Francis Schaeffer Collected Writings Collection (9 vols.)

by Francis A. Schaeffer; C. Everett Koop

Publisher:

Crossway

, 1983–2013

Overview

The books of Francis Schaeffer represent some of the most influence theological writings in the 20th century for Christians in the public sphere. Schaeffer actively sought to emphasize the inherent dignity in all people, while also challenging Christians to think critically about the state of their culture and the Christian faith. Concerned that Western Culture had lost its moorings from theology, Schaeffer represents a voice of actions and calling for evangelicals around the world to live in a manner that honors God and actively cultivates sanctification.

Key Features

• Brings together Schaeffer’s writings, theological, social, and apologetic
• Includes essential and classic works, such as Whatever Happened to the Human Race?
• Gives valuable personal insight into Schaeffer’s ideas from his own letters

Product Details

• Title: Francis Schaeffer Collected Writings Collection (9 vols.)
• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Volumes: 9
• Pages: 1,948
• Christian Group: Reformed
• Resource Type: Topical
• Topic: Biblical Studies

A Christian Manifesto

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 160

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this explosive book, Francis Schaeffer shows why morality and freedom have crumbled in our society. He calls for a massive movement-in government, law, and all of life-to reestablish our Judeo-Christian foundation and turn the tide of moral decadence and loss of freedom.

A Christian Manifesto is literally a call for Christians to change the course of history-by returning to biblical Truth and by allowing Christ to be Lord in all of life.

Schaeffer was right. Today, we need leaders who can show us how to operate . . . in a way that does not neglect or enshrine politics. We need to discern which behaviors by Christians are helpful . . . and which are not.

—Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief, WORLD magazine

When I went to L’Abri many years ago as an agnostic, it was the first time I encountered Christians who engaged with the cultural and intellectual world. A leader distinguished by his integrity and authenticity, Francis Schaeffer shows how the richness of biblical truth illuminates the course of history as well as our individual lives.

—Nancy Pearcey, author, Total Truth; Finding Truth; and Love Thy Body

I can think of no one who has had more impact on evangelical theology and social policy in the last three decades than Francis Schaeffer. Dr. Schaeffer had enormous influence on a whole generation of baby-boomer evangelicals, calling us to engagement with society and inspiring us to be the salt and light that Jesus commanded. The culmination of Schaeffer’s call for the church to be the church were How Should We Then Live? and A Christian Manifesto. We all owe Dr. Schaeffer an incalculable debt.

—Richard Land, president, Southern Evangelical Seminary

The Great Evangelical Disaster

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 1984
• Pages: 192

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Have Christians compromised their stand on truth and morality until there is almost nothing they will speak out against? Has the evangelical church itself sold out to the world?

A provocative and challenging book—but one that is tempered by Dr. Schaeffer’s deep commitment to Christ and love for the church.

Whatever Happened to the Human Race?

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 1983
• Pages: 180

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

“If a mother can kill her own children, then what can be next?” Mother Teresa once asked.

What indeed?

Once the value of human life has been depreciated, as in Roe v. Wade and the Baby Doe Case, no one is safe. Once “quality of life” is substituted for the absolute value of human life itself, we all are endangered. Already respected scientists are calling for a time period following birth (a week or so) to decide if newborns have “sufficient quality of life” to be allowed to live. Already committees of “medical professionals” would like to decide whether the “quality of life” of the elderly or anyone seriously ill is high enough to allow them to go on living.

In this moving book, the renowned pediatric surgeon and Surgeon General of the United States, C. Everett Koop, MD, joins with one of the leading Christian thinkers of our day, Francis A. Schaeffer, to analyze the widespread implications and frightening loss of human rights brought on by today’s practices of abortion, infanticide, and euthanasia. They see the present as a crucial turning point. Choices are being made that undermine human rights at their most basic level. Practices once labeled “unthinkable” are now considered acceptable. The destruction of human life, young and old, is being sanctioned on an ever-increasing scale by the medical profession, by the courts, by parents, and by silent citizens.

“But what can I do?” you ask. “I’m just one person.” You can start by reading this book. Yes, it will shock you. And it will make you weep. But it will also help you see how you can actually make a difference.

C. Everett Koop (1916-2013) served two terms as the Surgeon General of the United States. Prior to that, he served as Surgeon-in-Chief of the Children’s Hospital in Philadelphia where the entire Surgical Center is named in his honor. A pacesetter in the field of pediatric surgery, Dr. Koop developed many new and highly successful procedures in surgery of the newborn. He authored many well-known books in the field of medical ethics and was founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery.

Death in the City

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2002
• Pages: 160

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Few Christians had greater impact during the last half of the twentieth century than Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer. A man with penetrating insight into post-Christian, post-modern life, Schaeffer also cared deeply about people and their search for truth, meaning, and beauty. If there is one central theme throughout Schaeffer’s work, it is that “true truth” is revealed in the Bible by “the God who is there,” and that what we do with this truth has decisive consequences in every area of life.

Death in the City was Schaeffer’s third book and is foundational to his thinking. Written against the backdrop of the sixties countercultural upheaval, it reads today with the same ring of truth regarding personal, moral, spiritual, and intellectual concerns. Especially in light of 9/11, Schaeffer seems disturbingly prophetic. The death that Schaeffer writes about is more than just physical death—it is the moral and spiritual death that subtly suffocates truth and meaning and beauty out of the city and the wider culture.

What is the answer that Schaeffer offers in response? It is commitment to God’s Word as truth—a costly practice in the midst of the intellectual, moral, and philosophical battles of our day. It is compassion for a world that is lost and dying without the Gospel. It is yielding our lives to God and allowing Him to bring forth His fruit through us.

Few have demonstrated this commitment to truth and “persistence of compassion” so consistently as Schaeffer did. And because of this, few who begin reading these pages will come to the end without having their life profoundly changed.

How Should We Then Live?

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2005
• Pages: 288

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

As one of the foremost evangelical thinkers of the twentieth century, Francis Schaeffer long pondered the fate of declining Western culture. In this brilliant book he analyzed the reasons for modern society’s state of affairs and presented the only viable alternative: living by the Christian ethic, acceptance of God’s revelation, and total affirmation of the Bible’s morals, values, and meaning.

This is a modern-day classic, one of Schaeffer’s books that awakened me to how biblical truth affects all of life.

—Charles Colson, founder, Prison Fellowship and the Colson Center for Christian Worldview

There are books that quickly go out of print and there are books for the ages. How Should We Then Live? is one for the ages. Any serious thinker must read it again and again.

—Cal Thomas, syndicated columnist, host, After Hours, Fox News Channel

How Should We Then Live? was produced by a genius who cared about the battle of ideas. It’s also the book I still recommend to students for a quick overview of ‘the rise and decline of western thought and culture.’ Schaeffer brilliantly takes readers from ancient times through the Renaissance, Reformation, and Enlightenment, then discusses the breakdown in philosophy and science and moves on to art, music, literature, film, and much else besides.

—Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief, WORLD magazine

Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2004
• Pages: 224

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

The book of Joshua brings to life real history during the crucial period of transition for the Israelites as they follow God’s direction and settle in the promised land. Israel needed discipline in light of their newfound freedom. They faced the responsibility of living as a covenant people while adapting to change. Joshua describes the historic shift from the revelation of God’s promises to their realization. God’s care of his people becomes obvious, and their struggle with disobedience, selfishness, and fear is very human.

Francis Schaeffer’s thoughts on the book of Joshua show readers the historic, spiritual, and intellectual nourishment available for the Christian life through the examples of Joshua and his fellow Israelites. In the book of Joshua, Schaeffer finds that God reveals his sorrow over human sin, as well as his gracious love for his people. This is as true for us as it was for those in Joshua’s time. This study of the settling of Israel will inspire readers to see the hand of God present in all of history, including today.

No Little People

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2009
• Pages: 240

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Most Christians take an honest look at themselves and conclude that their limited talents, energy, and knowledge mean that they don’t amount to much. Francis A. Schaeffer says that the biblical emphasis is quite different. With God there are no little people!

This book contains sixteen sermons that explore the weakness and significance of humanity in relationship to the infinite and personal God. Each was preached by Schaeffer at L’Abri Fellowship in Switzerland to the community that gathered there to work, learn, and worship together. The focus of this collection is the lasting truth of the Bible, the faithfulness of God, the sufficiency of the work of Christ, and the reality of God’s Spirit in history. The sermons represent a variety of styles-some are topical, some expound Old Testament passages, and still others delve into New Testament texts. No Little People includes theological sermons and messages that focus specifically on daily life and Christian practice. Each sermon is a single unit, and all are valuable for family devotions or other group study and worship. Readers will be encouraged by the value that God places on each person made in His image.

The Finished Work of Christ

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 2013
• Pages: 240

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

Augustine. Luther. Wesley. These great leaders of the church all traced their spiritual awakenings to the book of Romans. To this day Paul’s letter continues to amaze and awaken those who seek to plumb its depths, including one of the most influential Christian thinkers of the 20th century, Francis Schaeffer.

In his landmark commentary on the first eight chapters of Romans, Schaeffer expounds on the foundational doctrines that undergird the core of Christian teaching, offering us vital insights into the message of Romans and an arresting perspective on our own times.

The Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer

• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Crossway
• Publication Date: 1986
• Pages: 264

Sample Pages: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

In this collection of Francis Schaeffer’s letters, the personal, spiritual, and practical side of Dr. Schaeffer’s work comes shining through so clearly. Each of us will find here something of ourselves, our frailty and our human need, but also something of what we might become through the transforming presence of Jesus Christ in our lives.

Lane T. Dennis is president and publisher of Crossway Books and Good News Tracts. Dr. Dennis earned his BS in business from Northern Illinois University, an MDiv from McCormick Theological Seminary, and a PhD in religion from Northwestern University. Before joining Good News Publishers in 1974, he served as a pastor in campus ministry at the University of Michigan (Sault Ste. Marie) and as the managing director of Verlag Grosse Freude in Switzerland. He is the author and/or editor of three books, including the Gold Medallion-award-winning book Letters of Francis A. Schaeffer, and he is the former chairman of the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association. Dr. Dennis serves as the chairman of the ESV (English Standard Version) Bible Translation Oversight Committee and as the Executive Editor of the ESV Study Bible.

Francis A. Schaeffer (1912–1984) was an evangelical missionary, philosopher, prolific author, and lecturer. Under the teachings of Cornelius Van Til and J. Grecham Machen, Schaeffer held a presuppositional approach to apologetics. Recognized internationally for his work in Christianity and culture, Schaeffer passed away in 1984 but his influence and legacy continue worldwide. In 1955, he and his wife, Edith, moved to Switzerland and founded L’Abri Fellowship international study and discipleship centers. Schaeffer authored more than 20 books, which have been translated into a score of languages and sold millions worldwide.