How Should We Then Live? by Francis A. Schaeffer
Week 12: Chapter 12 — Manipulation and the New Elite / How Should We Then Live?
Read Chapter 12 (and any concluding material) of How Should We Then Live? Key themes: the two impending choices, the Christian response, and Schaeffer's final call to action.
Previewing Week 12 of How Should We Then Live?
Read 3 of 7 discussion questions below. Unlock the complete 13-week guide when you’re ready.
Schaeffer ends where he began — with a question, not a slogan — and his final answer is both demanding and hopeful: the Christian's response to cultural decline is not despair, withdrawal, or the pursuit of power, but the faithful, courageous, costly living out of a total Christian worldview.
Discussion Questions
7 questions1.Schaeffer warns of an emerging 'new elite' — technocrats, media figures, academics, and politicians — who, in the absence of shared transcendent values, will increasingly make decisions for the rest of society based on utilitarian or ideological criteria rather than any fixed moral standard. Does his warning seem more or less plausible today than when he wrote in 1976?
2.He presents two possible futures for the West: (1) a turning back to the Christian worldview and its foundation; or (2) some form of authoritarian control filling the vacuum left by moral relativism. Schaeffer is honest that the first option requires a genuine spiritual revival, not just cultural conservatism. What is the difference between a Christian cultural revival and a merely conservative one?
3.Schaeffer calls Christians to what he terms 'co-belligerency' — the willingness to work alongside non-Christians on specific issues where there is common cause (defending human dignity, opposing injustice) without pretending that there is agreement on ultimate foundations. How does this principle navigate the tension between cultural engagement and theological integrity?