Most people catch their presuppositions from their family and surrounding society the way a child catches measles.
Francis SchaefferRead
We must realize that the Reformation world view leads in the direction of government freedom. But the humanist world view with inevitable certainty leads in the direction of statism. This is so because humanists, having no god, must put something at the center, and it is inevitably society, government, or the state.
Interpretation
What this quote means
This quote highlights the contrasting worldviews of Reformation and humanism regarding government and freedom.
Francis Schaeffer argues that the Reformation worldview promotes individual freedom and limited government, whereas the humanist perspective ultimately leads to increased state control. By placing society or government at the center of their worldview, humanists replace divine influence with human institutions, resulting in a shift toward statism and away from personal liberties.
Themes
ReformationHumanismFreedomGovernmentSocietyStatism
In practice
Example use cases
During a political debate to explain differing views on government roles.
More from Francis Schaeffer
All quotes →In two areas above all others the Christian demonstration of love and communication stands clear: in the area of the Christian couple and their children; and in the personal relationships of Christians in the church. If there is no demonstration in these two places, on the personal level, the world can conclude that orthodox Christian doctrine is nothing but dead, cold words.
Francis SchaefferRead
Christian art is the expression of the whole life of the whole person as a Christian. What a Christian portrays in his art is the totality of life. Art is not to be solely a vehicle for some sort of self-conscious evangelism.
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There are two main reasons why we may not be bringing forth the fruit we should. It may be because of ignorance, because we may never have been taught the meaning of the work of Christ for our present lives.
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We should not view men with a cynical eye, seeing them only as meaningless products of chance, but, on the other hand, we should not go to the opposite extreme of seeing them romantically. To do either is to fail to understand who men really are--creatures made in the image of God but fallen.
Francis SchaefferRead
You must not lose confidence in God because you lost confidence in your pastor. If our confidence in God had to depend upon our confidence in any human person, we would be on shifting sand.
Francis SchaefferRead
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