Francis Schaeffer was a pretty big figure in the evangelical world that I grew up in--he was a lion of a figure, a man of incredible intellect and a sweet goatee who founded a community called L'Abri in Switzerland.
His son, Frank Schaeffer, wrote a book about growing up at L'Abri, about his struggles with faith and family, and about how he ultimately left what he calls the "Religious Right." Somehow I conned Ian into getting me that book for Christmas. It's excellent--Crazy for God--and it's his memoir of a dizzying life as an early mover and shaker in a movement that ended with the identification of the Republican Party and conservatism with evangelical Christianity, his disillusionment with the movement and his faith.
I like it because it's personal--the conservative evangelical intellectual world was my world and Frank's world too, and his story jives with my story and there aren't many people out there with whom I can identify. And it tells the backstory on idolizing and isolating your heroes, getting lost in the heady feeling of belonging to some movement both critical and eschatological, and about questioning your faith without losing your mind or ending bitter and angry and burnt out. Frank's deep loyalty, love and admiration for his parents and their faith shines brilliantly in the midst of his own struggles with faith and criticism for the movement which embraced their family.
It's still probably good reading even if you don't identify with the memoirist, due to excellent passages on education, childhood, family, and a beautiful chapter dedicated to his love for his wife. Francis the Younger is, after all, a novelist at heart, and it shows up in the hurricane force five-page ode to the love of his life. Or, you could just read the interview here at the Rutherford Institute, which leans a little more towards exploring the world of politicized evangelicalism and is an interesting read on its own. Or you could listen to the interview on NPR's "Fresh Air" that got me started on this whole journey back in the beginning of December.
1 comment:
The Schaeffer review caused me to think a lot about my experience as a young Christian. I came to faith in 1970 in my sophomore year in college, and Schaeffer and the Intervarsity campus fellowship were a breath of fresh air. It was my first acquaintance with believers who were also thinking persons. And I've cherished self-educated intellectual activities all my life. It pains me to hear Frank talk about the dirty laundry. I believe we all come from disfunctional families. It discourages people from ever trying to do something in the name of faith.
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