How Should We Then Live?

Francis Schaeffer's sweeping cultural analysis emerged from his decades of ministry at L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland, where he encountered countless young people disillusioned with Western civilization. Writing in the mid-1970s amid social upheaval and moral uncertainty, Schaeffer sought to demonstrate how Christian worldview had shaped the rise of Western culture and how its abandonment was leading to cultural collapse. The work accompanied a film series of the same name, reflecting Schaeffer's conviction that ideas have consequences that ordinary people could observe and understand.

Schaeffer traces Western intellectual history from ancient Rome through the twentieth century, arguing that Christianity provided the foundation for human dignity, scientific inquiry, and political freedom. He contends that the Renaissance began a gradual shift toward humanism that accelerated through the Enlightenment, Romanticism, and into modern existentialism. Each phase, he argues, moved further from biblical truth toward relativism and despair. The book examines how this philosophical drift manifested in art, music, literature, science, and politics, ultimately producing a culture that has abandoned absolute truth and moral standards. Schaeffer warns that without return to Christian foundations, society faces either chaos or authoritarian control, as people exchange freedom for security when meaning disappears.

The work became a defining text for the emerging Christian Right and continues to influence evangelical political engagement. Schaeffer's accessibility in explaining complex philosophical movements to general audiences established him as a bridge between academic theology and popular Christian culture. His integration of high culture with apologetics inspired a generation of Christians to engage seriously with art, literature, and ideas rather than retreating into religious subculture.

Who should read this: Christians seeking to understand how worldview shapes culture and those interested in evangelical intellectual history will find Schaeffer's synthesis compelling, though readers should recognize his polemical intent and supplement his historical generalizations with more nuanced scholarship.