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Francis Schaeffer pictured below:
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Francis Schaeffer below pictured on cover of World Magazine:
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Francis Schaeffer has written extensively on art and culture spanning the last 2000years and here are some posts I have done on this subject before : Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 10 “Final Choices” , episode 9 “The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence”, episode 8 “The Age of Fragmentation”, episode 7 “The Age of Non-Reason” , episode 6 “The Scientific Age” , episode 5 “The Revolutionary Age” , episode 4 “The Reformation”, episode 3 “The Renaissance”, episode 2 “The Middle Ages,”, and episode 1 “The Roman Age,” . My favorite episodes are number 7 and 8 since they deal with modern art and culture primarily.(Joe Carter rightly noted, “Schaeffer—who always claimed to be an evangelist and not aphilosopher—was often criticized for the way his work oversimplifiedintellectual history and philosophy.” To those critics I say take a chill pillbecause Schaeffer was introducing millions into the fields of art andculture!!!! !!! More people need to read his works and blog about thembecause they show how people’s worldviews affect their lives!
J.I.PACKER WROTE OF SCHAEFFER, “His communicative style was not that of acautious academic who labors for exhaustive coverage and dispassionate objectivity. It was rather that of an impassioned thinker who paints his vision of eternal truth in bold strokes and stark contrasts.Yet it is a fact that MANY YOUNG THINKERS AND ARTISTS…HAVE FOUND SCHAEFFER’S ANALYSES A LIFELINE TO SANITY WITHOUT WHICH THEY COULD NOT HAVE GONE ON LIVING.”
Francis Schaeffer’s works are the basis for a large portion of my blog posts andthey have stood the test of time. In fact, many people would say that many of the things he wrote in the 1960’s were right on in the sense he saw where ourwestern society was heading and he knew that abortion, infanticide and youthenthansia were moral boundaries we would be crossing in the coming decadesbecause of humanism and these are the discussions we are having now!)
There is evidence that points to the fact that the Bible is historically true asSchaeffer pointed out in episode 5 of WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE HUMAN RACE? There is a basis then for faith in Christ alone for our eternal hope. This linkshows how to do that.
Francis Schaeffer in Art and the Bible noted, “Many modern artists, it seems to me, have forgotten the value that art has in itself. Much modern art is far too intellectual to be great art. Many modern artists seem not to see the distinction between man and non-man, and it is a part of the lostness of modern man that they no longer see value in the work of art as a work of art.”
Many modern artists are left in this point of desperation that Schaeffer points out and it reminds me of the despair that Solomon speaks of in Ecclesiastes. Christian scholar Ravi Zacharias has noted, “The key to understanding the Book of Ecclesiastes is the term ‘under the sun.’ What that literally means is you lock God out of a closed system, and you are left with only this world of time plus chanceplus matter.” THIS IS EXACT POINT SCHAEFFER SAYS SECULAR ARTISTSARE PAINTING FROM TODAY BECAUSE THEY BELIEVED ARE A RESULTOF MINDLESS CHANCE.
Freedom Within Form
We should not allow ourselves to hurry past this point, because it is of tremendous importance in relation to the problems we outlined in the first three chapters of this book. Knowing what is right and wrong, we have a way to have order and freedom simultaneously. It is relatively easy to attain order in society and not have any freedom. There are plenty of examples of that today. Likewise, it is easy to practice freedom without any order. There are examples of that, too, in the Western societies most of us live in. But how do we get both together? That is the problem.
The Bible gives a world-view that provides order and yet at the same time freedom. God’s rules are like a perimeter fence. We must stay within that fence if we are to avoid getting messed up. But inside the fence we have an almost endless variety of possibilities for freedom. These touch every area of human life.
A good example is the pursuit of science. The Christian world-view gives us a base for science, yet (since we are made in the image of God) a freedom to pursue science. The birth of modern science is generally conceded to be heavily indebted to the Christian world-view. The Bible tells us that the universe is ordered, because God made it to cohere in all sorts of amazing ways. At the same time it tells us that we are persons. We are able to know what is around us; the subject can know the object.
It may seem rather obvious to say we can know what is around us, for everyone lives like this, day in and day out. We drive the car, use the stove, and so forth. Even though we cannot completely know any single detail of what is around us, we can still have accurate knowledge. This is what makes science possible, too. But, for the materialistic philosophers, this is still a problem.
Why is it that the noises we make from our mouths, for example, “cat,” “dog,” “glass,” “hand,” have a correspondence with objects in the outside world? That is the problem with which modern philosophers are still struggling. But within the Christian view the answer is simple and obvious: the world was made that way in the first place. Without the Bible’s answer of a personal God who had made the universe – and at the same time persons within it to have relationship with what has been made – people can still know the objects, but they do not know why they can know them.
A Christian Manifesto Francis Schaeffer
A video important to today. The man was very wise in the ways of God. And of government. Hope you enjoy a good solis teaching from the past. The truth never gets old.
The Roots of the Emergent Church by Francis Schaeffer
The Christian Manifesto by Francis Schaeffer sheds light on secular humanism and a correct view of Christianity
By: Robert Grice
Published: March 15, 2013 Updated: April 24, 2014
Francis Schaeffer (1912–1984) was in many ways a man before his time. Schaeffer’s work, while directed to Christians, “A Christian Manifesto” warrants the attention of those who simply seek an oft overlooked fact in our nation’s founding. Schaeffer’s thesis is that Christians in the 20th century viewed life and spirituality in “bits and pieces instead of totals.” Schaeffer constructs the book around this thesis that Christians need to become aware of the true problem and to respond in a holistic manner.
The abolition of truth and morality
Schaeffer begins with a stinging description of the problem. Christians too often focus on surface-level cultural problems. Ironically, one of the causes of the problem according to Schaeffer is Pietism. Pietism began in the 17th century in reaction to formalism in the church. Pietism stressed devotion to God and engaging in spiritual disciplines companied by observing high moral standards. Schaeffer suggests that “platonic spirituality” corrupted Pietism by creating a division between the spiritual and material world. Life was divided into spiritual and natural parts.
Schaeffer argues that “true spirituality covers all of reality”. Christianity is not a collection of truths, but total truth. The truth of Christianity applied to all aspects of life from spiritual matters to government and social policies. The Truth of Christianity offered a structure for society and a foundation for law and morality.
The alternative worldview that competed with Christianity in the 20th century was naturalism or Modernism. Naturalism denied the existence of God and the existence of absolute truth offered in Christianity and through the Scriptures. Rather, reality is natural and truth was limited to the natural world. The philosophy associated with naturalism was secular humanism.
Secular humanism esteemed human beings to the place of God. Schaeffer comments,
“The term humanism used in the wider, more prevalent way means Man beginning with himself, with no knowledge except what he himself can discover and not standards outside of himself”.
Truth varies and morality changes with the needs of society or the will of the majority.
Humanism recognizes that human nature longs to be free. However, freedom only lasts within a structure that conforms to reality. The flaw of humanism is the assumption that people are not innately selfish and prone to behavior normally identified in Christianity as “sin” such as greed or control. The search for freedom that does not also include measures to restrain the natural tendencies of human nature will always succumb to oppression or some form of authoritarianism.
Foundations for faith and freedom
Schaeffer begins the chapter by using the discussion of freedom in a comparison of revolutions. The American Revolution and the “Bloodless” Revolution in Britain (1688) were based on the idea that absolute law exists and that all people are subject to that law including rulers. This view was called Lex Rex or “the law is king.” The Lex Rex concept grew out of the Protestant Reformation and the belief that God had revealed absolute law that applies to all people and to aspects of life and that these laws will apply throughout history.
The humanist approach to revolution was demonstrated in France and Russia. The French Revolution (1789 – 1799) attempted to build society on humanistic idealism and the will of the majority. The problem was humanistic idealism has no reliable foundation. What one group defines is true may be rejected by another group and its version of truth. Such was the case in France when chaos ensued and thousands of French citizens were executed in the process of multiple temporary governments coming to power. All failed until the French followed the humanistic pattern of turning to an authoritarian government under Napoleon in hopes of restoring peace.
The Russians fared no better. The Bolshevik Revolution (1917) had only a humanistic foundation on which to base the revolt against the Czars. However, the foundation was insufficient when different factions fought over control of the Russian government and chaos was the result. Peace was restored when the people turned to the Communist Party for assistance.
The Communist Party under Stalin and Lenin imposed peace on Russia through force and at times the executions of their political enemies.
The destruction of faith and freedom
Schaeffer suggests that our country abandoned its devotion to Lex Rex in the wake of the widespread social acceptance of Secular Humanism. The nature of laws became one of the obvious victims of this shift. Schaeffer describes humanistic law as “sociological” law because it only rests on the will of the people. The will of the people changes over time. If the legal philosophy is sociological law then laws will change to reflect the cultural mood at the time.
The shift to sociological law is most evident in the rulings of the Supreme Court. The belief that the Constitution is a “living” document means that it is subject to interpretation. The rulings of the court can insert new meaning into the Constitution such as finding legal protection for abortion as a right and the separation of church and state meaning no contact.
For secular humanists, the will of the majority as reflected in the rulings of courts is sufficient grounds to determine the moral implications of rulings except for those considered most egregious at that point in the cultural mood. For example, rulings that allow for the confiscation of private property under imminent domain provisions in the law in order to build retail stores.
Humanistic religion
Schaeffer gives some attention to humanitarianism as the religion of secular humanism. The virtues of love, benevolence, and social justice occupy a high place. Education and opportunities for personal enrichment are the keys to “self-salvation.”
Revival, revolution, and reform
Schaeffer spends the remaining chapters offering a solution and plan of action. The first step is “Revival, Revolution, and Reform” and the call to recognize that a correct view of Christianity as applying to all of life is needed. “An Open Window” was Schaeffer’s analysis at the time that Christians still had an open window to give an accurate representation of Christianity that applied to all of life. “The Limits of Civil Obedience” and “The Use of Civil Disobedience” was Schaeffer’s look into the future should authoritarian government continue to encroach on the rights and freedoms of citizens. Schaeffer’s conclusion was that Christians will either have to compromise their beliefs and prepare to engage in civil disobedience.
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#02 How Should We Then Live? (Promo Clip) Dr. Francis Schaeffer
Featured artist is Jan Fabre:
[ARTS 315] What’s Going on Today, part 1 – Jon Anderson
Published on Apr 5, 2012
Contemporary Art Trends [ARTS 315], Jon Anderson
What’s Going on Today, part 1
December 2, 2011
[ARTS 315] What’s Going on Today, part 2 – Jon Anderson
Published on Apr 5, 2012
Contemporary Art Trends [ARTS 315], Jon Anderson
What’s Going on Today, part 2
December 2, 2011
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Uploaded on Oct 11, 2011
Washington and Lee University alumnus Tom Wolfe presented a lecture on Modern Art during the 60th reunion of his class, the Class of 1951, held on the campus in September 2011
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In reply to Digirame, Jun 1, 2011
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Picking your vantage point to get the sky as background was a masterstroke here.
With that silver finish, the pose and the clouds, your picture reminded me of a statue by Flemish artist/sculptor Jan Fabre: “The Man Who Measures The Clouds” (this is a sculpture made in a few copies, that stand on top of several buildings):
View: original size
Jan Fabre (google that name) is quite multi-dimensional : writes and paints, is the author and director of theater plays that have moved/shocked the Festival at Avignon, makes controversial installations etc (like covering the whole ceiling of a room in the royal palace with the skeletons of a certain type of bug – I kid you not!). And his sculptures are mainly self portraits, I believe they are made as casts.
Here is another very nice one : him on a huge turtle near the seaside:
View: original size
Recently, he has made a highly controversial entry for the Venice Biennale : a hommage to Michelangelo’s pietà:
View: original size
Roel Hendrickx
lots of images : http://www.roelh.zenfolio.com
Jan Fabre
Jan Fabre (center) in 2008.
Jan Fabre (born 1958, Antwerp, Belgium) is a Belgian multidisciplinary artist, playwright, stage director, choreographer and designer.
He studied at the Municipal Institute of Decorative Arts and the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Antwerp. Between 1976 and 1980 he wrote his first scripts for the theatre and made his début performances.
Between 1976 en 1980 he wrote his first texts for the theatre and did his first solo performances. During his ‘money-performances’ he burned money and wrote the word ‘MONEY’ with the ashes. In 1977 he renames the street where he lives to “Jan Fabre street” and fixes a commemorative plaque “Here lives and works Jan Fabre” to the house of his parents, by analogy to the commemorative plate on the house of Vincent Van Gogh in the same street. In 1978 he makes drawings with his own blood during the solo performance ‘My body, my blood, my landscape’. In 1980 ‘The Bic-Art Room’ he had himself locked up for three days and three nights in a white cube full of objects, drawing with blue Bic ballpoint pens as an alternative to Big art Established in 1986, Troubleyn/Jan Fabre is a theatre company with extensive international operations, with its home base in Antwerp, Belgium.
From 1980 he began his career as a stage director and stage designer:
- Theater geschreven met een K is een kater (1980)
- Het is theater zoals te verwachten en te voorzien was (“It is Theatre as to be Expected and Foreseen” 1982)
- De macht der theaterlijke dwaasheden (“The power of theatrical madness”, Venice Biennale 1984)
- Das Glas im Kopf wird vom Glas (1987)
- Prometheus Landschaft (1988)
- Das Interview das stirbt… (1989)
- Der Palast um vier Uhr morgens… A.G. (1989)
- Die Reinkarnation Gottes (1989)
- Das Glas im Kopf wird vom Glas (1990)
- The Sound of one hand clapping (1990)
- Sweet Temptations (1991)
- She was and she is, even (1991)
- Wie spreekt mijn gedachte … (1992)
- Silent Screams, Difficult Dreams (1992)
- Vervalsing zoals ze is, onvervalst (1992)
- Da un’altra faccia del tempo (1993)
- Quando la terra si rimette in movimento (1995)
- Three Dance-solos (1995)
- A dead normal woman (1995)
- Universal Copyrights 1 & 9 (1995)
- De keizer van het verlies (1996)
- The very seat of honour (1997)
- Body, Body on the wall (1997)
- Glowing Icons (1997)
- The Pick-wick-man (1997)
- Ik ben jaloers op elke zee… (1997)
- The fin comes a little bit earlier this siècle (But business as usual) (1998)
- Het nut van de nacht (1999)
- As long as the world needs a warrior’s soul (2000)
- My movements are alone like streetdogs (2000)
- Je suis Sang (conte de fées médiéval) (2001)
- Het zwanenmeer (2002)
- Swanlake (2002)
- Parrots & guinea pigs (2002)
- Je suis sang (2003)
- Angel of death (2003)
- Tannhäuser (co-production) (2004)
- Elle était et elle est, même (2004)
- Etant donnés (2004)
- Quando L’Uomo principale è una donna (2004)
- The crying body (2004)
- The King of Plagiarism (2005)
- History of Tears (2005)
- I am a Mistake (2007)
- Requiem für eine Metamorphose (2007)
- Another Sleepy Dusty Delta Day (2008)
- Orgy of Tolerance (2009)
- The Servant of Beauty (2010)
- Preparatio Mortis (2010)
- Prometheus–Landscape II (2011)
Fabre is famous for his Bic-art (ballpoint drawings). In 1990, he covered an entire building with ballpoint drawings.
He explores the relationships between drawing and sculpture. He also makes sculptures in bronze (among them The man who measures the clouds and Searching for Utopia) and with beetles.
His decoration of the ceiling of the Royal Palace in Brussels Heaven of Delight (made out of one million six hundred thousand jewel-scarab wing cases) is widely praised. In 2004 he erected Totem, a giant bug stuck on a 70 foot steel needle, on the Ladeuzeplein in Leuven.
In 2008, Jan Fabre’s The Angel of Metamorphosis exhibition was held at the Louvre Museum.
On 26 October 2012, several media reported how during a shoot in the Antwerp town hall for a forthcoming film on Fabre, living cats were thrown repeatedly several meters spinning into the air, after which they made a hard landing on the steps of the entrance hall. Animal welfare executive chairman Luc Bungeneers said he was having a meeting with his party chairman when he heard howling cats. “To my horror, we found cats were being assaulted in the name of art” Bungeneers said. “It went on for several hours.” The filming was eventually aborted after protests from the crew’s own technicians. Later that day, Fabre claimed all cats were still in good health and it was a conspiracy of the political party NVA.[1][2][3][4] Mr Fabre has received 20,000 emails slamming his act. He has also been attacked seven times by men carrying clubs whilst out jogging in the park and been forced to sleep in a different location every night.Antwerp’s deputy mayor for animal wellbeing and the animal rights organisation Global Action in the Interest of Animals also launched complaints about Mr Fabre’s controversial act.
External links
- Jan Fabre at Glasstress – Biennale of Venice
- Jan Fabre Troubleyn
- Jan Fabre Angelos
- Jan Fabre on the 52nd Biennale of Venice
- The case of Jan Fabre
- Jan Fabre and Lisbeth Gruwez photos from Quando L’Uomo principale è una donna
- Jan Fabre Artnet Page
- A Beautiful, Bug-Infested Ceiling
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References
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Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 10 “Final Choices” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 1 0 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode X – Final Choices 27 min FINAL CHOICES I. Authoritarianism the Only Humanistic Social Option One man or an elite giving authoritative arbitrary absolutes. A. Society is sole absolute in absence of other absolutes. B. But society has to be […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 9 “The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 9 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode IX – The Age of Personal Peace and Affluence 27 min T h e Age of Personal Peace and Afflunce I. By the Early 1960s People Were Bombarded From Every Side by Modern Man’s Humanistic Thought II. Modern Form of Humanistic Thought Leads […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 8 “The Age of Fragmentation” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 8 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode VIII – The Age of Fragmentation 27 min I saw this film series in 1979 and it had a major impact on me. T h e Age of FRAGMENTATION I. Art As a Vehicle Of Modern Thought A. Impressionism (Monet, Renoir, Pissarro, Sisley, […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 7 “The Age of Non-Reason” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 7 Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode VII – The Age of Non Reason I am thrilled to get this film series with you. I saw it first in 1979 and it had such a big impact on me. Today’s episode is where we see modern humanist man act […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 6 “The Scientific Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 6 How Should We Then Live 6#1 Uploaded by NoMirrorHDDHrorriMoN on Oct 3, 2011 How Should We Then Live? Episode 6 of 12 ________ I am sharing with you a film series that I saw in 1979. In this film Francis Schaeffer asserted that was a shift in […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 5 “The Revolutionary Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)
E P I S O D E 5 How Should We Then Live? Episode 5: The Revolutionary Age I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Francis Schaeffer noted, “Reformation Did Not Bring Perfection. But gradually on basis of biblical teaching there […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 4 “The Reformation” (Schaeffer Sundays)
Dr. Francis Schaeffer – Episode IV – The Reformation 27 min I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer makes three key points concerning the Reformation: “1. Erasmian Christian humanism rejected by Farel. 2. Bible gives needed answers not only as to […]
“Schaeffer Sundays” Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 3 “The Renaissance”
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 3 “The Renaissance” Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 3) THE RENAISSANCE I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer really shows why we have so […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 2 “The Middle Ages” (Schaeffer Sundays)
Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 2) THE MIDDLE AGES I was impacted by this film series by Francis Schaeffer back in the 1970′s and I wanted to share it with you. Schaeffer points out that during this time period unfortunately we have the “Church’s deviation from early church’s teaching in regard […]
Francis Schaeffer’s “How should we then live?” Video and outline of episode 1 “The Roman Age” (Schaeffer Sundays)
Francis Schaeffer: “How Should We Then Live?” (Episode 1) THE ROMAN AGE Today I am starting a series that really had a big impact on my life back in the 1970′s when I first saw it. There are ten parts and today is the first. Francis Schaeffer takes a look at Rome and why […]
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