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Francis Schaeffer: An Introduction to his Apologetics

with Jim Leffel

"I believe more and more that this is truly the central task of the Christian, to give the Lord the opportunity to exhibit his existence." (Letters, 63,4).

• Consider non-Christian hypotheses: Naturalism and Pantheism

Impersonal human origin

• Man is not a "moral agent"

• Stimulus-response machine

• Instinct driven

"Feeling a desire to help is quite different from feeling that you ought to help whether you want to or not. . .Supposing you hear a cry for help from a man in danger. You will probably feel two desires, one a desire to give help (due to your herd instinct), the other a desire to keep from danger (due to the instinct for self preservation). But you will find inside you, in addition to these two impulses, a third thing which tells you that you ought to follow the impulse to help, and suppress the impulse to run away. Now this thing that judges between two instincts, that decides which should be encouraged, cannot itself be either of them." -- C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity

• Freedom as randomnes

Reality of man’s "moral motions"

• Morality can not be reduced to desire, utility, social convention. Morality is the set of ideas and principles we judge these things by.
• We judge the "is" by what ought to be.

What if man is intrinsically cruel?

• God is also cruel

• No hope for man if the present condition is our true condition

Christian hypothesis: Man is now in an abnormal state

• Both dignity and cruelty can be explained

• Hope for a solution: redemption

• Basis to fight evil

• Basis for moral living

• All non-Christians live in tension between moral awareness and non-Christian explanations.

Where does my friend have clear moral views?

• Engaging people on current news, family, social issues, e

What makes the issue right or wrong? What is the basis?

• Where can we agree with their "moral motions"?

• But what makes it wrong? Discuss the failure of non-Christian assumptions for explaining their sense of moral order.

An infinite personal God uniquely makes sense of our moral judgments.

• It shows why people and creation in general have value.

• Biblical view of human nature uniquely makes sense of what we observe in human history and society.

Biblical view forces us to ask difficult questions about ourselves: Am I basically good, or am I corrupt?

• What better context to talk about the gospel?

• Relevant antithesis: Need to show the contemporary value of biblical Christianity by illustrating the dead end of competing popular views (prophetic exposition of the Bible).

Need to understand not only the imperative, but the underlying truths.

• Avoiding wooden application of biblical truth (wisdom).

Need to model critical thinking to make independent and mature followers of Christ.

• Genuine transfer of knowledge involves the ability to apply truth to new and unforeseen situations (discernment).

• A mixed bag

• Apologetic significance of Christian social reform movements

• Early church and the seeds of social reform

• 18^th and 19^th century social reform movements

Donald Dayton, Discovering An Evangelical Heritage

• Child labor

William Wilberforce

• Abolition

Jonathan Blanchard and Charles Finney: Understanding the "second great awakening"

• Gender equality

B.T. Roberts and the Free Methodists

• Compassion for the poor

William and Catherine Booth, Salvation Army

What are the real life social implications to non-Christian presuppositions?

Each affects how we view the others

• Economic pragmatism shapes value of human life and social ethic

• View of human nature and social values direct science and technology

• Science and technology affect ideas about human dignity and ethics

Anti-humanism and the (post)modern world: The "slippery slope"

Crucial implications of the 1973 abortion decision.

• Triumph of sociological law.

• Arbitrary assigning of human value and civil rights opens the door to social convenience and economic pragmatism.

• Principle: Once an anti-humanistic consensus is reached in one area, technology and economic pressures will force application to other areas. Only the re-emergence of a Christian consensus will change the course of history.

• Infanticide

Euthanasia

• Active and passive

• Failure to convict Kavorkian

• Warning signs from the Netherlands

Genetic engineering/cloning

• Pragmatic value

• Social interest

Is the comparison with Nazi Germany fair?

• George Stein, "Biological Science and the Roots of Nazism," American Scientist, 76:50-58.
• David Hirsch, The Deconstruction of Literature: Criticism After Auschwitz (Hanover: Brown University Press, 1991).
• Gene Edward Veith, Modern Fascism (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing, 1993)

• In true spirituality

• In the family

• In the church

• Universal sign of belief

• Love for all people, especially believers

• The standard is high

• Love draws people to Christ

• False notions of unity

• Forgiveness

• Not for arguing or winning

• More serious differences require more love, more prayer

• Costly love: "Why not rather be wronged?"