Tuesday, December 16, 2008

Book Review: Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelical America

Francis Schaeffer pointed modern evangelicals toward hospitality, reason, and political engagement. Although he accepted the Enlightenment's narrow definition of reason, reason has many more roads than this (as indicated by John 1:1).

Hankins's biography (Eerdmans Publishing, $20) is a well-written history that is especially noteworthy for being a product of the evangelical academic culture which Schaeffer inspired, even as he fought with them late in his life. This is the second Hankins history book that I've read, and I'll be looking at his history of the evangelical movement next: American Evangelicals: A Contemporary History of a Mainstream Religious Movement. Hankins is a reliable guide to this group, but I would be curious to see him broaden his vision a bit to include the impact of evangelical history on Catholics of the same time periods.

2 comments:

Eric Lee said...

This interview with Frank Schaeffer (Francis' son) from few days ago on NPR's Fresh Air is also very much worth listening to.

Fred said...

Eric - I've listened to Terri Gross for years and am weary of her smugness and resistance to awe: something of a grad school gnosticism — but one that never will be ended by comps. This interview is more annoying than most because Frank plays perfectly his role of betraying his father's memory. I can tolerate either one of them alone, but together they're a bit sickening.