Francis Schaeffer’s Son BLASTS Christianity!

Francis Schaeffer’s Legacy and Frank Schaeffer’s Break with Christianity

Hey guys, Colin here, and welcome back to the channel where the Bible and critical thinking meet to give you real Christian commentary about the things that matter. Thanks so much for watching, let's get into the video.

So for those of you who don't know, Francis Schaeffer was one of the foremost theologians and apologists of the 20th century. Francis was a Presbyterian pastor and the famous author of How Then Should We Live?, The God Who Is There?, and several other books that are still read and enjoyed by evangelical Christians today.

He was a very clear thinker and someone who truly used his mind to glorify God. But contrary to the popular saying, sometimes the apple does fall far from the tree. In fact, sometimes the apple falls into a truck that is speeding away from the tree just about as fast as it can.

And this seems to unfortunately be the case in his life. You see, Francis Schaeffer had a son named Frank Schaeffer, who disagrees heavily with his father when it comes to Christianity. In fact, Frank Schaeffer is an ardent anti-Christian who has lambasted the beliefs of the Church in a recent interview.

So what I want to do in this video is read that interview and respond to it as best I can. I want to encourage you to emulate Francis Schaeffer and persevere to the end in your faith rather than follow in the unbiblical direction of his son, who I sincerely pray would repent and believe in Christ.

Women, Home, and the Biblical Meaning of Male Headship

The element of the biblical worldview that Frank Schaeffer finds particularly annoying and obnoxious is the position of many evangelicals with regards to the roles of men and women in the Church and in the family.

Here's a quote from Frank Schaeffer on the topic. Quote,. What we were pitching in the 70s was really just repackaged misogyny. Women had their role. Men were supposed to be in charge. No to abortion, contraception, child care.

Women were supposed to stay in the home and not have careers. End quote. This is important to respond to because it reflects the concerns that many people have about evangelical Christianity. First of all, let me offer a few points that I actually agree with Frank on.

I agree that the Bible does not teach that a woman's sole place is in the home. Why do I say that? Well, because Proverbs 31, which is one of the clearest examples of proper biblical womanhood that we have, well it clearly says that righteous women can operate outside the home.

Proverbs 31 verse 16 says that the excellent wife, quote, considers a field and buys it. With the fruit of her hands, she plants a vineyard. End quote. Now I'm no biblical scholar, but I'm not really sure how a woman is supposed to plant a vineyard or analyze and buy a piece of land if she's bound to the kitchen in her house.

They didn't have Zillow or Redfin in ancient Israel, so clearly she would have had to exit her home. Proverbs 31 verse 24 says, quote, She makes linen garments and sells them. She delivers sashes to the merchant.

End quote. Again, I'm not really sure how she can deliver a product to someone if she doesn't leave her house. So the point is, yes, I'm sure that some Christians in the past have said that women need to stay at home exclusively.

I'm sure some Christians today say that. And I agree that that's not biblically accurate. However, the Bible does teach that a woman still should make her home her priority as a matter of the heart. That is to say, women should pay more attention to their household and fulfill their responsibilities to their household as a number one priority over and above anything outside the home.

Titus 2 .5 says that Christian women should be taught, quote, to be self-controlled and pure, to be busy at home. End quote. That is to say, the biblical model is not for a woman to stay at home always, but the biblical model is also not for a woman to direct her main attention outside the home as a matter of priority.

Women are not bound to their homes, but their main focus should be their home. That is the biblical teaching on the matter, and Frank Schaeffer, well, he really doesn't seem to be familiar with it. His second complaint in the quote that I read for you was that he has a problem with the idea that, quote, men were supposed to be in charge.

End quote. And again, there's a point here that I can sympathize with Frank on, but I still overall disagree. I do not believe that it is the biblical model for all men to be indiscriminately in charge of all women.

Rather, the Bible has put men at the head of both the church and the family, and a good Christian woman submits to her husband's leadership and to her pastor's teaching in the church. Additionally, it's worth noting that men also have to submit to the leadership of their church officers, according to 1 Peter 5 .5, which says, quote,.

Likewise, you who are younger be subject to the elders. End quote. Of course, there are very legitimate and biblical reasons for a man or a woman to reject their church's advice or even to leave their church entirely, but that's a topic for another video.

The point here is that God has put men at the head of the church and of the family. Ephesians 5 .22 -23 says, quote,. Wives, submit to your own husbands as to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife, even as Christ is the head of the church.

End quote. This passage, and many others, it confirms the concept of male headship in the family. And 1 Timothy 2 .12 says, quote, I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man.

This passage, and several others, confirm the concept of male headship in the church. So the idea of male headship, it's really all over the Bible. And those who disagree with that are fundamentally disagreeing with Scripture, largely for the sake of appeasing the modern feminist movement.

But in any case, I would agree with Frank that it is unbiblical to suggest that all women need to submit to all men. The Bible only commands women to, quote, Submit to their own husbands. And again, that's Ephesians 5 .22.

And wherever it's appropriate and biblical, they should also submit to the teaching of their elders in their church. But there is no biblical case to be made that all women should submit to all men. I hope I'm making that very clear.

Abortion, Objective Morality, and the Sanctity of Life

So again, Frank Schaeffer is rebuking evangelical Christianity for all the wrong reasons. It's important to note that he does not say these things because he's defending the true conclusions of Scripture against false ones, as I believe I'm doing here.

Rather, he's simply wanting to reject Christianity and neglect the Bible as a whole. And that is the difference between correction done in good faith and bad faith. Or more specifically, correction done with faith and no faith at all.

It really makes a big difference. Another part of Frank's quote laments at the fact that evangelical Christians said, No to abortion, end quote. What an interesting age we live in, ladies and gentlemen, where a man can argue that a worldview that supports the murder of innocent children is somehow forward-thinking and ethical.

But the worldview that condemns these actions is backwards and unethical. It's strange that a man can say these things without bursting into thunderous and uncontrollable laughter with regards to the foolishness of his own statement.

In any case, I will kindly remind Frank Schaeffer that if his worldview is true, and God does not exist, or if at least God does exist and he's failed to present any of his moral character to the world in the form of his word, then there's no transcendent foundation for morality at all.

It's merely survival of the fittest. It's your opinion and my opinion. So what are you standing on when you condemn people because they won't let you murder children? Well, you're standing on the ever-firm and solid foundation of your subjective feelings and personal emotions.

And thankfully, since these feelings and emotions belong only to you and not to the rest of us, no one else has any responsibility to follow them. In my worldview and in the worldview of Frank's dad, Francis, there's an objective standard of good and evil.

And killing babies is inconsistent with that standard. Go figure. Psalm 139 verse 13 says, quote, You knitted me together in my mother's womb, end quote. This highlights God's very active role in the formation of pre-born human beings.

And Exodus 20 verse 13 says, quote, You shall not murder, end quote. So the Christian worldview provides a very firm foundation that can be used to make objective and consistent moral claims. But Frank Schaeffer's atheist worldview provides no foundation for ethics, which would explain precisely why his worldview is so obviously unethical.

Conclusion and Call to Repentance

So in conclusion, Frank Schaeffer, the son of Francis Schaeffer, has unfortunately decided to go in the exact opposite direction of his good father. He has denied the faith and has actively supported wicked and sinful behavior.

His comments about this theoretically misogynistic evangelical Christianity are misrepresentative at best and entirely inaccurate at worst. And his comments affirming the murder of innocent children, well, they tell us exactly how much we should trust his opinions on how immoral Christians are.

That is to say, we shouldn't trust them at all. I hope this was helpful to you guys. And I ask that you would join me in praying for Frank Schaeffer, that he would repent and believe the true gospel of Jesus Christ, the way that his father did.

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