The Christian’s apologetic task, according to Schaeffer, is to show man where the point of tension existed between his false presuppositions and the way the world really is. Of course, this was not a game for Schaeffer and he urged the Christian always to give the answer as understood in light of historic Christianity and to do so in a loving and compassionate tone.

Three books serve as the foundation for all Schaeffer’s other books, forming a trilogy: The God Who Is There, Escape from Reason, and He Is There and He Is Not Silent. Towards the end of his life, he claimed that his message had remained the same throughout his ministry, however, his emphasis did shift. In 1982, the works of Francis Schaeffer were edited by Schaeffer and published in a five-volume set in which the trilogy is in the order in which it was written. This order reveals the development and foundation of his thinking apologetically and is essential to understanding Schaeffer and his apologetic method which I think it is fair to say he would not call it a method. Historic Christianity, according to Schaeffer, was creation centered and central to the fact that God created man in His image. The first apologetic implication of creation was that man had intrinsic worth which meant he was to be treated with respect and love even in his fallen state, that even in his fallenness man had worth, even nobility.

This truth moved Schaeffer to take all men seriously and to answer the honest questions from fallen man. He would say that when confronted with another member of the human race, we should first see a human being—not first a Christian or non-Christian. This made all the difference in the world in Schaeffer’s apologetics. He had a love for humanity and deep sympathy for the brokenness of humanity because of sin.

The Christian’s apologetic task, according to Schaeffer, is to show man where the point of tension existed between his false presuppositions and the way the world really is. Of course, this was not a game for Schaeffer and he urged the Christian always to give the answer as understood in light of historic Christianity and to do so in a loving and compassionate tone. For Schaeffer, the real point of contact with the modern (and the postmodern mind) was reality. Regardless of what presuppositions a man claims as grounds for his worldview, Schaeffer argued that they can be tested for truthfulness when pressed against the reality in which every person must live. In this, Schaeffer shared a view often expressed by C. S. Lewis.

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