"The God Who Is There" - Francis A Schaeffer - quote 1

I can't recommend pneumonia, but it certainly does give you time to read things that require thought and meditation. For me, this took the form of the significant, weighty book "The God Who Is There" by Francis Schaeffer. While it is nearly impossible to distill a 200 page book into any kind of helpful blog posting, I will list a few of the more significant quotes (for me).

Quote: "We of the West may not be brainwashed by our State, but we are brainwashed by our culture." - pg 141.

I think that I would have partially resisted this statement if I had not already read the previous 140 pages of the book. However, as I read, I became more and more aware that the various forms of culture that I enjoy are by in large part born out of a view that is ambivalent toward God, or outright anti-God. Now, while I might have affirmed that before I read this book, I had pretty much compartmentalized a lot of those cultural influences into categories of 'benign', 'insightful', or 'disturbing' rather than a source of brainwashing. The reason that this quote became more influential in my thinking was due to Schaeffer's expert explanation of Kierkegaard's "Leap of Faith". This 'approach' (for lack of a better word) to belief in God is now the reigning influence when it comes to any aspect of modern man's thinking and culture.  Kierkegaard essentially created modern man's view of faith by stating that there is no way for us to know that God is truly there, and if we are to live with any hope in this world, we must ignore what we know to be true about the world (that there is no supernatural realm, there is no meaning to life, in short - there is no God), and we must take a mental leap into the unknown to find any purpose or meaning (because the essence of God is that He is unknowable). As a result of this, Kierkegaard rails against the true meaning of faith and opens the door for others to redefine it as whatever they choose. It is not a faith based on a knowable God that has provided good and logical reasons for solid faith. It is a leap based on nothing except a desire for meaning and purpose. Even non-believers can not live without meaning and purpose, but they are creating a faith that has nothing to put their feet on, as opposed to historic Christianity which gives numerous reasons for God's existence. All of this to say that this is the mentality of modern man's culture today, and one that I have been influenced by, affected (infected?) by, and that I have in many ways enjoyed.

(All pages are from the collected works edition, Volume 1).