Frank Schaeffer - Why I am an Atheist Who Believes in God: How to give love, create beauty and find peace

How to give love, create beauty and find peace

Frank Schaeffer

Frank Schaeffer 2014

WHY I AM AN ATHEIST WHO BELIEVES IN GOD All Rights Reserved.

Copyright 2014 Frank Schaeffer

Cover design: by the Create Space Team

Cover Photography: by Gregg Brekke/SixView Studios for Creatista

This book may not be reproduced, transmitted, or stored in whole or in part by any means, including graphic, electronic, or mechanical without the express written consent of the publisher except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

ISBN 13: 9781495955013

ISBN: 149595501X

Library of Congress Control Number: 2014903435

CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform

North Charleston, South Carolina

Frank Schaeffer is a New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen fiction and nonfiction books. Frank is a survivor of both polio and an evangelical/fundamentalist childhood, an acclaimed writer who overcame severe dyslexia, a home-schooled and self-taught documentary movie director, and a feature film director of four low-budget Hollywood features that Frank describes as pretty terrible. He is also an artist with a loyal following of collectors who own many of his oil paintings. Franks three semi-biographical novels (Portofino, Zermatt and Saving Grandma) describe growing up in a fundamentalist mission and have been translated into nine languages.

Follow Frank on Twitter www.twitter.com/frank_schaeffer

See Franks paintings http://www.frankschaefferart.com/

Follow Frank on Facebook

https://www.facebook.com/frank.schaeffer.16

Contact Frank at http://www.frankschaeffer.com/

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR

WHY I AM AN ATHEIST WHO BELIEVES IN GOD

How to Create Beauty, Give Love and Find Peace

Part of the impact here, admittedly, is a result of who Frank Schaeffer is and of the platform from which he writes. That cannot obscure the fact, howeverindeed, must not be allowed to obscure the factthat in places this theological meditation cum memoir is arrestingly beautiful in and of itself, that it is, in fact, absolutely redolent of all the power that beautiful suggests. Schaeffers openness about his own wrestling with the concepts of God and god-ness which he inherited from his parents is heartrending at times, but it is also deadly honest and always unshielded. It is also balanced in a most gentle way by Schaeffers quiet defense of the traditional and his appreciation for its place in well-lived life. In fact, one leaves the final pages of WHY aware yet once again that sometimes and in some circumstances, an artist is still the best theologian. Phyllis Tickle author of The Age of the Spirit

Frank Schaeffer always writes well, but Why I Am an Atheist Who Believes in God is extraordinary. Somewhere between the sterile, absolute, and empty formulae of reductionist, totalitarian science and the earnest, hostile, excessively certain make-believe of religious fundamentalism, there is a beautiful place. There is room in this place for honesty. For tenderness. For fury. For wonder. For hope. For mistakes. For paradox. For grace. This book is written from that in-between place. It will help you get there too, if youre interested in finding it.Brian D. McLaren author/speaker/activist

A delight and charmer of a readdeft insights, burnished gold probes, arrow hit bulls-eye again and again. Ron Dart (Thomas Merton Society of Canada)

PRAISE FOR FRANK SCHAEFFERS OTHER BOOKS

THE GOD TRILOGY (Crazy for God, Patience with God, and Sex, Mom and God)

A work that alternates from heartwarming to thought provoking to laugh out loud funny Schaeffer brilliantly guides the reader through an exploration of the Bibles strange, intolerant, and sometimes frightening attitudes about sex Kirkus Reviews

Schaeffers journey demonstrates that the world could be a better place if we were all able to reassess our beliefs and values-to examine them closely and glean only those worth saving. Library Journal

Frequently entertaining. The Humanist

To millions of evangelical Christians, the Schaeffer name is royal, and Frank is the reluctant, wayward, traitorous prince. His crime is not financial profligacy, like some pastors sons, but turning his back on Christian conservatives. New York Times

Schaeffer is a good memoirist As someone who has made redemption his work, he has, in fact, shown amazing grace. Jane Smiley in Washington Post

[Schaeffers] readersbelievers and non-believers alikewill be challenged to reconsider their views. The Daily Beast

[Schaeffers] humor, at times of the laugh-out-loud variety, is abundant. San Francisco Book Review

Like Orwell [Schaeffer] became disillusioned with the extremism he encountered. Schaeffer fled the evangelical scene in the early 1990s He now has created a thought-provoking analysis of the social and religious struggles that continue to define American consciousness. The Roanoke Times

THE CALVIN BECKER TRILOGY of NOVELS (Portofino, Zermatt and Saving Grandma)

Poignant and hilarious Schaeffer is very funny, but we are never far from a sense that harshness and violence are real; we are never entirely sure how things will turn out. Richard Eder in Los Angeles Times

The wonderful thing about this book is that like any really good vacation, it ends too soon. The Richmond Times-Dispatch

Beautifully written great insight and unselfconscious humor. Publishers Weekly

A wry coming of age tale splendid. Kirkus Reviews

A profound and sometimes painful look at the challenges of practicing faith, and a lot of fun to read. Washington Times