Francis Schaeffer

He married Edith Seville in 1935. The couple went on to have four children, out of which, Frank Schaeffer, the couple’s son, went on to become a author, painter and prominent film director.

He passed away due to lymphoma at the age of 72, in Rochester, Minnesota.

Following his death, his legacy became a far-reaching one. An institution called, ‘The Francis A. Schaeffer Foundation’ continues to spread his good work and analyses his teachings even today.

Francis August Schaeffer was born in Germantown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to Bessie Williamson and Franz A. Schaeffer III.

He graduated from Hampden-Sydney College, in 1935. He then enrolled at Westminster Theological Seminary, where he was the disciple of J. Gresham Machen and Cornelius Van Til.

In 1937, he was transferred to the Faith Theological Seminary and graduated from there the following year.

He was the first student to have graduated from the Faith Theological Seminary. He was also the first to be preordained in the Bible Presbyterian Church.

It was during this time, he served under pastors in Pennsylvania and Missouri. However, he chose to support the Bible Presbyterian Church and eventually became a part of the Reformed Presbyterian Church and the Evangelical Synod.

In 1948, Schaeffer and his family moved to Switzerland. Exactly seven years later, he established a community called ‘L’Abri’, which in French, denotes ‘shelter’. This establishment was a spiritual community which attracted hundreds and thousands of followers in the coming decade.

In an article written for ‘The Bible Today’, Schaeffer presented his views on apologetics and how he chose the best of both; presuppositionalism and evidentialism in his views, in 1948.

Through the 1960s, he indulged himself in the works of Rousas John Rushdoony, which inspired his own ideals and beliefs.

His masterpiece was his collection of 22 books, which was put together in a series known as ‘The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer: A Christian Worldview’. This large collection was divided into five large sections. Of this extensive collection, the second book, ‘How Should We Then Live’, published in 1976, in the fifth volume, went on to become a huge success.

The book ‘How Should We Then Live’ became so successful that there is a documentary film series based on the book and the book also served as the basis for 10 major films. This is also considered one of his greatest works because it is credited with inspiring a number of leaders of the American conservative evangelical society. The book has also spawned a number of study aids for the films that were created.