God's babies : natalism and Bible interpretation in modern America / John McKeown.

  • McKeown, John (Technical officer)
Date:
[2014], ©2014
  • Books
  • Online

Available online

view God's babies : natalism and Bible interpretation in modern America / John McKeown.

Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)

You can use this work for any purpose, including commercial uses, without restriction under copyright law. You should also provide attribution to the original work, source and licence. Read more about this licence.

Credit

God's babies : natalism and Bible interpretation in modern America / John McKeown. Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0). Source: Wellcome Collection.

About this work

Description

"The human population's annual total consumption is not sustainable by one planet. This unprecedented situation calls for a reform of religious cultures that promote a large ideal family size. Many observers assume that Christianity is inevitably part of this problem because it promotes "family values" and statistically, in America and elsewhere, has a higher birthrate than nonreligious people. This book explores diverse ideas about human reproduction in the church past and present. It investigates an extreme fringe of U.S. Protestantism, including the Quiverfull movement, that use Old Testament "fruitful" verses to support natalist ideas explicitly promoting higher fecundity. It also challenges the claim by some natalists that Martin Luther in the 16th century advocated similar ideas. This book argues that natalism is inappropriate as a Christian application of Scripture, especially since rich populations' total footprints are detrimental to biodiversity and to human welfare. It explores the ancient cultural context of the Bible verses quoted by natalists. Challenging the assumption that religion normally promotes fecundity, the book finds surprising exceptions among early Christians (with a special focus on Saint Augustine) since they advocated spiritual fecundity in preference to biological fecundity. Finally the book uses a hermeneutic lens derived from Genesis 1, and prioritising the modern problem of biodiversity, to provide ecological interpretations of the Bible's "fruitful" verses."--Publisher's website.

Publication/Creation

Cambridge : Open Book Publishers, [2014], ©2014.

Physical description

1 online resource (x, 249 pages)

Notes

A recording of the drama in German made available by the LibriVox project is available at the publisher's website.
Available through Open Book Publishers.

Terms of use

Open access resource providing free access.
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license (CC BY 4.0). For more detailed information consult the publishers website.

Contents

Acknowledgements -- Foreword by David Clough -- 1. Natalism: A Popular Use of the Bible -- 2. Protestant Natalism in the U.S. -- 3. Martin Luther: Forerunner of Natalism? -- 4. The Old Testament Context -- 5. Augustine on Fruitfulness -- 6. An Ecological Critique of Natalism -- 7. Conclusion -- Appendix -- Abbreviations -- Works Cited -- Index.

Bibliographic information

Includes bibliography (p. [227]-246) and index.

Type/Technique

Languages

Permanent link

Identifiers

ISBN

  • 9781783740543
  • 9781783740550
  • 9781783740567