Book Review: How Should We Then Live?

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In Francis Schaeffer’s book, How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought, he begins by explaining the importance of worldview. Schaeffer says that one’s worldview shapes every aspect of his life. This is important because throughout the book he posits that Reformed Christianity is the foundation of Western culture; influencing art, philosophy, and societal norms. Schaeffer begins in the Roman age; he starts by showing the philosophical landscape of Rome and particularly the fall of the Roman Empire. He argues that Rome fell because of its loss of values and the rise of Christianity which offered people hope and meaning in the final days of Roman rule. He points to the fact that Christians in the Roman Empire were able to stand firm even while the culture and government were falling because of the interpersonal relationship they had with God both on an individual level and a communal level. The Christian can endure and even thrive within a faulty and declining situation because of their conviction and love for Christ.

He then moves into the Middle Ages where he displays the integration of Christian thought into all aspects of life. This leads to the development of universities, the preservation of classical knowledge, and the creation of a shared unified worldview in Europe. One interesting aspect of the Middle Ages is found in this eras approach to the classical Greek and Roman writings. Schaeffer explains that early Christians like Tertullian rejected the ancient writings whereas St. Paul seemed to use the Greek and Roman writings when it was useful to his mission of spreading the truth of Christ. This integration led to Aquinas using Aristotle and his writings and ideas to place both revelation and human reason on the same level philosophically and theologically. But Aquinas did have an incomplete view of human nature and the fall of man. He believed that though the fall had corrupted man, it had not fully corrupted him, thus, he was able to convince people to rely on their own wisdom in finding the correct balance between human reason and Biblical authority. We can see this tension best in Raphael’s painting, The School of Athens. In this work, two men are walking and talking in the center, one (Plato) points upward toward the heavens indicating the significance of ideals and absolutes while the other (Aristotle) points downward toward the earth to emphasize the importance of particulars, that is, things that are about us. Because Aquinas was so heavily influenced by Aristotle, he added a serious emphasis on particulars and individual things. This led to the more autonomous and humanistic aspects of the Renaissance that Schaeffer explains in the next chapter.

The Renaissance takes the philosophical integration into theology and does what any sort of syncretism always does; dilutes the Christian truth to nonexistence and focuses solely on the human individual. In this chapter, Schaeffer shows the rise in humanistic art and culture in the Renaissance Era. This era certainly sees a resurgence in art and learning but the focus seems to be on the glory of man rather than the glory of God. This obviously brings on a more cultural secularism and hedonism. To use the Raphiel painting from before, the particulars became the ideals and absolutes. The human being was the most significant aspect of human life, not God. This chapter really collides with the next chapter on the Reformation Era. Schaeffer argues that even though most people believe that the Renaissance was the era of beautiful art and culture, the Reformation was really far superior because of its focus on the truth of the Bible. Northern Europe was influenced heavily by the Reformation and Martin Luther in particular. Musicians like Bach took the Bible seriously and even dedicated his works to God writing things like “to the glory of Christ” on his music. Another example of the God centered art produced in the Reformation Era is found in the paintings of Rembrandt’s The Raising of the Cross that depicted Christ being raised up on the cross by the artist, Rembrandt, himself. This is in direct contrast to the humanistic and self-centeredness of the Renaissance Era. Rembrandt portrays himself as the sinful one who murders the ideal, Jesus Christ. This is all thanks to the Reformation and the writings of people like Martin Luther and John Calvin. At last, Christ is back on display as the ultimate, above humans.

Of course, human nature cannot go long without finding new ways to manipulate and distort Gods Word. In the next chapter of this book Shaeffer discusses the Age of Enlightenment. The Age of Enlightenment highlights reason over revelation; the basic idea is that the human capacity to reason, know, and understand the world around them is sufficient for explaining the mysteries of the world. In this Era, we see that many retreat from a Christian worldview to an agnostic and deist worldview – they see God as some distant watchmaker, not involved in the everyday lives of individuals and nations. This divorce of faith and reason once again leads to a kind of secular hedonism that again elevates the human being over God Himself, the trend continues.

Next, the Modern Age introduces two main philosophical worldviews, Existentialism and Nihilism. The Age of Enlightenment and reason leads to the idea that life’s meaning is found only in human experience, Existentialism. And that existentialism leads to the philosophy of Nihilism; that life is ultimately meaningless. This all culminates in the Post-Modern Age we are currently living in. The basis of society continues to be reason alone, meaning that one cannot empirically know anything outside of the observable world, this makes finding meaning in life impossible and leads many to despair. Science and reason can only solve the problems that relate to the observable world, they cannot answer the moral, philosophical, and theological questions at the core of every individual and civilization. Schaeffer shows how this philosophical assumption has impacted many different aspects of human life including literature and cinema. Most modern literature and cinema point toward a nihilistic worldview and continues to tear the meaning out of life, giving more and more people the feeling of worthlessness and meaninglessness. He then shows how this has manifested itself in the City. Cities were once centers of culture and community. They are now places of alienation and dehumanization, this pointing to the cultural decline at large.

Finally, Schaeffer ends with a choice: Christianity or Humanism. He offers Christianity as a worldview that operates out of hope, meaning, and the basis for human dignity – one that sees the ideal as Christ and finds a proper understanding of man in light of the glory of God. In contrast, he offers up Humanism which he says leads to despair and moral relativism that can find no meaning in life and no dignity in the human person. The irony in Humanism is that, in the obsession with the particulars, one finds only a particular kind of desperation and meaninglessness. Shaeffer calls us back to our Christian roots in Western culture. He does not call us to retreat to old nostalgic norms and customs, rather he calls us for precisely the opposite reason. Western culture that is rooted in a Christian worldview can connect us with the wisdom and truth of the past while allowing us to take on and overcome the challenges of the present. Shaeffer ultimately answers How We Should Then Live.