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Francis Schaeffer

Francis Schaeffer Quotes

Theologian

Francis Schaeffer (January 30, 1912 – May 15, 1984) was an American evangelical theologian, apologist, and writer, best known for founding L'Abri, a Christian community in Switzerland. Born in Pennsylvania, he initially embraced fundamentalism but later engaged with broader cultural issues. Schaeffer emphasized the integration of Christian worldview with philosophy, art, and society, critiquing modern secularism. His works, such as 'Escape from Reason' and 'The God Who Is There,' address spiritual crises of modern individuals. Through L'Abri, he influenced countless intellectuals and seekers. Schaeffer's legacy endures in evangelical cultural criticism and apologetics.

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All Christian Men Spirituality God Ifs Should World Christ People Made

Famous Francis Schaeffer Quotes

“The soul is not more important than the body. God made the whole man and the whole man is important.”

Men Made Important Soul Whole Body

Book:Escape from Reason

Source: Escape from Reason

“Sometimes the greatest deterrent to a great marriage is believing you have a perfect marriage.”

Believe Sometimes Perfect Great Marriage Deterrent Perfect Marriage

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“The church is something beautiful”

Beautiful Church Something Beautiful

Book:The church before the watching world: a practical ecclesiology

Source: The church before the watching world: a practical ecclesiology

“No totalitarian authority nor authoritarian state can tolerate those who have an absolute by which to judge that state and its actions. The Christians had that absolute in God's revelation.”

States Action Christian Moral Enemy Judging Authority Standards Universal Absolutes Beast Revelations Thrown Rome Tolerate

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“We should not view men with a cynical eye, seeing them only as meaningless products of chance, but, on the other hand, we should not go to the opposite extreme of seeing them romantically. To do either is to fail to understand who men really are--creatures made in the image of God but fallen.”

Men Should Made Hands Eye Chance Views Failing Seeing Products Creatures Opposites Extremes Fallen Meaningless Cynical God Image

Book:The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of spirituality

Source: The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of spirituality

“Our relationship with each other is the criterion the world uses to judge whether our message is truthful - Christian community is the final apologetic.”

World Use Christian Community Judging Messages Finals Truthful Our Relationship Criteria Apologetic Christian Community

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“He who loses the arts loses the culture.”

Art Culture Loses

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“If there is no absolute by which to judge society, society is absolute.”

Ifs Judging Absolutes

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“Man, made in the image of God, has a purpose - to be in relationship to God, who is there. Man forgets his purpose and thus he forgets who he is and what life means.”

Men Mean Made Purpose Forget God Image Life Means

Book:The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the church

Source: The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the church

“If the church is what it should be, young people will be there. But they will not just 'be there' - they will be there with the blowing of horns and the clashing of high-sounding cymbals, and they will come dancing with flowers in their hair.”

People Ifs Should Young Church Flower Hair Dancing Horns Be Young Cymbals

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“We must stress that the basis for our faith is neither experience nor emotion but the truth as God has given it in verbalized, prepositional form in the Scripture and which we first of all apprehend with our minds.”

Mind Firsts Form Given Emotion Bases Stress Scripture

Book:The new super-spirituality

Source: The new super-spirituality

“Isolating the student from large sections of human knowledge is not the basis of a Christian education. Rather it is giving him or her the framework for total truth, rooted in the Creator's existence and in the Bible's teaching, so that in each step of the formal learning process the student will understand what is true and what is false and why it is true or false.”

Giving Humans Christian Process Existence Steps Teaching Students Bases Creator Rooted Formal Sections Framework Learning Process Human Knowledge True Or False Christian Education

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles.”

People Way Children Catch Me Measles

Book:The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the west

Source: The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the west

“Modern man has both feet firmly planted in mid-air”

Men Air Feet Modern Modern Man

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“If we do not show love to one another, the world has a right to question whether Christianity is true.”

Ifs World Shows Christianity

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“Doctrinal rightness and rightness of ecclesiastical position are important, but only as a starting point to go on into a living relationship - and not as ends in themselves.”

Important Ends Relationship Position Goes On Starting Starting Point

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“This equation of the impersonal plus time plus chance producing the total configuration of the universe and all that is in it, modern people hold by faith.”

People Universe Chance Modern Plus Equations Configuration

Book:How should we then live?: the rise and decline of western thought and culture

Source: How should we then live?: the rise and decline of western thought and culture

“Christianity is not a series of truths in the plural, but rather truth spelled with a capital 'T.' Truth about total reality, not just about religious things. Biblical Christianity is Truth concerning total reality - and the intellectual holding of that total Truth and then living in the light of that Truth.”

Reality Light Religious Christianity Intellectual Series Biblical

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“We must not only be True. We must be Beautiful.”

Beautiful Being True

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“There is no use of Evangelicalism seeming to get larger and larger, if at the same time appreciable parts of Evangelicalism are getting soft at that which is the central core, namely the Scriptures.”

Ifs Use Core Scripture Seeming

Book:The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the Bible as truth

Source: The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the Bible as truth

“The ordinary Christian with the Bible in his hand can say that the majority is wrong.”

Hands Christian Ordinary Majority

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“The purpose of apologetics is not just to win an argument or a discussion, but that people with whom we are in contact may become Christians and then live under the Lordship of Christ in the whole spectrum of life.”

People May Whole Christian Purpose Winning Christ Argument Contact Discussion Spectrum Apologetic Lordship

Author:Francis Schaeffer

“Some psychological and sociological conditioning occurs in every man's life and this affects the decisions he makes. But we must resist the modern concept that all sin can be explained merely on the basis of conditioning.”

Men Sin Decision Modern Concepts Bases Every Man Psychological Conditioning Sociological

Book:The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the church

Source: The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the church

About the Author

Born: January 30, 1912
Died: May 15, 1984
Known for: Theologian
Quotes: 173

Related Topics

Christian Men Spirituality God Ifs Should World Christ People Made

Popular Topics

People Ifs Thinking Knows Men World Way Want Love Life Inspirational Needs Giving Feels Should Writing Trying Years Mind Firsts

Books & Sources

True SpiritualityRelated source material

The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the westRelated source material

The Francis Schaeffer Collection: True Spirituality / He Is There and He Is Not SilentRelated source material

The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the churchRelated source material

Escape from ReasonRelated source material

Art & the Bible: Two EssaysRelated source material

The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of spiritualityRelated source material

Art and the BibleRelated source material

How should we then live?: the rise and decline of western thought and cultureRelated source material

He Is There and He Is Not SilentRelated source material

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