His many books of philosophic theology (made practical for serious lay readers) continue to help readers connect historic Christian faith with a whole-life discipleship that takes seriously art, politics, ecology, sexuality, and the like. That vision--more than any of his particular books--is at the very heart of what our bookstore is about. People notice it here--we are not a typical Christian bookstore. We attempt to live out the vision which the Schaeffer’s taught: God cares about the whole person and all of culture. As communities of thoughtfully engaged followers of Christ, we are free to imagine a better world, and work for reformation in every zone of life! We want to help folks wrestle with that vision.

Schaeffer's influence upon evangelicalism can hardly be understated. In the early 70’s, evangelicals had a tireless anti-intellectualism, suspicion of the arts and a super-spiritual, world-flight mentality which Schaeffer helped to turn around. A good introduction to his view of Western history--good for even high -schoolers and certainly collegiates--is How Should We Then Live? (which is also a useful video series which we rent.) Less formidable is his great little booklet, Art and the Bible or his practical True Spirituality. InterVarsity Press is issuing a commemorative 30th anniversary edition this fall of The God Who Is There, which will include an essay on the significance of the book written by his friend and editor, James Sire.

A very useful, book has recently come out which compares and contrasts the work of Schaeffer with that of C.S. Lewis. Please consider ordering C.S. Lewis & Francis Schaeffer: Lessons for a New Century from the Most Influential Apologists of our Time by Scott Burson and Jerry Walls and sharing it with others. We feel it is a helpful guide to these two giants.

Another absolutely "must-read" treasure is a book which I reviewed for Christianity Today earlier this year. (And, I’ll admit, I am featured in the book for a page or two and our store is mentioned.) Our dear, dear friend, Steve Garber, has reflected deeply on the meaning of effective and successful learning in The Fabric of Faithfulness: Weaving Together Belief and Behavior in the College Years. Perhaps a bit rigorous for first-year students, Garber seems like a Schaeffer for our times (indeed, he dropped out of Geneva College for a semester in the early ‘70’s to study at L’Abri.) Steve’s book has garnered rave, rave reviews (with an editor of InterVarsity Press suggesting that it was one of the most significant books they’ve ever released, just behind Schaeffer’s first book!)

Anyone who works in education, disciples or mentors others, or who enjoys eloquent cultural analysis will find working through Fabric... quite a treat. Steve humbly has shared with us (he is a bit reluctant to talk about this a lot, new as he is to being a successfully published author, but he has gotten an extraordinary amount of letters saying that the book changed their lives. Particularly for those who work in student affairs or within the context of higher ed, this apparently is unlike anything else yet written.) Give us a call and we’ll tell you all about it! Or, ask about ordering our extended review.

Many of Edith Schaeffer’s books are still in print, and they make marvelous gifts; Susan Schaeffer Maccaulay, one of Fran & Edith’s daughters, has a small book about children, the wonder of learning and the need for glorious and high-quality education. Although it is popular amongst home-schoolers, every parent should read it! For the Children’s Sake is one of those great little books that is wise and thoughtful yet not at all academic or hard-to-handle. Makes a great baby-shower present, or an encouragement for parents sending their little ones off to school for the first time.

Happily, Susan has also put out a very popularized version of her father’s Christian worldview stuff, written for middle-schoolers and teenagers called How to Be Your own Selfish Pig (And Other Ways You’ve Been Brain-washed). For those looking for a new approach to religious education for teens...don’t say we didn’t warn you. This could be life-changing stuff!

If you’ve heard of Schaeffer, and have realized some of his limits and blind-spots, you should carry on the dream of thoughtfully-engaged evangelical scholarship and support authors moving us in that direction. We carry a wide range of writers such as Mark Noll, David Wells, George Marsden, Richard Mouw and Os Guinness (for remarks on Os’s new book, The Calling, see our recent favorites section.) Books like the vitally important Gospel in a Pluralist Society by the late Leslie Newbigin come to mind, as do the excellent works by John Stott, Mary Stewart van Leeuwan, Elaine Storkey and Paul Marshall.

Popular writer Ravi Zacharias also captures some of that mildly intellectual approach, and we are happy to sell his four good books. Chuck Colson continues to carry the mantel for intellectually-credible evangelical social policies and we find ourselves agreeing with him more often than not. Burden of Truth is a great collection of his wonderful, brief, Breakpoint radio show pieces. I would love it if folks from all over ordered this book and passed it out to others who think that the Christian faith is irrelevant to the issues of the day. Colson is good at helping us think in light of Biblical categories and serve our neighbors well in acts of justice and compassion.

We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention here a book by an ‘ol room-mate and good guy, Calvin College media-meister and pop culture guru, William David Romanowski. Professor Romanowski’s book, Pop-Culture Wars: Religion and the Role of Entertainment in American Life is the first major study of this kind written out of an evangelical framework. Although he has some serious criticisms of the reactionary Christian right, this book as gotten rave reviews from some serious-minded folk in Hollywood. It puts much of the debate about pop culture in an historical context and calls for an intentional effort to do philosophically-astute arts education, so that Christians can approach the popular arts with authentic Biblical wisdom and not just a Victorian moralism. For a brief essay of his, see Bill’s great column at the CCM magazine website( the June ‘98 issue.) Or, for a scholarly piece, see his contribution in, Pledges of Jubilee: Essays in the Arts and Culture in Honor of Calvin Seerveld, a book which honors Christian aesthetics genius, Calvin Seerveld. (The lengthy preface to this book can be found on the web at calvincollege.edu.) Speaking of which, Seerveld’s great book on daily faithfulness in the arts--talk about genius!!--Rainbows for the Fallen World is often cited and sadly not stocked anywhere it seems. Guess who has it? Order it here and you’ll experience one of the most amazing books we’ve ever seen!

For a spectacular biography of one of the all-time great activist-scholars who embodied a vibrant and radical Christian worldview, see our comments on the new biography of former Dutch Prime Minister (and done of our personal heros!), Abraham Kuyper in the section of recent favorites here at our web site. The book is called Creating a Christian Worldview: Abraham Kuyper’s Lectures on Calvinism expertly written by Peter Heslam. Eerdmans has done the world quite a favor in bringing this book out, and pray that many will be introduced to one of the great Christian legends of the century.

So, if you like thoughtfully written, culturally-relevant books in the spirit of Schaeffer, Kuyper, et al our bookstore is like none other. Do give us a call. We’d love to chat. We well know that most bookstores do not meet your needs--the mom and pop family stores sell Jesus junk and goofy end-times books while the more ecumenical shops may stock deep spirituality and liberal theologians, but not much like Jean Elshtain or Peter Kreeft or Cornelius Plantinga or Harry Blamires or Peter Berger or Philip Johnson or John Polkingham or James Sire...

If, by the way, these names mean nothing to you and you haven’t a clue what we mean by evangelical engagement with culture, let me plead with you to consider one or two of the following:

What on Earth Are We Doing: Finding Our Place As Christians in the World by John Fischer (Servant.) A nicely-written, easily-read intro to being "in the world but not of it." This is a great, great book. Wonderful.

Your Mind Matters John Stott (InterVarsity Press) Just a very small book which we think says a lot about our philosophy. Put these into the hands of young Christians or anyone who is too overly spiritual to take reading seriously. A gem!

Fit Bodies, Fat Minds: Why Evangelicals Don’t Think and What To Do About It Os Guinness (Baker Books) This short books shows historically why evangelicals in American tend not to use their brains much, and also how the (post) modern culture tends to make it hard for all of us to be people of depth and substance.

Transforming Vision: Developing a Christian Worldview Brian Walsh & Richard Middleton (InterVarsity Press) This may be a bit slow-going for beginners, but this is the material that changed my life! This argues for a broad-as-creation view of redemption where Christ is Lord of and restoring every area of life. It shows how and why we so often miss that wholistic vision. Stunning. I reread it every year! If this web-page encourages even a few folks to buy this book, it will be worth it!

Truth is Stranger Than It Used To Be: Biblical Faith in a Postmodern Age Brian Walsh & Richard Middleton (InterVarsity Press) This is somewhat of a sequel to Transforming Vision which attempts to give a Biblically-based response to post-modern thinkers. It is absolutely the best book on the subject (hang on to your hat for the ride, though!) It is a touch controversial--prophetic, some would call it--and a wise and faithful attempt at relevant, cutting-edge Christian scholarship.

The Scandal of the Evangelical Mind Mark Noll (Eerdmans) An award-winning, prestigious historian and evangelical scholar studiously shows how and why evangelicals failed to develop culturally-engaging ministries and the intellectual strength to sustain cultural reformation. Reports in scholarly detail what Guinness shows in his popularized Fit Bodies, Fat Minds.

The Outrageous Idea of Christian Scholarship George Marsden (Oxford University Press) A top-flight scholar on one of the most prestigious academic publishing houses, making the case for Christianly-framed scholarship in the breadth of the academy, from literary criticism to political theory, psychology to the natural sciences.

The only better book, in that it is more detailed, is the heavy Myth of Religious Neutrality by New Jersey University professor, Roy Clouser. Fascinating, a Reformed academician published on University of Notre Dame Press. Are there any other Christian bookstores that sell this book (other than at Christian college bookstores, where I sure hope it is carried)? If you are a serious student, professor, dean, parent or anyone interested in higher education, this sort of literature is immensely important. Call us today. We need to talk.

Chris Chrisman Goes to College James Sire (InterVarsity Press) Written like a novel, this is a parable about a youngster who goes to college and (a) meets folks who live quite differently than he and (b) studies under teachers who believe quite differently than he. What’s a freshman to do? This is a good and playful way to introduce the young college student to some of the issues--pluralism, relativism and the like--facing her or him at school. Just how does the Christian faith relate to all those differing philosophies and lifestyles? How is a Christian student to interact with secular ideologies and non-Christian value-systems? Reading Sire is a good way to start the journey. His more rigorous, Discipleship of the Mind, is also specifically written for college students to integrate faith and academics.

If you are a student, we can assure you that the Christian faith--a comprehensive and coherent world and life view, not just a little Sunday school thing--has something to say to your life and times and setting. Specifically (although we have books on dating, eating disorders, race relations, campus evangelism, self-esteem, etc.) we invite you to consider how being a Christ-follower effects how you think about your major, your academic work and your future career.

Might we invite you to call us and allow us to serve you by finding a book which helps you develop a Christian perspective in your course work? We are here to help you. Call us for easy or difficult books on science, history, art, politics, engineering, communication, business, special education, gender studies, engineering, sociology....whatever. We may be able to help you with resources to honor God in all that you do, including your academic work! E-mail us anytime!