I am writing this review primarily to shine a different light on this book. The only review currently submitted is 3 out of 5 stars. I believe Escape from Reason is a 5-star message with perhaps a 4-star delivery. I think the book makes a point all Christians should understand: communication is key.

As for the content, Escape from Reason traces mankind's philosophical thought from the times of Thomas Aquinas through the Renaissance, the Reformation, and into modern times with discussion of Kant, Rousseau, Hegel, and Kierkegaard among others. Schaeffer describes the changes to man's ways of thinking, depicts with diagrams these changes, and gives cultural examples. He makes it clear that our way of relating faith and reason is dramatically different now than in history's past. Essentially, modern man is making a leap to (non-Christian) faith and has left reason behind. Christianity provides for a unity of faith and reason that other worldviews simply cannot provide.

Francis Schaeffer's main point, however, is that we need to understand the shift in thought-forms for our current age, and we need to be able to speak the Gospel into this generation. We need to be able to communicate effectively, and the only way is by understanding where philosophy has gone to.

Now, why is this book difficult for some to understand? My personal opinion is that Schaeffer can be a difficult author to read. He can sometimes present a complete idea in a mere paragraph and move on. His writing is very dense. How can you read Schaeffer better? Read more of him and others on similar topics. For example, I have read The God Who Is There, also by Schaeffer, and I understand the concepts presented in Escape from Reason far better because of it. Also, The Universe Next Door by James Sire will be helpful in preparing you for this book. The Abolition of Man by C.S. Lewis is approximately the difficulty of Escape from Reason. (I also recommend all of those books.)

If you would like to read a related book by Francis Schaeffer, I can reiterate the previously mentioned book The God Who Is There. If you would like to read books by other authors who were influenced by Francis Schaeffer but are not him, you could try How Now Shall We Live? by Charles Colson and Nancy Pearcey or Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey. Both of those books won the ECPA Gold Medallion book award in the category Christianity and Society.

Finally, I feel I should state that I read the edition of Escape from Reason printed in The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer.

I would recommend this to the thinker. At times it can be a little to deep for some readers. My son would like it, but my daughter would find it difficult to follow. I did myself. The parts i got were very interesting and I agreed with the author. Other times he lost me and I have a Masters Degree. (Maybe I need to re-read it ?)