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Crucial Answers from Great Minds: Francis A. Schaeffer, Part 1 of a 3-part seriescompiled by Daryl E. Witmer During this final quarter of 1998 the PROCLAMATION is featuring excerpts from the teaching of three of the most highly revered definers and defenders of the Christian faith to have lived during the 20th century. This month’s answers by the late Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer are all sourced in Dr. Schaeffer’s classic work The God Who Is There (TGWIT), ©1968 IVP. For purposes of this series, Dr. Schaeffer’s writings are presented here in interview format although there was no actual exchange. Dr. Francis A. Schaeffer (1912-1984) was an author, thinker, and speaker. TIME magazine once called him “a missionary to the intellectuals.” In 1955 he and his wife founded The L’Abri Fellowship, a community in the Swiss Alps intended to assist sincere seekers in arriving at a sound basis for the Christian faith. Dr. Schaeffer’s books have been translated into more than 25 languages, with over 3 million in print. For further information on L’Abri, call 508-481-6490. OUR QUESTION DR. SCHAEFFER’S ANSWER OUR QUESTION DR. SCHAEFFER’S ANSWER _________________________________________________ “A man can only love a God who exists and is personal and about whom he has knowledge.” -FAS OUR QUESTION DR. SCHAEFFER’S ANSWER 1. Do you believe that God exists and that He is a personal God, and that Jesus Christ is God – remembering that we are not talking of the word or idea god, but of the infinite-personal God who is there? 2. Do you acknowledge that you are guilty in the presence of this God – remembering that we are not talking about guilt feelings, but true moral guilt? 3. Do you believe that Jesus Christ died in space and time in history on the cross, and that when He died His substitutional work of bearing God’s punishment against sin was fully accomplished and complete? 4. On the basis of God’s promises in His written communication to us, the Bible, do you (or have you) cast yourself on this Christ as your personal Saviour – not trusting in anything you yourself have ever done or ever will do? This is what ‘believing on the Lord Jesus’ means. If a man has believed in this way he has God’s promise that he is a Christian.” -TGWIT, pp134-135, ©1968 IVP All reprints from The God Who is There by Francis A. Schaeffer. ©1968 by L’Abri Fellowship, Switzerland. Used by permission of InterVarsity Press, P.O. Box 1400, Downers Grove, IL 60515. |