Book/Printed Material God's babies : natalism and Bible interpretation in modern America

Title

• God's babies : natalism and Bible interpretation in modern America

Summary

• "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.

Names

• McKeown, John (Technical officer)

Created / Published

• Cambridge : Open Book Publishers, ©2014.

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.

Headings

• -  Fertility, Human--Moral and ethical aspects--United States
• -  Human reproduction--Biblical teaching
• -  Human reproduction--Moral and ethical aspects--United States
• -  Christianity
• -  Earth sciences, geography, environment, planning
• -  Environmentalist thought and ideology
• -  Fertility, Human--Moral and ethical aspects
• -  Human reproduction--Moral and ethical aspects
• -  Humanities
• -  NATURE--Environmental Conservation & Protection
• -  Religion and beliefs
• -  Religion: general
• -  Religious issues and debates
• -  The environment
• -  United States

Genre

• Electronic books

Notes

• -  Includes bibliographical references (pages 227-246) and index.
• -  Description based on online resource; title from PDF title page (viewed on March 31, 2020).

Medium

• 1 online resource (x, 248 pages)

Call Number/Physical Location

• QP251

Digital Id

• https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.gdc/gdcebookspublic.2019467785
• http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2307/j.ctt1287k2q External
• http://www.oapen.org/download?type=document&docid=646653 External
• https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0048 External
• http://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=5253046 External
• http://public.ebookcentral.proquest.com/choice/publicfullrecord.aspx?p=5253046 External
• http://openbookpublishers.com/reader/263 External
• http://VH7QX3XE2P.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&L=VH7QX3XE2P&S=AC_T_B&C=God%27s%20Babies%20:%20Natalism%20and%20Bible%20Interpretation%20in%20Modern%20America&T=marc&tab=BOOKS External
• http://VH7QX3XE2P.search.serialssolutions.com/?V=1.0&L=VH7QX3XE2P&S=JCs&C=TC0001696214&T=marc&tab=BOOKS External
• http://www.openbookpublishers.com/product/263 External
• http://www.openbookpublishers.com/reader/263 External
• https://doi.org/10.11647/OBP.0048 External

Library of Congress Control Number

• 2019467785

OCLC Number

• 899280623

Rights Advisory

• Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International CC BY 4.0 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode External

Access Advisory

• Unrestricted online access

Online Format

• image
• pdf

LCCN Permalink

• https://lccn.loc.gov/2019467785

Additional Metadata Formats

• MARCXML Record
• MODS Record
• Dublin Core Record