Frank Schaeffer

Before I converted to Orthodoxy I read everything that Francis Schaeffer or his wife Edith wrote...well, not everything. I tended to ignore all that fire-breathing "truly reformed" stuff they were into before L'Abri. In fact, I credit them and a church that was highly influenced by them in the St. Louis area for pointing me in the direction of Orthodoxy in the first place.

However, I never could get into Frank Schaeffer's (their son) books too much because he always seemed to have a bone to pick with pagans and rosy-cheeked Christians alike. I didn't consider myself in his sights too often - being somewhere between rosy-cheeks and sunken eyes - but I just didn't like the tone of his non-fiction. (He sure writes funny novels though - Portifino, et. al.) So, when Frank converted to Orthodoxy I figured he finally got so fed up with the "Christianity as Entertainment" side of American Evangelicalism that he ran into the sea of Orthodoxy like some kind of religious lemming. I happened to visit a branch of L'Abri in Southborough, MA not too long after Frank drowned and the prevailing opinion there was, "Frank needs to be spanked." Their attitude was rather "Elephant Childish" so I didn't pay much attention. Little did I know that some 10 years later I'd be risking a spanking myself.

Anyway, I still have a very fond place in my heart for the Schaeffers and think that Edith is probably a Saint, so I'm always interested to hear what's up with Frank and crew. I found this little blurb about Frank Schaeffer on Fr. John's Blog, copied from the Dallas Morning News. The article gives a little insight into Frank's conversion which I found interesting. I thought maybe some of you would too.