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jsem's review against another edition
3.0
I read this shortly after reading "The God Who Is Is There." The content overlaps significantly, but it was helpful to solidify some concepts for me. If you're only going to read one, go with TGWIT. It was envisioned and written as a book, while EFR was put together from a lecture series.
charityjohnson's review against another edition
5.0
I read thsi 9 years ago, then 7 years ago. For the CS Lewis Institute's Fellows program, I was assigned to read it two years ago and, then as a Mentor, in 2009. Still a great book. Although Schaeffer is not a great writer, he is a clear thinker.
shebephoebe's review
A bit deep for me. Think I need a better philosophical foundation before I attempt this one. (And there were, of course, points of theology I disagree with.)
jannamitchell's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
5.0
Powerful for such a small book. Stimulating, important, and profound.
kcsmith's review against another edition
3.0
This book had been setting on my bookshelf (I think) for 30+ years! I bought it in college and was always meaning to read it but never did, until now. Although I have tremendous respect for Francis Schaeffer, I could not rate it more than 3/5 stars. This is primarily due to the age of the book (written in 1968) and the fact that I just read a current book by Carl Trueman ("Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self") which does a much more thorough and current analysis of the state of our cultural mindset.
As I just mentioned, this book was written in 1968 and outlines the then current cultural vision of "truth" in society. He does a decent job of tracing how we got to a place where we were in mid 20th century western society, going all the way back to Aquinas. For example, I did not realize the impact Aquinas has had on our society's view based on his theory that the Fall impacted all but man's intellect. This, unfortunately, started the process of elevating man's view of his own rational thinking above God's.
So, as much as I respect Schaeffer and his work, the age of this book and the availability of more current and relevant cultural analyses by Trueman and others, I cannot give this boo ka rating above 3.
As I just mentioned, this book was written in 1968 and outlines the then current cultural vision of "truth" in society. He does a decent job of tracing how we got to a place where we were in mid 20th century western society, going all the way back to Aquinas. For example, I did not realize the impact Aquinas has had on our society's view based on his theory that the Fall impacted all but man's intellect. This, unfortunately, started the process of elevating man's view of his own rational thinking above God's.
So, as much as I respect Schaeffer and his work, the age of this book and the availability of more current and relevant cultural analyses by Trueman and others, I cannot give this boo ka rating above 3.