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Quote by Francis Schaeffer

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

The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian view of the west is a comprehensive compilation of Schaeffer's influential essays, lectures, and books that explore the intersection of faith and modern Western life. It offers a deep analysis of cultural, philosophical, and theological issues from a Christian standpoint. more

Author

Francis Schaeffer
Francis Schaeffer

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. more

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“When we mistake what we can know for all there is to know, a healthy appreciation of one's ignorance in the face of a mystery like soil fertility gives way to the hubris that we can treat nature as a machine. Once that leap has been made, one input follows another, so that when the synthetic nitrogen fed to plants makes them more attractive to insects and vulnerable to disease, as we have discovered, the farmer turns to chemical pesticides to fix his broken machine.”

“Humility is the situation of the earth. It's there silent and accepting everything and in a miraculous way making out of all the refuse new richness...transforming corruption itself into a power of life and a new possibility of creativeness, open to the sunshine, open to the rain, ready to receive any seed we sow and capable of bringing thirtyfold, sixtyfold, a hundredfold out of every seed.”

“If in the human economy, a squash in the field is worth more than a bushel of soil, that does not mean that food is more valuable than soil; it means simply that we do not know how to value the soil. In its complexity and its potential longevity, the soil exceeds our comprehension; we do not know how to place a just market value on it, and we will never learn how. Its value is inestimable; we must value it, beyond whatever price we put on it, by respecting it.”

“Only within the 20th Century has biological thought been focused on ecology, or the relation of the living creature to its environment. Awareness of ecological relationships is - or should be - the basis of modern conservation programs, for it is useless to attempt to preserve a living species unless the kind of land or water it requires is also preserved. So delicately interwoven are the relationships that when we disturb one thread of the community fabric we alter it all - perhaps almost imperceptibly, perhaps so drastically that destruction follows.”

“Our children are our signature to the roster of history; our land is merely the place our money was made. There is as yet no social stigma in the possession of a gullied farm, a wrecked forest, or a polluted stream, provided the dividends suffice to send the youngsters to college. Whatever ails the land, the government will fix it.”

“The American Colossus was fiercely intent on appropriating and exploiting the riches of all continents - grasping with both hands, reaping where he had not sown, wasting what he thought would last forever. New railroads were opening new territory. The exploiters were pushing farther and farther into the wilderness. The man who could get his hands on the biggest slice of natural resources was the best citizen. Wealth and virtue were supposed to trot in double harness.”