How Should We Then Live? by Francis A. Schaeffer
Week 10: Chapter 10 — The Shift in Theology — The Liberal Church
Read Chapter 10 of How Should We Then Live? Key figures and movements: theological liberalism, Karl Barth, neo-orthodoxy; the accommodation of Christianity to Enlightenment assumptions.
Previewing Week 10 of How Should We Then Live?
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Perhaps the most sobering chapter in the book, Schaeffer turns his gaze inward — to the church itself — and shows how the same philosophical pressures that eroded Western culture also eroded the church's confidence in the truth and authority of Scripture.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Schaeffer argues that theological liberalism (the movement beginning in the 19th century that sought to make Christianity compatible with Enlightenment rationalism and Darwinian science) represents the church capitulating to the spirit of the age rather than speaking prophetically to it. What is the essential compromise that theological liberalism makes, in Schaeffer's view?
2.He is also critical of neo-orthodoxy (associated with Karl Barth) — which seemed to recover the language of Christian orthodoxy but placed religious truth in a realm of subjective encounter rather than propositional, historically grounded fact. What is the difference between a God who meets you in a felt experience and a God who has actually spoken and acted in history? Why does that difference matter?
3.Schaeffer argues that when the church adopts the 'nature-grace' split — treating Scripture as authoritative for spiritual matters but allowing secular fields (science, history, psychology) to operate as autonomous authorities — it has essentially surrendered its prophetic role. Do you see this pattern in any Christian communities you are familiar with?