I am continuing to discuss the Barbara Dafoe Whitehead/David Popenoe report entitled The State of Our Unions, The Social Health of Marriage in America 2006, Essay: Life Without Children. I want to highlight some of the report's findings on the economic factors of the childless trend, and the market forces that support it (perhaps unwittingly, though I think sometimes consciously): 1. Childless young adults are exceedingly well suited to life and work in a dynamic society and global economy. They display great facility and comfort with new technologies. Their youthful penchant for … [Read more...] about Economic Ramifications of Childlessness
With One Voice
State of the (Marriage) Unions – Childlessness
Barbara Dafoe Whitehead and David Popenoe of the National Marriage Project have come out with their State of Our Unions report for 2006 (the reports come out annually, in the summer). The report is titled Life Without Children, highlighting the troubling trend of (often deliberately) childless marriages. Their Executive Summary: For most of the nation’s history, Americans expected to devote much of their adult life and work to the rearing of children. Today, life without children is emerging as a social reality for a growing number of American adults. Due to delay of marriage, postponed … [Read more...] about State of the (Marriage) Unions – Childlessness
Al Mohler (Years Ago) Changed His Mind on Women as Pastors
Al Mohler comments on the fact that Dr. Frank Page (SBC President) once affirmed that women should be allowed to be pastors. In Dr. Page's 1980 Ph.D. dissertation, he argued for the abolition of all distinctions in the role of men and women in the church. Mohler explains that this was the prevailing view in the SBC at that time, which led him, too, to accept this position as a seminary student in the early 1980s. Get this: Mohler actually went so far as to help lead a protest of the 1984 SBC resolution on women in ministry. So how did Mohler come to change his mind on this crucial issue, … [Read more...] about Al Mohler (Years Ago) Changed His Mind on Women as Pastors
The Feminization of the Church
Holly Pivec in the Spring 2006 issue of the Biola Connections magazine pens an outstanding article entitled The Feminization of the Church: Why Its Music, Messages and Ministries Are Driving Men Away. She cites numerous Christian leaders, like Patrick Johnstone (Operation World) and David Murrow (author of Why Men Hate Going to Church). Nancy Pearcey is another who touches on these themes in Total Truth: Liberating Christianity from Its Cultural Captivity. Some excerpts: "93 percent of senior pastors in America are men, according to evangelical pollster George Barna. But, the majority of … [Read more...] about The Feminization of the Church
Harvey Mansfield – Manliness
Harvey C. Mansfield, a Professor of Government at Harvard University, has written a provocative book -- particularly given his Ivy League status -- called Manliness. Manliness, says Mansfield, causes men to need to feel important. Mansfield is concerned that in a gender-neutral society, neither men nor women will be well served because manliness will have no legitimate place. Mansfield observes that innate sexual differences persist in our society and are generally enjoyed. He calls manliness, "the remaining obstacle to gender-neutrality, which does not seem easily removed." Here is a … [Read more...] about Harvey Mansfield – Manliness
Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend!
Michael Lawrence, colleague of Mark Dever at Capitol Hill Baptist Church, pens an outstanding essay on how a man should purposefully, honorably, and in a timely fashion pursue the possibility of marriage in a relationship, rather than stalling indefinitely in a pattern of continual indecision. The theological and practical convictions Lawrence expresses are similar to the concerns that drove me to write With One Voice: Singleness, Dating and Marriage to the Glory of God. Too many men fail to value the intrinsic goodness of marriage, and how God intends romantic and sexual longings to point … [Read more...] about Stop Test-Driving Your Girlfriend!