

A CHRISTIAN MANIFESTO | FRANCIS SCHAEFFER



A Christian Manifesto was written in response to the Humanist Manifestos before it (1933, 1973). It is not only theological but is also practical, as many of Schaeffer's other works are. This writing style is refreshing to me, because I find that many authors suggest theoretical ideas that seem excessively unclear in application.

Unsurprisingly to anyone who has read him before, Schaeffer's central theme in this manifesto is the notion that one's worldview/ultimate reality/faith determines the way that person understands and interacts with the totality of reality. Schaeffer doesn't understand Christian doctrine as informing "only Man's personal needs (such as salvation), but also man's social needs." In this book, Schaeffer dichotomizes the impact of having either a Humanist worldview or a Christian worldview on politics and government.

Humanism, as he is using the term, "means Man beginning from himself, with no knowledge except what he himself can discover and no standards outside of himself. In this view Man is the measure of all things, as the Enlightenment expressed it." Schaeffer continues, "Nowhere have the divergent results of the two total concepts of reality, the Judeo-Christian and the humanist world view, been more open to observation than in government and law." This is the central theme of the first five or so chapters--my favorite section of the book.

One point in this part of the book that seems particularly relevant is Schaeffer's analysis of the first amendment: First, that there would never be a national church. Second, more interestingly, that the state "should not impede or interfere with the free practice of religion." He points out how this is very different from the way the national government uses the first amendment "to silence the church" today. He supports his case by appealing to historical interpretations of the first amendment (Justice Douglas 1944, Massachusetts Constitution 1853, Northwest Ordinance of 1787, Terry Easterland 1826, etc.)

He goes on to explain that as humanism becomes the norm in our society, and the norm that, he argues, is supported by our government even as other religious views are suppressed, men begin to implicitly believe that God has no role in the physical world and ethical laws have no guiding principle besides nature. These beliefs shape our relationship with the physical world; this fact is why Schaeffer emphasizes the importance for Christians to allow their faith to shape their total reality. Schaeffer argues, Christians that do not understand their faith in this way allow liberalism to creep into churches and anti-Christian legislation (i.e., abortion) to go into effect in our country.

After about chapter five, Schaeffer begins describing the way Christians ought to relate with the government. His last lines are an adequate summary of this for my purposes: "It is the responsibility of those holding this view to show it to be unique (the truth of total reality) for individual salvation and for society--by teaching, by life, and by action."

Conclusion:
Would read first 5 chapters again. Would recommend to some friends. 6/10.