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Schaeffer on the Christian Life: Countercultural Spirituality

The Theologians on the Christian Life series, which I co-edit with Stephen Nichols, is well under way.

Fred Zaspel’s Warfield on the Christian Life: Living in Light of the Gospel was the first to appear last year; Fred Sanders’s Wesley on the Christian Life: The Heart Renewed in Love will be out in August 2013.

This month sees the release of William Edgar’s Schaeffer on the Christian Life: Countercultural Spirituality.

A friend mentioned to me once that we hear a lot about Schaeffer’s apologetics and cultural engagement and some of his biography—but it’s hard to understand what it was like to actually know the man and his teachings on the Christian life, especially with respect to the life-changing experience of being at L’Abri, the communal study center in Switzerland.

Edgar’s book, in my opinion, is now the best entry point I know for remedying this. I strongly encourage you to read the first chapter here, where Edgar explains how the Lord converted him within 24 hours of meeting Schaeffer at L’Abri.

Here is some feedback about the book:

“Friendly, passionate, intellectual, and constantly engaged with people as well as ideas and contemporary affairs, Francis Schaeffer comes alive in Edgar’s objective but affectionate portrait. Rescued from the distortions of both lionisers and demonizers, here is ‘FAS’ as so many of us knew him in the great years of L’Abri—and with so much to contribute to our world today.”
Os Guinness, cofounder, The Trinity Forum; author, The Dust of Death and The Last Christian on Earth

“An engaging, fascinating account, seasoned with unusual insight into one of the truly original apologists of our time.”
David F. Wells, Distinguished Senior Research Professor, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary

“For many years I hoped that I could spend some time at L’Abri, but that was not God’s plan for me. Instead, God enabled me to become friends with many L’Abri alumni, of whom Bill Edgar was one. I have been impressed with the intellectual caliber of those men and women, but even more with their godly character. L’Abri evidently had a way of leading people from intellectual atheism, to conversion, to spiritual maturity. Bill’s book focuses, more than other L’Abri books, on theis process of what we now call spiritual formation. The whole church can learn much from it. I commend this excellent book to all hwo seek to draw nearer to God.”
John M. Frame, J. D. Trimble Chair of Systematic Theology and Philosophy, Reformed Theological Seminary, Orlando, Florida

“Francis Schaeffer was small of stature but a giant in his tenacious concern for truth, for God, for people, and for reality. He became convinced that Christian faith was the radical path for our own day, the realistic answer to the hard questions of a modern, troubled world. William Edgar’s compulsively readable study of Francis Schaeffer’s thought is set in the context of his rough-edged life and his brilliantly-inspired work in the L’Abri community he established with his remarkable wife, Edith. L’Abri, perched high on the slopes of a remote alpine valley, drew a motley procession of mainly young travellers from the ends of the earth. Schaeffer’s own, sometimes anguished, quest to communicate the ancient biblical text in a century of unprecedented historical changes attracted and opened doors for a generation of Christians. It also convinced many outside the faith with honest questions (like Bill Edgar himself) to follow the way of Christ. This engaging book captures the fire of Francis Schaeffer’s thought and concerns, and revisits and reinvigorates the still urgent challenge he presented to the church in the modern world.”
Colin Duriez, author, Francis Schaeffer: An Authentic Life

And here is the table of contents:

1 A Personal Introduction to Francis Schaeffer

Part 1: The Man and His Times

2 The Journey to L’Abri

3 L’Abri and Beyond

Part 2: True Spirituality

4 Fundamentals

5 Freedom in the Christian Life

6 Applications

Part 3: Trusting God for All of Life

7 Prayer and Guidance

8 Affliction

9 Life in the Church

10 Engaging the World

Afterword Concluding Reflections on Francis Schaeffer

Appendix: Titles in The Complete Works of Francis Schaeffer

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