I did not know that Francis Schaeffer (of L’Abri) had a son until I saw this interview with him conducted by Sean McDowell. This was painful to watch. Frank claims to be an “atheist who believes in God.” Sean is very gracious in the interview. While it’s obvious that Frank was deeply influenced morally by his father, it’s also true that faithful parents are not a sure-fire guarantee that their children will be from the same mold. Frank is certainly not “evil” and from his own words, tries to lead a moral life. But he is clearly in a theological wilderness, seeking meaning everyplace except where it is ultimately found. Sean makes a good point about certainty: what should characterize certainty are the beliefs that certainty revolves around. Frank’s beliefs are all over the place in this interview instead of rooted in transcendent reality (which he denies the existence of). He believes that abortion is morally wrong, yet insists that it must be legal (a paradox in his ethics) “because God is misogynistically unfair” with women. (Remember that an induced abortion is different from a spontaneous abortion). As to the human condition, he explicitly says “it sucks”; he believes that a fallen creation and sin are normal and fails to recognize that male and female are both created in the image of God. In many ways, Frank seems to unfortunately align with Bart Ehrman’s perspective, mixing some truth with a lot of fatal error. As to the question “Who was Jesus?”, Frank admits “I don’t know.”

Proverbs 22:6 states, “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.” However, this Scripture offers a principle, not a promise. Scripture has examples of children of faithful parents departing the way (i.e. King Josiah and his children.) On the other hand, you never know until the end of one’s life what the end result will be- to wit, Franklin Graham who had a time of rebellion in early adulthood but is now faithfully serving God.

Tragically, Frank comes across as very confused and certainly not as a role model for Christians; he needs our prayer. It’s apparent that the problem of evil has fatally impacted him. He is obviously intelligent and tries to lead a moral life. However, the most dangerous poison is not the vile tasting, foul-smelling potion in a bottle with a skull and crossbones. It’s the attractive, beautiful, sweet smelling and sweet tasting poison – like antifreeze.

The words of CS Lewis are pertinent here . . .

“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic—on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg—or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to.“
CS Lewis, Mere Christianity