Edith Schaeffer
{{Short description|American author}}
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| birth_name = Edith Rachel Merritt Seville
| birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|11|03}}
| birth_place = Wenzhou, China
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2013|03|30|1914|11|03}}
| death_place = Gryon, Switzerland
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| spouse = Francis Schaeffer
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| children = Priscilla, Susan, Deborah, Frank
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Edith Rachel Merritt Schaeffer (née Seville; November 3, 1914 – March 30, 2013) was a Christian author and co-founder of L'Abri, a Christian organization which hosts guests.[http://www.labri.org/ L'Abri Fellowship International website] She was the wife of Francis Schaeffer, and the mother of Frank Schaeffer and three other children.
Early life
Schaeffer was born in Wenzhou, China, the fourth child of George and Jessie Seville, missionaries who were serving in China with the China Inland Mission. In addition to her English name, her parents gave her the Chinese name Mei Fuh, meaning "beautiful happiness".Schaeffer 1998
Schaeffer attended Beaver College in Glenside, Pennsylvania. It was there that she met Francis Schaeffer and they were married in 1935. They had four children: Priscilla, Susan, Deborah and Frank.Burson, Scott R. and Walls, Jerry L. (1998), [https://books.google.com/books?id=in4SzrxviCYC C.S. Lewis & Francis Schaeffer: Lessons for a new century from the most influential apologists of our time], InterVarsity Press, {{ISBN|0-8308-1935-5}}, p. 40.
L'Abri
They were sent in 1948 to Switzerland by the Independent Board for Presbyterian Foreign Missions. In 1955 they began L'Abri, a community that welcomed people who were seeking intellectually honest and culturally informed answers to questions about God and the meaning of life.Hankins, Barry (2008), [https://books.google.com/books?id=cq-SR6WnwZMC Francis Schaeffer and the Shaping of Evangelical America], Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing, {{ISBN|0-8028-6389-2}}, pp. 5–59.
Schaeffer's husband Francis died in 1984,Heller, Jennifer (2002), "[https://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/article-selfhelp.html Marriage, Womanhood, and the Search for 'Something More': American Evangelical Women's Best-selling 'Self-Help' Books, 1972-1979] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120318234158/http://www.usask.ca/relst/jrpc/article-selfhelp.html |date=2012-03-18 }}," Journal of Religion and Popular Culture, Vol. 2. but she continued to be associated with the L'Abri organisation which she and her husband founded.
Schaeffer wrote numerous books, both before and after the death of her husband. Her book Affliction (1978) explores human suffering in a Christian context.Bloem, Steve and Bloem, Robyn (2005), Broken minds: hope for healing when you feel like you're "losing it", Kregel Publications, {{ISBN|0-8254-2118-7}}, p. 81.Stanley, Charles F. (1989), How to Handle Adversity,Thomas Nelson, {{ISBN|0-8407-9094-5}}, p. 138. It won a Gold Medallion Award from the Evangelical Christian Publishers Association (ECPA) in 1979.[http://www.christianbookexpo.com/christianbookawards/gm1979.php Christian Book Awards, 1979]. Her What is a Family? (1975) compared the extended family to a mobile.Grant, Kathryn and Giesbrecht, Penny Rosell (1990), Making the Most of the Best of Your Life, Hannibal Books, {{ISBN|0-929292-15-4}}, p. 96. Her autobiographical The Tapestry: the Life and Times of Francis and Edith Schaeffer (1981) won the ECPA award in 1982.[http://www.christianbookexpo.com/christianbookawards/gm1982.php Christian Book Awards, 1982].
Schaeffer's The Hidden Art of Homemaking (1971) has been influential among women in the Christian Patriarchy movement,Joyce, Kathryn (2009), Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement, Beacon Press, {{ISBN|0-8070-1070-7}}, p. 42. and has been described by Kathryn Joyce as "perhaps unintentionally, a landmark book for proponents of biblical womanhood." This book, along with What is a Family?, has been described by author Becky Freeman Johnson as a "timeless classic".Freeman, Becky (2002), Mom's Everything Book for Daughters: Practical Ideas for a Quality Relationship, Zondervan, {{ISBN|0-310-24294-0}}, p. 155.
In 2000, Schaeffer was listed in Helen Kooiman Hosier's 100 Christian Women Who Changed the Twentieth Century.Hosier, Helen Kooiman (2000), 100 Christian Women Who Changed the Twentieth Century, Baker Publishing Group, {{ISBN|0-8007-5728-9}}.
Death
At the age of 98, Schaeffer died on March 30, 2013, at home in Gryon, Switzerland.{{cite news|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/gleanings/2013/april/died-edith-schaeffer-co-founder-of-labri-with-husband.html|title=Died: Edith Schaeffer, Co-Founder of L'Abri with Husband Francis|publisher=Christianity Today|date=April 1, 2013|author=Jeremy Weber|accessdate=April 13, 2013}}
Works
- Schaeffer, Edith;. 1969. L'Abri. Worthing (Sussex): Norfolk P. {{ISBN|978-1-85684-025-5}}
- Schaeffer, Edith; 1971. The Hidden Art of Homemaking: Creative Ideas for Enriching Everyday Life. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House. {{ISBN|978-0-8423-1420-6}}
- Schaeffer, Francis A., and Edith; 1973. Everybody Can Know. London: Scripture Union. {{ISBN|978-0-85421-405-1}}
- Schaeffer, Edith; 1978. Affliction. Old Toppen, New Jersey: Revell Co. {{ISBN|978-0-8007-0926-6}}
- Schaeffer, Edith; 1975. Christianity is Jewish. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House Publishers. {{ISBN|978-0-8423-0243-2}}
- Schaeffer, Edith; 1975. What is a Family? Old Tappan, N.J.: F.H. Revell Co. {{ISBN|978-0-8010-8365-5}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1977. A Way of Seeing. Old Tappan, N.J.: Revell. {{ISBN|978-0-8007-0871-9}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1981. The Tapestry: the life and times of Francis and Edith Schaeffer. Waco, Tex: Word Books. {{ISBN|978-0-8499-0284-0}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1983. Common Sense Christian Living. Nashville: Nelson. {{ISBN|978-0-8407-5280-2}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1983. Lifelines: God's Framework for Christian Living. Westchester, IL: Crossway Books. {{ISBN|978-0-89107-228-7}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1986. Forever Music. Nashville: T. Nelson. {{ISBN|978-0-8010-8336-5}}
- Schaeffer, Edith, and Louis Gifford Parkhurst (ed.). 1987. The Art of Life. Westchester, IL: Crossway Books. {{ISBN|978-0-89107-455-7}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1988. With love, Edith: the L'Abri family letters 1948-1960. San Francisco: Harper & Row. {{ISBN|978-0-06-067092-4}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1989. Dear Family: the L'Abri family letters 1961-1986. San Francisco: Harper & Row. {{ISBN|978-0-06-067096-2}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1992. The Life of Prayer. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. {{ISBN|978-1-85684-046-0}}
- Mohr, Franz, and Edith Schaeffer. 1992. My Life With the Great Pianists. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Book House. {{ISBN|978-0-8010-6296-4}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1994. A Celebration of Marriage: Hopes and Realities. Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books. {{ISBN|978-0-8010-8354-9}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1994. 10 Things Parents Must Teach Their Children (And Learn for Themselves) Grand Rapids, Mich: Baker Books. {{ISBN|978-0-8010-8373-0}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 1998. Mei Fuh: Memories from China. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co. {{ISBN|978-0-395-72290-9}}
- Schaeffer, Edith. 2000. A Celebration of Children. Grand Rapids, MI: Raven Ridge Books. {{ISBN|978-0-8010-1193-1}}
References
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External links
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- [http://www.theschaefferfoundation.com/ Francis Schaeffer Foundation website]
- [https://www.google.com/#q=site:christianitytoday.com+%22By+Edith+Schaeffer%22 Columns by Edith Schaeffer] in Christianity Today
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Category:American Christian writers
Category:Arcadia University alumni
Category:20th-century American non-fiction writers
Category:20th-century American women writers