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Francis Schaeffer: How Should We Then Live? (1977) - Key Insights and Quotes

Date: August 16, 2025
Source: YouTube Transcript - "How Should We Then Live (1977) | Full Movie | Francis Schaeffer"
Type: Documentary Analysis and Summary

Overview​

Francis Schaeffer's seminal work "How Should We Then Live?" traces the flow of Western civilization from Roman times through the modern era, examining how worldviews shape culture, politics, and human freedom. This documentary presents Schaeffer's analysis of the decline from Christian consensus to humanistic relativism and its consequences for society.

Core Thesis​

"There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted in what people think and what they think will determine how they act."

Schaeffer argues that the fundamental shift from a Judeo-Christian worldview to humanistic thinking is the root cause of Western cultural decline, leading to a choice between chaos and authoritarianism.

Key Historical Analysis​

Roman Empire: The Failure of Finite Foundations​

The Problem of Finite Gods:

"Their gods were not big enough because they were finite—that is, they were limited. They were like bigger men and women, not basically different from human men and women. They were amplified humanity, not divinity."

The Turn to Authoritarianism:

"In desperation the people accepted authoritarian government... The Romans made Caesar dictator for life in the hope that the government of a single person would give them time to breathe after so many civil wars and calamities."

Why Christians Were Persecuted:

"The Christians were killed because they were rebels... No totalitarian authority, no authoritarian state can tolerate those who have an absolute by which to judge that state and its actions."

Early Christianity: The Power of Absolute Truth​

The Foundation of Christian Resistance:

"The Christians had a universal standard by which to judge not only personal morals but the state, so they were counted as the enemy of totalitarian Rome."

The Source of Their Strength:

"This strength rested on God being an infinite personal God and that he had spoken in the Old Testament, the revelation through Christ and the gradually growing New Testament, and that he had spoken in a way that people could understand."

The Reformation: Recovery of Biblical Authority​

The Core Issue​

Return to Scripture Alone:

"The central thing is not the acceptance of Christ as savior but the fact that we have absolute truth in contrast to relative truth... The early church believed that only the Bible was the final authority."

Luther's Stand:

"Unless you can convince me by Scripture, I am bound to my beliefs by the text of the Bible. My conscience is captive to the word of God. Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me, amen."

Cultural and Political Impact​

Foundation for Law and Government:

"The biblical absolutes provided a basis for a consensus of values and within this there could be this tremendous freedom without these freedoms leading to chaos."

Contrast with the French Revolution:

"The English bloodless revolution and the American Declaration of Independence had a reformation base. The French Declaration of the Rights of Man did not."

The Renaissance: The Humanistic Turn​

The Critical Choice Point​

The Turning Point:

"At the beginning of the Renaissance it could have gone either way. Nature could have had its proper place, man could be in his proper place and would have been absolutely beautiful. But at a certain point along in the Renaissance the scales ticked and man put himself at the center absolutely."

The Dilemma of Particulars:

"What is the meaning of particulars, including me and you, if they have nothing—no final thing to be related to so that they have meaning? And how do we know concerning our individual acts whether they're right or wrong if there is no absolute to give a certainty?"

Modern Consequences: The Breakdown of Meaning​

The Death of Humanistic Optimism​

From Optimism to Pessimism:

"Humanistic man beginning only from himself alone was now expressed... humanistic man gave up his optimism for pessimism. He gave up the hope of a unified answer."

The Existentialist Leap:

"Once this is done, any type of thing could be put there because in the area of non-reason, reason gives no basis for a choice. This is the hallmark of modern man."

Contemporary Cultural Decay​

The Two Dominant Values:

"The great majority of people had come to the place where they had only two horrendous values—absolutely horrible values—personal peace and affluence."

Definition of These Values:

  • Personal Peace: "I want to be left alone and I don't care what happens to the man across the street or across the world."
  • Affluence: "Things, things, things—always more things and success seen as an abundance of things."

The Danger of Arbitrary Law​

The Loss of Absolute Standards​

The Supreme Court and Abortion:

"Justice White of the Supreme Court in his dissent concerning the abortion law said that it is an exercise of raw judicial power... upon this arbitrary ruling medically and legally, the abortion laws of almost every state in the union were set aside."

The Parallel to Slavery:

"In our own day there's been a great outcry, and quite properly, that in the past the black slave was viewed as a non-person. But now by this arbitrary absolute... millions of unborn children of every color of skin are declared by law to be non-persons."

The Path to Authoritarianism​

The Elite Solution:

"There really is only one other alternative left after the Christian consensus is gone, and that is that a single individual or a group will come forth as an elite to give arbitrary absolutes to society."

The Fundamental Problem:

"If there is no absolute by which to judge society, society is absolute."

The Manipulation Threat​

Modern Control Mechanisms​

Media Manipulation:

"The mass media can be used by an authoritarian manipulating government or an elite... when the perspective, the worldview of the elite coincides with some of the influential news carriers... either consciously or unconsciously the media becomes an instrument for manipulation."

Genetic and Psychological Control:

"Without the absolute line which Christianity gives of man being totally unique, things which are good in themselves can lead to an increasing loss of humanness for modern man."

The Two Alternatives​

The Coming Choice​

Only Two Options:

"In the natural flow of things there would seem to be only two... one an imposed order... or... that our society would affirm the base that gave us the form and freedoms in the first place—a return to God's revelation in the Bible."

The Warning About Utilitarianism:

"Christianity cannot be accepted merely as a means to an end sociologically. It cannot be accepted merely as a superior utilitarianism. Christianity's truth and it demands a commitment to that truth."

The Requirements of the Christian Alternative​

Truth, Not Convenience:

"What is involved here is truth—not a truth which is a leap into an area of non-reason, but a truth that gives us a unity of all knowledge and all of life."

Costly Commitment:

"When we accept him as Lord it means that we come to live under the absolutes—the moral absolutes which the Bible gives—even if it sets us apart, as it did the early christians, from the surrounding culture."

The Challenge to Modern Man​

The Indictment of Humanism​

The Fundamental Failure:

"Humanistic man demanding to begin autonomously from himself has no answer for the existence of the universe and its form or for the uniqueness of man, and yet they reject the answer that really gives an answer."

The Suppression of Truth:

"Your worldview does not explain the existence of the universe or its form and it does not explain the uniqueness of man... and yet you refuse, you suppress that which does give an answer."

The Hope for Renewal​

The Minority Influence:

"Christians do not need to be in the majority in order to influence the consensus."

The Call to Action:

"People act upon the basis of what they think. The problem is not outward things. The problem is having the right world view and acting upon it—the world view that gives men and women the truth of what is."

Conclusion: The Urgent Choice​

Francis Schaeffer's analysis presents Western civilization at a critical juncture. Having abandoned the Christian consensus that provided both meaning and freedom, society faces an inevitable choice between chaos and authoritarian control. Only a return to biblical truth—not as mere utility but as ultimate reality—can restore the foundation necessary for human dignity, freedom, and flourishing.

The documentary serves as both historical analysis and prophetic warning, demonstrating how worldviews have concrete consequences in culture, law, politics, and individual life. Schaeffer's call is clear: recognize the bankruptcy of autonomous humanism and return to the God who has spoken, providing both salvation for individuals and a foundation for civilized society.

"This was the base that gave us the forms and the freedoms, and it would seem as though these are the only two alternatives: imposed order or our society affirming the base that gave us the form and freedoms in the first place."