Alumnus Francis Schaeffer

December 04, 2008

This new book offers insights into how Francis Schaeffer and his theology was formed, including the influences of Machen, Van Til and Edgar.

"In Europe, however, he encountered young people who were struggling intellectually with the kinds of questions Kierkegaard, Nietzsche, or Freud presented, and to his credit Schaeffer recognized that to be effective, he would have to engage them through discussion at the level of ideas and not merely tell them to straighten up and get right with Jesus. His training within the Reformed branch of American fundamentalism by scholars such as J. Gresham Machen and Cornelius Van Til served him well in this regard." p. 231, Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evanglical America.

" Amid the growing literature on Francis Schaeffer's legacy, this book by historian Barry Hankins offers a fresh look at the man and his times. While covering a wide range of issues, Hankins is particularly concerned to understand Schaeffer's relation to American fundamentalism. Brilliant, fascinating, provocative, critical, the volume will leave no reader indifferent. I recommend it highly as an important contribution to understanding these defining years in American religious history."
- William Edgar, Professor of Apologetics, Westminster Theological Seminary

Publisher's Desription: Francis Schaeffer (1912-1984) was probably the single greatest intellectual influence on young evangelicals of the 1960s and '70s. He was cultural critic, popular mentor, political activist, Christian apologist, founder of L'Abri, and the author of over twenty books and two important films. It is impossible to understand the intellectual world of contemporary evangelicalism apart from Francis Schaeffer.

Barry Hankins has written a critical but appreciative biography that explains how Schaeffer was shaped by the contexts of his life - from young fundamentalist pastor in America, to greatly admired mentor, to lecturer and activist who encouraged world-wary evangelicals to engage the culture around them. Drawing extensively from primary sources, including personal interviews, Hankins paints a picture of a complex, sometimes flawed, but ultimately prophetic figure in American evangelicalism and beyond.

288 Pages
Published October 2008

About the Author: Barry Hankins is professor of history at Baylor University. His other books include The Second Great Awakening and the Transcendentalists and American Evangelicals: A Recent History of a Mainstream Religious Movement.

To order the book, click here.