May 2001

By Alan LeStourgeon

HOW SHOULD WE THEN LIVE

How Should We Then Live by Francis A. Schaeffer is a superb book for tracing the history of Western thought and civilization, and the consequences of that thought. His work covers the last 2000 years, from the time the Roman Empire was ruled by the authoritarian Caesars to the present.

Schaeffer looks at Western man's art, science, religion, philosophy, government and architecture throughout the ages to show the flow of our history and culture. He points out how one idea leads to another, having influence for generations to come.

Schaeffer shows that in the Middle Ages (500-1500) the church moved away from the teachings of early Christianity as distorted biblical doctrines crept in. There were then two lines of thought that developed- one that led to the Renaissance and one that led to the Reformation.

The Renaissance was a wonderful period of intellectual and artistic achievement for man, but not all of this was a good thing Schaeffer says. Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) had a profound effect on the Renaissance in that he believed and taught the Fall only partly affected man. According to Aquinas, man's will was fallen but his mind or intellect was not. The idea, that through man's intellect he could achieve anything, gave birth to Humanism.

At the end of the Middle Ages, Humanism was beginning to show itself in the arts. Michelangelo's David, with its large stature and disproportionate hands, was not the David of the Bible, but rather an idealized humanistic model of man. His paintings on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel included the pagan prophetess Delphi, making her equal to the Old Testament prophets. His later magnificent Pietas, which he sculpted with more realistic proportions, did however show lessened humanistic pride. He even carved his own face as that of Nicodemus in one of his last Pietas.

While the Renaissance focused on autonomous man, the Reformation focused on God and His written Word. The Reformers taught that the Church was under the authority of the Bible not equal to it. During this time the Bible became available for people in languages they could understand. Schaeffer states, "At its core, therefore, the Reformation was the removing of the humanistic distortions which had entered the church."

Schaeffer then goes on to show how the Reformation led to man being ruled by law, based on the Bible, rather than the absolute right of kings and their arbitrary decisions. However, the Reformation, as Schaeffer points out, was not perfect. A twisted view of race and a noncompassionate use of accumulated wealth were two problems the reformers dealt with.

Humanistic ideals then led to the Enlightenment, one of the most destructive periods in modern history. The French Revolution was the embodiment of all that Humanism and the Enlightenment had to offer. Schaeffer states that the Enlightenment can be summed up in five words: reason, nature, happiness, progress and liberty. Enlightenment thinkers believed man and society were perfectible and the French thought they could do this even as they were seeking to rid themselves of any influence of Christianity. They still held this view as thousands, including some of the revolutionary leaders themselves, were beheaded during the Reign of Terror.

What came next was what Schaeffer calls "The Breakdown." While the philosophers and scientists of the Reformation and Renaissance were not necessarily Christian, their thinking was based on a Christian worldview. This was not so in the later part of the nineteenth century. Philosophers especially, proclaimed there were no absolutes. Combining this with the rise of modern science through Charles Darwin (1809-1882) and Ernst Haeckel (1834-1883), humanism had come full circle. Man, who was once proclaimed as the center of the universe, was now reduced to insignificance.

Schaeffer then concludes, as Christianity's influence in the arts, sciences and many other facets of society decreased, that this led to our modern predicament. We now have adopted two impoverished values: personal peace and affluence. Through these values we have given over our liberties to the rise of an authoritarian and manipulative government. We want our personal peace and affluence maintained at any cost, even at the cost of our rights and liberties.

In one of Schaeffer's final thoughts he states, "If we as Christians do not speak out as authoritarian governments grow from within or come from outside, eventually we or our children will be the enemy of society and the state."

How Should We Then Live was written in 1976, yet because of our inability to learn from history, it will always be a Christian classic.

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