The Great Evangelical Disaster

A good part of the division we see today within Christianity concerning the infallibility of the Bible took off during the free autonomy of the 20's. Sadly, very few Christians understand the battle that rages. In this, another great work by Schaeffer, he strongly emphasizes the need for us to live the Christian life in its entirety, "in every area of culture and society". It concerns the greatest problem we face and the critical situation we live in today. Reaffirming material from earlier works and leading in with wonderful analogies, Schaeffer touches on these areas: The need for a proper balance between form and freedom; Liberalism and relativism that is sweeping through the church, compromising God's word; Mistakes Christians make in adopting socialism; Dangers of the World Council of Churches; And practical steps we as Christians must take. We must be radicals, radicals for truth, and live it. Because many times the secular world sees the hypocrisy in the church clearer than the church itself. Wish you well Scott

Francis Schaeffer's most classic work is a call to the Evangelical church of it's need to remain biblical, and is just as important reading for the Christian today as it was when the book was first published in 1984. Schaeffer's message is that with the Reformation many came to Christ with the absolutes based on biblical form found in the bible, and it became widely known and great freedom came out of that. But, in the early part of the 20th century - that Freedom became Autonomous, self-directed, and self-governing, and over time biblical form and the Christian consensus lacked constraint. In explaining the moral breakdown of our times, Francis Schaeffer says this; "The titantic freedoms which we once enjoyed have been cut loose from their Christian restraints and are becoming a force of destruction leading to chaos. And when this happens, there really are very few alternatives. All morality becomes relative, law becomes arbitrary, and society moves towards disintegration. In personal and social life, compassion is swallowed up by self-interest... When the memory of the Christian consensus which gave us freedom within the biblical form is increasingly forgotten, a manipulating authoritarianism will tend to fill the vacuum. At this point the words "right" and "left" will make little difference. They are only two roads to the same end, the results are the same. An elite, an authoritarianism as such, will gradually force form on society so that it will not go into chaos--and most people would accept it." pg. 23) The distinctly Christian position of Knowledge, moral and spiritual truths of God's word were being compromised in the church, and accommodation to the world's thinking gave way to the spirit of the age, as liberal theology entered the Church, while notable scholars such as J. Gresham Machen who stood firm in the battle for biblical truth and biblical inerrancy were being silenced and driven out. It comes down to this; are we obeying the scriptures? because this is the real test of our faith and lives in Christ and rather we believe the bible. This is not just a theological debate, but practical and obedient living. Schaeffer reminds us again that "the whole world is under the control of the evil one" 1 John 5:19), and that Christians seem to have forgotten this, and spend little time considering this in relation to our daily lives in this world and how this relates to the culture's effect on our church teaching and doctrine and urges the reader to stand firm on God's Word and not succumb to the temptation of compromise and accommodation of worldly thinking. He writes that truth demands confrontations, and conflicts will come because of the evangelical's accommodation to the spirit of the world and because of a weakened view of the bible, differences will be a part of evangelicalism, and it does no one any justice to deny this, but love and grace in these conflicts should be extended to one another- as it is the mark of a Christia

As has been mentioned The Great Evangelical Disaster was Francis Schaeffer's last book before his death. Though, the book is now over two decades old Schaeffer's thoughts are just as relevant today as they were in 1984. Schaeffer rightly identifies biblical inerrancy as a 'watershed' issue for Evangelical christians. This is where the rubber meets the road. Unfortunately, today those who call themselves Evangelical often are not strong on or even deny inerrancy. Schaffer argues that those who hold to the inerrancy of scripture and those who don't ultimately end up with much different worldviews. He further points out that accomidation in this area leads to the same problems as an outright denial of inerrancy. Schaeffer also argues that this is an issue which must ultimatley lead to some confrontation within the visible church or we deny the Holiness of God. But, he also correctly points out that this must been done in Love. The task of the church is to simultaneously practice the Holiness of God and the Love of God. If we only practice the Holiness we end up hard and unloving. If we only practice Love we will accomidate on any issue and in the end to not in fact practice the Love of God but a distorted concept of Love. Also, we cannot keep this balance in our own power but we must rely on the Holy Spirit. This book is well worth the read. It is a challenge for us to stand for Truth in a world that denies truth and a reminder that we must stand in love with tears in our eyes- not in arrogant pride. Finally, this printing also has as an appendix Schaeffer's earlier booklet The Mark of the Christian, which is also an excellent book...something every Christian should read.

This was an excellent book showing the decline of the modern day church. Schaeffer shows that the church has lost its will to discern right from wrong. He does a terrific job critiquing what he calls the watershed of the Evangelical Faith. That is, the inerrancy of the Scriptures. Too many people are accepting people who call themselves "Evangelicals", but they are really are nothing but rank liberals. This is a short pithy work, but it shows the sadness of the times we are in. I love the short history that Schaeffer gives. Since he was a Presbyterian, I love him talking about J. Gresham Machen (a brilliant defender of Orthodoxy). I also love him talking about how "Fundamentalism" got started. Most people see "Fundamentalism" as being anti-intellectual. But, historially speaking, "Fundamentalism" was actually an intellectual defense of Christian orthodoxy (it all started by a group of Christian scholars getting together defending historic Christian doctrine in book form, of which Machen was one of them). This was a tremendous book for someone wanting to study how the Bible has been affected by liberalism and neo-orthodoxy. If it would have been a little more thorough, I would have rated it five stars.

Francis Schaeffer's predictions are coming true today! Schaeffer was an extraordinary apologist and evangelist. His ministry was rooted and grounded in the basic tenet that the Bible IS the Word of God. It is inspired and sufficient. He was one of the few to see that modern evangelicalism was quickly drifting from its biblical moorings. This volume points out numerous ways in which the church started to drift even during Schaeffer's lifetime. New authors such as David Wells are attesting to the validity of Schaeffer's well written prophecy. If you're interested in evangelicalism or the debate concerning the inerrancy and authority of the Bible then you will love this volume. This was the forerunner of all modern discussions concerning the church's constant need to be anchored in God's inspired Book--the Bible.