The God Who Is There

by Francis A. Schaeffer, James W. Sire (Foreword by), Steven Garber (Foreword by)

Overview

• Over 400,000 Sold

For over fifty years The God Who Is There has been a landmark work that has changed the way the church sees the world. Francis Schaeffer's first book presents a wide-ranging analysis of the intellectual and cultural climate of the second half of the twentieth century, from philosophy to art to liberal theology. Arguing that Christians must constantly engage the questions being asked by their own—and the next—generation, he envisions an apologetics and spirituality both grounded in absolute truth and engaging the whole of reality.

"If we are unexcited Christians, we should go back and see what is wrong," Schaeffer writes. "We are surrounded by a generation that can find 'no one home' in the universe. . . . In contrast to this, as a Christian I know who I am; and I know the personal God who is there." In every age, this God continues to provide the anchor of truth and the power of love to meet the world's deepest problems.

Named by Christianity Today as one of the "Top 50 Books That Have Shaped Evangelicals" (October 2006), this redesigned classic is now available as part of the IVP Signature Collection.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780830848553
Publisher:	InterVarsity Press
Publication date:	02/18/2020
Series:	The IVP Signature Collection
Edition description:	Anniversar
Pages:	240
Sales rank:	420,624
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Francis A. Schaeffer founded the L'Abri Fellowship in Switzerland and was the author of many books, including The God Who Is There. Until his death in 1984, he was also a noted speaker with a worldwide ministry. His ministry continues through his books, with over two million copies in print.

James W. Sire (Ph.D., University of Missouri), formerly editor at InterVarsity Press, is a frequent guest lecturer at colleges and universities in the United States and Europe. He has written many books and Bible studies, including The Universe Next Door, Naming the Elephant, Habits of the Mind and Jesus the Reason.

Steven Garberis the director of The Washington Institute for Faith, Vocation Culture, an educational center in Washington, D.C. For many years he was a member of the faculty of the American Studies Program on Capitol Hill. He served as Scholar in Residence for the Council of Christian Colleges and Universities and as Lilly Faculty Scholar at Calvin College. Garber is a Senior Fellow for both the C. S. Lewis Institute and the Fellows Initiative.

Table of Contents

Foreword by Steven Garber
Introduction by James W. Sire

Section I: The Intellectual and Cultural Climate of the Second Half of the Twentieth Century
1. The Gulf Is Fixed
2. The First Step in the Line of Despair: Philosophy
3. The Second Step: Art
4. The Third and Fourth Steps: Music and the General Culture
5. The Unifying Factor in the Steps of Despair

Section II: The Relationship of the New Theology to the Intellectual Climate
1. The Fifth Step: Theology
2. Modern Mysticism: Despair Beyond Despair
3. Modern Mysticism in Action: Art and Language
4. Modern Mysticism in Action: Music and Literature
5. The Next Phase of Modern Theology

Section III: How Historic Christianity Differs from the New Theology
1. Personality or a Devilish Din
2. Verifiable Facts and Knowing
3. The Dilemma of Man
4. God's Answer to Man's Dilemma
5. How Do We Know It Is True?

Section IV: Speaking Historic Christianity into the Twentieth-Century Climate
1. Finding the Point of Tension
2. From the Point of Tension to the Gospel
3. Applying the Gospel

Section V: Pre-evangelism Is No Soft Option
1. Commending the Christian Faith to Our Generation
2. The Importance of Truth

Section VI: Personal and Corporate Living into the Twentieth-Century Climate
1. Demonstrating the Character of God
2. The Legal, but Not Only the Legal

Appendix A. The Question of Apologetics
Appendix B. The Problem of the Middle-Class Church in the Latter Half of the Twentieth Century
Appendix C. The Practice of Truth
Glossary
Notes
Index

What People are Saying About This

"Francis Schaeffer was a reading, listening, thinking man. He had his finger on the pulse of ongoing cultural trends and had an unusual gift for communicating key ideas at a nontechnical level. In this postmodern era his approach to evangelism and discipling remains supremely relevant."

J. I. Packer

"Francis Schaeffer was a reading, listening, thinking man. He had his finger on the pulse of ongoing cultural trends and had an unusual gift for communicating key ideas at a nontechnical level. In this postmodern era his approach to evangelism and discipling remains supremely relevant."

Ravi Zacharias

"Few people deserve the accolade of being 'prophetic.' Among those few, Francis Schaeffer is unquestionably one. Virtually every social, moral or philosophical struggle that we face today was either addressed or envisioned by him."

C. Everett Koop

"I have known Francis Schaeffer in all the phases of his remarkable ministry. Where he was most unique was in his interaction with young men and women out of tune with our society or theirs. He patiently would allow them to state their case, go as far out on a limb as they wished, and then would gently reconstruct their thinking and eventually their lives according to the principles established so well in The God Who Is There."

John Stackhouse

"This book, and its companion volumes, accomplished something startling and necessary: It made intellectual history a vital part of the evangelical landscape, opening up the worlds particularly of art and philosophy to a subculture that was suspicious and ignorant of both."

Os Guinness

"The God Who Is There is the most influential book I have never read. Simply hearing Francis Schaeffer give its message across lecture halls and living rooms of Europe and the United States in the mid-sixties changed my direction forever."

Tim LaHaye

"Francis Schaeffer was the philosopher-prophet of the twentieth century. He was one of the first to recognize that the real issues in this secular humanist–dominated day were God, life, moral values and freedom."

Knowing & Doing

"This classic book needs to be read by a new generation that may not know of Schaeffer, and re-read by those who have been influenced by him."

R. C. Sproul

"In The God Who Is There Francis Schaeffer awakened an entire generation of Christians to the root causes for the eclipse of God in the age of secularism. It remains a contemporary commentary on our times."

Editorial Reviews

"This classic book needs to be read by a new generation that may not know of Schaeffer, and re-read by those who have been influenced by him."

Knowing & Doing

"I have known Francis Schaeffer in all the phases of his remarkable ministry. Where he was most unique was in his interaction with young men and women out of tune with our society or theirs. He patiently would allow them to state their case, go as far out on a limb as they wished, and then would gently reconstruct their thinking and eventually their lives according to the principles established so well in The God Who Is There."

C. Everett Koop

"The God Who Is There is the most influential book I have never read. Simply hearing Francis Schaeffer give its message across lecture halls and living rooms of Europe and the United States in the mid-sixties changed my direction forever."

Os Guinness

"Francis Schaeffer was a reading, listening, thinking man. He had his finger on the pulse of ongoing cultural trends and had an unusual gift for communicating key ideas at a nontechnical level. In this postmodern era his approach to evangelism and discipling remains supremely relevant."

"This book, and its companion volumes, accomplished something startling and necessary: It made intellectual history a vital part of the evangelical landscape, opening up the worlds particularly of art and philosophy to a subculture that was suspicious and ignorant of both."

John Stackhouse

"In The God Who Is There Francis Schaeffer awakened an entire generation of Christians to the root causes for the eclipse of God in the age of secularism. It remains a contemporary commentary on our times."

R. C. Sproul

"Francis Schaeffer was the philosopher-prophet of the twentieth century. He was one of the first to recognize that the real issues in this secular humanist–dominated day were God, life, moral values and freedom."

Tim LaHaye

"Francis Schaeffer was a reading, listening, thinking man. He had his finger on the pulse of ongoing cultural trends and had an unusual gift for communicating key ideas at a nontechnical level. In this postmodern era his approach to evangelism and discipling remains supremely relevant."

J. I. Packer

"Few people deserve the accolade of being 'prophetic.' Among those few, Francis Schaeffer is unquestionably one. Virtually every social, moral or philosophical struggle that we face today was either addressed or envisioned by him."

Ravi Zacharias

"'This book, and its companion volumes, accomplished something startling and necessary: It made intellectual history a vital part of the evangelical landscape, opening up the worlds particularly of art and philosophy to a subculture that was suspicious and ignorant of both,' writes John Stackhouse, professor of theology and culture at Regent College."

Christianity Today

This classic book needs to be read by a new generation that may not know of Schaeffer, and re-read by those who have been influenced by him.

Knowing Doing