The Real Francis Schaeffer
by Frank Schaeffer
January 16, 2013
As I wrote about the real Francis Schaeffer in my memoir Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back and received many wonderful emails and letters. I also got some rather nasty ad hominem criticism from some of my father’s evangelical followers and especially from several evangelical leaders who have made their “professional” religious careers by associating themselves with his reputation. But most people beginning with my editor (who like most of my secular readers had never heard of Dad until I wrote about him) believed that I’d folded a tribute to Dad into my memoir about the rise of the religious right and my family’s part in it.
However the most wonderful tribute to Dad and to my book in many years came last Sunday, long after it was published when I got this email (used by permission of the writer) that really speaks to who Dad was and to the man I knew and loved. I’ve reproduce it here unedited.
“From: Steven Gabbard
Sun, Jan 13, 2013 1:31 am
I saw your recent articles on Alternet and ordered Crazy For God on my Kindle. I stayed up and finished it last night. I really enjoyed it. I admit I read it for the juicy insider bits about American evangelicals. But the parts I ended up enjoying the most were the parts about your father during the sixties. It was like ‘wow, I would’ve like to have met that guy’. His not being racist or homophobic was refreshing. I found myself thinking that if I had known someone like that when I was younger and searching, I might have taken Christianity more seriously than I did.
It was because of the bigotry and anti-intellectualism that I saw practiced by the Christians in my family that I dismissed Christianity when I was an adult. I am an atheist now and quite content to remain one. But if things had been different 30 years ago and I had met someone who was charming, intelligent, and socially enlightened like your father was during the sixties, I could see that it was possible that I might have taken a different path than the one I walked. That thought is an uncomfortable one. We like to think that we arrive at our deepest convictions through logic and much soul searching. But happenstance plays a larger role than we like to admit. I had to put the book down at one point and face the fact, ‘things could have been different’. I don’t think I’ve ever seen that so clearly before.
Anyway, that was what I got when I read your book. Wanted to share it. I’ll pick up another one of your books soon. It’ll probably be Portofino, that one sounds interesting.
Your new fan,
Steven Gabbard”
Frank Schaeffer is a writer and author of Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect, Helped Found the Religious Right, and Lived to Take All (or Almost All) of It Back. To book Frank Schaeffer to speak at your college, church or group contact him at Frankschaeffer.com
Amazon Book Description
Publication Date: September 30, 2008
By the time he was nineteen, Frank Schaeffer’s parents, Francis and Edith Schaeffer, had achieved global fame as bestselling evangelical authors and speakers, and Frank had joined his father on the evangelical circuit. He would go on to speak before thousands in arenas around America, publish his own evangelical bestseller, and work with such figures as Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, and Dr. James Dobson. But all the while Schaeffer felt increasingly alienated, precipitating a crisis of faith that would ultimately lead to his departure—even if it meant losing everything.
With honesty, empathy, and humor, Schaeffer delivers “a brave and important book” (Andre Dubus III, author of House of Sand and Fog)—both a fascinating insider’s look at the American evangelical movement and a deeply affecting personal odyssey of faith.
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Reviews
April 3, 2008
I became an evangelical Christian in 1984, and one of the
first heavy-hitter apologetic authors I discovered was Francis Schaeffer. His
son, known at the time as "Franky," was also writing books, and as my first
Christian mentor said to me, "Franky's a bit more radical than his father." I
liked both authors, since at the time I was big on Christian conspiracies and
rigid theology as promulgated by such fundamentalist luminaries as Jack Chick
and Bill Gothard. I dove deep into the evangelical world, attending various
churches, serving in many ministries, and even graduating from seminary with a
Pastoral Studies MA degree in 2002.
However, during the last year it all
came crashing down, ironically after walking the 500-mile Camino de Santiago
pilgrimage trail in Spain. During my trek I had plenty of time to think about
the last two decades, and in the end I came to a decision. Yes, as an
evangelical I'd made a few good friends and had some positive experiences. But
the bad far outweighed the good. I'd had enough of trying to jam theological
square pegs into the round holes of rationality. Plus, I could take no more
cult-of-personality pastors, egotistical theologians, holier-than-thou
legalisms, guilt trips, and plain goofiness. So when reality intruded on my
faith, I either had to acknowledge it or shut my eyes even tighter. I chose the
former option and abandoned evangelicalism.
As part of my journey I read
the "new atheist" books by Hitchens, Dawkins, Stenger, and so forth. Although I
found them challenging and relevant (along with abrasive and polemic), these
authors have probably never bought into any religious belief. I wanted a story
written by an intelligent, high-level Christian, someone who had originally
dedicated their life to the evangelical church but ended up leaving for
conscience's sake. With "Crazy for God" I found exactly what I was looking for.
Here was fundamentalist firebrand Franky Schaeffer, now reborn as Frank, telling
his fascinating story of living, as the cover blurb says, to "take it all (or
almost all) of it back." I could barely put it down.
Mr. Schaeffer pulls
no punches when it comes to evangelicals, family, and even himself. The most
sympathetic figure is his father Francis, who seemed trapped in a joyless
fundamentalist world he didn't create or desire. As for the author, it appears
that his biggest problems with Christianity was its failure to overcome the
baser instincts of human nature, and the ever-present stifling legalism he
endured: witness the pious evangelical leaders who used the Schaeffers to
advance their ministries (and themselves), his three sisters, who put up false
fronts of stability while burning out and breaking down under Mrs. Schaeffer's
relentless perfectionism, and young Frank, who goofed off, partied hard, and
fornicated with abandon in plain sight at L'Abri, the family ministry center in
Switzerland.
As one might expect in such a context, parts of this book
are quite harsh - it's plain that the author is still nursing past wounds. Mr.
Schaeffer is brutally transparent about everything from the voracious sensual
appetites of his youth to the familial abuse within his household. In addition,
he spares none of the evangelical royalty that his family encountered, including
the "power-crazed" Dr. James Dobson, the "very weird" Billy Graham, and Pat
Robertson, whose wacky exploits get more airtime than I can quote. He even rakes
his radical "Franky" persona over the coals, offering a mea culpa for his entire
ministry and political activist period.
One glaring omission: despite some
tantalizing glimpses, he doesn't seem to delve into whatever specific
theological problems he had with evangelical Christianity. I struggled with
doctrines like eternal damnation and predestination, and I'd hoped to get Mr.
Schaeffer's insights on these and other troublesome topics. No such
luck.
After such a wild ride, it's nice to see that Mr. Schaeffer has
come to a calmer and more stable place in life. However, he inadvertently
demonstrates that we can never entirely escape ourselves. He has transferred his
evangelical zeal to patriotism, exemplified by his devotion to United States
Marine Corps where his son honorably served in harm's way. I'm glad he's
pro-America, and the USMC deserves good publicity. But as one who spent six
years as a jarhead, I'd like to caution the author that the storied Corps, much
like the Church he now eschews, is an imperfect institution where high ideals
are limited by human frailties. As for Christianity, given the tone of this book
I found it surprising that Mr. Schaeffer still bothers with God at all. However,
awhile back he joined the Greek Orthodox Church and has found a semblance of
peace within its walls. But as for the evangelical camp, he and his house are
staying far away, thank you very much.
As a former evangelical, I
heartily recommend "Crazy for God." Be forewarned that it's rough on
evangelicalism, and a person of faith will certainly struggle with the author's
profanity, sensuality, and negative conclusions about evangelical Christianity
and some of its glitterati. But it is Christians who need to read this book the
most, so that they can engage with the uncomfortable revelations of a former
evangelical star, and either come to a clearer-eyed place in their faith - or
leave it altogether for their own sake.
* * * * * * * * *
March 15, 2008
Frank Schaeffer doesn't really fit into a brief description.
An American, he grew up in rural Switzerland. His parents were fervent Calvinist
missionaries living in a Catholic culture which they regarded as barely
Christian. Their chalet, known as L'Abri, became a house of hospitality in which
a never-ending seminar on culture and Christianity was the main event. Though an
Evangelical, a strain of Protestantism usually hostile to the arts, Frank's
father was an avid lover of art done in earlier centuries by, in most cases,
Catholic artists -- an enthusiasm that in time inspired his son to become an
artist. Later Frank gave up the easel to makes films, first documentaries in
which his father was the central figure, then more general evangelical films,
and finally several unsuccessful non-religious films aimed at a general
audience.
Eventually -- profoundly disenchanted with the form of Christianity
his parents had embraced, and still more alienated from the shrill varieties of
right wing Evangelical Christianity that both he and his parents had helped
create, Frank joined the Orthodox Church, where he still remains, though no
longer in what he refers to as the stage of "convert zeal." After his son, John,
became a Marine, Frank became something of a missionary for the Marine Corps,
and the military in general, at the same time avidly supporting the war in Iraq
in which his son was a participant. A statement I helped to write that urged
George Bush not to attack Iraq was the target of a widely-published column
Schaeffer wrote in the early days of that war. Now he regards the Iraq War as a
disaster and has become an outspoken critic of George Bush.
"Crazy for
God" is a gripping read, both candid and engaging. More than anything else, I
was touched by Schaeffer's unrelenting honesty. There are pages in which you
feel as if you are overhearing a confession. Yet it's a very freeing confession
to overhear, in the sense that it allows the reader to make deeper contact with
painful or embarrassed areas of his own wounded memory. The book also serves as
an admonition not to create a self for public display which is hardly connected
to one's actual self.
Being raised in a hothouse of Calvinist missionary
zeal, in which Schaeffer and his three sisters became Exhibit A (especially
whenever their mother wrote or spoke about Christian Family Life) is not
something I would wish on any child. I expect Frank Schaeffer will always be in
recovery from that aspect of his childhood.
Those -- and they are many --
who still revere his parents (or for that matter Schaeffer's earlier self, in
the period of his life when he was a hot voice packing in the
evangelical/Christian Right crowds) are furious at this lifting of the
curtain.
Yet I found Schaeffer much harder on himself than on his
parents, whom he sees as having been damaged, in some ways made crazy, by the
burden of a harsh Calvinist theology. Nonetheless his parents emerge as real
Christians whose loving care for others, including people whom many Christians
would cross the street to avoid, was absolutely genuine. (I was impressed by the
book's account of his parents' response to homosexuals who came to visit L'Abri.
They were as warmly received as any other guest.)
While objecting to his
parents' theology and the distortions that it created in their lives and in the
lives of many influenced by them, clearly he loves them passionately and deeply
respects the actual Christian content of their lives -- their "grace,
generosity, love and unconditional support."
Schaeffer's book also
reminds me that it's one of the recurring tragedies of US history that, from
time to time, various movements of self-righteous, ideology-driven Christians
decide it's time to try to impose their ideas on society at large. Schaeffer has
to live with the painful memory of having been one of the key figures helping to
create one of the constituencies that did the most to put George Bush in the
White House in their one-issue hope that he would find ways to make abortion, if
not illegal, at least less frequent. After eight years in the Oval Office, in
fact abortion is no less deeply embedded in American life than it was before
Bush's election. Little if anything was done by his administration to help women
who felt they had no option but abortion find alternatives.
I was touched
by Schaeffer's comments about the powerful influence children can have on their
parents, far more than the children usually realize. As Schaeffer has come to
understand, in reflecting on his relationship with his father, that influence is
sometimes far from positive.
Schaeffer -- now far more caring about the
quandaries others face than he was earlier in his life -- has in the process
become aware that self-righteousness is often the hallmark of each and every
"movement," whether religious or secular, and whether for the unborn, for peace,
for those on death row, for animal welfare, for the environment, etc.,
etc.
In putting the book down, I find myself profoundly grateful for
where Frank Schaeffer's journey has taken him so far, yet hope for further
evolution in his views in regard to the military and how those in the armed
forces are used. I take it as a given that he is aware there are men and women
who died or live crippled lives in part because of the impact on their lives of
several of Schaeffer's earlier books which viewed the military uncritically and
seemed unaware of how often those sent into battle -- because of accidents,
misinformation, panic, bad orders, or even the passion for vengeance -- kill
innocent people. Nor does he seem aware of the damage, often unhealable, done to
those who bear responsibility for such deaths. I hope Schaeffer will give more
thought to why the early Church took such a radical stand in regard to warfare
and other forms of killing, accidental or intentional, and what that might mean
for any Christian in our own day.
Also I would have been glad to hear
more about what drew him to the Orthodox Church and what keeps him there, now
that he is past what he calls the "zealous convert" stage. In his autobiography,
being Orthodox is a minor topic.
As "Crazy for God" bears witness, life
is mainly shaped by one's parents and family, peer group pressure, and -- not
least -- the white water of ambition. Religious beliefs, far from being primary,
are often shaped and adjusted by our social goals. I was reminded several times
of one of Kurt Vonnegut's insights: "Be careful what you pretend to be. You
become what you pretend to be."
It's something of a miracle that Frank Schaeffer
escaped from the highly profitable world of the Television Church. "Crazy
for God" reminds me of what a dangerous vocation it is, more perilous than
mountain climbing, when one becomes a professional Christian, writing or
speaking about the Gospel, Jesus Christ, the kingdom of God, making some or all
of your living doing this. It's a danger I live with too.
-- Jim Forest
* * * * * * * * *
December 4, 2007
He was once the fair-haired boy wonder of evangelicalism,
there at the creation of the American Religious Right. He helped define the
culture war, especially over abortion. He helped create the Presidency of Ronald
Reagan, the Republican majority, the conservative Supreme Court and the New
Evangelicals. Now, he's an apostate, a unborn-again seeker, a member of an
Eastern Orthodox church, and a a self-acknowledged failure. Which means that,
strangely, he's a finally a success.
Frank Schaeffer, the son of
evangelical theologians Francis and Edith Schaeffer has, in his memoir Crazy for
God, provided a beautiful, touching, and painfully honest story of growing up in
the evangelical sub-culture in the age before it emerged as the culture. His
portrait of his famous (at least in some circles) parents, and their Swiss
Christian community, L'Abri, will anger those evangelicals who regard the
Schaeffers (especially Francis) as saints. But, if you're looking for a Daddy
Dearest, you'll be mightly disappointed. There is no scandal here, other than
the scandal of evangelical Christianity in America once it got itself fitted
into Constantine's vestments.
Frank paints his father as an art-loving
historian, a free-thinker more at home in the Florentine Accademia than on the
radio with Dr. Dobson. The elder Schaeffer apparently detested the power-hungry
theo-politicians like Dobson, Falwell and Robertson, and was far more concerned
with reaching young people in search of life's big questions than in reaching
the halls of power. Still he allowed himself to be manipulated by the
theo-politicians, to become the most sought after evangelical teacher of the
1980's. Francis Schaeffer is revered in evangelical circles, where his books and
film series (produced by Frank) are still best-sellers two decades after his
death. He created the intellectual underpinnings of the Religious Right (yes,
Virginia, there is such a thing) and did more than any other theologian to gain
evangelicalism its entry onto the political stage.
Edith is considerably
more God-crazy than her husband, but her son clearly adores her. Beautiful,
stylish, and fiercely intelligent, she is the fire in L'Abri's stove, warming
everything with her presence, all the while irritating the living hell out of
her family with twenty minute sermons masquerading as prayers, and her passion
to "save" every living being in earshot.
Frank Schaeffer is honest about
the dysfunction of his family, his sister's mental illness, his own sexual
coming of age (sometimes uncomfortably so--the man apparently was a world-class
wanker as a teen), the family fights over theology (which nearly wrecked
L'Abri), and his parents' love affair with art, music and literature. He's also
painfully honest about his failed career as a secular film maker, and genuinely
regretful at giving up his early and promising career as an artist to chase the
big evangelical donors who were underwriting the Schaeffer
phenomenon.
Where he's at his best is also where's at his angriest: about
the destructive role he played in American political life and the unleashing of
the monster that ate the Republican Party. These days, he's a post-evangelical
who rejects "what the evangelical community became. It was the merging of the
entertainment business with faith, the flippant lightweight kitsch ugliness of
American Christianity, the sheer stupidity, the paranoia of the American
right-wing enterprise, the platitudes married to pop culture." He also
considerably more nuanced about abortion, though calling him "pro-choice" would
be a stretch.
In this he taps into that ironic vein that has created most
of us evangelical apostates: the very success of evangelicalism, its emergence
as the dominant religious influence in America, and its naked lust for power
have driven us far from our home. One of Francis Schaeffer's most famous works
is a film series about abortion and euthaniasia entitled, Whatever Happened to
the Human Race? His son wants to know: Whatever Happened to the Evangelical
Church?
Frank Schaeffer's apostasy is full of grace and truth. But what
else would you expect from Francis and Edith Schaeffer's boy?
This past Saturday, I gave a paper at the northeast regional meeting of the Evangelical Theological Society, which met on the campus of Alliance Theological Seminary, Nyack, NY. I was asked to talk about my book The Evolution of Adam: What the Bible Does and Doesn’t Say about Human Origins. It’s no surprise that how I answer this question (Adam is not a historical person) is not in step with how mainstream evangelicalism tends to handle it (Adam definitely is, in some sense, historical). Still, I had a wonderful time, and the discussion afterwards was honest and cordial.Neither literalism nor inerrancy should be given the status of default positions of orthodoxy. They are themselves theories of how the Bible works that are as open to scrutiny as any.
