True Spirituality

by Francis Schaeffer

Publisher:

Tyndale

, 2001

Overview

Does believing in Jesus really make a difference? Can God really change lives?

After serving as a pastor for over a decade, Francis Schaeffer—founder of L’Abri Fellowship—found himself wrestling with deeply perplexing questions like these. He was tired of not seeing results in his own spiritual life and others’. He found himself talking about Christianity, but not living it. So, as a pastor, he decided to “start at the beginning”—go back to agnosticism—and reexamine his Christian faith. “Did Christianity really make any difference in my life?”

True Spirituality is the result of Schaeffer’s honest search for answers. When the book was published, it shook the Christian world. Young people flocked to L’Abri, his spiritual retreat center in the Swiss Alps. Today, it’s a classic book on understanding what real Christianity is all about—what it means to follow Jesus moment by moment.

Contents

Top Highlights

“We do not come to true spirituality or the true Christian life merely by keeping a list, but neither do we come to it merely by rejecting the list and then shrugging our shoulders and living a looser life.” (Page 5)

“‘Don’t try to do everything. Every need is not a call.’” (Page x)

“When? Right now! This is the basic consideration of the Christian life. First, Christ died in history. Second, Christ rose in history. Third, we died with Christ in history, when we accepted him as our Savior. Fourth, we will be raised in history, when he comes again. Fifth, we are to live by faith now as though we were now dead, already have died. And sixth, we are to live now by faith as though we have now already been raised from the dead.” (Page 37)

“A quiet disposition and a heart giving thanks at any given moment is the real test of the extent to which we love God at that moment.” (Page 8)

“The first point that we must make is that it is impossible even to begin living the Christian life, or to know anything of true spirituality, before one is a Christian. And the only way to become a Christian is neither by trying to live some sort of a Christian life nor by hoping for some sort of religious experience, but rather by accepting Christ as Savior.” (Page 3)

Product Details

• Title: True Spirituality
• Author: Francis A. Schaeffer
• Publisher: Tyndale
• Publication Date: 2001

About Francis Schaeffer

Francis Schaeffer (1912–1984) was an evangelical missionary. After studying at Hampden-Sydney College, Westminister Theological Seminary (where he studied under Cornelius Van Til), and Faith Theological Seminary, Schaeffer pastored churches in Pennsylvania and Missouri.

In 1948, Schaeffer moved to Switzerland and founded L’Abri, a community where people discuss philosophy and religion. Thousands of people have passed through L’Abri, and it has expanded into several other countries. Schaeffer held a presuppositional approach to apologetics which many believe heavily influenced the Christian Right movement in the United States.

He was the author of many books, including Escape from Reason and How Should We Then Live?, which have sold millions of copies worldwide.