He Is There and He Is Not Silent

Rating:
Summary: pretty good, almost excellent
Review: I would consider suggesting this text to the skeptic who wants visceral "proof" but will settle for virtual evidence via philosophical reasoning. Those who contrast Schaffer to C.S. Lewis are unfair; the former relies on inductive reasoning, while the former emphasizes deduction. Does Schaffer over generalize? Perhaps when passing judgement on the humanities in their historical contexts, but the reader must realize that Schaffer is by no means a postmodernist. He is, paradoxically, an abstract thinker of absolutes.

Rating:
Summary: A well-intentioned but often inscrutable treatise
Review: Schaeffer was a sincere, devout, extremely intelligent, and supremely compassionate man. Having a heart that was broken over the nihilism of the 1960s-70s, he tried valiantly to appeal to the reason of the cynics who were privately hopeless. But his reach often exceeded his grasp. Many of his conclusions are more than valid, but his means of arriving at them are shot through with oversimplification couched in (ironically) complicated technical language and repetition. As any philosophy teacher will tell you, a thing can still be true even if it's believed for a faulty reason. The last chapter of "He Is There" (which is the true crux of the book and to which all the others serve as laborious prologue) is a case in point.

For all that, Schaeffer is still a fascinating man who left a lasting imression on the intellectual seekers of the hippie and anti-establishment culture. He accepted them without judgment but also remained true to his own beliefs. It is important to at least familiarize oneself with this significant Christian mind and heart.

Rating:
Summary: Schaeffer's usual failures
Review: This is another book by Schaeffer I am reviewing. The argumentation is extremely poor, the book contains a lot of mistake--typical of Schaeffer's work. The reason why I keep reading these worthless books is because of a Christian friend who tries to convert me: but he is reaching the opposite effect. He 'd better show me some better books or no books at all.