Francis Schaeffer and L'Abri:The Story of a Prophet and His Legacy to Evangelicals

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Francis Schaeffer and L’Abri:

The Story of a Prophet and His Legacy to Evangelicals

by

Daniel Routh

INTR 521: Historical Foundations

Dr. Paul Pierson

July 29, 2005

I.  A FIRST GLIMPSE OF SCHAEFFER AND L’ABRI

       In the autumn of 1958, Marte Herrell was a student at the University of Lausanne in

Switzerland.  Marte was a non-believer, but one day she was persuaded to visit a Bible study at a small

café near the university.  The Bible teacher was one Dr. Francis Schaeffer, a small man, “with a bulging

forehead, furrowed brow, and goatee beard,” as J.I. Packer later described him.  Marte listened with

mixed emotions as Dr. Schaeffer taught from the book of Romans.  “I was fascinated and exasperated

that such an intelligent man as Schaeffer could believe that the Bible was true,” she said later.  

       But the café Bible study was only the entranceway to Marte’s pilgrim progress.  For Dr.

Schaeffer’s daughter Susan also went to Marte’s university.  One day she invited Marte to come visit

their family chalet tucked away in the Alps.  The chalet Les Melezes (also christened “L’Abri,” meaning

“shelter”) was a large old chalet in the tiny mountaintop village of Huemoz.  Marte spent the weekend

watching the Schaeffer family love and pray and minister, and peppered Dr. Schaeffer with intellectual

questions, attempting to disprove their Christianity.  But he visited not only for one weekend.  He came

each weekend, joining the others who were also flocking to visit, until at last after three months, he

wanted to commit his life to Christ.

       Marte recounts, “I remember sitting in the living room of Chalet Les Melezes as Dr. Schaeffer

asked me: Did I believe God exists?  Did I believe I was a sinner in need of salvation?  Did I believe

that Christ had died for my sins?  Was I ready to bow before Him as Lord and Savior?”    Marte was,

and did.  After supper that evening the Schaeffers put on a record of Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus.”  As

the joyful chorus of voices climbed into the night sky above quiet L’Abri, the Schaeffers told Marte the

angels in heaven were also singing over a new child of God.

       What was this L’Abri, with branches in six countries?  A Protestant monastery?  A bed and

breakfast establishment?  And who was this strange small man with the goatee, this Dr. Schaeffer?  Was

he a prophet?  A Luther?  A Zinzendorf?  In fact, Schaeffer was prophet for the evangelicals of his

generation, and L’Abri was showcase of a new (and yet old) form of evangelism and community.

II. FRANCIS SCHAEFFER

       President Ronald Reagan said at Schaeffer’s death, “He will long be remembered as one of the

great Christian thinkers of our century.”   Billy Graham eulogized him for his active love for people and

heart for evangelism: “More than virtually any other thinker, he had keen insight into the major

theological and philosophical battles of our time.”   Behind him, Francis Schaeffer left thousands of new

believers, books on theology, history, and philosophy (which sold more than 3 million copies and helped

reshape the western Christian worldview in postmodern times), a new church denomination, and a para-

church outreach organization called L’Abri, with chapters in several countries.  

       Schaeffer was a philosopher-theologian, and a missionary.  Many philosopher-theologians seem

content to sit at their seminaries writing books.  Others, such as (historically speaking), Calvin or Luther,

addressed the churches of their day more directly and pastored.  Schaeffer stands in their line, as a

pastor and influential theologian.  But in addition he had a missionary heart to the unchurched from every

country who had become lost and despairing in the postmodern global emphasis on relativism.  His was

a busy life of seeking for and fighting for truth.

       Francis August Schaeffer IV (Fran) was born into our world on January 30, 1912 in a bedroom

of his family home in Germantown, Pennsylvania.  Schaeffer’s early life mirrored Martin Luther’s in

many ways.  His parents were simple folks, hard-working blue-collars, unbelieving, and above all

pragmatic.  Schaeffer was their only child, and they expected him to follow in their footsteps. The

wanted him to get a pragmatic college degree (in engineering and design) and then join the family

business.  Fran went along with their plans, not bothering to study hard in school despite academic

talent.  At the age of 17, however, Fran’s life was changed when, intending to buy a book of grammar,

he accidentally bought a book on Greek philosophy.  He opened it and began to read.  As he read, he

realized that life had many unanswered questions—what is the meaning of life?  Is there some higher

purpose?  What is truth?  He began searching for answers, but couldn’t find satisfaction in his parents’

liberal church or in other philosophy.  At last he decided to explore the Bible, reading it carefully and

critically over a six month period.  Through this study he was convinced.  “What rang the bell for me

was the answers in Genesis,” he said, “and that with these you had answers—real answers—and

without these there were no answers either in philosophy or in the religion I had heard preached.”    

Schaeffer believed in the reality of Christ and trusted Him as lord of his life. Shortly thereafter, Schaeffer

felt the call to Christian ministry.  His parents were furious about this, but he knew already he would

have to obey God rather than man, if God’s truth was really the truth.  He worked his way then through

pre-ministry classes at the liberal Hampden-Sydney College. His classmates ridiculed his earnest faith

and sometimes physically abused him—until finally one day he fought back!  By graduation, he had won

the respect of students and professors alike with his earnest honesty and evangelistic Bible studies, and

was voted the most outstanding Christian on campus.  Soon after, Schaeffer met the woman who would

be his partner for life and ministry.

       Edith Seville was born and reared in China.  Her parents were members of the then China

Inland Mission.  Now at college, Edith attended a lecture one night at a church youth meeting. The

youth group of the church was notorious for godless liberalism.  The speaker that night explained why

he had denied the Christian faith, and only two people stood up to defend the true faith: Francis

Schaeffer and Edith Seville.  They met after the meeting and the rest is history.  Schaeffer was eventually

ordained a pastor and pastored different churches, finally settling in St. Louis.  He and Edith started a

child evangelization ministry, and had three daughters of their own (later in life, a son also).  But God

had something more in store.  

       Schaeffer had become a member of the American Council of Christian Churches, and had set

up the local council of St. Louis bible-believing churches.  He began to have the desire to set up a bible-

believing International Council of Christian Churches to counter the increasingly anti-biblical World

Council of Churches.  Schaeffer began traveling in Europe to help pave the way for a new council, and

at this same time his church board asked him to be their missionary to Europe.  The Schaeffers left their

comfortable St. Louis home and went to Switzerland, a central hub for Europe.  They lived in a

cramped apartment, so small that their bedroom had to double as an office and living room.  Schaeffer

traveled extensively over the next few years working for the International Council of Christian Churches,

and Edith again began a children’s evangelical outreach.  

       

III.  L’ABRI

        Soon the Schaeffers were able to rent a more comfortable chalet on a nearby mountainside.  To

this chalet guests began to arrive: friends of the Schaeffer children, neighbors, other English speaking

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tourists.  A special ministry began to spring up to international teenage girls boarding at nearby schools.  

They came to the welcoming chalet and watched as the Schaeffer family prayed and studied the Bible.  

Soon many of them began asking questions, questions that Dr. Schaeffer listened to carefully and with

respect, answering them honestly from the Bible.  Many of the girls began to turn to Christ, and the

Schaeffers caught a glimpse of a vision—a place where people searching for truth could come and be at

home.  However, a complication arose.  The Schaeffers lived in a ...

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