How Should We Then Live?: The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture Paperback – March 22, 2022

Chronicles the movement in the 20th century away from the one true God.

I loved the book! It helped me expand my understanding of Western history while also broadening my viewpoint. The book shows how the reality of truth from the Bible can be used to view history through a different lens and thus, see the importance of truth in a secular society

Stay away if new convert. But if a seasoned Christian with an interest in epistemology. This works.

This is an old book. Older than me. I won’t comment on the content- but on this particular edition. This edition by Crossway is good. The pictures are printed well, though some of the originals are a bit grainy. The paper is thin enough you can see the picture through the page, but just barely, it doesn’t affect readability at all. The font seems bigger than many theology books- at least a 12 if not 12.5 or even 13. This makes the physical act of reading easier. The cover includes two flaps you can use to mark your place, like you can with the dust jacket of a traditional hard cover, but this is a soft cover.There’s a reason this work has been released in a new edition. It’s still relevant, and this is an excellent edition to use.

How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture by Francis A. Schaeffer was first published in an attractive hardback edition in 1976 by Fleming H. Revell Company. Revell published a paperback study guide prepared by Jeremy C. Jackson at the same time. Since 1976, How Should We Then Live? has been reprinted in many paperback versions. This recent printing by Crossway Books (Wheaten, IL 2021) is a high-quality paperback edition. Crossway is to be commended for undertaking the publishing of Schaeffer’s major works in the quality formate they deserve.How Should We Then Live? The Rise and Decline of Western Thought and Culture was in its first appearance, a companion book to the 10-episode film series How Should We Then Live? The central thesis of both film series and book is the role of worldview in the flow of history. It is clearly stated in the opening paragraph:“There is a flow to history and culture. This flow is rooted and has its wellspring in the thoughts of people. People are unique in the inner life of the mind—what they are in their thought world determines how they act. This is true of their value system and it true of their creativity. It is true of their corporate actions, such as political decisions, and it is true of their personal lives. The results of their thought world flow through their fingers or from their tongues into the external world. This is true of Michelangelo’s chisel, and it is true of a dictator’s sword” (p. 15).An individual’s worldview consists of a set of basic presuppositions, “the basic way an individual looks at life…the grid through which he sees the world” (p. 15). They provide the basis for their values and therefore determine the individual’s outward actions. What is true for the individual is also true for humankind. If one thinks of that old philosophical question of whether human beings are what they think or what they eat, Schaeffer’s answer is clearly the former.Another way of explaining this approach to the study of history is to consider a question I often asked my students during my many years as a history professor. What is the ultimate reality? And does it matter? There are only two possible answers to the first question. One is a personal God who created all that exists out of nothing (ex nihilo). The other is that matter is eternal. It has always existed. The answer to the second question of whether or not it matters which option one chooses is that one’s choice determines all that follows, that is, how one understands and explains history. It is only by first assuming the existence of God as found in the Bible, or by first assuming the eternality of matter that one can make sense of history.Schaeffer begins with the the Roman Empire and traces how the change in worldview over the centuries to the mid-1970s is reflected in all areas of human life. He cites examples from political history, the history of philosophy and theology, and the varied expressions of culture, including music, theater, art, architecture, etc. He attempts to demonstrate through historical examples how a Bible-based worldview such as existed in the Middle Ages provides unity for all the individual “things” in creation, whereas a humanistic worldview—i.e., matter is eternal—leads to a fragmented worldview and inability to find meaning for the individual things. The absence of biblical-based absolutes results in humanity’s quest for autonomy, ultimately leading to nihilism.It is not difficult for the trained academic to find fault with Schaeffer’s discussion of particular subjects. Schaeffer was not a academically trained philosopher, art critic, or historian. He painted in very broad strokes, and at times he oversimplified complex ideas and misrepresented key historical figures. This reviewer, a retired history professor influenced by Schaeffer’s many books, etc., finds fault with his linking the Enlightenment with the Renaissance rather than correctly understanding its linkage to the Scientific Revolution. His coverage of the great scholastic theologian Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) is also problematic. Nevertheless, his emphasis on the role of worldview in history remains valid.The newcomer to Schaeffer’s work will find How Should We Then Live? an excellent introduction to Schaeffer. As one who loves books and enjoys holding quality books well bound and printed on quality paper, I am happy to recommend this edition by Crossway over many of the previous paperback editions.

This book is really good quality. The paper does not rip easily and the cover design is nice. This is a great guid to living.

Few literary works had as great an impact on modern evangelism as the books of Francis Schaeffer. He dealt with many topics, including the relationship of the Christian to the environment, but with this book, How Should We Then Live, Schaeffer examined the broad sweep of Western history and society from the Roman era to modern times (the 1970s in relation to this book). He focuses his study on three areas of the Western experience—philosophy, science, and religion. And he sees success and decline as tied to two trends—a good society that thrives when based in Biblical truths and proper practice of Christianity and a declining society when based on the ideas of humanism. He examines this central theme throughout Western history with a plethora of examples from art and architectural history. For Schaeffer, a society based in proper Biblical teaching and lived Christianity will achieve freedom for its people within an order society—“freedom without chaos.” Humanism, on the other hand, basically has no rules to ground society and leads to fragmentation and a focus on personal happiness and wealth. Eventually, the latter gives way to an authoritarian society (whether from right or left) controlled by self-serving elite. Schaeffer ends the book with several chapters mulling over contemporary (the 70s at the time of the writing) society and the state of the world. He also offers suggestions to counteract the decline of the West, essentially regrounding Western society in Biblical principles. This is an important work, relevant to today perhaps more so than in the 70s when it was published. As I read the later chapters of the book, I could easily relate the themes to the early 21st century. If you want to understand a modern evangelical (and conservative) mindset, especially as it relates to history and society, this is a great book with which to begin. The book is amply illustrated with examples from art and architecture, but I wish the illustrations were clearer in some cases. A helpful timeline and bibliography of books is also included. A well-made paperback edition of a book I will return to time and again, a classic in modern Christian thought. I’ve enjoyed revisiting this classic of evangelical thought.

断片的な西洋文化の歴史を一つの視点から見ることのできる「それでは如何に生きるべきか」の原著

Book cover was ripped upon arrival as if it had gone through the cover chopping machine incorrectly