How Should We Then Live? by Francis A. Schaeffer
Week 11: Chapter 11 — Our Society
Read Chapter 11 of How Should We Then Live? Key themes: mass media, entertainment, manipulation, 'personal peace and affluence,' and the signs of cultural decline in 20th-century Western society.
Previewing Week 11 of How Should We Then Live?
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Having traced the long arc of Western decline through philosophy, art, science, law, and theology, Schaeffer now brings his analysis to the present — showing what a culture looks like when it has arrived below the line of despair and is living on the last fumes of its borrowed Christian capital.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Schaeffer coins the phrase 'personal peace and affluence' to describe the dominant values of the modern Western middle class: the desire for comfort, security, and prosperity in one's own private world, with minimal concern for broader society or future generations. How accurate is this description of the culture you live in — and of yourself?
2.He argues that a society oriented around personal peace and affluence is uniquely vulnerable to authoritarian manipulation — because people who want above all to be comfortable will trade freedom for security when the choice is presented to them. Do you see evidence of this dynamic in contemporary political life?
3.Schaeffer is deeply concerned about the power of mass media — television in his day — to shape what people believe and value without their being aware of it. He warns that a powerful elite in media and government can manipulate a passive, entertainment-saturated population almost without resistance. How would you update his analysis for the age of social media and streaming content?