In 1977, Frank (then called Franky) Schaeffer produced the film version of his father Francis’ 1976 book, How Should We Then Live?  I see that the entire series is now available on YouTube.  I have embedded it below.

Now, Schaeffer has taken quite a beating over the years.  He has always, of course, been disliked and sneered at by his detractors, sometimes with legitimate cause but usually without much cause at all.  Over the last ten to fifteen years, he has taken a particularly brutal beating from his own son (which I interacted with here and here), though Frank no doubt would reject that description of what it is he has done to his father in numerous books now.

I suppose I can say that Francis has also been diminished somewhat in my view as well.  I believe what Frank has done is a gross act of paternal dishonoring, but even when one wades through the sheer tripe of a lot of what Frank writes, the picture that remains of his father is troubling indeed…which is to say, it presents Francis Schaeffer as a flawed human being and a sinner.  Of course, I had the benefit of never having drunk the Schaeffer koolaid.  Having the sinfulness of an author in mind when reading his work really does guard one against the devastating effects of hero-collapse.  No, Francis Schaeffer was a human being with blind spots and faults…but Francis Schaeffer was a sincere Christian with (even his son acknowledges) a sharp mind.  His impact on my growth as a Christian has been and continues to be significant.

But back to How Should We Then Live?  I was curious to know how the series holds up these thirty-six years later.  It is obviously dated (how could it not be?), yet I find it a strangely resilient piece of filmmaking.  But that is not really my point.  My point is, how have its strident, fundamental contentions held up almost four decades later?

In my opinion, Schaeffer’s contention have held up remarkably well, have proven themselves to be eerily prophetic, and are as relevant today (more so?) than they were in 1977.  It is shame that the dated technical aspects will like keep most modern Christians from giving this series a close viewing and hearing today.  In fact, it is tragic.

I do have some problems with it.  Schaeffer made grand, sweeping historical claims that can be a little irksome.  His descriptions of the early church is a bit romanticized and his sweeping descriptions of what was happening in the Reformation may have been as well (to some extent).  Even so, his fundamental contention about what happens when man detaches himself from an objective “base” of truth has been and is being proven true.

It seems to me that if ever a series was needed today, it is “How Should We Then Live?”  Check it out, if you haven’t.