The Church Before the Watching World : A Practical Ecclesiology

by Francis A. Schaeffer

The Church Before the Watching World : A Practical Ecclesiology

Genres: Theology, Church, Christian, Christianity, Christian Living, Cultural, Spirituality

105 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1971

About the author

Francis August Schaeffer was an American Evangelical Christian theologian, philosopher, and Presbyterian pastor. He is most famous for his writings and his establishment of the L'Abri community in Switzerland. Opposed to theological modernism, Schaeffer promoted a more historic Protestant faith and a presuppositional approach to Christian apologetics which he believed would answer the questions of the age.

Wife: Edith Schaeffer
children: Susan Schaeffer Macaulay

Reviews

[Matheus · Rating 3 out of 5]

Decent book.

Would recommend it for teens.

[Ryan Hawkins · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite of the *The Mark of Christian*, *The Church at the End of the Twentieth Century*, and this series of books. Which is a tad surprising, since it seems that one this now is seen merely as an addition to *Twentieth Century*, but I’d say that this one was much clearer, challenging, and powerful. It’s three chapters and to the point.

Plus, I had a “This-is-why-I-read!” moment while reading the appendix “Some Absolute Limits.” What an appendix. One of the best chapters/essays I’ve ever read by Schaeffer. So clear, so profound, and so helpful. I’ll consult it again and again, especially since the discussion of what constitutes Christianity comes up over and over. Schaeffer in the essay reminds me of Edwards’s Divine Excellencies sermon, but while Edwards contrasted Christ’s excellencies, here Schaeffer contrasts the opposite pitfalls that we must avoid falling into. But in both Edwards’s sermon and Schaeffer’s essay here, the brilliance and helpfulness of the thinking stands out.

I recommend fully. Although written years ago, basically everything in here, including the theme of the new liberal theology (albeit less “new”) still applies today.)

[Josiah Richardson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schaeffer looks at how the church is viewed from outside her four walls, from the world itself. In many ways, we do not concern ourselves with how the world views us simply because we are commanded in Scripture to that end. At the same time, we are commanded to watch our public image so that men will glorify god and not bring shame to our Lord. But the world has been watching what we stand up for and to, and to what or whom we are submitting. Schaeffer brings up the defrocking of John Murray as the most important event of the 20th century because in the 1930's it marked the public return to liberal theology that was festering underground for so long. Now the world waits, almost 100 years later to see what we have done (or haven't done) with our time and watching to see if we return to the faith of our forefathers or simply continue sinking in the liberal sludge for decades.

[Wade · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is amazing how culturally relevant Francis Schaeffer’s books still are today – at times, even more relevant now than when they were written. This book is about how damaging liberal theology is to the church and how true Bible believing Christians should act in response to that.

[Kara · Rating 5 out of 5]

“While the Bible emphasizes the value of each individual and while we must reject the overwhelming loss of this concept in modern society, the alternative is not sheer and bare individualism; there is a unity of the church as the body of Christ. In the church the individual persons who are Christians are unified as the body of Christ.”

I always enjoy reading Schaeffer; however, this one is slightly less accessible than some of his others. It would be helpful to be familiar with his other books and with Hegelian philosophy before reading this.

That being said, the chapter on apostasy was bold and challenging and even more necessary for the church in 2025 than in 1971.

[Rod Innis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although this is not a long book, it is quite profound. Written in 1971 is is as relevant today as it was when it was written. Purity of doctrine, as well as the demonstration of God's love for other Christians and for the world, are as important today as when Christ walked the earth. Sadly many today do not know the truths of God's word and many don't even believe in truth. Those of us who know the truth need to take a stand for it, but to do so demonstrating God's love to those we are confronting.

[alex creel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Even though this is from 1971, it’s just as pertinent as today, just as everything Schaeffer writes. Maybe the reason I didn’t think more of this title is just because so much of what he talks about is incredibly commonplace on a southern, Bible-belt, but still socially liberal campus like this one.
Nonetheless, this was insightful & useful in explaining the rise of “new liberalism” / existential theology / anything following after Barth. It also emphasized the necessity of being truly Bible-believing so to remain faithful to Christ, & those leading both to holiness and to love of one’s neighbor, together.

[Ryan Reed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is just a fantastic little book. The more I read from Schaeffer, the more I want to read. He certainly has much gracious wisdom to offer.

[Steven H · Rating 5 out of 5]

SCHAEFFER DEALS WITH THE ISSUES OF DOCTRINAL AND MORAL PURITY IN THE CHURCH

Francis August Schaeffer (1912-1984) was an American Christian theologian, philosopher, apologist, and Presbyterian pastor, as well as the founder of the L'Abri community in Switzerland. He wrote the famed "trilogy": 'The God Who Is There,' 'Escape from Reason,' and 'He is There & He is not Silent.' He has also written many other books such as 'How Then should We then Live,' 'Genesis in Space and Time,' 'Joshua and the Flow of Biblical History,' 'The Church At the End of the 20th Century,' etc.

He also turned to politics with 'Whatever happened to the Human Race?', which was influenced by his filmmaker son Frank (who later regretted it; see his book, 'Crazy for God: How I Grew Up as One of the Elect').

He wrote in the Introduction to this 1971 book, "This book is addressed to 20th century Christians as they face a very practical problem. As Christians we say we believe in truth and in the practice of truth, and yet we face much untruth in the visible church... The biblical teaching is clear.

"As the bride of Christ, the church is to keep itself pure and faithful. And this involves... two principles which seem at first to work against each other: (1) the principle of the practice of the purity of the visible church in regard to doctrine and life and (2) the principle of the practice of an observable love and oneness among ALL true Christians regardless of who and where they are.... The issues involved ... break down into several questions. (1) How has the present impurity in the churches come about and what is it? (2) Why should Christians and churches be concerned with doctrinal purity? (3) How can doctrinal purity in the church be maintained in practice?"

He recalls, "Several years ago I wrestled with the question of what was wrong with much of the church... I came to the conclusion that in the flesh we can stress purity without love or we can stress the love of God without purity, but that in the flesh we cannot stress both simultaneously." (Pg. 63) He observes, "As a Bible-believing Presbyterian I feel very close to true Christians from other traditions and... with other distinctives. I feel no separation in Christ... While I feel close to Bible-believing Christians who are not Presbyterians, I am not close to non-Bible-believing Presbyterians. This is where the division lies." (Pg. 80-81)

He asserts, "We come now to a fourth limit: the absolute cliff concerning the holiness of God. God has a character and his holiness is part of his character. We do not believe, as some modern theologians would have it, that God's holiness only means his being God. Rather, it means that there are some things that conform to his nature and some things that do not. God's holiness, in other words, involves moral content." (Pg. 95)

He adds, "And yet we must immediately respond that we fall off the opposite cliff if we forget that God is love... We can, therefore, fall into heresy in two ways. We can forget either God's holiness or his love, and we cannot say which of these is worse." (Pg. 96)

He notes in conclusion, "Finally, we come to the last absolute limit... There is such a thing as absolute right and absolute wrong in systems. Of course, in our generation the whole direction is toward being unwilling to say that any system is right or wrong. Even many who consider themselves evangelicals are embarrassed by the Reformers' saying that the Roman Catholic system as a system was wrong. But we must affirm the possibility of right and wrong with regard to systems and categories." (Pg. 103)

Schaeffer's comments are, for the most part, still pertinent and of interest to Christians today---even 50+ years later.

[Ben Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

What is truth and the practice of truth? What is to be done about untruth in the visible truth? Schaeffer takes us through liberal theology, biblical fidelity, spiritual adultery, and practicing love and holiness in the visible church. He ends with analogy of circle containing the absolute limits we must not step across. This book is helpful who want to gain insight in order to recognize and combat liberal creep into the church. I give it a strong recommendation.

[Jeff Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are a serious Christian thinker who wants to understand culture and the faith at a deep level, you must read Schaeffer. He is balanced, Scriptural and had a keen understanding of the challenges the Christian faith is facing.

[James Cain · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great challenge and message about what the church should be. The hands and feet of Jesus to the world. To show His love and care to those who need it most. How can they know what love is if they do not know God? Because God is love.

[Aaron Cliff · Rating 3 out of 5]

Pertinent

[Josh Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Most of the book is over my head. The principles that he speaks about are good and true.

[Paul Vawter · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schaeffer's insights into the nature of the church and the importance of practicing purity in the church are just as relevant today as they were 50 years ago.

[Sue · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short book, written in the 1970s, bemoaning the rise of liberalism in the Christian Church in both the US and Europe. Schaeffer, who was quite a popular Christian writer of his era, stands up for Protestantism and Biblical theology in a way that was probably helpful in that era; unfortunately he has been credited with the rise of the so-called 'Christian right' in America who apparently took his views on board in extreme measures.

In this book, Schaeffer does continually stress the need to balance love with holiness, although I found that much of his thinking seemed overly abstract without many examples. He quotes Scripture extensively, and also looks at some of the history of denominations in the US (quoting people I had never heard of) but says little about the actual dangers he perceives.

In the final section, Schaeffer gives some useful pointers to dangers to which we can fall in two possible directions if veering away from orthodox Christian belief, which alone makes this book worth perusing. He also acknowledges that there is a wide circle of acceptable diversity on specific beliefs about many topics. However the overall tone seems dated and rather judgemental; more like a rant than a useful indication of the problems within the worldwide church.

[Dan Glover · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a solid statement of why the church must simultaneously and constantly practice purity in doctrine and way of life, as well as practice love toward fellow Christians and non-Christians. It is set in his own historical setting, and as with pretty much everything Schaeffer wrote, he shows how secular humanism infiltrated the church in German liberal theology and how that then spread throughout the church. The modern reader might start to glaze, but beware - this history lesson is one of the reasons this book is so good and still very relevant. It is important to know the past sins of your family if you are trying to figure out how come everyone behaves the way they do at the family reunion. If you want to know where you are, you need to know how you got there.

Schaeffer was truly a prophetic voice in the church of his day. And as with any truly prophetic voice, his warnings and exhortations have only grown in importance. Highly recommended!

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Schaeffer wrote with such clarity on theological and cultural themes that even a book dated for a 1976 audience still holds relevancy for today. This is an excellent treatment on the erosion of orthodoxy in the Church.

There are three main division that begin with a critique of liberalism and its implications for living the Christian life before offering practical guidelines for those seeking to offer a godly response. There is a candid assessment of the two extremes to every prescient issue and how a Christian should also maintain the pursuit of purity with the balance of love.

I was particular impacted in my thinking by the appendix. It is a great model of ecclesiastical engagement from a biblical perspective.

[Jesse · Rating 4 out of 5]

I appreciated how we have to keep two things in balance and do them/emphasize them at the same time. The holiness of God and the love of God. There are all sorts of errors that happen when there is an imbalance. Also particularly helpful is the index which discusses some absolute limits to certain beliefs that put one outside the pale of being a Christian.

[Janet · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are you a member of a church? Then you should read this book!

[Dan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A short, yet convicting book about how Christians should deal with liberal theology in the church.

[Eli · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book for every pastor to read.