New biography on Schaeffer
July 6, 2012
The latest in EP's Bitesize biographies is a lovely 144 pager
on Francis Schaeffer. Mostyn Roberts does a great job recounting the
biography of the man and also giving a main outline of his thought. Its
an honest book and I found it more realistic than some of the other
biographies of Schaeffer that have been written. With Frank Schaeffer
and his escapades it can make us somewhat nervous about his father and
those who, on the other hand, lionise him and do him no favours. Mostyn
Roberts helpfully writes of the effects of living in the L'Abri goldfish
bowl and rightfully addresses some of the things that Frank has written
about...
'There were almost inevitable tensions in the home.
Space was at a premium and Schaeffer's study was always his bedroom.
Fran had a short fuse and neither grace nor the years had eradicated his
tendency to flare up. The relationship between him and Edith was a
remarkably close and loving one, but a combination of his irascibility
and her irritating habits, such as being repeatedly late for buses, was a
recipe for frayed tempers.....The strains on family life were immense,
probably too great. In the early days, the Schaeffers probably did not
give themselves enough time for their family; this was realised and
schedules for the workers in later years tried to protect their family
life more carefully and avoid putting them under unrealistic pressures;
some would say they never fully succeeded. We need to remember, however,
that the Schaeffers were of a generation of Christian missionaries who
just gave and gave. iI is the seed that dies, they would have said,
that bears fruit (John 12:23-26).'(p96,97)
That is so helpful! Every Christian marriage has those
tensions and frustrations; but a love for one another, for others and
the gospel dominated the Schaeffers and so it should us. There's no need
to hide the faults of Christian leaders. The gospel shines more
brightly because of our weaknesses.
