He Is There and He Is Not Silent

books:


	• He Is There and He Is Not Silent Francis Schaeffer Tyndale House Publishers, 1972 - 128 pages average customer review:based on 13 reviews view larger image
	for more information click here

highly recommended

answering tough questions

This is a thinking person's book. If you are searching for answers and open intellectually, you will love this book. It is not an easy read but one well worth taking time to understand.

Encourages reason

Francis Schaeffer in his early life was left to accept agnosticism because of what he was taught by the liberal church. But today he is a warrior for Jesus Christ and a defender of Truth. He says, "the Christian is the real radical of our generation, for he stands against the monolithic modern concept of truth as relative" Schaeffer has come to an understanding that few of us will reach. He brings a new and refreshing perspective in apologetics, backed with powerful arguments; he is able to communicate to the laymen as well as test the Scholar. He tells us, "first I am not an apologete if that means building a safe house to live in, so that we Christians can sit inside with safety and quiescence. Christians should be out in the midst of the world as both witnesses and salt, not sitting in a fortress surrounded by a moat."

Get ready to test your mind. Schaeffer encourages us to reason in a way we weren't trained for. "This book deals with the philosophic necessity of God's being there and not silent----in the areas of metaphysics, morals, and epistemology." This book continues (from his previous book: "Escape from Reason") to focus on the men of the past who still live on in our philosophy today.

Society as a whole, is becoming more, and giving in to more, the irrational: where there is no logical answers, philosophical or other. So, "if we begin with the impersonal [just us], then how do any of the particulars that now exist----including man hold any meaning, any significance? Nobody has given us an answer to that. In all the history of philosophical thought, whether from the East or the West, no one has given us an adequate answer." What this actually is, is pantheism; the word god is meaningless "until content is put into it". And the liberal church is also headed toward this destruction. But Christianity has the answer!----share it!---- "there is only one philosophy, one religion that fills this thought"----that explains the existence of being. And language is the key to our knowledge of being. Contemplate: There would be numerous things we could not know if we begin with ourselves.

Today we struggle between the personal (a creator being) and the impersonal (no meaning----man is zero). Morality becomes relative, an "average of what people are thinking and doing at a given time"----it continually adjusts----its in flux; so then there are really no morals----no universals.

This has also been carried over to the sciences: "because men have lost the objective basis for certainty of knowledge in the areas in which they are working, more and more we are going to find them manipulating science according to their own sociological or political desires rather than standing upon concrete sociological science, where men manipulate the scientific facts. Carl Sagan demonstrates that the concept of a manipulated science is not far-fetched. He mixes science and science fiction constantly." So, compared to the early scientists, these modern men become blurred----they have lost objectivity.

Wish you well
Scott

for more information click here

He Is There and He Is Not Silent

Requires the reader to think through issues with the author and in doing so, helps the reader to understand why belief in God is practical and able to stand up to close scrutiny.

An exercise in logic

I have read this book twice and will probably read it again. Schaeffer attempts to confirm Christianity's claim to exclusivity with logic. It is extremely well written but requires some diligence on the part of the reader (at least for me). In my opinion he ultimately fails to prove his point but for anyone interested in the question this book makes a great contribution. If you are trying to understand Christianity and its role in your life and in the world, this is a great book. If you are interested in philosophy and how the various philosophical dead ends have contributed to the dysfuntion of our world, this is a great book.

for more information click here

Now I'm a believer

After years of hearing about Francis Schaeffer's work, I finally picked up How Should We Then Live? last winter. I was not impressed, though I could see a sharp and brilliant mind at work in the book. My friends still insisted that Schaeffer was worth reading, and so shortly thereafter I read A Christian Manifesto, which I liked more, though still with misgivings. He is There and He is Not Silent, however, made me a believer in Schaeffer's work.

In less than 100 pages, Schaeffer distills the essences of the major modern philosophical movements into their most basic parts in the areas meatphysics, morality, and epistemology--the three critical factors that shape what a person believes and how they will act. He then describes the logical ends of the competing views--such as the utter hopelessness of knowledge stemming from existentialism or the whirling, self-defeating frenzy of what he calls "linguistic analysis." All of the systems Schaeffer examines fall apart on some point, or lead to despair or cynicism.

The reason, Schaeffer points out, is all these systems exist to fill a void that is only completely and adequately filled by Christianity. Each exists not beside Christianity, but against it. Schaeffer shows the necessity of belief in a God who is not only there--existing--but not silent--he not only created the world but is constantly involved with it.

This book reads like all the best parts of How Should We Then Live? without the baggage of misrepresentation and oversimplification that plagued the other book (though he does take a more benign dig at Dante and Thomas Aquinas at one point). While there is, admittedly, a certain amount of simplification required of an 80-page book that treats modern philosophy's problems, the broad-strokes structure of the book is in no way a liability. He is There and He is Not Silent is an apologetic masterpiece. This is one book which I'll read again.

Highly recommended.

for more information click here

reviews: page 1, 2, 3

Tyndale celebrates the thirtieth anniversary of this twentieth-century spiritual classic with a special commemorative edition featuring new foreword by Chuck Colson and introduction by Dr. Jerram Barrs, director of the Schaeffer Institute.

He Is There and He Is Not Silent discusses fundamental questions about God, such as who he is and why he matters.

hot or not? What's your opinion? Write a review and share your thoughts!

recommendations

My Favorite Books about Apologetics and Questions about God
Good Books for Thinking About Christianity
God...Yesterday and Today
Great Books by Schaeffer
Great Christian Classics

silent

Silent In The Grave
Silent Thunder
Out of the Silent Planet (Space Trilogy, Book One)
One Silent Night (Dark-Hunter Novels)
Silent Prey

not

How Not to Look Old: Fast and Effortless Ways to Look 10 Years ...
Not a Box
He's Just Not That Into You - Movie Tie-In: The No-Excuses Truth to ...
Bud, Not Buddy
Swine Not?: A Novel

search for books
he is there, not, silent, there

Impressum / about us