June 7, 2023 Show with Dr. Gregory Edward Reynolds on “Your Father’s L’Abri: Reflections on the Ministry of Francis Schaeffer”

Iron Sharpens Iron

Subscribe

Download

Share

00

00:02

Live from historic downtown Carlisle, Pennsylvania, home of founding father

00:08

James Wilson, 19th century hymn writer George Duffield, 19th century gospel minister

00:13

George Norcross, and sports legend Jim Thorpe, it's Iron Sharpens Iron.

00:20

This is a radio platform in which pastors, Christian scholars, and theologians address the burning issues facing the church and the world today.

00:31

Proverbs chapter 27 verse 17 tells us iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.

00:38

Matthew Henry said that in this passage we are cautioned to take heed with whom we converse and directed to have in view in conversation to make one another wiser and better.

00:50

It is our hope that this goal will be accomplished over the next two hours, and we hope to hear from you, the listener, with your own questions.

00:57

And now, here's your host, Chris Arnzen. Good afternoon,

01:10

Cumberland County, Pennsylvania, Lake City, Florida, and the rest of humanity living on the planet

01:15

Earth who are listening via live streaming at ironsharpensironradio .com. This is

01:20

Chris Arnzen, your host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, wishing you all a happy Wednesday on this seventh day of June, 2023.

01:28

I am thrilled to have back as a returning guest today Dr. Gregory Edward Reynolds.

01:36

I know that the listeners in the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience, especially those that are

01:43

Orthodox Presbyterian, will immediately recognize that name. He is an author and an ordained minister and church planter in the

01:52

Orthodox Presbyterian church denomination, and today we are going to be addressing his latest book,

01:58

Your Father's Libri, Reflections on the Ministry of Francis Schaeffer. And it's my honor and privilege to welcome you back to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Dr.

02:08

Gregory Reynolds. Thank you, Chris. It's great to be with you again. And for the sake of our listeners who may be unfamiliar with the

02:17

Orthodox Presbyterian church denomination, why don't you let our listeners know briefly something about that fine body of believers.

02:27

Well, we grew up back during the 20s. There was a great battle in the large

02:33

Presbyterian church, the PCUSA, over everything about the supernatural reality of the

02:40

Christian faith, the Bible, Christ, the resurrection, historical resurrection, and all those sorts of things.

02:48

They were referred to as the fundamentals, but those are the basic apostles' creed truths that the

02:55

Bible clearly teaches. And so out of that battle, J. Gress and Machen very bravely led a small group.

03:04

I was not alive at that point, but of us who desire to continue a true

03:10

Presbyterianism, which is faithful to Scripture and to the Reformed tradition of understanding what the system of doctrine taught in it.

03:21

Well, if anybody is interested in finding out more about this fine denomination, perhaps you want to find out what congregations in the

03:34

Orthodox Presbyterian church may be near where you live or near where loved ones of yours live, just go to opc .org,

03:43

opc .org, opc for Orthodox Presbyterian church. That's opc .org.

03:50

Well, now we are going to be entering into our discussion on your book, Your Father's Libri, Reflections on the

03:57

Ministry of Francis Schaeffer. Francis Schaeffer is one of the great heroes of the

04:05

Christian faith for many who are Reformed, and even outside of the

04:10

Reformed faith. And his voice, I believe, needs to be heard today more than any other decade of the

04:22

Christian faith, I think. Let's hear from you first of all. Who was

04:27

Francis Schaeffer, and when and where was he born and raised, and in what religion, if any, was he raised?

04:36

Yes, and so he was, Francis Schaeffer was born in 1912 on January 30th, and he was born in Germantown, Pennsylvania, into a working -class family.

04:47

A father, a German, a mother was English, and he was someone who had,

04:54

I think he had a vague religious upbringing. It was perhaps Lutheran, I'm forgetting the details of that.

05:01

But at one point, as a young man, while he was still living at home, he helped a white

05:08

Russian count learn English. What an interesting relationship that must have been.

05:14

And it got him to reading some serious philosophy, and as he went through and read

05:20

Ovid, he read the Bible, so he was kind of scratching at the surface of a classical education.

05:28

And he became a believer by going to a

05:34

Billy Zioli tent meeting back in 1930. And so he was converted, apparently, on August 19th of 1930, and then in his diary, not long after that, about 10 days, he wrote that all truth is from the

05:51

Bible. So he had come under a real conviction of his own sin, his need of a

05:56

Savior, and his need of the guidance of the Word of God. Now, who was

06:02

Billy Zioli? Is that the name you mentioned? Yes. Well, he is more famous in Schaeffer's life, apart from the tent meeting, the revivalist meeting that he went to in 1930, as the person largely responsible for getting the

06:21

Schaeffers involved in the film, the two films, actually.

06:27

Certainly the first one, How Shall We Then Live? That would have been in the 70s.

06:35

And that's when he would be well known. I don't really know much about him, except he was a real revivalist.

06:41

I don't think he was Reformed in his theology, but he was probably then a fundamentalist, and maybe later on, more of an evangelical.

06:52

Yes, I think that this is a reminder to we who are Reformed, that although we should never stop being—we should never stop critically examining all theologies, especially those that claim to be

07:09

Christian, and we must be very clear when we believe they are in error and are not according to the inerrant

07:19

God -breathed scriptures, but at the same time, we have to be more hesitant than we often are to be overly critical and especially condemnatory towards those that do not agree with us lockstep, because God has used men, as you have even given proof to that fact, he has used men outside of our

07:42

Reformed camp to not only save sinners, but to save sinners that would eventually become

07:48

Reformed heroes. Yeah, that's true,

07:53

Chris, and you know, it reminds me that the Lord so often uses a crooked stick to get done what he wants to accomplish, and I can say that as a minister of the

08:04

Word, even though I have that wonderful theology of the Reformation. I'm also a crooked stick.

08:10

I'm an imperfect human being, and that he uses imperfect human beings to bring people to himself is remarkable, and it's a testimony to the supernatural realities that Schaeffer really held firmly to.

08:25

And how did you first discover Francis Schaeffer? Well, actually,

08:31

I have my testimony, if anyone's interested, was printed—published by Christianity Today back in May of 2021.

08:40

They have a feature at the end of their monthly magazine called The Testimony, and I give much more detail there.

08:48

But I had become a Christian by reading the book of Jonah, and I did have some gospel truth in my background late in my high school life through my mom and my uncle, who was a

09:02

Gideon. And so I did have something to recall, but I realized in the midst of the counterculture the emptiness of what we believed.

09:13

It was kind of a mixture of American idealism and Eastern mysticism, and it came to a dead end.

09:21

And I think the drug deaths of Janice Joplin and Jimi Hendrix back in 1971 really kind of rocked my hippie counterculture world.

09:35

So I started, when I became a believer, I just got down on my knees and asked God to forgive my sins and lead me, and I went to my mother's

09:43

Fundamentalist Church in Manchester, New Hampshire. I would drive up from Cambridge, Massachusetts to Manchester, and there was a dear family there.

09:55

Their name was The Darlings. They ran a local business, and they were perceptive enough in that Fundamentalist environment to give me the church at the end of the 20th century.

10:06

And I actually have that book here with me, and I just wanted to quickly read the table of contents to show you why this would have appealed to me, because nobody else,

10:18

I mean nobody that I knew or had heard of or was being introduced to in the

10:24

Bible -believing world was addressing these things. So here's the contents.

10:30

The Roots of the Student Revolution. So there he's understanding where I was coming from.

10:36

The International Student Revolution. The Church in a Dying Culture. Form and Freedom in the

10:42

Church. The Practice of Community and Freedom. The Threat of Silence. Modern Man and the

10:48

Manipulator. And then Revolutionary Christianity. He also has an appendix,

10:54

The Mark of the Christian, and I've noticed in looking through my library of his books that The Mark of the

11:00

Christian is there as an appendix in quite a number of them. But he was someone who was addressing the world out of which

11:08

I had come as a very new believer. And I would say it was not maybe a month after my conversion that the

11:16

Darlings put that book in my hands, and I read everything that he'd written up to that point.

11:23

I think there were four or five different books that he had written, and The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, and The Death of Culture, and I think there was another one, too, on ecology.

11:39

And so those, I read them very rapidly and wrote a letter to the

11:45

Schaffers and asked them if I could come, and they said, sure, come on over, and that's exactly what I did.

11:51

Oh, praise God. And did Francis Schaffer, during his years as a public figure, go through any notable changes in his own theology, his worldview, and his approach to and focus on ministry?

12:06

Yes, that's a very interesting question, and an important one, I think, in evaluating both the strengths and weaknesses of Francis Schaffer.

12:16

I actually take the position of Barry Hankins, who looks at his life in terms of three phases.

12:29

Now, Schaffer himself would say, I never changed, but there are three phases of his ministry.

12:34

The first was his fundamentalist phase in the 30s and the 40s, and I mean, that was the

12:40

Christianity into which he was converted, and so it was natural for him to become associated with the fundamentalist movement, very much separatistic, and he had a very narrow view of the

12:56

Christian life, and it wasn't until he was in Europe doing work for the foreign missions board.

13:07

It was an independent foreign missions board. He was doing work for them in Europe, and he came to kind of a crisis in his life.

13:16

Bill Edgar has a wonderful article on the Desiring God website called

13:22

His Hayloft Experience, and he really went back and questioned all of his fundamental beliefs as a

13:30

Christian and really wrestled with the Lord for quite some period of time.

13:37

Mrs. Schaffer was quite anxious during that period, but he came out really believing firmly that all he had believed was true, but there had been a lack of supernatural reality and love in his life, and so that really changed everything for him, and it opened him to begin the ministry several years later called

14:02

Le Brie, which is French for shelter. And he began, really, with his eldest daughter bringing back students from university,

14:10

I think in Lausanne and elsewhere, to discuss Christian faith, and he found that that very informal atmosphere of his own home, he was able to articulate answers to the questions that the students had in a way that brought a number of them to Christ, and that was the beginning of that phase.

14:33

So then the Le Brie, European Le Brie phase, where he was an evangelist and really came to understand the counterculture and some of the questions my generation of baby boomers were asking during our student days.

14:51

And then in 78, when he got into the filmmaking phase, he came back to America, of course, because he had to go to the

15:00

Mayo Clinic for treatments for his cancer, and his son Frankie had kind of talked him into doing film, and he got very much involved in the

15:11

American context as a culture warrior, and so there was a definite switch. Now I think

15:17

Hankins would say, and I pretty much agree with him, that underlying all of that, there was definitely, even in his understanding of culture and art, which

15:27

I deeply appreciated, there was still a fundamentalist strain in his way of thinking, and I think that's true.

15:36

But there were definitely those three distinct phases in his life. Now, when you said earlier that he, while reexamining his fundamentalism, two of the things he found lacking in his life were the supernatural and love.

15:54

When you say he was lacking supernaturally, are you speaking of his recognition of the supernatural in his life at that time?

16:06

Yes, exactly. I think that what, and of course, the most practical revelation of that need was prayer.

16:17

So he realized, I think, that prayer and the belief that God works in history, that he works through us, that he guides us and gives us wisdom through his word, that sense of God being present in his ministry and working through him to encourage others and bring them to faith, that's what he meant by supernatural reality.

16:44

And don't you think that we who are Reformed can learn a great lesson from that, because it's not just our fundamentalist brothers and sisters who may be going through that in their lives, a lack of a recognition of the supernatural, but it seems very often we who are

17:02

Reformed operate in that way. Yes, we do tend, because of our native sinfulness, to depend upon ourselves and our own wisdom, even if it's just we think

17:15

Christianly. But if we don't depend on God to use us and to form us, not just to use us to help others, but to form us after the image of his

17:24

Son, if we don't have that trust and dependence, we won't make much progress in the

17:30

Christian life. Now, how did Schaeffer stand out as a unique voice for the

17:36

Christian faith amongst his contemporaries in ministry during the most prominent years as a public figure?

17:43

Well, I think that he became—it was interesting, I think it was Time magazine in 1960 somehow got a hold of his ministry, they found out about it, and called him an evangelical intellectual.

17:56

And I think while he was a brilliant man in his own right, I mean, he was magna cum laude from Hampton -Sydney

18:06

College, he was a very bright man, he was not—it's odd that he would be a public intellectual, because he really didn't have the kinds of academic training that most public intellectuals have.

18:22

And so what he would say of himself is that he was a voice for the gospel that was speaking the truth in love and seeking to reach out to a wide swath of human beings.

18:37

I think his unique voice, especially at the beginning of his ministry, was certainly with baby boomers, with my generation in the counterculture.

18:48

And of course that attracted many others as his ministry grew and became a worldwide phenomenon.

18:58

Well, at the height of his ministry, would there have been a label that Schaeffer most prominently used to identify himself?

19:08

You were speaking earlier when describing him that there was a point when he would have most identified himself as a fundamentalist and so on.

19:17

So was there a specific label of his preference that he eventually landed on?

19:24

Well, I think he would say that he was an evangelist. And I saw him in action, of course, having lived at LaBrie for six months,

19:32

I saw him in action many times. He had great compassion and he really knew how to connect with people and he paid attention to them.

19:44

And nothing distracted him when he was talking to you personally. And since I got to live in his chalet at Les Malaise, there in Waymo, in the midst of the community of LaBrie, I got chances to talk with him personally and he always, he was never condescending, he was always very personable, a very compassionate man.

20:06

So I think he would call himself an evangelist. Now, he was an unusual, unique evangelist, as one of my chapters in the book is titled, and unique because he had a unique connection with Christians coming out of the modern culture in which we lived.

20:29

And I'm going to give our listeners our email address in the event that they have questions of their own that they would like to ask of Dr.

20:38

Reynolds about our theme today, Your Father's LaBrie Reflections on the

20:44

Ministry of Francis Schaeffer. Our email address is chrisarnsen at gmail .com,

20:49

C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com. Give us the first name at least, city and state of residence, and country of residence if you live outside of the

21:01

USA. Please only remain anonymous if your question involves a personal and private matter, such as you are in theological disagreement with something that we're saying, and you care not to draw attention to your identity, or you're in disagreement with your own church over something that we are saying that you affirm, or whatever the case is that would compel you to remain anonymous.

21:25

We understand that those things can exist. But please, if you are asking a general question, give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence.

21:39

And as far as Dr. Schaeffer's harshest criticisms of evangelical

21:49

Christianity at large, what were some of those?

21:57

Well, I would say that the lack of love which he detected in himself, first of all, and in those that he was associated with, like Carl MacIntyre in his fundamentalist period at the beginning of his ministry for a couple of decades, the lack of love,

22:16

I would say, would be a main theme. Now, near the end of his life, in one of the last books that he wrote, had to do with a lack of faithfulness to the

22:27

Bible. And, of course, he saw neo -evangelicalism compromising the Bible, but he also understood that fundamentalists had a way of adding to the

22:35

Bible, adding rules such as forbidding alcoholic beverages or adult beverages, forbidding the smoking of tobacco or playing cards, those sorts of things.

22:48

He felt that they added to the Bible, but also, by doing that, failed to pay attention to other things in the

22:56

Bible, particularly what he always liked to refer to as the final apologetic in the high priestly prayer of Jesus in the

23:06

Gospel of John, where basically Jesus prays for those that he is calling out of the world into his kingdom, and prays that their love for one another would be something that would be noted by the world.

23:22

And so, a lack of that, he would say, detracts in a serious way from our evangelistic communication of the

23:31

Gospel. And so, a lack of love and a lack of faithfulness to the Bible in its entirety.

23:38

I think also a lack of cultural awareness. And it's interesting, you know,

23:43

Tim Keller just went to be with the Lord in New York City. We were actually there when he left this world, and we were with people who were members of his church.

23:56

And as I followed his ministry over the years, the thing that is unique about him is that he was able to connect with professional, highly educated professional and very secular people in New York City.

24:10

And so, there was that unique niche. Now, his ministry went far beyond that, but there was that niche which he addressed that nobody else was really communicating and connecting with.

24:22

And that's what Schaeffer did. And he did it partly through cultural awareness.

24:28

For example, in my own background, I was raised with a love of classical music, of opera, and of art.

24:38

And in the fundamentalism that my mom became a Christian in, there was a disdain for that, largely.

24:46

And so, I had been to architectural school, was starting a career in architecture, and none of those things were appreciated.

24:52

Well, Schaeffer appreciated all of those things and encouraged understanding, appreciating, and even enjoying many dimensions of culture.

25:03

And so, that was something that was definitely lacking in fundamentalism. Not so much in evangelicalism, but definitely in fundamentalism.

25:12

And I think having gotten to know quite a number of fundamentalists over the years and developing close friendships with them,

25:23

I think that there is a public persona that a lot of fundamentalists have that have a disdain for the arts and so on, that is not so much a part of their personal lives.

25:39

I've gotten to know fundamentalists that have really fallen in love with secular

25:48

Celtic music and Broadway show tunes and all that kind of a thing, and perhaps even opera and so on.

26:00

So, I think some of that is they're doing what they think they're supposed to be doing in the sight of their colleagues and friends in fundamentalist ministry.

26:12

Well, that is true. And I know a fundamentalist, a very famous fundamentalist leader, who

26:17

I won't mention, a long, long time ago, but would disdain the drinking of alcoholic beverages.

26:24

But when he was in Europe buying art, he would drink wine with his friends and colleagues there.

26:31

So, the thing is, you didn't have to be a hypocrite with Schaeffer because he understood what legalism was.

26:44

And also, I will say this, that my mom's experience in her first church, which was a fundamentalist conservative

26:49

Baptist church, there were lovely people there. They were people very sincere.

26:56

They were real serious believers. But they also told my mom that her love of opera was sinful and that her love of architecture, we had designed and built our own house in New Hampshire, was also worldly.

27:10

And so, those things were very difficult for my mom to hear. And Hidden Art by Edith Schaeffer, which

27:18

I came to discover early on in my time there at LaBrie, ended up really being a tremendous source of liberty for my mom.

27:29

That's an interesting architecture. That's a new one for me. I had no idea that there was an abhorrence of architecture by fundamentalists.

27:39

Well, I wouldn't say generally that there's an abhorrence, but I would say that if you're too interested in cultural things, you're probably being worldly.

27:50

And my mom certainly understood that. I think she felt that the women that came to her

27:55

Bible study or that came to do a Bible study in her home felt that that was worldly.

28:03

So I think, too, that fundamentalism today has probably changed quite a bit from what it was back in the late 60s, early 70s when

28:14

I became a Christian. But they still exist, though. I know some pretty hardcore fundamentalists who

28:20

I love and enjoy their fellowship, but just disagree with some of the extreme criticisms they have and extreme forms of separation that they have.

28:31

But isn't it interesting what you were speaking about? Being in love with the world of art and so on is typically amongst many fundamentalists viewed as a strong negative thing to be rebuked.

28:46

That Bob Jones University has one of the largest collections of religious art in the world.

28:55

Yes, that is true. And they also have their wonderful Shakespearean theater.

29:02

And so there are some funny contradictions there. We see that in the

29:08

Christian world, and we realize when we point out those weaknesses in our fundamentalist brethren that we also have our own weaknesses.

29:21

Well, we are going to our first commercial break. If you have a question for Dr. Greg Reynolds about his experience at LaBrie, about Francis Schaeffer as an individual, as a

29:34

Christian hero of the faith, just send in your questions to ChrisArnzen at gmail .com,

29:40

ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

29:45

As always, give us your first name at least. Your city and state and your country of residence. We'll be right back with Greg Reynolds right after these messages from our sponsors.

29:54

So don't go away. That's ChrisArnzen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

30:03

And give us your first name at least. Your city and state and your country of residence. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

30:20

I'm very excited to announce that my longtime friend Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio and I are heading down to Atlanta, Georgia again for the

30:29

G3 National Conference. That's Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd.

30:35

On a theme that I've been preaching, teaching, writing about, and defending in live public debates for most of my life, the sovereignty of God.

30:42

I'll be joined on the speaking roster by Steve Lawson, Voti Baucom, Paul Washer, Virgil Walker, Scott Annual, and Josh Bice, founder of G3 Ministries.

30:54

And there's more great news. Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio can get you a 30 % discount off the registration fee.

31:02

Go to g3min .org, that's g3min .org, and enter promo code

31:08

G3 -I -S -I -R. That's G3 -I -S -I -R for the 30 % discount.

31:16

Chris Arnzen and I look forward to seeing you all Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd for the

31:21

G3 National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on the sovereignty of God. Make sure you stop by the

31:27

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Exhibitor Booth and say hi to Chris Arnzen while you're there.

31:32

Go to g3min .org and enter promo code G3 -I -S -I -R for your 30 % discount off the registration fee.

31:52

I'm Brian McLaughlin, president of the

32:07

Secure Comm Group, and an enthusiastic supporter of Chris Arnzen's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Program.

32:13

The Secure Comm Group provides the highest level of security, closed -circuit television, access control, and communication systems for Manhattan's top residential buildings, as well as churches, commercial properties, municipalities, and more.

32:28

We custom install exactly what you need to protect yourself, including digital recording, off -site viewing, and connectivity from most smart devices.

32:38

From simple code -activated systems to the latest technology using facial recognition, the

32:43

Secure Comm Group has it. We also provide the latest in intercom and IP telephone systems.

32:50

In addition, we provide superior networking platforms. We'll create, maintain, and secure your local network.

32:57

Whether it's a Wi -Fi or hardwire network, we'll implement the latest secure firewall, endpoint solutions, and cloud backup.

33:05

I would love to have the honor and privilege of helping protect the lives and property of the

33:10

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listeners and their associates. For more details on how the

33:16

Secure Comm Group may be of service to you with the very latest in security innovations, call 718 -353 -3355.

33:25

That's 718 -353 -3355. Or visit securecommgroup .com.

33:34

That's securecommgroup .com. This is Brian McLaughlin of the Secure Comm Group.

33:39

Joining Chris Armstrong's family of advertisers to keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air.

34:03

It's such a blessing to hear from Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listeners from all over the world.

34:09

Here's Joe Riley, a listener in Ireland, who wants you to know about a guest on the show he really loves hearing interviewed,

34:18

Dr. Joe Moorcraft. I'm Joe Riley, a faithful Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listener here in Atai in County Kildare, Ireland, going back to 2005.

34:28

One of my very favorite guests on Iron Sharpens Iron is Dr. Joe Moorcraft. If you've been blessed by Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, Dr.

34:35

Moorcraft and Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, are largely to thank, since they are one of the program's largest financial supporters.

34:44

Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming is in Forsyth County, a part of the Atlanta metropolitan area.

34:50

Heritage is a thoroughly biblical church, unwaveringly committed to Westminster standards, and Dr.

34:55

Joe Moorcraft is the author of an eight -volume commentary on the larger catechism. Heritage is a member of the

35:01

Hanover Presbytery, built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief cornerstone, and tracing its roots and heritage back to the great

35:10

Protestant Reformation of the 16th century. Heritage maintains and follows the biblical truth and principles proclaimed by the reformers, scripture alone, grace alone, faith alone,

35:22

Christ alone, and God's glory alone. Their primary goal is the worship of the Triune God that continues for eternity.

35:28

For more details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com,

35:34

that's HeritagePresbyterianChurch .com, or call 678 -954 -7831.

35:41

That's 678 -954 -7831. If you visit, have them

35:46

Joe Reilligan, Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listener, from a tie in County Kildare, Ireland, sent you.

36:11

We here at Iron Sharpens Iron Radio praise God for the generous monthly financial support of Royal Diadem Jewelers, educated by and affiliated with the

36:23

American Gem Society, Jewelers of America, and the Gemological Institute of America.

36:30

For the perfect custom -designed engagement ring, or any one -of -a -kind piece of jewelry, created exactly according to your imagination and specifications,

36:40

Royal Diadem Jewelers has you covered. No matter where you live in the world, Royal Diadem will walk you step -by -step through every stage of the process, and even hold a high -tech internet virtual visit using state -of -the -art jewelry design technology to serve you.

36:57

They start by listening carefully to determine your needs. They're interested in making what you want, not what they want to sell you.

37:05

From rough design to digital model, to photorealistic image, to wax prototype model, to the finished product.

37:13

They're continually listening to your input, likes and dislikes, making any changes necessary along the way.

37:20

This will ensure that your custom jewelry will turn out exactly as you dreamed, and well beyond your expectations.

37:28

Visit royaldiadem .com. That's royaldiadem .com today.

37:35

Sterling Vandewerker, owner of Royal Diadem Jewelers, his wife, Bronnie, his business partner and manager,

37:41

Brian Wilson, and the entire family, thank you all for listening to, praying for, and supporting the work of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

37:55

And don't forget, folks, that royaldiadem .com is still offering

38:00

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio this amazing opportunity. They are going to give us 100 % of the profits from any sale of jewelry from royaldiadem .com

38:13

when a listener mentions Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. So whether you are just purchasing something from royaldiadem .com

38:20

that they already have in stock in regard to jewelry, that is valued at $100 or more, or if you're having a custom design piece of jewelry created, such as, for instance, an engagement ring, or taking your church logo, your parachurch ministry logo, your denomination logo, your seminary logo, turning it into a ring or a pendant for a necklace, or anything else your imagination and creativity can conjure up, they will take what's in your brain and turn it into a masterpiece of jewelry.

38:52

I've seen firsthand the mastery that they have over custom designing jewelry, and you are not going to be disappointed.

39:01

They go with you through every step of the way in creating your jewelry exactly according to your specifications, so you can be assured that the final product is not only exactly what you requested, but even far exceeding your expectations as far as the quality.

39:20

So go to royaldiadem .com soon to either purchase jewelry or get the ball rolling on a custom design piece of jewelry, because we have no idea when they're going to pull the plug on this offer.

39:31

And remember to mention Iron Sharpens Iron Radio so that we will get 100 % of the profits from that sale.

39:38

That's royaldiadem .com. We are now back with my guest today, Dr. Greg Reynolds.

39:44

We are discussing his latest book, Your Father's Libri, Reflections on the Ministry of Francis Schaeffer.

39:50

And our email address, if you have a question, is chrisarnson at gmail .com, chrisarnson at gmail .com.

39:56

And before I go to any listener questions, I wanted to ask the flip side of the question that I asked you before the break.

40:05

I asked you what Dr. Schaeffer's harshest criticisms of evangelical Christianity at large were, but who were his own harshest critics, those that most vociferously criticized

40:19

Francis Schaeffer during his heyday? Well, perhaps just prior to his heyday,

40:27

Chris, he actually had an encounter with Karl Barth. And because he was very favorable to the work of Cornelius Van Til, who was a professor of apologetics at Westminster Theological Seminary in Philadelphia, he strongly disagreed with Barth.

40:46

And Barth, in turn, basically said, you don't know what you're talking about, you really don't understand my theology.

40:53

And so that was, I think, the first really strong critic. Now, later in his life, when he encountered people like George Marsden, who was an evangelical church historian of some note, and Mark Noll would be another.

41:09

These are people that I know, have known throughout my ministry, and read with much appreciation.

41:17

And they had some, I think, serious and legitimate criticisms of his work, particularly in the

41:24

Christian Manifesto, which was really, I think Marsden said it was more of a culture war tract than it was serious history.

41:34

And they pointed out a number of real mistakes in his historical accuracy, as well as his application of it to American life and politics in particular.

41:47

So he had critics that I think I would not favor.

41:53

On the other hand, he had some critics that I think had some legitimate concerns. The Marsden and Noll criticisms were very much, and let's say loving criticisms, because they believed that he had a wonderful ministry, and they appreciated the strengths of Schaeffer and his ability to address especially the baby boom generation with the gospel, and also his commitment to the word of God and to true

42:22

Christian doctrine. But those were critics, and he certainly had many more along the way.

42:28

Now, was Barth correct in his criticism that Dr. Schaeffer was not rightly understanding neo -orthodoxy, or more specifically

42:37

Barth's own theology? Or do you think that Schaeffer was closer to being correct in his assessment than Barth was willing to admit?

42:48

Well, how much of his theology, because Barth was voluminous and detailed and also deeply intellectual in his writing.

42:56

And so I doubt that Schaeffer read lots of Barth, but Schaeffer knew enough about Barth through Van Till to know that his doctrine of Scripture was seriously wrong.

43:11

And so I would agree 100 % with Schaeffer in terms of assessing Barth's doctrine of Scripture as being simply very subjective and not the orthodox view that the

43:23

Bible is from beginning to end infallible and inerrant. Well, let's go to some of our listener questions.

43:30

We have Seth in Hummlestown, Pennsylvania, who says, Greetings, gentlemen.

43:36

As someone who has yet to read anything by Francis Schaeffer, which of his writings would you recommend first reading?

43:46

Oh, good question. I would say, actually—so if you want to understand, for me, the church at the end of the 20th century, of course, which was my first read, that introduced me to the broad structure of Schaeffer's thought and to the different themes that, to me, coming out of the counterculture, were extremely important and which no one else was saying.

44:12

Now, having said that, I would actually say that reading a biography, and I would recommend the

44:20

Bill Edgar biography of Schaeffer, which focuses on true spirituality, which has been one of Schaeffer's most popular books.

44:31

I would recommend starting by reading Bill Edgar's book.

44:38

And hold on one second, and I'll get the title of that. And while you're doing that, I'll announce our email address again if anybody wants to join us with a question.

44:46

It's chrisarnsen at gmail .com, C -H -R -I -S -A -R -N -Z -E -N at gmail .com.

44:53

Give us your first name at least, your city and state, and your country of residence. And have you found that title?

45:00

Yes, and so it would be Schaeffer and the Christian Life, Countercultural Spirituality by William Edgar.

45:06

It's a Crossway publication in 2013. It should be readily available on the

45:12

Internet. Well, thank you, Seth. And if you could give me your full mailing address in Hummlestown, Pennsylvania, you have won a free copy of your father's

45:23

Libri, Reflections on the Ministry of Francis Schaeffer, compliments of my guest today,

45:28

Dr. Gregory Edward Reynolds, and also compliments of Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, cvbbs .com,

45:36

who will ship that book out to you at no cost to you or to Iron Trip and Zion Radio.

45:41

We have a mutual friend of both of ours, Dr. Reynolds, who has submitted a question, someone with whom

45:48

I recently enjoyed two wonderful opportunities of fellowship once over lunch and then once at a worship service of the

46:00

Haven, an Orthodox Presbyterian congregation in Deer Park, Long Island, New York.

46:06

Our mutual dear friend for many years, Pastor Bill Shishko, has submitted two questions to you.

46:17

And the two questions are, first, he says, thank you for your book and your interview.

46:24

A couple of questions from items in your book. The second and third stages of Francis Schaeffer's ministry have been called the

46:32

Bohemian Schaeffer and the Bourgeois Schaeffer. You note that you preferred the

46:40

Bohemian Schaeffer, as I do. Well, I can't even think of a way of saying somebody is bourgeois without it being a pejorative or an insult.

46:51

But develop those differences and why you prefer the Bohemian Schaeffer. Yeah, I think that actually comes from those titles or those labels come from Ken Myers, who is, of course,

47:04

Mars Hill Audio editor and interviewer. And I like those.

47:11

Of course, I've added, you know, that before the Bohemian Schaeffer, which was what

47:17

I would say is the middle Schaeffer, was the fundamentalist Schaeffer. And I don't think

47:22

Ken would actually disagree with that. But he focuses on the difference between the

47:27

Bohemian and the bourgeois. And what's interesting about those, as I thought about that a lot this afternoon once again, is that they have so much to do, and this is a big

47:39

Ken Myers theme, with the environment. He's in Europe, and it's a very different environment politically and ethically and intellectually than America.

47:52

And I think though the environment, and especially the Christians that he was connected with, and in Europe, it was pretty barren.

48:00

So he was very much alone in Europe, whereas when he came back to the United States, the culture warriors really caught his attention.

48:10

There's probably something of that always there in Schaeffer. For example, in his critique of art, it always seemed that he wanted a message.

48:19

He wanted to analyze the message of the art. And there's not always a message in art, not certainly one that can be easily put into words.

48:30

And so I've learned to enjoy art in a sense for art's sake. Now, not to say that there isn't a message.

48:36

I remember the Francis Bacon painting, and I'm forgetting the name of it.

48:42

It's on the cover of Ruckmacher's book about art. And his critique of art is that clearly he is distorting the image of a pope.

48:53

It was based on a Renaissance painting, and showing kind of the despair of modern people, and also just the lack of humanity.

49:05

And I met Francis Schaeffer in a pub in Soho on the way back from Libury, and I can attest to the fact that he was a man who was deeply depressed, deeply sad.

49:16

He was a tragic figure, and he painted that way. So there was a message there, a message of despair in his painting.

49:23

But I think sometimes Schaeffer's view that there always had to be a Christian basis for everything, it really didn't fully come to grips with common grace.

49:37

What we would understand as common grace, that God blesses unbelievers because they're made in his image with many virtues, with gifts, with creativity, with all kinds of wonderful things, even though at root everyone is born a rebel.

49:53

But on the other side of that, so for me, coming to the bohemian Schaeffer, he wasn't really a bohemian, but the goatee and the knickers, you know, he could relate to my generation of hippies, which were often bohemian, by the way, and not in a good way.

50:14

But the bohemian Schaeffer could relate to us. He had compassion for us, and he really understood many of our concerns, as I read from the title, from the contents of the church at the end of the 20th century.

50:28

And so then when he became a culture warrior, the bourgeois Schaeffer, really kind of more like a working class populist instinct, which partly comes from his background,

50:40

I think, as a young person, he really became a culture warrior and got involved with politics in a way that he had particularly not wanted to be involved with when he was in Europe during what

50:56

I would think of as the heyday, as the best part of his ministry. Of course, he was probably even better known in the last phase of his ministry, which

51:06

Ken Myers calls his bourgeois phase. Now, as I said earlier,

51:13

I think that I've never heard anyone called bourgeois without it being an intended insult.

51:21

In my mind, that immediately conjures up materialism and conventional attitudes, just being a part of the status quo.

51:31

Am I misreading the intention of that term, bourgeois? No, not at all.

51:38

I think the way you described it would be our common understanding of that word.

51:44

Remember that in communism, bourgeois is a critique of capitalism.

51:51

Of course, Schaeffer would say that peace and prosperity are sort of the goal of American bourgeois culture, and he critiqued that from Europe.

52:03

Then when he came here, I think he was always against materialism. Let me be clear about that.

52:10

But at the same time, he maybe wasn't as critical of the religious right as he should have been because of that.

52:20

But you're right. It's not, and Ken Myers definitely didn't mean it as a compliment to say that that was his phase, because I think

52:27

Ken and my dear friend Bill Shishko and I would all very much agree that the most beneficial

52:35

Schaeffer was the bohemian, was the European evangelist

52:40

Schaeffer. And we have a second question from Pastor Bill Shishko that I will read after we return from our midway break.

52:47

Please be patient, folks. The longer break of the show is the middle break, and that's because Grace Life Radio, 90 .1

52:53

FM in Lake City, Florida, requires of us a longer break because the FCC requires of them to air their own public service announcements to localize this program geographically to Lake City, Florida.

53:04

We, on the other hand, simultaneously air our globally heard commercials. So please be patient with us, and we will be back right after these messages from our sponsors, so do not go away.

53:33

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here. I'm very excited to announce that my longtime friend Chris Arntzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio and I are heading down to Atlanta, Georgia, again for the

53:44

G3 National Conference. That's Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd, on a theme that I have been preaching, teaching, writing about, and defending in live public debates for most of my life, the sovereignty of God.

53:57

I'll be joined on the speaking roster by Steve Lawson, Voti Baucom, Paul Washer, Virgil Walker, Scott Anuel, and Josh Bice, founder of G3 Ministries.

54:09

And there's more great news. Chris Arntzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio can get you a 30 % discount off the registration fee.

54:17

Go to g3min .org, that's g3min .org, and enter promo code

54:23

G3ISIR. That's G3ISIR for the 30 % discount.

54:31

Chris Arntzen and I look forward to seeing you all Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd for the

54:36

G3 National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, on the sovereignty of God. Make sure you stop by the

54:42

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio Exhibitor booth and say hi to Chris Arntzen while you're there.

54:47

Go to g3min .org and enter promo code G3ISIR for your 30 % discount off the registration fee.

55:15

I'm Dr. Joseph Piper, President Emeritus and Professor of Systematic and Applied Theology at Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary.

55:25

Every Christian who's serious about the Deformed Faith and the Westminster Standards should have and use the eight -volume commentary on the theology and ethics of the

55:35

Westminster Larger Catechism titled Authentic Christianity by Dr. Joseph Morecraft.

55:42

It is much more than an exposition of the Larger Catechism. It is a thoroughly researched work that utilizes biblical exegesis as well as historical and systematic theology.

55:53

Dr. Morecraft is Pastor of Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, and I urge everyone looking for a biblically faithful church in that area to visit that fine congregation.

56:04

For details on the eight -volume commentary, go to westminstercommentary .com, westminstercommentary .com.

56:12

For details on Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia, visit heritagepresbyterianchurch .com,

56:21

heritagepresbyterianchurch .com. Please tell Dr. Morecraft and the saints at Heritage Presbyterian Church of Cumming, Georgia that Dr.

56:29

Joseph Piper of Greenville Presbyterian Theological Seminary sent you. If you love

56:47

Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio, one of the best ways you can help keep the show on the air is by supporting our advertisers.

56:55

One such faithful advertiser, who really believes in what Chris Arnton is doing, is

57:01

Daniel P. Patafuco, serious injury lawyer and Christian apologist.

57:07

Dan is the president and founder of the Historical Bible Society. Their mission?

57:13

To foster belief in the credibility of Scripture as the written Word of God. They go to various churches, schools, and institutions to publicly display a rare collection of biblical texts, along with a fascinating presentation by Mr.

57:28

Patafuco, demonstrating the reliability of Scripture. To advance the cause of the

57:33

Gospel, they created a beautiful, perfect facsimile of the genealogy of Jesus Christ from the original engravings contained in a 1st edition 1611

57:45

King James Bible. This 17th century hand -engraved chart shows the family tree of Jesus Christ going back to Adam and Eve.

57:55

This book is complete with gorgeous full -size illustrations of Noah's Ark and the

58:01

Tower of Babel, and an explanation of why the genealogy of Jesus is so important for his claims to the throne of the universe.

58:10

Originals of this work are in museums, and nobody has ever made it accessible to the public in a large book form before.

58:19

You can have your own copy of this 44 -page genealogy book for a donation of $35 or more.

58:26

Visit historicalbiblesociety .org. That's historicalbiblesociety .org.

58:34

Thanks for helping to keep Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio on the air. The Power of Jesus This is

58:49

Pastor Bill Sousa of Grace Church at Franklin here in the beautiful state of Tennessee.

58:55

Our congregation is one of a growing number of churches who love and support

59:00

Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio financially. Grace Church at Franklin is an independent, autonomous body of believers which strives to clearly declare the whole counsel of God as revealed in Scripture through the person and work of our

59:16

Lord Jesus Christ. And, of course, the end of which we strive is the glory of God.

59:23

If you live near Franklin, Tennessee, and Franklin is just south of Nashville, maybe 10 minutes, or you are visiting this area, or you have friends and loved ones nearby, we hope you will join us some

59:36

Lord's Day in worshiping our God and Savior. Please feel free to contact me if you have more questions about Grace Church at Franklin.

59:46

Our website is gracechurchatfranklin .org. That's gracechurchatfranklin .org.

59:54

This is Pastor Bill Sousa wishing you all the richest blessings of our sovereign

01:00:00

Lord, God, Savior, and King Jesus Christ today and always.

01:00:38

I'm the president of Truth, Love, Parent, and host of its award -winning podcast. I've been a biblical family counselor since the early 2000s, and what

01:00:45

I've discovered is that the majority of Christian parents have never been biblically equipped to do the work of the ministry in their homes.

01:00:52

That's why Truth, Love, Parent exists. We serve God by equipping dads and moms to be the ambassador parents

01:00:58

God called and created them to be. We produce free parenting resources, train church leaders, and offer biblical counseling so that the next generation of dads and moms can use the scriptures to parent their children for life and godliness.

01:01:10

Please visit us at truthloveparent .com. When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

01:01:22

New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

01:01:30

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the NASB.

01:01:36

I'm Pastor Nate Pickowitz of Harvest Bible Church in Gilmanton Ironworks, New Hampshire, and the

01:01:42

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Rich Jensen of Hope Reform Baptist Church in Quorum, New York, and the

01:01:50

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Sule Prince of Oakwood Wesleyan Church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and the

01:01:59

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor John Sampson of King's Church in Peoria, Arizona, and the

01:02:06

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Chuck Volo of New Life Community Church in Kingsville, Maryland, and the

01:02:14

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Steve Herford of East Fort Badness Church in Jacksonville, Florida, and the

01:02:22

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Roy Owens, Jr. of the

01:02:28

Church in Friendship in Hockley, Texas, and the NASB is my Bible of choice.

01:02:33

Here's a great way for your church to help keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew

01:02:40

Bibles tattered and falling apart? Consider restocking your pews with the NASB, and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:02:52

Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.

01:03:10

I'm Dr. Tony Costa, Professor of Apologetics and Islam at Toronto Baptist Seminary.

01:03:16

I'm thrilled to introduce to you a church where I've been invited to speak and have grown to love,

01:03:22

Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham, Long Island, New York, pastored by Rich Jensen and Christopher McDowell.

01:03:29

It's such a joy to witness and experience fellowship with people of God, like the dear saints at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corham, who have an intensely passionate desire to continue digging deeper and deeper into the unfathomable riches of Christ in His Holy Word, and to enthusiastically proclaim

01:03:47

Christ Jesus the King and His doctrines of sovereign grace in Suffolk County, Long Island, and beyond.

01:03:54

I hope you also have the privilege of discovering this precious congregation and receive the blessing of being showered by their love, as I have.

01:04:02

For more information on Hope Reform Baptist Church, go to hopereformedli .net.

01:04:10

That's hopereformedli .net. Or call 631 -696 -5711.

01:04:18

That's 631 -696 -5711. Tell the folks at Hope Reform Baptist Church of Corham, Long Island, New York, that you heard about them from Tony Costa on Iron Sharpens Iron.

01:05:05

The mission of Solid Ground Christian Books is to bring back treasures of the past to minister to Christians in the present and future, and to publish new titles that address burning issues in the church and the world.

01:05:17

Since its beginning in 2001, Solid Ground has been committed to publish God -centered,

01:05:22

Christ -exalting books for all ages. We invite you to go treasure hunting at solid -ground -books .com.

01:05:29

That's solid -ground -books .com. And see what priceless literary gems from the past to present you can unearth from Solid Ground.

01:05:38

Solid Ground Christian Books is honored to be a weekly sponsor of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. And always remember, folks, please make solid -ground -books .com

01:05:48

your very first stop for all your gift -giving needs. They bring back into print and also publish for the very first time nothing but the finest in Christian literature dating back to the 16th century

01:06:00

Protestant Reformation and extending forward to our modern day, including such contemporary authors as Dr.

01:06:07

James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries. So visit solid -ground -books .com frequently.

01:06:13

Purchase generously. Always mention that you heard about them from Chris Arnzen of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. Before I return to my guest today,

01:06:20

Dr. Gregory Reynolds, and our discussion of his book, Your Father's Libri, Reflections on the Ministry of Francis Schaeffer, I just have a couple of very important announcements to make.

01:06:30

First of all, if you love the show and you don't want it to disappear from the airwaves, I'm urging you please go to ironsharpensironradio .com,

01:06:39

click support, then click, click to donate now. You can donate instantly with a debit or credit card in that fashion.

01:06:46

If you prefer sending in a physical check to a physical address, there will be a physical address that appears on your screen as well when you click support at ironsharpensironradio .com

01:06:56

where you can mail your checks made payable to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. If you would like to advertise with us, whether it's your church, your business, your professional practice like a law firm, a medical firm, or if it's just a special event, whatever it is that you want to promote, as long as it's compatible with what

01:07:13

I believe, I would love to help you launch an ad campaign as quickly as possible because we are just as much in urgent need of your advertising dollars as we are in your donations.

01:07:21

So send me an email to chrisarmson at gmail .com and put advertising in the subject line.

01:07:27

Also, I want to remind you folks, if you are donating to Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I never want anybody to give your own church where you are a member less money than you're accustomed to giving your church on the

01:07:41

Lord's Day in order to bless us financially. Never do that. And if you're really struggling to survive and make ends meet, wait until you are more financially stable and back on your feet before you send us a financial gift.

01:07:53

There are two things that are very clear in the Bible about finances that we are commanded to provide for our churches and our families, and obviously providing for this radio show is not a command of God.

01:08:04

But if you love the show, you have extra money in the bank, above and beyond your ability to provide for church and family, you have extra money for benevolent, recreational, and trivial purposes, and you love the show and you don't want it to disappear, please share some of that money with us and go to ironsharpensironradio .com,

01:08:23

click support, then click, click to donate now to do so. Also, if you are not a member of a

01:08:30

Christ -honoring, biblically faithful, theologically sound, doctrinally solid church, such as the church of our last questioner before the break,

01:08:40

The Haven in Deer Park, Long Island, New York, well, no matter where in the world you live,

01:08:47

I have extensive lists spanning the globe of biblically faithful churches, and I've helped many people in our audience all over the planet find churches, sometimes even within just a couple of minutes from where they live.

01:09:00

So if you are in that predicament and you do not have a Christ -honoring, biblically faithful church home, send me an e -mail to chrisarnsiron at gmail .com

01:09:08

and put I need a church in the subject line. That's also the e -mail address where you can send in a question to Dr.

01:09:14

Gregory Edward Reynolds on his book, Your Father's Libre, Reflections on the Ministry of Francis Schaeffer.

01:09:20

That's chrisarnsiron at gmail .com. And going back to the second question of our listener,

01:09:28

Pastor Bill Shishko of The Haven in Deer Park, Long Island, he says, you also note that when you and a friend were remodeling the

01:09:37

Schaeffer bedroom in their slash your chalet, there was simply a board for his desk, very few books, and a lot of magazines.

01:09:47

What would we infer from that regarding Dr. Schaeffer's intellectual status and development?

01:09:53

You also make the point that Schaeffer was a student but not a scholar in the popular sense of the word.

01:10:00

From your experience at Libre, how do you believe Schaeffer developed the academic scholarly concepts that he developed in his books?

01:10:13

Yeah, good question, Bill. And greetings, by the way, there on Long Island. We miss being near enough to get together frequently.

01:10:24

When you look at his intellectual development, it's important to remember that he did graduate magna cum laude from Hampton -Sydney

01:10:33

College, which was a true classical education. He would have had ancient languages and history and all kinds of good things, including some good theology.

01:10:46

And so he had an intellectual background in that classical education.

01:10:52

But it was startling to us. The house had a number of bookcases full of books, that Les Malaise, the chalet.

01:11:01

But at the same time, he had simply a blotter, a desk blotter, that he would set on the corner of their double bed with his

01:11:08

Bible and paper and pen. And so it was kind of startling to us because we thought, wow, how does this guy come up with all these things?

01:11:16

But I think he was a thinker who was constantly combing popular culture, magazines, newspapers.

01:11:25

I never saw him actually reading a book. And some have criticized him for that. I would not because he was extremely bright and had an uncanny knack.

01:11:35

I think it was Bill Edgar, in his lovely book, that pointed this out.

01:11:41

And he spent a lot of time there at L 'Abri and really knew the Schaeffers quite well. And he said

01:11:47

Schaeffer had an uncanny knack for being able to look out at the culture and read the different popular things in the culture and pick out what would be useful in his understanding of the culture and then communicating that to the people in the culture.

01:12:06

And so I think it wasn't a lack of intellectual ability. He had that training.

01:12:12

But in the time that I met him, I remember that in the early 70s,

01:12:17

I was there in 1971 and into early 72, L 'Abri had already existed since 1955.

01:12:24

And so how much he had read in those early years, when he wasn't in demand as a speaker and an author,

01:12:32

I have no way of knowing. But he certainly was well -informed on so many things.

01:12:38

But not at an academic level. He made some mistakes when it came to history and getting some of the facts of the

01:12:46

Enlightenment and the Renaissance straight. Well, thank you, my dear friend,

01:12:52

Pastor Bill Shishko. And I know that you have said in your question that you already have a copy of the book.

01:13:01

You have technically won a copy. If you would like to give it to someone that you know and love, let me know.

01:13:09

Or let me know also if you want me to just pass this on to another listener. And you can email that to me at chrisarnson at gmail .com.

01:13:18

I want to plug this fine church that I loved visiting and where I loved worshiping recently,

01:13:27

The Haven in Comac, Long Island, New York. And that website is thehavenli .com,

01:13:36

thehavenli .com. We have an anonymous listener who says,

01:13:46

Some of my charismatic friends are trying to claim Francis Schaeffer as their own.

01:13:53

Was he at any time in his life a charismatic? What was his view of the charismatic phenomenon?

01:13:59

And I did happen to see him one time interviewed by notorious word of faith,

01:14:05

Pentecostal Pat Robertson on the 700 Club. And I was wondering if that was just because he was taking advantage of an opportunity to speak what he believed in front of a large audience.

01:14:20

Perhaps if you could silent that phone, that'd be great. Yes, so he had a,

01:14:29

Schaeffer had a little booklet called Super Spirituality. And it wasn't just a critique of the charismatic movement, but it was a critique of anything above and beyond, let's say, the ordinary

01:14:43

Christian life that we see depicted in the Bible and particularly in the New Testament. And so he didn't, he was definitely not favorable to the charismatic theology and the idea of these extra gifts that were really unique to the apostolic era in verifying the authenticity of the apostolic message.

01:15:05

But on the other hand, it's not surprising that he would have talked with people and even be interviewed by a charismatic because he was a friend of all who claimed the name of Christ as their

01:15:19

Savior and Lord. And so I'm not surprised that he would be open to such an interview, but he definitely was not favorable.

01:15:27

And I would recommend that little booklet, Super Spirituality, because I think it's a pretty insightful book.

01:15:35

Well, Anonymous, give us your full name and your full address so we can have

01:15:42

CVBBS .com ship that book out to you, the book we have been addressing,

01:15:48

Your Father's Libre, and obviously we will not divulge your identity over the air.

01:15:54

So just send us an email with that information and CVBBS .com will ship that book out to you.

01:16:01

Let's see here. We have another listener question. The listener says,

01:16:12

How ecumenical was Francis Schaeffer? Did he cross the line in ecumenism into dangerous areas of fellowship with Roman Catholics and Eastern Orthodox, or did he always hold that element of his separatism intact?

01:16:31

Well, I wouldn't call his commitment to Bible -believing, let's say

01:16:37

Orthodox Christian churches that believe in the historic Christian faith as separatism. So separatism is a much narrower view.

01:16:46

Separatism basically says my church is the only true church. I mean,

01:16:52

I'm putting that in a kind of sloganesque fashion, but that's separatism.

01:16:57

Separatism is we among Christians, we're the only really true serious Christians. That's what fundamentalism does.

01:17:05

Schaeffer, on the other hand, believed that the circle was drawn around true churches that had the

01:17:13

Word of God. They preached the Gospel of Jesus Christ. They believed in the Trinity, the Incarnation, the historic

01:17:20

Crucifixion and Resurrection, and so he would draw the line there. He did not go beyond that, however, and while he would be willing to talk to basically anyone, including a

01:17:33

Roman Catholic, Greek Orthodox, Russian Orthodox, he would not, I believe from all

01:17:40

I remember reading, include those within the pale of orthodoxy.

01:17:48

Now, tell us more about how LaBrie may have changed anything about your own theology, your worldview, and your walk with Christ.

01:18:01

Yes, good question, Chris. I remember a very young Christian. I became a Christian in February of 1971, began reading his books a month or so later, and went there in August.

01:18:13

So I was a freshly minted believer, and I was really open to all kinds of new input from faithful Christians.

01:18:21

I think one of the interesting things besides the fact that he was the only one that was giving a true community, which remember for hippies who like to live in communes, that was huge, and so seeing a true community as opposed to one that I had lived in in Oregon, which was not, that was enlightening.

01:18:42

And so that was a change in my life, very refreshing, and then also the element of creativity.

01:18:49

But the most important thing that happened to me along with those things was that as I became a proctor, as a helper after I did my student three months,

01:19:00

I was then a proctor and was just basically would guide people as to what the resources in Farrell House were and how they could access them.

01:19:09

I happened to sit next to C .H. Spurgeon, not literally of course, but I sat next to his

01:19:18

Metropolitan Tabernacle pulpit and the Park Street pulpit, and so there are these, you know, 40 or 50 volumes of sermons.

01:19:29

And so one day I went, wow, this is interesting. I think I'll pick one of these out and see if I can read a sermon and see what it's about.

01:19:36

And so somewhere in Jeremiah he had written a sermon or preached a sermon that was printed on the sovereignty of God, and I read that sermon and I went, wow, this is just powerful biblical truth, comforting, encouraging, and in every way a tremendous blessing.

01:19:56

Right next to those sermons was something by Ian Murray called the

01:20:01

Forgotten Spurgeon, and that was my introduction to biblical

01:20:06

Calvinism. And so that was something that was a huge step forward for me in the

01:20:14

Christian life. Schaeffer, I believe, was a confessional and he was a

01:20:20

Calvinist in his theology, but he never used those labels, and I think it was in some ways

01:20:27

I could see it as a weakness. On the other hand, I understand it because the legalism and fundamentalism that he came out of in the

01:20:36

Bible Presbyterian Church under Carl MacIntyre's leadership was notorious for using shibboleths, and so he tried to stay away from what he would have thought as kind of shibboleths, and so he didn't use those terms.

01:20:51

Now, it was a weakness in that I had to discover these by sitting next to Spurgeon's sermons and Ian Murray's wonderful book about Spurgeon and his

01:21:02

Calvinism. But at the same time, that was a tremendous—I mean, there was a wonderful library there in the

01:21:08

Farrell House, and I was exposed to some wonderful biblical truth.

01:21:15

Did Carl MacIntyre's camp within Presbyterianism, the fundamentalist wing, did they view

01:21:24

Schaeffer in any harsh way as a traitor or as someone in an extreme sense an apostate?

01:21:34

How did they view him after he seemed to drift into a different mindset when it came to an approach to the

01:21:43

Christian life? You know, I don't have a lot of details on that, and someone like George Marsden or Mark Knoll would be able to fill you in on the details of that, but I can say definitely that the fundamentalists were not happy with him.

01:21:57

Carl MacIntyre was not happy with him when he made this switch and really began to see the weaknesses in his own life as a fundamentalist minister and then try to correct those by really repenting and becoming a more loving human being.

01:22:16

Oh, wow. That's something interesting because I know some very strict fundamentalists who still greatly admire

01:22:24

Carl MacIntyre. So that's interesting that he made some kind of a profession of repentance towards—

01:22:32

No, I didn't say that MacIntyre did. It was Schaeffer. Oh, okay. Of his own separatism and own fundamentalism.

01:22:40

Oh, I see. Okay. I'm not also saying that fundamentalists don't have any love, but he saw the kind of lovelessness of a kind of rigid view of things that would not be very compassionate towards those that disagreed.

01:22:57

Now, explain the title of your book, Your Father's Libri. Whenever I hear a similar description, it's usually something like— it's announcing something exciting, new, and refreshing and different than something that may be old, worn out, and boring.

01:23:20

Like, this is not your grandmother's fried chicken, or this is not your father's

01:23:27

Baptist church, or that kind of a thing. But you have said this is your father's libri.

01:23:33

Explain that. Right. Yeah, that's an excellent question. It comes really—I think

01:23:39

Molly Worthen wrote an article called Not Your Father's Libri in Christianity Today of March 2008.

01:23:49

And she was picking up on what then would have been an ad on television that was widely broadcast,

01:23:56

Not Your Father's Oldsmobile. And, of course, who wants your father's Oldsmobile? We want something sporty and cool.

01:24:04

And so that was, I think, the impetus of her title. She was really reporting, however, on the libri of that era, which is many decades beyond the libri that I knew.

01:24:15

And it was a little bit discouraging because I think there are some questionable things there in terms of commitment to the

01:24:23

Bible as the infallible, inerrant word of God and things of that nature. I don't know enough about it to really comment, and I don't want to give the present libri a bad name.

01:24:33

But I did want to give the old libri a good name. And so that's why I chose to write that article in Ordained Servant, which

01:24:42

I'm the editor of for the Orthodox Presbyterian Church. And it's basically written for church officers. And so I thought it would be good to look back at that, and I used that as a platform to really reflect on the value of the ministry of Schaeffer and that wonderful community that I enjoyed so much.

01:25:03

Now, did Schaeffer have heroes in the faith of his own that helped to shape the man he became?

01:25:11

Yes, he often referred to Machen, so he definitely liked Machen. And I think one of my friends,

01:25:18

I think this was John Mether, who was a former historian for the OPC, reminded me that Edith Schaeffer made him read the book on Christianity and liberalism that was one of Schaeffer's, I mean one of Machen's most famous books coming out just 100 years ago in 1923.

01:25:43

And so in order to marry her, he had to read Machen. And he fell in love with Machen's theology and writing, and so Machen was definitely a mentor.

01:25:54

Van Til was a mentor, even though they had some disagreements about their fundamental understanding of the nature of apologetics.

01:26:03

And he, on his reading list of recommended books, The Defense of the

01:26:09

Faith was something that Schaeffer strongly recommended. And of course, Van Til's critique, very penetrating and detailed critique of Karl Barth and his neoliberalism was something that influenced

01:26:26

Schaeffer quite a bit and got him into trouble with Karl Barth himself. And then Calvin, he often referred to Calvin.

01:26:33

I think at Westminster Theological Seminary, before he left for faith, Dr. McCrae was someone that had been a mentor.

01:26:43

And then back in his fundamentalist days, of course, MacIntyre was a mentor. And I think, I wouldn't want to forget that I'm sure he learned many good things from him, apart from the fundamentalist attitude, which he came to reject in his hayloft experience.

01:27:01

We have Susan Margaret in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, who wants to know, what specific church, if any, did

01:27:09

Francis Schaeffer belong to? Well, he had been, in his fundamentalist days, he had three different churches.

01:27:17

One of them, interestingly, is now an Orthodox Presbyterian church in Grove City, Pennsylvania, where you have

01:27:26

Grove City College. So that church is in the OPC, and Schaeffer was a pastor there for a number of years.

01:27:34

So he was a pastor for quite a few years before he went to Europe in order to spread

01:27:41

Sunday school material among Bible -believing churches in Europe and so that was his church affiliation.

01:27:51

But then it would have been the Bible Presbyterian Church, which, by the way, is a church that has changed quite a bit since MacIntyre's day, and the

01:28:00

OPC actually has, we're in conversation with them, and I think that's a very healthy thing.

01:28:08

Now, when I was at LaBrie, I became a member of their international church, I think it was called

01:28:15

Reforme, I think it was a French title, but it was his church there, and I had to go and sit before their session and answer questions about my

01:28:28

Christian faith, and I became a member of that church while I was there at LaBrie in the fall of 1971.

01:28:37

If anybody in our audience is getting very nervous about the

01:28:43

Bible Presbyterian denomination because of its association with Carl MacIntyre and perhaps his overly rigid separatist views,

01:28:53

I do have to mention that there's a wonderful brother I know personally who is pastoring in that denomination,

01:28:59

Kevin Backus, who is a pastor at the Bible Presbyterian Church of Grand Island, New York, so I wanted to give him a plug, and his website is

01:29:10

BiblePres .org, BiblePres .org. Going back to the question that a listener earlier on,

01:29:24

I think it was Seth in Hummlestown, Pennsylvania, wanted book recommendations. We have

01:29:31

CJ in Lindenhurst, Long Island, New York, who wants any documentary recommendations on Francis Schaeffer, if there are any.

01:29:40

You know, I don't have a lot of knowledge about that, except that several years ago I went on YouTube and just punched in LaBrie and Schaeffer and came up with all kinds of things, and there were several.

01:29:53

I don't have the titles at my command, but there were several that were really wonderful documentaries of LaBrie, so I would just recommend going to YouTube and just search

01:30:05

LaBrie. And that's L -apostrophe -A -B -R -I.

01:30:10

Yes, a French word for shelter. Well, it seems that there might be warrant for a movie about Francis Schaeffer that could be somewhat of a reformed answer to the movie

01:30:26

The Jesus Revolution, the film about how

01:30:32

Chuck Smith of Calvary Chapel was used of God to lead many in the hippie movement to salvation.

01:30:39

Perhaps this could be a reformed version of that when you consider LaBrie and what you were saying earlier, that it was a wonderful magnet for people like yourself who were in that hippie movement.

01:30:55

Yes, that would be a wonderful thing. It's interesting that Schaeffer himself was quite cautious, and he was really wary of going into film until Frankie, his son, likes to be called

01:31:11

Frank now, not Frankie, but he talked him into doing that for the two films that he did, one with Frankie and one with Frank and the other with Everett Koop, who was then

01:31:21

Surgeon General of the United States. Yeah, I had a privilege of meeting

01:31:26

Dr. Koop at the 10th Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia many years ago when

01:31:32

I was in attendance at the Philadelphia Conference on Reformed Theology and was quite honored to be introduced to him.

01:31:41

Speaking of Frank Schaeffer, I remember he had converted to Eastern Orthodoxy and I think the last

01:31:49

I heard he was an agnostic. Is that still the case? Well, Frank, he would call himself,

01:31:58

I think, a believing atheist or something. It's an oxymoron, to say the least, and I think he kind of revels in being oxymoronic.

01:32:10

But he's a very bright guy, a very gifted guy. He's crazy for God. However, I agree with Oz Guinness, and we've corresponded on this topic many years ago when

01:32:22

Guinness wrote a critique of that book for Books and Culture, which now sadly no longer exists.

01:32:33

But just saying things about your famous parents that are negative is, for me, not called for.

01:32:42

I just think it lacked basic ethical sensibilities. He has a kind of chip on his shoulder, which is sad, but I believe that in trying to sympathize with him being born into a family where his dad was so famous and I think he probably, because they were so busy during the heart of when he was growing up as a young man, he was probably neglected to some degree.

01:33:08

And I think that he never knew an ordinary, healthy, local church, and that's a sad thing.

01:33:16

And when I look at my own Christian life and development, I realize how very, very important the local church is.

01:33:24

It's essential. It's not something that's optional for the Christian. Frank never had that, and when

01:33:31

I used to ride around on his little scooter with him and I skied with him and ate fondue with him, he could be very enjoyable.

01:33:42

And so it's kind of a sad story, and I'm hoping at some point maybe to be able to get to meet him because someone in our church out in Dover, New Hampshire actually lives quite close to him.

01:33:54

Well, where there's life, there's hope, as they say. And we have to go to our final break right now.

01:34:01

It will be a lot more brief than the other breaks, but if you do have the intention to send in a question,

01:34:07

I would do it immediately because we are rapidly running out of time. Our email address is chrisarnson at gmail .com,

01:34:14

chrisarnson at gmail .com. Give us your first name at least, city and state, and country of residence. And I'd like to remind my guest,

01:34:21

Dr. Reynolds, to please mute yourself during the break. And we'll be right back. Don't go away. Yeah, back together again.

01:34:41

James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here. I'm very excited to announce that my longtime friend Chris Arnson of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio and I are heading down to Atlanta, Georgia again for the

01:34:51

G3 National Conference. That's Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd on a theme that I have been preaching, teaching, writing about, and defending in live public debates for most of my life, the sovereignty of God.

01:35:04

I'll be joined on the speaking roster by Steve Lawson, Voti Baucom, Paul Washer, Virgil Walker, Scott Anuel, and Josh Bice, founder of G3 Ministries.

01:35:17

And there's more great news. Chris Arnson of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio can get you a 30 % discount off the registration fee.

01:35:25

Go to g3min .org, that's g3min .org, and enter promo code

01:35:30

G3ISIR. That's G3ISIR for the 30 % discount.

01:35:39

Chris Arnson, I look forward to seeing you all Thursday, September 21st through Saturday the 23rd for the

01:35:44

G3 National Conference in Atlanta, Georgia on the sovereignty of God. Make sure you stop by the

01:35:49

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio exhibitor booth and say hi to Chris Arnson while you're there.

01:35:55

Go to g3min .org and enter promo code G3ISIR for your 30 % discount off the registration fee.

01:36:28

I'm Brian McLaughlin, president of the SecureComm Group and an enthusiastic supporter of Chris Arnson's Iron Sharpens Iron Radio program.

01:36:37

The SecureComm Group provides the highest level of security, close -circuit television, access control, and communication systems for Manhattan's top residential buildings, as well as churches, commercial properties, municipalities, and more.

01:36:52

We custom install exactly what you need to protect yourself, including digital recording, off -site viewing, and connectivity from most smart devices.

01:37:01

From simple code activated systems to the latest technology using facial recognition, the

01:37:07

SecureComm Group has it. We also provide the latest in intercom and IP telephone systems.

01:37:14

In addition, we provide superior networking platforms. We'll create, maintain, and secure your local network.

01:37:21

Whether it's a Wi -Fi or hardwire network, we'll implement the latest secured firewall, endpoint solutions, and cloud backup.

01:37:29

I would love to have the honor and privilege of helping protect the lives and property of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio listeners and their associates.

01:37:38

For more details on how the SecureComm Group may be of service to you with the very latest in security innovations, call 718 -353 -3355.

01:37:49

That's 718 -353 -3355. Or visit securecommgroup .com.

01:37:57

That's securecommgroup .com. This is Brian McLaughlin of the SecureComm Group.

01:38:03

Joining Chris Armstrong's family of advertisers to keep Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air.

01:38:15

Puritan Reformed is a Bible -believing, kingdom -building, devil -fighting church. We are devoted to upholding the apostolic doctrine and practice preserved in Scripture alone.

01:38:26

Puritan Reformed teaches men to rule and lead as image -bearing prophets, priests, and kings.

01:38:33

We teach families to worship together as families. Puritan is committed to teaching the whole counsel of God so that the earth will be filled with the knowledge of God as the waters cover the sea.

01:38:46

We sing the Psalms, teach the law, proclaim the gospel, make disciples, maintain discipline, and exalt

01:38:52

Christ. This is Pastor David Reese of Puritan Reformed in Phoenix, Arizona.

01:38:59

Join us in the glorious cause of advancing Christ's crown and covenant over the kings of the earth.

01:39:06

Puritan Reformed Church. Believe. Build. Fight. PuritanPHX .com

01:39:21

Every day at thousands of community centers, high schools, middle schools, juvenile institutions, coffee shops, and local hangouts,

01:39:30

Long Island Youth for Christ staff and volunteers meet with young people who need Jesus. We are rural and urban, and we are always about the message of Jesus.

01:39:39

Our mission is to have a noticeable spiritual impact on Long Island, New York by engaging young people in the lifelong journey of following Christ.

01:39:47

Long Island Youth for Christ has been a stalwart bedrock ministry since 1959. We have a world -class staff and a proven track record of bringing consistent love and encouragement to youths in need all over the country and around the world.

01:40:01

Help honor our history by becoming a part of our future. Volunteer, donate, pray, or all of the above.

01:40:08

For details, call Long Island Youth for Christ at 631 -385 -8333.

01:40:15

That's 631 -385 -8333. Or visit liyfc .org.

01:40:24

That's liyfc .org. James White of Alpha Omega Ministries here.

01:40:41

If you've watched my Dividing Line webcast often enough, you know I have a great love for getting Bibles and other documents vital to my ministry rebound to preserve and ensure their longevity.

01:40:52

And besides that, they feel so good. I'm so delighted I discovered Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding.

01:40:58

No radio ad will be long enough to sing their praises sufficiently, but I'll give it a shot. Jeffrey Rice of Post -Tenebrous

01:41:05

Lux is a remarkably gifted craftsman and artisan. All his work is done by hand from the cutting to the pleating of corners to the perimeter stitching.

01:41:14

Jeffrey uses the finest in buttery soft imported leathers in a wide variety of gorgeous colors like the turquoise goatskin tanned in Italy used for my

01:41:23

Nestle All -in -28th edition with a navy blue goatskin inside liner and the electric blue goatskin from a

01:41:30

French tannery used to rebind a Reformation Study Bible I used as a gift. The silver gilding he added on the page edges has a stunning mirror finish resembling highly polished chrome.

01:41:41

Jeffrey will customize your rebinding to your specifications and even emboss your logo into the leather, making whatever he rebinds a one -of -a -kind work of art.

01:41:51

For more details on Post -Tenebrous Lux Bible rebinding, go to ptlbiblerebinding .com.

01:41:59

That's ptlbiblerebinding .com. When Iron Sharpens Iron Radio first launched in 2005, the publishers of the

01:42:26

New American Standard Bible were among my very first sponsors. It gives me joy knowing that many scholars and pastors in the

01:42:34

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio audience have been sticking with or switching to the

01:42:39

NASB. This is Darrell Bernard Harrison, co -host of the Just Thinking Podcast, and the

01:42:46

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Tom Buck at First Baptist Church in Lindale, Texas, and the

01:42:54

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Pastor Kent Keller of Faith Bible Church in Sharpsburg, Georgia, and the

01:43:02

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Andrew Rapport, the Founder and Executive Director at Striving for Eternity Ministries, and the

01:43:11

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Mark Romaldi, Pastor of Sovereign Grace Church of Greenbrier, Tennessee, and the

01:43:20

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Christopher Cookston, Pastor of Prineville Community Church in Prineville, Oregon, and the

01:43:31

NASB is my Bible of choice. I'm Matt Tarr, Pastor of High Point Baptist Church in Larchville, Pennsylvania, and the

01:43:39

NASB is my Bible of choice. Here's a great way for your church to help keep

01:43:44

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio on the air. Pastors, are your pew Bibles tattered and falling apart?

01:43:50

Consider restocking your pews with the NASB, and tell the publishers you heard about them from Chris Arnzen on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio.

01:44:00

Go to nasbible .com. That's nasbible .com to place your order.

01:44:08

Hello, my name is Anthony Uvino, and I'm one of the pastors at Hope Reform Baptist Church in Corum, New York, and also the host of the reformrookie .com

01:44:16

website. I want you to know that if you enjoy listening to the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio show like I do, you can now find it on the

01:44:23

Apple's iTunes app by typing Iron Sharpens Iron Radio in the search bar. You no longer have to worry about missing a show or a special guest because you're in your car or still at work.

01:44:34

Just subscribe on the iTunes app and listen to the Iron Sharpens Iron Radio show at any time, day or night.

01:44:40

Please be sure to also give it a good review and pass it along to anyone who would benefit from the teaching and the many solidly reformed guests that Chris Arnzen has on the show.

01:44:50

Truth is so hard to come by these days, so don't waste your time with fluff or fake news. Subscribe to the

01:44:56

Iron Sharpens Iron Radio podcast right now. And while you're at it, you can also sign up for the reformrookie .com

01:45:02

podcast and visit our website and the YouTube page. We are dedicated to teaching Christian theology from a

01:45:08

Reformed Baptist perspective to beginners in the faith as well as seasoned believers. From Keach's Catechism and the

01:45:15

Doctrines of Grace to the Olivet Discourse and the Book of Leviticus, the Reform Rookie podcast and YouTube channel is sure to have something to offer everyone seeking biblical truth.

01:45:25

And finally, if you're looking to worship in a Reformed church that holds to the 1689 London Baptist Confession of Faith, please join us at Hope Reformed Baptist Church in Corham, New York.

01:45:35

Again, I'm Pastor Anthony Invinio, and thanks for listening. ...and

01:46:06

Christian apologist. Dan is the president and founder of the Historical Bible Society.

01:46:12

Their mission? To foster belief in the credibility of Scripture as the written Word of God.

01:46:18

They go to various churches, schools, and institutions to publicly display a rare collection of biblical texts along with a fascinating presentation by Mr.

01:46:29

Butterfuco demonstrating the reliability of Scripture. To advance the cause of the gospel, they created a beautiful, perfect facsimile of the genealogy of Jesus Christ from the original engravings contained in a first edition 1611

01:46:46

King James Bible. This 17th century hand -engraved chart shows the family tree of Jesus Christ going back to Adam and Eve.

01:46:56

This book is complete with gorgeous full -size illustrations of Noah's Ark and the

01:47:02

Tower of Babel and an explanation of why the genealogy of Jesus is so important for his claims to the throne of the universe.

01:47:11

Originals of this work are in museums, and nobody has ever made it accessible to the public in a large book form before.

01:47:19

You can have your own copy of this 44 -page genealogy book for a donation of $35 or more.

01:47:27

Visit historicalbiblesociety .org. That's historicalbiblesociety .org.

01:47:35

Thanks for helping to keep Iron Sharpen's Iron Radio on the air. Getting a driver's license, running a cash register, flipping burgers, passing 6th grade.

01:47:52

Do you know what they all have in common? They all require training, assessments, and certifications.

01:47:58

But do you know what requires no training at all? Becoming a parent. My name is

01:48:04

A .M. Brewster. I'm the president of Truth Love Parent and host of its award -winning podcast. I've been a biblical family counselor since the early 2000s, and what

01:48:12

I've discovered is that the majority of Christian parents have never been biblically equipped to do the work of the ministry in their homes.

01:48:19

That's why Truth Love Parent exists. We serve God by equipping dads and moms to be the ambassador parents

01:48:25

God called and created them to be. We produce free parenting resources, train church leaders, and offer biblical counseling so that the next generation of dads and moms can use the scriptures to parent their children for life and godliness.

01:48:37

Please visit us at truthloveparent .com. As host of Iron Sharpens Iron Radio, I frequently get requests from listeners for church recommendations.

01:49:03

A church I've been strongly recommending as far back as the 1980s is Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey, pastored by Alan Dunn.

01:49:12

Grace Covenant Baptist Church believes it's God's prerogative to determine how he shall be worshiped and how he shall be represented in the world.

01:49:21

They believe churches need to turn to the Bible to discover what to include in worship and how to worship

01:49:27

God in spirit and truth. Grace Covenant Baptist Church endeavors to maintain a

01:49:32

God -centered focus. Reading, preaching, and hearing the Word of God, singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, baptism and communion are the scriptural elements of their corporate worship, performed with faith, joy, and sobriety.

01:49:47

Discover more about Grace Covenant Baptist Church in Flemington, New Jersey at gcbcnj .squarespace

01:49:55

.com. That's gcbcnj .squarespace .com.

01:50:02

Or call them at 908 -996 -7654. That's 908 -996 -7654.

01:50:12

Tell Pastor Dunn that you heard about Grace Covenant Baptist Church on Iron Sharpens Iron Radio. And don't forget, folks,

01:50:26

Grace Covenant Baptist Church of Flemington, New Jersey, has a new website. It is gcbc -nj .org.

01:50:37

gcbc -nj .org. Please make note of that. We are now back with my guest,

01:50:45

Dr. Greg Reynolds, and the conclusion of our discussion of Your Father's Libre Reflections on the

01:50:51

Ministry of Francis Schaeffer. And I'd like you to let our listeners know some of the most substantial reasons why

01:51:02

Christians should acquaint themselves with Francis Schaeffer, in addition to why they should acquaint themselves with your book.

01:51:11

And please list some other books that will best aid our listeners in that endeavor. Yes, I think

01:51:19

I would sum up in two words the value of Schaeffer, thoughtful Christianity.

01:51:26

There was no one that was as thoughtful as him that I knew of back when I began to read him and be influenced by him.

01:51:34

But I would like to, I ended the book purposefully with Bill Edgar's, my review of his book, and he gives six wonderful reasons, strengths of the ministry and the legacy of Schaeffer, and they're these.

01:51:51

And this is on the last page, 97. He loved his family, number one. Number two, he was passionate about serving the

01:51:59

Lord. Number three, cultural interests and pursuits are an important part of life.

01:52:05

Four, he had an uncanny ability to look deeply into a person's heart in order to carry out the principles of presuppositional apologetics in actual practice.

01:52:16

Five, his greatest spiritual rediscovery was the present value of the blood of Christ.

01:52:23

And six, he cared very deeply about human beings. And I think that nicely sums up the tremendous value of Schaeffer.

01:52:32

And while some would have criticized him, of course, for not being a deep scholar and making some historical mistakes and that kind of thing, what he did for us all, and this is something

01:52:43

Oz Guinness has been very eloquent in repeating over the years, is he got us to see the value of thinking, the value of being curious about culture, about the world as God's world, and that he has given to us as a gift, even including fallen culture.

01:52:59

There are so many things there to understand, and this in turn helps us to be faithful in spreading the gospel to every kind of person in the world.

01:53:12

Now, you've obviously already mentioned the tiny handful of things that you were criticizing

01:53:22

Schaeffer over, like the unintentional misrepresentation of certain historic events and so on.

01:53:32

But what disagreements, if any, did you have with Schaeffer over his theology or his approach to ministry and worldview?

01:53:40

Well, I think I mentioned two of them briefly. One of them was his ecclesiology.

01:53:46

I think he was Presbyterian, but he would have been more in the new school rather than the old school

01:53:52

Presbyterianism. And OPC has tended in its history to be very much old school

01:53:58

Presbyterian, that is to say, working not to be changed by the cultural situation that one is ministering in and trying to spread the gospel in.

01:54:08

So I think he was not real strong in his ecclesiology. I don't think I ever heard him very infrequently at least mention

01:54:18

Presbyterianism or the Reformed faith. And I mentioned why I think I can understand that, because of the fundamentalist use of shibboleths.

01:54:27

And then the other thing was he had no real doctrine of common grace, though he oftentimes spoke and acted as if he had a doctrine of common grace.

01:54:36

But he certainly didn't make it explicit, and one could come to the conclusion that there had to be a

01:54:42

Christian base for everything. And of course, that was one of the ways in which he became a culture warrior when it came to American politics.

01:54:53

But having said that, I'm amazed at how prescient he was in realizing that relativism was a huge problem.

01:55:03

And back in the day, very few people were talking about that. But ethical relativism, that there's no absolute truth, that there are no meta -narratives.

01:55:13

It's all a matter of cultural relativity and ethical relativity. And the second thing is he understood the tendency towards dehumanization.

01:55:24

And when it came to his whatever happened to the human race, whatever weaknesses there may have been in terms of that video, the great strength of it was that he saw in the abortion war a tremendous devaluation of our humanity as made in God's image.

01:55:41

And these were two very, very important themes that run through all of his writings.

01:55:48

Well, I just want to thank you so much for being a superb guest to discuss a very important Christian figure from history that, as I said before, needs to be heard and read and studied more than ever before, in my opinion.

01:56:04

And I know that you could get your book on Amazon. And that book, again, is

01:56:11

Your Father's Libri, Reflections on the Ministry of Francis Schaeffer. You can also get it through Cumberland Valley Bible Book Service, cvbbs .com,

01:56:20

cvbbs .com. If they don't have it in stock, when you contact them, they will order it for you.

01:56:27

And make sure you mention Chris Orensen of Iron Sharp and Zion Radio since they are a sponsor of this program.

01:56:34

I want to also remind our listeners of the three day event that I am helping to orchestrate.

01:56:42

September 15th, 16th and 17th in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, alongside with my friend

01:56:49

Pastor Joel St. and the Mid -Atlantic Reformation Society. We have invited

01:56:54

Dr. James R. White of Alpha Omega Ministries to conduct the three day conference. I am still working on a debate to be a part of that three day conference.

01:57:04

That has not yet 100 % been accomplished. So please keep me in your prayers about that.

01:57:11

And also keep those dates open on your calendar. That's Friday, Saturday, Sunday, September 15th, 16th and 17th.

01:57:19

And I also want you, if you have any other contact information, other than the

01:57:25

General Orthodox Presbyterian Church website, opc .org, do you have any other contact information that you care to share,

01:57:32

Dr. Reynolds? No, I think you already mentioned the opc .org

01:57:39

and it's a great website. I've been working on that for the last several decades and helped develop the various variations of our site now.

01:57:48

We're very much attuned to mobile media, to smart phones and that sort of thing.

01:57:54

It's a content -rich website, and anyone who goes there can find all kinds of information.

01:58:01

And the Q &A section will answer questions that you might have. And thank you, Chris, for having me on.

01:58:06

It was really a privilege and a great pleasure to share this time with you.

01:58:12

Amen. And I want you all to always remember for the rest of your lives that Jesus Christ is a far greater