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{{short description|Pro-natalist Christian movement}} | |||
'''Quiverfull''' is an approximately 20 year-old ] among ] ] ] ] couples chiefly in the ], but with some adherents in ],<ref name="QF-Canda">{{cite journal | author=Joe Woodward| title=The godliness of fertility: A growing Protestant movement is rediscovering the sanctification available in large families| journal=Calgary Herald| year=Mar. 31, 2001| page=OS.10| url= http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=207093851&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD}}</ref> and with claims of adherent also in ], ], ], and elsewhere.<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref> Its distinguishing viewpoint is to eagerly receive children as blessings from God,<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref><ref name="rainey_ref_2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.familylife.com/fltoday/default.asp?id=5868&page=72&search=&strMonth=&strDay=&strYear=&guests=&keywords=&showType=|title=The Value of Children (11 July 2002 FamilyLife Today Radio Broadcast)|accessdate = 2006-09-30|publisher=FamilyLife Today|year=2002|author=Dennis Rainey|format=Transcript of radio broadcast}}</ref><ref name="demoss">{{cite book | title=Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free| last=DeMoss| first=Nancy Leigh| date=2002| publisher=Moody Publishers| location=Chicago, IL| id = ISBN 0-8024-7296-6}}</ref><ref name="campN">{{cite book | title=Be Fruitfull and Multiply| last=Campbell| first=Nancy| date=2003| publisher=Vision Forum| location=San Antonio| id=ISBN 0-9724173-5-4}}</ref> eschewing all forms of ], including ] and ].<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="LifeSiteNews.com">{{Cite web|url=http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/nov/06111605.html|title=Protestant Group Advocates Leaving Fertility in God's Hands - No Birth Control Artificial or Natural|accessdate=2007-01-09|publisher=Interim Publishing|year=Nov, 16, 2006|author=Meg Jalsevac|work=LifeSiteNews.com|format=HTML}}</ref> Someone of this persuasion might call themselves a "quiver full", "full quiver", "quiverfull-minded", or simply "QF" Christian. ] and some others might refer to the Quiverfull position as ],<ref name="open_embrace">{{cite book | title=Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception| last=Torode| first=Sam and Bethany| coauthors=et al| date=2002| publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing| id = ISBN 0-8028-3973-8}}</ref> while the popular press has recently referred to the movement as a manifestation of ].<ref name="cbn">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050331a.aspx|title="Back to the Future: The Growing Movement of Natalism"|accessdate = 2006-10-07|publisher=CBN News|year=2006|author=Strand, Paul|format=html}}</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/opinion/07brooks.html?ex=1260162000&en=ebdde83f03fe6d2e&ei=5090|title="The New Red-Diaper Babies"|accessdate = 2006-10-07|publisher=New York Times|year=2004|author=Brooks, David|format=html}}</ref> The movement and its corpus of literature have grown steadily since its inception. Its adherents most likely number in the "thousands to low tens of thousands".<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref> It began to receive significant attention in the U.S. national press in 2004. | |||
{{Redirect-multi|3|Quiverful|Quiver full|Full quiver|the container|Quiver|the 1980 anthology|A Quiver Full of Arrows|the fictional character|Barchester Towers|other uses|Quiver (disambiguation)}} | |||
'''Quiverfull''' is a ] theological position that sees large families as a blessing from God.<ref name="hess"/><ref name="rainey_ref_2">{{cite web |title=The Value of Children (11 July 2002 FamilyLife Today Radio Broadcast) |publisher=FamilyLife Today |year=2002 |author=Dennis Rainey |format=Transcript of radio broadcast |url=http://www.familylife.com/fltoday/default.asp?id=5868&page=72&search=&strMonth=&strDay=&strYear=&guests=&keywords=&showType= |access-date=2006-09-30 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051001144025/http://www.familylife.com/fltoday/default.asp?id=5868&page=72&search=&strMonth=&strDay=&strYear=&guests=&keywords=&showType= |archive-date=October 1, 2005}}</ref><ref name="campN">{{cite book |title=Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says about Having Children |last=Campbell |first=Nancy |year=2003 |publisher=] |location=San Antonio |isbn=0-9724173-5-4}}</ref> It encourages procreation, abstaining from all forms of ], ], and ].<ref name="joyce">{{cite journal |url=https://www.thenation.com/article/archive/arrows-war/ |title=Arrows for the War |access-date=2010-09-18 |journal=] |date=9 November 2006 |author=Kathryn Joyce}}</ref> The movement derives its name from ] 127:3–5, where many children are metaphorically referred to as the arrows in a full ]. | |||
== Historical backdrop == | |||
:''Also see: ]'' | |||
Some of the beliefs held among Quiverfull adherents have been held among various Christians during prior eras of ]. Initially, all Christian movements opposed the use of birth control. As birth control methods advanced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, most Christian movements issued official statements against their use. | |||
Some sources have referred to the Quiverfull position as ],<ref name="open_embrace">{{cite book |title=Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception |last=Torode |first=Sam and Bethany |year=2002 |publisher=Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing |isbn=0-8028-3973-8 |display-authors=etal |url=https://archive.org/details/openembraceprote0000toro}}</ref> while other sources have simply referred to it as a manifestation of ].<ref name="cbn">{{cite web |url=https://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-religion/1437791/posts |title=Back to the Future: The Growing Movement of Natalism |access-date=2006-10-07 |publisher=] |year=2006 |author=Strand, Paul}} (originally published by CBN News, September 24, 2008)</ref><ref name="nytimes">{{cite news |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/opinion/07brooks.html?ex=1260162000&en=ebdde83f03fe6d2e&ei=5090 |title=The New Red-Diaper Babies |access-date=2006-10-07 |work=New York Times |author=Brooks, David |date=2004-12-07}}</ref> | |||
=== Anglican allowance of birth control and feminism === | |||
It is most widespread in the ] but it also has adherents in ],<ref name="QF-Canda">{{cite journal |author=Joe Woodward |title=The godliness of fertility: A growing Protestant movement is rediscovering the sanctification available in large families |journal=Calgary Herald |date=Mar 31, 2001 |pages=OS.10 |id={{ProQuest |244455568}}}}</ref> ], ], the ], and elsewhere.<ref name="hess">{{cite book |title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ |last=Hess |first=Rick and Jan |year=1990 |publisher=Hyatt Publishers |location=Brentwood, TN |isbn=0-943497-83-3}}</ref> One 2006 estimate put the number of families which subscribe to this philosophy as ranging from "the thousands to the low tens of thousands".<ref name="joyce"/> | |||
Then in ] the ] issued a statement permitting birth control "when there is a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood and where there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence." Coinciding, a ] movement which began about a decade earlier under ] (which eventually became ]) founder ] emerged to advocate for modern birth control.<ref name="lobbying">{{cite journal | author=Benjamin, Hazel C.| title=Lobbying for Birth Control| journal=The Public Opinion Quarterly| year=1938| volume=2| issue=1| page=48-60| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28193801%292%3A1%3C48%3ALFBC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I}}</ref><ref name="sanger1">{{cite book | title=Birth Control in America: The Career of Margaret Sanger| last=Kennedy| first=David M.| date=1970 (2001)| publisher=Yale University Press (ACLS History E-Book Project)| id=ISBN 1-59740-178-1}}</ref> In the decades that followed, birth control became gradually accepted among Protestants, even among the most conservative evangelicals.<ref name="flann">{{cite journal | author=Campbell, Flann| title=Birth Control and the Christian Churches| journal=Population Studies| year=Nov., 1960| volume=Vol. 14| issue=No. 2| page=131-147| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-4728%28196011%2914%3A2%3C131%3ABCATCC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X }}</ref><ref name="allen">{{cite journal | author=Allen, James E.| title=Family Planning Attitudes of Seminary Students| journal=Review of Religious Research| year=1976| volume=9| issue=1| page=52-55| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0034-673X%28196723%299%3A1%3C52%3AFPAOSS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R}}</ref><ref name="affiliation">{{cite journal | author=Goldschneider, Calvin, and William D. Mosher| title=Religious Affiliation and Contraceptive Usage| journal=Studies in Family Planning| year=1988| volume=19| issue=1| page=48-57| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0039-3665%28198801%2F02%2919%3A1%3C48%3ARAACUC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8}}</ref><ref name="consvprots">{{cite journal | author=Ellison, Christopher G., and Patricia Goodson| title=Conservative Protestantism and Attitudes toward Family Planning in a Sample of Seminarians| journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion| year=1997| volume=36| issue=4| page=512-529| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8294%28199712%2936%3A4%3C512%3ACPAATF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5}}</ref> | |||
==Historical background== | |||
=== Early Quiverfull authors === | |||
{{See also|History of birth control}} | |||
] | |||
] | |||
: ''Main article: ]'' | |||
: ''Also see: ], ], and ]'' | |||
As birth-control methods advanced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many ] movements issued official statements against their use, citing their incompatibility with biblical beliefs and ideals. | |||
Within that context, Quiverfull as a modern ] began to emerge.<ref name="explaindiffs">{{cite journal | author=Marcum, John P.| title=Explaining Fertility Differences among U.S. Protestants| journal=Social Forces| year=1981| volume=60| issue=2| page=532-543| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-7732%28198112%2960%3A2%3C532%3AEFDAUP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A}}</ref> The movement was sparked most fully after the ] ] of ] book ''The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality.'' | |||
In addition, there are those who contend that Quiverfull's "internal growth" model is a manifestation of a broader trend which is reflected in the lifestyles of such groups as ] (particularly ] and ]) and certain Christians including Orthodox ] of the ], traditional ] (such as ], ], and certain ]), some traditional Methodists of the ], and ].<ref name="Epp2011">{{cite book |last1=Epp |first1=Marlene |title=Mennonite Women in Canada: A History |date=15 July 2011 |publisher=University of Manitoba Press |isbn=978-0-88755-410-0 |language=English}}</ref><ref name="Bottos2008">{{cite book |last1=Bottos |first1=Lorenzo Cañás |title=Old Colony Mennonites in Argentina and Bolivia: Nation Making, Religious Conflict and Imagination of the Future |date=31 January 2008 |publisher=BRILL |isbn=978-90-474-3063-6 |page=81 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author=Adams C, Leverland M |title=The effects of religious beliefs on the health care practices of the Amish |journal=Nurse Pract |volume=11 |issue=3 |pages=58, 63, 67 |year=1986 |pmid=3446212 |doi=10.1097/00006205-198603000-00008}}</ref> The former may also be a case of a manifestation of a movement of opinion within some ethnic, linguistic, religious, regional, or other identifiable groups whose members have expressed concern about their continued existence for historical or other reasons. Such philosophies and groups are diverse amongst themselves—being found in all segments and sectors of the political spectrum—and they usually represent, to varying extents, the diversity within their group. The manifestations of such movements and opinions include everything from comparatively high rates of in-group marriage being applauded and gently suggested, to more explicit calls for ] such as is the case with the ],{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} to concerns which were expressed by ] in ] about a higher birth rate amongst ], to ] which was issued by ]'s government in ] with regard to contraception, and other ] topics as part of its local variant of the ]n ideology of ].{{Citation needed|date=July 2020}} | |||
In her book, Pride chronicled her journey away from what she stated were ] and anti-natal ideas of ], within which she had lived as an ] before her ] to ] ] in ], toward her discovery of happiness surrounding what she said was the Biblically mandated role of wives and mothers as bearers of children and workers in the home under the ] of a ]. Pride wrote that such a lifestyle was generally Biblically required of all married Christian women but that most Christian women had been unknowingly duped by feminism, importantly in their acceptance of birth control.<ref name="pride">{{cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| date=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0}}</ref><ref name="consvprots">{{cite journal | author=Ellison, Christopher G., and Patricia Goodson| title=Conservative Protestantism and Attitudes toward Family Planning in a Sample of Seminarians| journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion| year=1997| volume=36| issue=4| page=512-529| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8294%28199712%2936%3A4%3C512%3ACPAATF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5}}</ref> | |||
===Anglican allowance of birth control=== | |||
As the basis for her arguments, Pride selected numerous ] to lay out what she felt was the Biblical role of women. These included verses she saw as containing her ideas of childbearing and non-usage of ], which she argued were opposed to what she called "the feminist agenda" by which she had formerly lived. Pride's explanations became a spearheading basis of Quiverfull. | |||
In 1930, the ] issued a statement permitting birth control: "Where there is a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood, complete abstinence is the primary and obvious method", but if there was morally sound reasoning for avoiding abstinence, "the Conference agrees that other methods may be used, provided that this is done in the light of Christian principles". Primary materials on the contemporary debate indicate a wide variety of opinion on the matter.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://anglicanhistory.org/misc/contraception/ |title=Contraception}}</ref> In the decades that followed, birth control became gradually accepted among many other mainline Protestants, even among some conservative evangelicals.<ref name="flann">{{cite journal |author=Campbell, Flann |title=Birth Control and the Christian Churches |journal=Population Studies |date=Nov 1960 |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=131–147 |doi=10.2307/2172010 |jstor=2172010}}</ref><ref name="allen">{{cite journal |author=Allen, James E. |title=Family Planning Attitudes of Seminary Students |journal=Review of Religious Research |year=1976 |volume=9 |issue=1 |pages=52–55 |doi=10.2307/3509598 |jstor=3509598}}</ref><ref name="affiliation">{{cite journal |author1=Goldschneider, Calvin |author2=William D. Mosher |name-list-style=amp |title=Religious Affiliation and Contraceptive Usage |journal=Studies in Family Planning |year=1988 |volume=19 |issue=1 |pages=48–57 |doi=10.2307/1966739 |pmid=3363605 |jstor=1966739}} | |||
</ref><ref name="consvprots"> | |||
{{cite journal | |||
|author1=Ellison, Christopher G. |author2=Patricia Goodson | |||
|name-list-style=amp |title=Conservative Protestantism and Attitudes toward Family Planning in a Sample of Seminarians | |||
|journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |year=1997 |volume=36 |issue=4 | |||
|pages=512–529 |doi=10.2307/1387687 |jstor=1387687 | |||
}}</ref> | |||
===Early Quiverfull authors=== | |||
The name of the Quiverfull movement comes from the ] Bible verses in Psalm 127:3-5 that Pride cited in ''The Way Home''.<ref name="pride">{{cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| date=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0}}</ref> | |||
{{Main|Mary Pride}} | |||
{{See also|Feminism|Antifeminism|Birth control}} | |||
] | |||
] 127:3–5, where many children are metaphorically referred to as the arrows in a full quiver.]] | |||
In the 20th century, Quiverfull as a modern ] began to emerge.<ref name="explaindiffs">{{cite journal |author=Marcum, John P. |title=Explaining Fertility Differences among U.S. Protestants |journal=Social Forces |year=1981 |volume=60 |issue=2 |pages=532–43 |doi=10.2307/2578449 |jstor=2578449}}</ref>{{request quotation|date=June 2018}} Nancy Campbell began publishing her magazine ''Above Rubies'', which promotes and glorifies stay-at-home mothers who have as many children as possible, in 1977.<ref name=campbell>{{cite book |title=Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement |url=https://archive.org/details/quiverfullinside00joyc |url-access=limited |last=Joyce |first=Kathryn |publisher=Beacon Press |year=2009 |isbn=9780807096222 |location=Boston |pages=}}</ref> While Campbell is in measure responsible for formulating Quiverfull ideas,{{citation needed|date=June 2018}} the movement sparked most fully after the 1985 ] of ] book ''The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality''. | |||
<BLOCKQUOTE> | |||
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:<BR> | |||
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.<BR> | |||
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;<BR> | |||
so are children of the youth.<BR> | |||
Happy is the man that hath his '''quiver full''' of them:<BR> | |||
they shall not be ashamed,<BR> | |||
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.(emphasis added).] | |||
</BLOCKQUOTE> | |||
In her book, Pride chronicled her metaphorical journey away from what she labeled ] and ] ideas of ] (within which she had lived as an ] before her ] to ] ] in 1977) toward her discovery of happiness surrounding what she portrayed as the biblically mandated role of wives and mothers as bearers of children and workers in the home under the ] of a ]. Pride wrote that such a lifestyle was generally biblically required of all married Christian women, but feminism had duped most Christian women without their awareness, especially in their acceptance of birth control.<ref name="consvprots"/><ref name="pride"> | |||
Pride stated in her book, "The church’s sin which has caused us to become unsavory salt incapable of uplifting the society around us is selfishness, lack of love, refusing to consider children an unmitigated blessing. In a word, family planning."<ref name="pride">{{cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| date=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0}}</ref> | |||
{{cite book | |||
|title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality | |||
|last=Pride | |||
|first=Mary | |||
|year=1985 | |||
|publisher=Good News Publishers | |||
|location=Wheaton, IL | |||
|isbn=0-89107-345-0 | |||
|url=https://archive.org/details/wayhomebeyondfem00prid | |||
}} | |||
</ref> | |||
As the basis for her arguments, Pride selected numerous ] in order to lay out what she saw as the ]. These included verses which she interpreted as perpetuating her advocacy of compulsory childbearing and her opposition to the use of ] which (in her view) was promoted by "the feminist agenda" by which she had formerly lived. Pride's explanations then became a spearheading basis of Quiverfull. | |||
=== Consolidation and growth of movement=== | |||
After the publication of Pride’s ''The Way Home'', various church women and others took up her book and ideas and spread them through informal ]s. Around this time, numerous church ]s issued ]s in accord with Pride's ideas and various small publications and a few Quiverfull-oriented books emerged. | |||
The name of the Quiverfull movement comes from {{Bibleverse|Psalm|127:3–5|KJV}}, which Pride cited in ''The Way Home'':<ref name="pride"/> | |||
As the ] exploded onto the scene several years later, the informal networks gradually took on more organized forms as Quiverfull adherents developed numerous Quiverfull-oriented organizations, books, ], ], and ], most notably ''The Quiverfull Digest''. The largely decentralized "Quiverfull" movement resulted.<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="nightline2">{{cite book | title=The More the Holier?| date=January 3, 2006| publisher=ABC News Nightline}}</ref> | |||
{{Poem quote|Lo, children are an heritage of the {{LORD}}: | |||
From their onset, Quiverfull ideas have sometimes had a rather polarizing effect between Christians who hold to the position and those who are skeptical of or disagree with them.<ref name="consvprots">{{cite journal | author=Christopher G. Ellison and Patricia Goodson| title=Conservative Protestantism and Attitudes toward Family Planning in a Sample of Seminarians| journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion| year=1997| volume=36| issue=4| page=512-529| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8294%28199712%2936%3A4%3C512%3ACPAATF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5}}</ref><ref name="protsandfp">{{cite journal | author=Goodman, Patricia| title=Protestants and Family Planning| journal=Journal of Religion and Health| year=1997| volume=36| issue=No. 4| page=353-366| url=http://www.springerlink.com/content/gg08414n38g4x820/fulltext.pdf}}</ref> | |||
and the fruit of the womb is his reward. | |||
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; | |||
so are children of the youth. | |||
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them: | |||
they shall not be ashamed, | |||
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.|]}} | |||
Pride stated in her book: "The church's sin which has caused us to become unsavory salt incapable of uplifting the society around us is selfishness, lack of love, refusing to consider children an unmitigated blessing. In a word, ]."<ref name="pride"/> | |||
==Motivations== | |||
=== Obedience to God === | |||
The core motivation expressed by Quiverfull authors and adherents is a desire to be obedient to God's commands in the Bible. Among these commands, "be fruitful and multiply" (Genesis 1:22; 9:7), "behold, children are a gift of the Lord" (Psalm 127:3), and passages showing God acting to open and close the womb (Genesis 20:18, 29:31, 30:22; 1 Samuel 1:5-6; Isaiah 66:9) are interpreted as giving basis for their view. Quiverfull adherents typically maintain that their philosophy is first about an open and accepting attitude toward the possibility of birthing children. Contraception is rejected as inconsistent with this attitude and is thus avoided. | |||
===Consolidation and growth of the movement=== | |||
=== Missionary effort === | |||
After the publication of Pride's ''The Way Home'', her ideas spread through informal ]s. Around this time, numerous church ]s issued ]s which were in accord with Pride's ideas and various small publications and a few Quiverfull-oriented books appeared.{{Citation needed|date=January 2020}} | |||
Quiverfull's principal authors and its adherents also describe their motivation as a ] to raise up many Christian children to affect the world for the cause of the Christian religion.<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref> Its distinguishing viewpoint is to eagerly receive children as blessings from God,<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref><ref name="campN">{{cite book | title=Be Fruitfull and Multiply| last=Campbell| first=Nancy| date=2003| publisher=Vision Forum| location=San Antonio| id=ISBN 0-9724173-5-4}}</ref> eschewing all forms of ], including ] and ].<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="pride">{{cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| date=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0}}</ref> | |||
As the ] expanded several years later, the informal networks gradually took on more organized forms as Quiverfull adherents developed numerous Quiverfull-oriented organizations, books, ], ]s, and digests, most notably ''The Quiverfull Digest''. The largely decentralized "Quiverfull" movement resulted.<ref name="joyce"/><ref name="nightline2">{{cite book |title=The More the Holier? |date=January 3, 2006 |publisher=ABC News Nightline}}</ref> | |||
=== Population and demography === | |||
From their onset, Quiverfull ideas have sometimes had a polarizing effect among Christians who hold to them and Christians who are skeptical of or disagree with them.<ref name="consvprots"/><ref name="protsandfp">{{cite journal |author=Goodman, Patricia |title=Protestants and Family Planning |journal=Journal of Religion and Health |year=1997 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=353–366 |doi=10.1023/A:1027437310363 |s2cid=5886144}}</ref> | |||
Journalist Kathryn Joyce noted, | |||
<BLOCKQUOTE> | |||
Population is a preoccupation for many Quiverfull believers, who trade statistics on the falling white birthrate in European countries like Germany and France. Every ethnic conflict becomes evidence for their worldview: Muslim riots in France, Latino immigration in California, Sharia law in Canada. The motivations aren't always racist, but the subtext of "race suicide" is often there.<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
</BLOCKQUOTE> | |||
==Motivations== | |||
=== Conservative politics === | |||
===Obedience to God=== | |||
Quiverfull authors and adherents express their core motivation as a desire to obey God's commandments as stated in the Bible. Among these commandments, "]",<ref>{{bibleverse|Gen|1:22;8:17;9:1}}</ref> "behold, children are a gift of the Lord",<ref>{{bibleverse|Psalm|127:3}}</ref> and passages showing God acting to open and close the womb<ref>{{bibleverse|Gen|20:18;29:31;30:22}}, {{bibleverse|1Sam|1:5-6}}, {{bibleverse|Isaiah|66:9}}</ref> are interpreted as giving a basis for their views. Quiverfull adherents typically maintain that their philosophy is first about an open, accepting and obedient attitude toward the possibility of bearing children. Within the view, this attitude may result in many, few or even no children, because God Himself maintains sole provenance over conception and birth. The duty of the Quiverfull adherent is only to maintain an "open willingness" to joyfully receive and not thwart however many children God chooses to bestow. ] in all its forms is seen as inconsistent with this attitude and is thus entirely avoided, as is ]. | |||
===Missionary effort=== | |||
Quiverfull authors Hess and Hess, along with Joyce, also connect the proliferation of conservative politics as a motivation behind Quiverfull. Hess and Hess state, | |||
Quiverfull's principal authors and its adherents also describe their motivation as a ] to raise up many children as Christians to advance the cause of the Christian religion.<ref name="hess"/> Its distinguishing viewpoint is to eagerly receive children as blessings from God,<ref name="hess"/><ref name="campN"/> eschewing all forms of ], including ], and ].<ref name="joyce"/><ref name="pride"/> | |||
<BLOCKQUOTE> | |||
When at the height of the Reagan Revolution the conservative faction in Washington was enforced with squads of new conservative congressmen, legislators often found themselves handcuffed by lack of like-minded staff. There simply weren't enough conservatives trained to serve in Washington in the lower and middle capacities.<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref> | |||
</BLOCKQUOTE> | |||
===Population and demography=== | |||
Hess and Hess continue by envisioning that the offspring of Quiverfull families might enter national and local politics to bring conservative majorities, publicly-funded education to bring the teaching of creationism, and business to adjure companies to adhere to what adherents see as Christian sensibilities.<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref><ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
According to journalist Kathryn Joyce, writing in the magazine '']'': "he Quiverfull mission is rooted in faith, the unseen," even if "its mandate to be fruitful and multiply has tangible results as well."<ref name="joyce"/> Others remark that Quiverfull resembles other world-denying fundamentalist movements that grow through internal reproduction and membership retention such as ] (particularly ] and ]), and certain Christian denominations (such as the ] and ], and ] in Finland). Many are thriving as seculars and moderates have transitioned to below-replacement fertility.{{Clarify|reason=The meaning (and relevance) of this sentence is not clear.|date=January 2020}}<ref>Kaufmann, Eric. 2011. . London: Profile Books. Also see </ref><ref>Toft, Monica Duffy. 2011. "Wombfare: The Religious and Political Dimensions of Fertility and Demographic Change." in {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170226182539/http://www.paradigmpublishers.com/books/BookDetail.aspx?productID=280257 |date=2017-02-26}}</ref> | |||
== |
==Beliefs== | ||
] | ] | ||
The principal Quiverfull belief is that Christians should maintain a strongly welcoming attitude toward the possibility of bearing children. With minor exceptions, adherents reject birth control use as completely incompatible with this belief. | |||
The principal Quiverfull belief is that Christians should maintain a strongly welcoming attitude toward the possibility of birthing children. With minor exception, adherents reject birth control use as completely incompatible with this belief. | |||
===Majority doctrine=== | ===Majority doctrine=== | ||
Most Quiverfull adherents regard children as unqualified blessings, gifts that should be received happily from God. Quiverfull authors Rick and Jan Hess argued for this belief in their 1990 book: | |||
<blockquote>"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord." (Psa. 127:3) Do we really believe that? If children are a gift from God, let's for the sake of argument ask ourselves what other gift or blessing from God we would reject. Money? Would we reject great wealth if God gave it? Not likely! How about good health? Many would say that a man's health is his most treasured possession. But children? Even children given by God? "That's different!" some will plead! All right, is it different? God states right here in no-nonsense language that children are gifts. Do we believe His Word to be true?<ref name="hess"/></blockquote> | |||
Most Quiverfull adherents consider children to be unqualified blessings, gifts which should be received happily from God. Quiverfull authors Rick and Jan Hess argued for this belief in their 1990 book. | |||
Quiverfull authors such as Pride, Provan, and Hess extend this idea to mean that if one child is a blessing, then each additional child is likewise a blessing and not something to be viewed as economically burdensome or unaffordable. When a couple seeks to control family size via birth control they are thus "rejecting God's blessings" he might otherwise give and possibly breaking his commandment to "be fruitful and multiply."<ref name="hess"/><ref name="pride"/><ref name="provan">{{cite book |title=The Bible and Birth Control |last=Provan |first=Charles D. |year=1989 |publisher=Zimmer Printing |location=Monongahela, PA |isbn=99917-998-3-4}}. Quote and its chapter available at http://www.jesus-passion.com/contraception.htm</ref><ref name="bythedozen">{{cite journal |author=Robben, Donetta |title=Blessings by the Dozen |journal=American Life League Magazine |year=2006 |volume=Sept.-Oct. |url=http://www.clmagazine.org/backissues/2006septoct_10-13blessingsbythedozen.pdf |access-date=2006-10-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928104942/http://www.clmagazine.org/backissues/2006septoct_10-13blessingsbythedozen.pdf |archive-date=2007-09-28 |url-status=dead}}</ref> | |||
<blockquote>"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord." (Psa. 127:3) Do we really believe that? If children are a gift from God, let’s for the sake of argument ask ourselves what other gift or blessing from God we would reject. Money? Would we reject great wealth if God gave it? Not likely! How about good health? Many would say that a man’s health is his most treasured possession. But children? Even children given by God? "That’s different!" some will plead! All right, is it different? God states right here in no-nonsense language that children are gifts. Do we believe His Word to be true?<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
Quiverfull authors such as Pride, Provan, and Hess extend this idea to mean that if one child is a blessing, then each additional child is likewise a blessing and not something to be viewed as economically burdensome or unaffordable. When a couple seeks to control family size via birth control they are thus "rejecting God's blessings" he might otherwise give, and possibly breaking his commandment to "be fruitful and multiply".<ref name="pride">{{cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| date=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0}}</ref><ref name="provan">{{cite book | title=The Bible and Birth Control| last=Provan| first=Charles D.| date=1989| publisher=Zimmer Printing| location=Monongahela, PA| id=ISBN 99917-998-3-4}}. Quote and its chapter available at http://www.jesus-passion.com/contraception.htm</ref><ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref><ref name="bythedozen">{{cite journal | author=Robben, Donetta| title=Blessings by the Dozen"| journal=American Life League Magazine| year=2006| volume=Sept.-Oct.| url=http://www.clmagazine.org/backissues/2006septoct_10-13blessingsbythedozen.pdf}}</ref> | |||
]'s 1989 ''The Bible and Birth Control'' is credited as strengthening the theological justification for the Quiverfull movement.]] | |||
Accordingly, Quiverfull theology opposes the general acceptance among Protestant Christians of deliberately limiting family size or spacing children through birth control. For example, Mary Pride argued, "God commanded that sex be at least potentially fruitful (that is, not deliberately unfruitful).... All forms of sex that shy away from maritial fruitfulness are perverted."<ref name="pride">{{cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| date=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0}}</ref> Adherents believe that God himself controls via ] how many and how often children are conceived and born, pointing to Bible verses that describe God acting to "open and close the womb" (see , , ; ; ).<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref><ref name="scott">{{cite book | title=Birthing God's Mighty Warriors| last=Scott| first=Rachel| date=2004| publisher=Xulon Press| location=Longwood, FL| id = ISBN 1-59467-465-5}}</ref> Hess and Hess state that couples "just need to trust God to provide them with the perfect number of children for their situation."<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref> | |||
Accordingly, Quiverfull theology opposes the general acceptance among mainline Protestant Christians of deliberately limiting family size or spacing children through birth control. For example, Mary Pride argued, "God commanded that sex be at least potentially fruitful (that is, not deliberately unfruitful). ... All forms of sex that shy away from marital fruitfulness are perverted."<ref name="pride"/> Adherents believe that God himself controls via ] how many and how often children are conceived and born, pointing to Bible verses that describe God acting to "open and close the womb" (see , , ; ; ).<ref name="hess"/><ref name="scott">{{cite book |title=Birthing God's Mighty Warriors |last=Scott |first=Rachel |year=2004 |publisher=Xulon Press |location=Longwood, FL |isbn=1-59467-465-5}}</ref> Hess and Hess state that couples "just need to trust God to provide them with the perfect number of children for their situation."<ref name="hess"/> | |||
Rejection of birth control by some Quiverfull adherents is based upon the belief that the ] and post-] Bible passages to "be fruitful and multiply" (see ; ) are un-rescinded Biblical commandments. For example, ] argues, | |||
Some Quiverfull adherents base their rejection of birth control upon the belief that the ] and post–] Bible passages to "be fruitful and multiply" (see ; ) are un-rescinded biblical commandments. For example, ] argues: | |||
<blockquote> | |||
"Be fruitful and multiply" ... is a command of God, indeed the first command to a married couple. Birth control obviously involves disobedience to this command, for birth control attempts to prevent being fruitful and multiplying. Therefore birth control is wrong, because it involves disobedience to the Word of God. Nowhere is this command done away with in the entire Bible; therefore it still remains valid for us today.<ref name="provan">{{cite book | title=The Bible and Birth Control| last=Provan| first=Charles D.| date=1989| publisher=Zimmer Printing| location=Monongahela, PA| id=ISBN 99917-998-3-4}}. Quote and its chapter available at http://www.jesus-passion.com/contraception.htm</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
<blockquote>"Be fruitful and multiply"... is a command of God, indeed the first command to a married couple. Birth control obviously involves disobedience to this command, for birth control attempts to prevent being fruitful and multiplying. Therefore birth control is wrong, because it involves disobedience to the Word of God. Nowhere is this command done away with in the entire Bible; therefore it still remains valid for us today.<ref name="provan"/></blockquote> | |||
Quiverfull advocates such as Hess and Hess, ], and ], believe that the ] deceives Christian couples into using birth control so that children God otherwise willed to create are prevented from being born.<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref><ref name="demoss">{{cite book | title=Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free| last=DeMoss| first=Nancy Leigh| date=2002| publisher=Moody Publishers| location=Chicago, IL| id = ISBN 0-8024-7296-6}}</ref><ref name="scott">{{cite book | title=Birthing God's Mighty Warriors| last=Scott| first=Rachel| date=2004| publisher=Xulon Press| location=Longwood, FL| id = ISBN 1-59467-465-5}}</ref> A Quiverfull adherent quoted in 1991 in the '']'' made the statement: "Children are made in God's image, and the enemy hates that image, so the more of them he can prevent from being born, the more he likes it."<ref name="QF-Canda">{{cite journal | author=Joe Woodward| title=The godliness of fertility: A growing Protestant movement is rediscovering the sanctification available in large families| journal=Calgary Herald| year=Mar. 31, 2001| page=OS.10| url= http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=207093851&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD}}</ref> | |||
Quiverfull advocates such as Rick and Jan Hess and ] believe that the ] deceives Christian couples into using birth control so that children God otherwise willed to create are prevented from being born.<ref name="hess"/><ref name="scott"/> In addition, a Quiverfull adherent was quoted in the 2001 '']'' as making this statement: "Children are made in God's image, and the enemy hates that image, so the more of them he can prevent from being born, the more he likes it."<ref name="QF-Canda"/> | |||
===Minority doctrine=== | |||
====Infertility==== | |||
:''Also see: ]'' | |||
Adherents view ], referred to as an "empty quiver", as something to be accepted from God as His choice, which then becomes a matter of prayer in the hope that God may decide to miraculously intervene. Quiverfull adherents also see ] as a usurpation of God's ] and accordingly reject them.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.raisingarrows.net/2008/05/enjoying-your-quiverfull/ |title=Enjoying YOUR Quiverfull |date=2008-05-09}}</ref> Adoption is viewed as a positive option through which couples can also rely on God's providence to send children. Biblical references to God's love for the orphan and the belief that people are saved through adoption into God's family are often noted. | |||
Not all Quiverfull families and authors would agree with each statement made by the movement's principal authors. | |||
Some circles do accept medical interventions, since improving opportunities for pregnancy is not seen to guarantee it any more than with any healthy couple. Also, some reproductive health problems may be seen as symptomatic of other health problems which need to be addressed generally.{{Citation needed|date=July 2015}} | |||
Samuel Owens considers that there may be aspects of a fallen universe that sometimes justify an option to use a ]. Example situations include serious illnesses, inevitable Caesarian sections, and other problematic situations such as disabling mental instability and serious marital disharmony. Owen additionally argues that birth control may be permissible for married couples called to a "higher moral purpose" than having children, such as caring long-term for many ]s or serving as career ] in a dangerous location.<ref name="Owen">{{cite book | title=Letting God Plan Your Family| last=Owen, Jr.| first=Samuel A.| date=1990| publisher=Crossway Books| location=Wheaton, IL| id = ISBN 0-89107-585-2}}</ref> | |||
===Minority doctrine=== | |||
Despite some variances, all Quiverfull families and authors agree that God's normative ideal for happy, healthy and prosperous married couples is to take no voluntary actions to prevent having children.<ref name="hess">{{cite book | title=A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ| last=Hess| first=Rick and Jan| date=1990| publisher=Hyatt Publishers| location=Brentwood, TN| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3}}</ref><ref name="campN">{{cite book | title=Be Fruitfull and Multiply| last=Campbell| first=Nancy| date=2003| publisher=Vision Forum| location=San Antonio| id=ISBN 0-9724173-5-4}}</ref> | |||
Not all Quiverfull families and authors agree with each statement which was made by the movement's principal authors. | |||
Samuel Owens considers the possibility that some aspects of a fallen universe may sometimes justify the option to use a ]. These aspects of a fallen universe include serious illnesses, inevitable ], and other problematic situations, such as disabling mental instability and serious marital disharmony. Owens additionally argues that birth control may be permissible for married couples who are called to a "higher moral purpose" than having children, such as caring long-term for many ]s or serving as career ] in a dangerous location.<ref name="Owen">{{cite book |title=Letting God Plan Your Family |last=Owen, Jr. |first=Samuel A. |year=1990 |publisher=Crossway Books |location=Wheaton, IL |isbn=0-89107-585-2}}</ref> | |||
== Practices == | |||
===Non-use of contraception=== | |||
:''Also see: ] and ], and ]'' | |||
Quiverfull adherents maintain that God "opens and closes the womb" of a woman on a case-by-case basis, and that attempts to regulate fertility are a subjugation of divine power. Thus, the key practice of a Quiverfull married couple is to not use any form of birth control and to maintain continual "openness to children", to the possibility of ], during routine ] irrespective of timing of the month during the ] cycle. This is considered by Quiverfull adherents to be a principle if not the primary aspect of their Christian calling in submission to the lordship of ].<ref name="joyce2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2006/11/30/quiverfull-more-children-for-gods-army|title=Quiverfull: More Children For God's Army|accessdate=2007-01-09|publisher=RH Reality Check|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
A healthy young Quiverfull couple might thereby have a baby every two years, meaning that as many as 10 children or more might be born during a couple's fertile years. In reality, however, most Quiverfull families do not become that large because general health problems or ] may intervene, or the couple may have married later in life, or the decision to stop using birth control may have come later in the ]. Quiverfull adherents advocate for ] through ], so return of fertility after childbirth could be delayed by ], although the method is not certain. | |||
Despite some variances, all Quiverfull families and authors agree that God's normative ideal for happy, healthy and prosperous married couples is to take no voluntary actions that will prevent them from having children.<ref name="hess"/><ref name="campN"/> | |||
===Family organization, homeschooling, homesteading=== | |||
]''' in a mural image from his ministry, the Institute in Basic Life Principles.]] | |||
:''Also see: ] and ]'' | |||
==Practices== | |||
Quiverfull authors and adherents advocate for and seek to model ] ]. Families are typically arranged with the mother as a ] under the ] of her ] with the children under the authority of both. Parents seek to largely shelter their children from aspects of culture they as parents deem adversarial to their type of conservative Christianity. | |||
===Non-use of contraception=== | |||
Additionally, Quiverfull families are strongly inclined toward ] and ] in a ] area. However, exceptions exist in substantial enough portion to where these latter two items are general and often idealized correlates to Quiverfull practices and not integral parts of them.<ref name="patri">{{cite journal | author=Biggar, R.J., and M. Melbye| title=Debating the Merits of Patriarchy: Discursive Disputes over Spousal Authority among Evangelicial Family Commentators| journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion| year=1997| issue=36| page=393-410}}</ref> | |||
{{See also|Fertility|Infertility|Christian views on contraception#Protestant Christianity|l3=Protestant views on contraception}} | |||
Quiverfull adherents maintain that God "opens and closes the womb" of a woman on a case-by-case basis, and that any attempts to regulate fertility are usurpation of divine power. Thus, the defining practice of a Quiverfull married couple is not to use any form of birth control and to maintain continual "openness to children," that is to say, engaging in routine ] with no attempt to limit the possibility of ]. This practice is irrespective of the time of the month during the menstrual cycle, and is considered by Quiverfull adherents to be the principal—if not the primary—aspect of their Christian calling in submission to the Lordship of ].<ref name="joyce2">{{cite web |url=http://www.rhrealitycheck.org/blog/2006/11/30/quiverfull-more-children-for-gods-army |title=Quiverfull: More Children For God's Army |access-date=2007-01-09 |publisher=RH Reality Check |author=Kathryn Joyce |date=30 November 2006}}</ref> | |||
Proponents of the Quiverfull movement also regard ] and other similar contraceptives as unacceptable abortifacients.<ref name="abortifacient_ref_1">{{cite web |url=https://www.quiverfull.com/birth_control/pill_abortifacient.html |title=QuiverFull Pill Fact Sheet |access-date=2013-05-17 |publisher=Pharmacists For Life International |author=Patrick McCrystal}}</ref> | |||
===Sterilization reversals=== | |||
{{main|Sterilization reversal}} | |||
Some Quiverfull adherents advocate for ] through ], so that the return of fertility after childbirth could be delayed by ].<ref>{{cite journal |vauthors=Trussell J |title=Contraceptive failure in the United States |journal=Contraception |volume=83 |issue=5 |pages=397–404 |date=May 2011 |pmid=21477680 |pmc=3638209 |doi=10.1016/j.contraception.2011.01.021}}</ref> | |||
Quiverfull adherents Brad and Dawn Irons run ''Blessed Arrows Sterilization Reversal Ministry''. The couple advocates for Quiverfull ideas while providing funding, physician referrals, and support to Protestants wishing to undergo ] reversal surgery.<ref name="reverse">{{Cite web|url=http://www.blessedarrows.org/|title=Blessed Arrows: A Sterilization Reversal Ministry|accessdate = 2006-10-14|publisher=Brad and Dawn Irons|author=Brad and Dawn Irons|format=html}}</ref> Protestants such as ] also advocate for reversals, saying that sterilized couples have "cut off children" but should instead devoted themselves to "raising up godly seed". | |||
===Family organization, homeschooling, homesteading=== | |||
==Criticisms== | |||
{{See also|Dominionism|Patriarchy}} | |||
=== From Protestants === | |||
Quiverfull authors and adherents advocate for and seek to model ] ].<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2011-10-08 |title=How can a wife help preserve her marriage? |url=https://iblp.org/questions/how-can-wife-help-preserve-her-marriage |access-date=2022-03-29 |website=Institute in Basic Life Principles |language=en}}</ref> Mary Pride has more recently attempted to distance herself from the patriarchy movement and from a focus on the father's role in training daughters. In a column published in her magazine ''Practical Homeschooling'' in 2009, as well as in the afterword to the 25th-anniversary edition of ''The Way Home'', Pride clarified her position that it is primarily mothers, not fathers, who should teach girls about women's roles and duties.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.home-school.com/Articles/phs89-marypride.html |title=Homeschool World: Practical Homeschooling Articles: Patriarchy, Meet Matriarchy |publisher=Home-school.com |access-date=2011-09-19}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality |last=Pride |first=Mary |publisher=Home Life Books |year=2010 |isbn=9781453699300 |edition=25th anniversary |location=Fenton, Missouri |orig-year=1985}}</ref> As Emily McGowin notes in her 2018 book ''Quivering Families'', however, " differentiates herself from these approaches without denying the underlying gender hierarchy and pronatalism."<ref>{{cite book |title=Quivering Families: The Quiverfull Movement and Evangelical Theology of the Family |last=McGowin |first=Emily Hunter |publisher=Fortress Press |year=2018 |isbn=9781506446608 |location=Minneapolis}}</ref> | |||
Quiverfull authors typically organize family governance to reflect an "umbrella of protection" with the mother as a ] under the ] of her ] and the children under the authority of both. Parents seek to largely shelter their children from aspects of culture deemed adversarial to their religious beliefs.<ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=2011-10-11 |title=What is an "umbrella of protection"? |url=https://iblp.org/questions/what-umbrella-protection |access-date=2022-03-29 |website=Institute in Basic Life Principles |language=en}}</ref> Additionally, Quiverfull families strongly incline toward ] and toward ] in a ] area. However, exceptions exist in substantial enough proportions that these latter two items are general and are often idealized correlations to Quiverfull practices and not integral parts of them.<ref name="patri">{{cite journal |author1=Biggar, R.J. |author2=M. Melbye |name-list-style=amp |title=Debating the Merits of Patriarchy: Discursive Disputes over Spousal Authority among Evangelicial Family Commentators |journal=Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion |year=1997 |volume=36 |issue=3 |pages=393–410 |doi=10.2307/1387857 |jstor=1387857}}</ref> | |||
James B. Jordan maintains that, while children are indeed blessings, they are only one among a wide range of blessings God offers, and prayerfully choosing foci among them is part of prudent Christian ].<ref name="JBJ">{{cite journal | author=James B. Jordan| title=The Bible and Family Planning: An Answer to Charles Provan's "The Bible and Birth Control"| journal=Contra Mundum| year=1993| issue=Fall 1993, no. 9| page=2-14| url=http://www.contra-mundum.org/cm/cm09.pdf| format=pdf| id = ISSN 1070-9495| Article begins on PDF page 4 of source.|}}</ref> | |||
===Sterilization reversal surgery=== | |||
]'s ''Desiring God Ministries'' criticizes Quiverfull by saying that | |||
Quiverfull adherents Brad and Dawn Irons run ''Blessed Arrows Sterilization Reversal Ministry''. The couple advocates for Quiverfull ideas while providing funding, physician referrals, and support to Christians wishing to undergo ] reversal surgery.<ref name="reverse">{{cite web |url=http://www.blessedarrows.org/ |title=Blessed Arrows: A Sterilization Reversal Ministry |access-date=2006-10-14 |publisher=Brad and Dawn Irons |author=Brad and Dawn Irons}}</ref> | |||
] founder ] advocates for reversals, saying that sterilized couples have "cut off children" and should devote themselves instead to "raising up godly seed". | |||
==Criticism== | |||
<blockquote> | |||
The movement has been criticized by journalists from '']'' for what they perceive to be ] and a demeaning approach to women.<ref name="Graham">{{cite journal |url=https://www.glamourmagazine.co.uk/article/sex-cults-and-the-quiverfull-movement-november-issue |title=Inside the world's most women-hating cult |access-date=24 November 2015 |journal=Glamour |date=24 November 2015 |author=Kate Graham}}</ref> | |||
just because something is a gift from the Lord does not mean that it is wrong to be a steward of when or whether you will come into possession of it. It is wrong to reason that since ''A'' is good and a gift from the Lord, then we must pursue as much of ''A'' as possible. God has made this a world in which tradeoffs have to be made and we cannot do everything to the fullest extent. For kingdom purposes, it might be wise not to get married. And for kingdom purposes, it might be wise to regulate the size of one's family and to regulate when the new additions to the family will likely arrive. As Wayne Grudem has said, "it is okay to place less emphasis on some good activities in order to focus on other good activities.<ref name="piper">{{Cite web|url=http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/QuestionsAndAnswers/ByTopic/45/1440_Does_the_Bible_permit_birth_control/|title=Does the Bible permit birth control?|accessdate = 2006-10-27|publisher=Desiring God|year=2006|author=Desiring God Staff|work=Questions and Answers|format=html}}</ref> | |||
</blockquote> | |||
===Criticism from other Christians=== | |||
Christian philosopher Jeremy R. Pierce states that the Quiverfull view | |||
] maintains that, while children are indeed blessings, they are only one among a wide range of blessings God offers, and prayerfully choosing foci among them is part of prudent Christian ].<ref name="JBJ">{{cite journal |author=James B. Jordan |title=The Bible and Family Planning: An Answer to Charles Provan's "The Bible and Birth Control" |journal=Contra Mundum |year=1993 |url=http://www.contra-mundum.org/cm/cm09.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081031084211/http://www.contra-mundum.org/cm/cm09.pdf |archive-date=2008-10-31 |issn=1070-9495 |pages=2–14}}</ref> | |||
<blockquote> | |||
is held by those who are weak of conscience and can't get around an extremely simplistic reading of some biblical statements. For them, it is wrong to use birth control pills and condoms, because it would be doing something that they believe to be wrong. It isn't wrong in principle, however, and those who have thought through the various moral principles that apply will realize that sometimes it's wrong to use such methods and sometimes not, depending on the circumstances. | |||
</blockquote> | |||
]'s Desiring God Ministries has published some comments that relate to Quiverfull: | |||
Pierce further notes that Quiverfull can become "] much like that of the ]".<ref name="pierce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.evangelicaloutpost.com/mt/mt-comments.cgi?entry_id=1505|title=On Quiverfull "Theology"|accessdate = 2006-10-20|publisher=Evangelical Outpost|author=Jeremy R. Pierce (http://web.syr.edu/~jrpierce)}}</ref> | |||
<blockquote>Just because something is a gift from the Lord does not mean that it is wrong to be a steward of when or whether you will come into possession of it. It is wrong to reason that since A is good and a gift from the Lord, then we must pursue as much of A as possible. God has made this a world in which tradeoffs have to be made and we cannot do everything to the fullest extent. For kingdom purposes, it might be wise not to get married. And for kingdom purposes, it might be wise to regulate the size of one's family and to regulate when the new additions to the family will likely arrive. As ] has said, "it is okay to place less emphasis on some good activities in order to focus on other good activities."<ref name="piper">{{cite web |url=http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/QuestionsAndAnswers/ByTopic/45/1440_Does_the_Bible_permit_birth_control/ |title=Does the Bible permit birth control? |access-date=2006-10-27 |publisher=Desiring God |year=2006 |author=Desiring God Staff |work=Questions and Answers |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061026010215/http://www.desiringgod.org/ResourceLibrary/QuestionsAndAnswers/ByTopic/45/1440_Does_the_Bible_permit_birth_control/ |archive-date=2006-10-26}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
=== From Catholics === | |||
{{Expand|date=January 2007}} | |||
===Criticism from former Quiverfull adherents=== | |||
=== From feminists === | |||
Some women who have left the Quiverfull movement are now vocally critical of it.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/4w5abw/quiverfull-christian-women-leaving-evangelical |title=The Women Fighting Back Against the Christian Cult that Forbids Birth Control |last=Brethour |first=Dylan |date=2016-10-21 |website=Vice |language=en |access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> ] spent 16 years living the Quiverfull lifestyle and had seven children before leaving her husband and ultimately becoming an atheist. She told ''Vice'' that her health was negatively affected by so many births and that over time, her husband became "a tyrant."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/wdbd45/we-talked-to-an-quiverfull-escapee-about-helping-women-leave-the-movement |title=What It's Like to Escape the Christian Fundamentalist 'Quiverfull' Movement |last=Thompson |first=Tiffy |date=2016-07-16 |website=Vice |language=en |access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> Garrison founded the blog ''No Longer Quivering'' to share her own story and the stories of other women who had been harmed by the Quiverfull lifestyle.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.andrewpurcell.net/?p=1070 |title=Raising an army for Christ {{!}} Andrew Purcell|access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> The blog is now maintained by Suzanne Titkemeyer, another former Quiverfull adherent who describes her years in the movement as "disastrous."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.patheos.com/blogs/nolongerquivering/about/ |title=About NLQ |website=No Longer Quivering |language=en |access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> | |||
], a former ardent Quiverfull adherent, birth-mother of eleven children, and former editor of ''Gentle Spirit Magazine'', argues that the Quiverfull movement is one "in which women and children are routinely and systematically subordinated and subjugated by the men in their lives - fathers, husbands, older sons, sons, pastors, elders, leaders - as a matter of biblical principle."<ref name="Seelhoff-3">{{cite journal | author=Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff| title=I Name (and Blame) the Patriarchs, Part 2: Fallacies About the Full Quiver Movement| journal=Of Our Backs Feminist Newsjournal| year=November 29, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/29}}</ref> Seelhoff charges that Quiverful adherents "never talk about the victims of the movement, other than to distance themselves, to explain how it is that the victims are aberrations," and do not talk about "the way the lives of so many, many women in that movement have been all but destroyed - women with 5, 7, 9, 11 or more children".<ref name="Seelhoff-1">{{cite journal | author=Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff| title=I Name the Patriarchs, Part I: The Truth About “Full Quiver” Families| journal=Women's Space Word Press| year=November 14, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/i-name-the-patriarchy-part-i-the-truth-about-full-quiver-women/}}</ref><ref name="Seelhoff-2">{{cite journal | author=Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff| title=Confronting the Religious Right| journal=Of Our Backs Feminist Newsjournal| year=2006| volume=36| issue=3}}</ref> | |||
Likewise, some children who were raised in Quiverfull homes have grown up to speak out against the movement. In 2018, Eve Ettinger and Kieryn Darkwater started a podcast called ''Kitchen Table Cult'' in which they discuss their experiences of being raised Quiverfull and connect the ideology to current events such as the election of ].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://kitchentablecult.com/about/ |title=About the Podcast |date=2018-07-11 |website=Kitchen Table Cult |language=en-US |access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> In a 2015 interview about their upbringing, Ettinger said that in Quiverfull families, "the parents are just as confused as the kids, and often are struggling with deep-set psychological issues and need as much therapy and compassion as the kids do to recover from the dehumanizing reality of trying to have a perfect Quiverfull family to please a demanding and holy God."<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.cosmopolitan.com/entertainment/books/q-and-a/a41047/growing-up-quiverfull-interview/ |title=What It Was Like to Grow Up Quiverfull |last=Mathieu |first=Jennifer |date=2015-05-27 |website=Cosmopolitan |language=en-US |access-date=2020-01-02}}</ref> | |||
==Controversies== | |||
=== Andrea Yates === | |||
, an advocacy group for survivors of the Quiverfull community , is advocating for New York to amend their mandated reporting laws to include clergy.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Post |first1=Kathryn |title=Former 'Quiverfull' church members push the needle on New York's CARE Act |url=https://religionnews.com/2023/05/17/former-quiverfull-church-members-push-the-needle-on-new-yorks-care-act/ |access-date=4 October 2023 |publisher=Religion News Service |date=17 May 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Post |first1=Kathryn |title=New York debates whether clergy should be required to report abuse |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/religion/2023/02/03/new-york-debates-whether-clergy-should-be-required-report-abuse/ |access-date=4 October 2023 |newspaper=Washington Post |date=3 February 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Grindon |first1=Lucy |title=Ex-Christian Fellowship Center members call for clergy to be mandated child sexual abuse reporters in Potsdam protest |url=https://www.northcountrypublicradio.org/news/story/46540/20220908/ex-christian-fellowship-center-members-call-for-clergy-to-be-mandated-child-sexual-abuse-reporters-in-potsdam-protest |access-date=4 October 2023 |publisher=North Country Public Radio |date=September 8, 2022}}</ref> CFCtoo argues that such laws are necessary to combat the Quiverfull movement's propensity for "incest, child sexual abuse, and systematic abuse coverups based on a twisted understanding of biblical forgiveness."<ref>{{cite web |title=The Quiverfull Families Next Door: Part 1 |url=https://www.cfctoo.com/blog/the-quiverfull-families-next-door-part-1 |website=CFCtoo |access-date=3 October 2023}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Post |first1=Kathryn |title=An insular 'Quiverfull' church in New York's North Country faces a reckoning |url=https://religionnews.com/2022/08/25/an-insular-quiverfull-church-in-new-yorks-north-country-faces-a-reckoning/ |access-date=4 October 2023 |publisher=Religion News Service |date=August 25, 2022}}</ref> | |||
Seelhoff and others claim that ] was a victim of Quiverfull thought. Yates and her husband Rusty described themselves as nondenominational Christians who did not use birth control, agreeing to accept as many children as God sent their way. On June 20, 2001, Andrea committed the ] of her five young children, ages six-months, two, three, five, and seven, by drowning them in the family bathtub. She was found "]" and is currently institutionalized. Quiverfull adherents argue that Yates never specifically self-identified as Quiverfull and thereby seek to distance her from the movement.<ref name="yates">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenewhomemaker.com/quiverfullconvicted|title="Quiver-full Convicted: The Andrea Yates case throws a spotlight on a controversial Christian movement"|accessdate = 2006-11-12|publisher=The New Homemaker|format=html}} The author of the article, Dawn Friedman, discusses her article further at her personal blog at http://www.thiswomanswork.com/2002/07/31/negative-test-and-andrea-yates/</ref><ref name="Seelhoff-1">{{cite journal | author=Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff| title=I Name the Patriarchs, Part I: The Truth About “Full Quiver” Families| journal=Women's Space Word Press| year=November 14, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/i-name-the-patriarchy-part-i-the-truth-about-full-quiver-women/}}</ref><ref name="freeinquiry">{{cite journal | author=Joan Kennedy Taylor| title=What Weren't We Discussing about ''Andrea Yates?''| journal=]| year=Summer 2002| volume=22| issue=3| page=20-22| url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6842652&site=ehost-live}}</ref><ref name="oprah-mag">{{Cite web|url=http://www.oprah.com/omagazine/200202/omag_200202_yates.jhtml|title=A Cry in the Dark|accessdate=2007-01-22|publisher=O Magazine|year=Feb. 2002|author=Suzanne O'Malley|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="time-yates">{{cite journal | author=Timothy Roche| title=The Yates Odyssey| journal=TIME Magazine| year=January 20, 2002| url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,195325,00.html}}</ref> | |||
==Notable adherents== | |||
== Quiverfull and Roman Catholicism == | |||
<!--DO *NOT* ADD THE TURPIN FAMILY WITHOUT CITING A RELIABLE SOURCE---> | |||
:''Also see: ]'' | |||
* ], a ] ] and the son of ] leader ]. From 1998 to 2013, Doug Phillips was the president of ], a now-defunct organization which advocated ], ], ], and Quiverfull. Phillips and his wife, Beall, have seven children.<ref name="campN"/><ref name="vf">{{cite web |url=http://www.visionforumministries.org/home/about/about_the_president.aspx |title=About the President |access-date=2007-01-23 |publisher=Vision Forum Ministries |year=2006}}</ref> | |||
* ], whose book ''The Bible and Birth Control'' is routinely cited by Quiverfull adherents as providing an important theological justification for their movement. Provan was mentioned in a November 27, 2006, article about Quiverfull in '']''.<ref name="joyce"/> He also authored books and articles on other ] topics. Before Provan's death in 2007, he and his wife had 10 children. | |||
* ], a ] ] ] and the son of the noted Reformed theologian and founder of ], ]. Sproul Jr. and his wife, Denise, had eight children before Denise died.<ref name="sproulbook">{{cite book |title=Bound for Glory: God's Promise for Your Family |last=Sproul |first=R. C. Jr. |year=2003 |publisher=Crossway Books |isbn=1-58134-495-3}}</ref><ref name="highlands">{{cite web |url=http://highlands.gospelcom.net/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050506181405/http://highlands.gospelcom.net/ |url-status=dead |archive-date=2005-05-06 |title=Highlands Study Center |access-date=2007-01-21 |publisher=Highlands Study Center |year=2007}}</ref> | |||
* Nancy Campbell, author, speaker, and mother of 10 children. Nancy and her husband Colin run Above Rubies, "a ministry to encourage women in their high calling as wives, mothers, and homemakers. Its purpose is to uphold and strengthen family life and to raise the standard of God's truth in the nation."<ref>{{cite web |title=Ministry Overview |url=https://aboverubies.org/index.php/home/ministry-overview |website=Above Rubies |access-date=3 October 2023}}</ref> Campbell's magazine has a worldwide circulation of over 160,000, and began its publication in 1977.<ref name=campbell/> | |||
* ], known for the reality TV show ]. | |||
==See also== | |||
Although there are a few similarities between the two, Roman Catholics sometimes adopt the Quiverfull label without understanding the quite substantial distinctions. | |||
{{Div col}} | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
{{Div col end}} | |||
== |
==References== | ||
{{Reflist}} | |||
However, Roman Catholic teaching but not all Quiverfull adherents interpret the Genesis creation and post-Noahic flood passages to "be fruitful and multiply" (see Genesis 1:22; 9:7) as commandments rather than only actions that result in blessings.<ref name="pope1">{{Cite web|url=http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html|title=Humanae Vitae: Encyclical of Pope Paul VI on the Regulation of Birth, July 25, 1968|accessdate = 2006-10-01|publisher=The Vatican|format=html}}</ref></blockquote> | |||
== |
==Further reading== | ||
===Books advocating a Quiverfull position=== | |||
Moreover, Roman Catholic theology emphasizes the relationship between sexual intercourse and fertility, rather than children ''per se'', as part of the ] of God, and considers ''artificial'' interference with fertility such as barriers or hormones to be a grave sin. While frivolous or materialistic reasons for avoiding children are seen as immoral, the Roman Catholic Church permits ] (NFP) for grave reasons, although the translation of the ] word "grave" is sometimes debated.<ref>{{cite web | last = Smith | first = Janet | title = Reasons for limiting family size | work = Introduction to Sexual Ethics, Lecture VI: Natural Family Planning | publisher = International Catholic University | date = 1993 | url = http://home.comcast.net/~icuweb/c00206.htm | accessdate = 2006-09-12 }}</ref> Use of NFP to avoid pregnancy may be actively promoted in extreme circumstances such as serious health problems, dire poverty, and active persecution.<ref>{{cite book | first=John | last=Kippley | coauthors=Sheila Kippley | year=1996 | title=The Art of Natural Family Planning | edition=4th Edition | publisher=The Couple to Couple League | location=Cincinnati, OH | id=ISBN 0-926412-13-2 | pages=225,235-236,285-286 }}</ref> | |||
Dissimilarly, Quiverfull emphasizes the continual role of Providence in controlling whether or not and when a woman conceives due to God having exclusive prerogative in "opening and closing the womb". Quiverfull regards all contraceptive methods alike in so far as they further such avoidance, while Catholicism permits natural family planning. | |||
==Quiverfull in U.S. national press== | |||
While Quiverfull had prior garnered some attention in the Christian press,<ref name="cbn">{{Cite web|url=http://www.cbn.com/cbnnews/news/050331a.aspx|title="Back to the Future: The Growing Movement of Natalism"|accessdate = 2006-10-07|publisher=CBN News|year=2006|author=Strand, Paul|format=html}}</ref><ref name="ct">{{Cite web|url=http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/2006/august/15.26.html|title=The Case for Kids|accessdate=2006-12-21|publisher=Christianity Today|year=1 August 2006|author=Leslie Leyland Fields|format=HTML}}</ref> the Canadian press in March 2001,<ref name="QF-Canda">{{cite journal | author=Joe Woodward| title=The godliness of fertility: A growing Protestant movement is rediscovering the sanctification available in large families| journal=Calgary Herald| year=Mar. 31, 2001| page=OS.10| url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=207093851&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD}}</ref> and in various scholarly pieces, it began to receive focused attention in the U.S. national press in ]. | |||
=== ''New York Times'' === | |||
In an article on December 7, 2004, ] journalist ] described an arising movement he called simply "]" and sought to show how in the future it could shift the U.S. political landscape from a philosophy of ] to ]. Brooks concluded, "Natalists are associated with ], but they're not launching a ]".<ref name="nytimes">{{Cite web|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2004/12/07/opinion/07brooks.html?ex=1260162000&en=ebdde83f03fe6d2e&ei=5090|title="The New Red-Diaper Babies"|accessdate = 2006-10-07|publisher=New York Times|year=2004|author=Brooks, David|format=html}}</ref><ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
=== ''The Nation'' === | |||
Journalist ] connected Brooks' natalism with Quiverfull and disagreed with him in her November 9, 2006, 5-page ] on Quiverfull in '']''. Joyce emphasized that the movement uses what she described as "] terminology" to articulate the belief that "only a determination among Christian women to take up their submissive, motherly roles with a 'military air'" and within a milieu of becoming "maternal missionaries" will lead to what Joyce described as Quiverfull's "Christian army" achieving cultural "victory."<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
=== ''Newsweek'' === | |||
Four days later, on November 13, 2006, '']'' provided a 2-page piece on Quiverfull, characterizing the movement as conservatives who are "reacting to revolutionary changes in women's social roles and seeking to re-impose a more traditional order". The piece ended by quoting a Quiverfull family as stating they were "exponentially happier" after relinquishing control of their womb to God.<ref name="newsweek">{{Cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15701301/site/newsweek/|title=Making Babies the Quiverfull Way|accessdate=2006-12-21|publisher=Newsweek Magazine|year=13 November 2006|author=Eileen Finan|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
=== ABC News ''Nightline'' === | |||
On January 3, 2006, ABC News '']'' aired a special segment, "The More the Holier?", on the Quiverfull movement.<ref name="nightline">{{Cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2767898&page=1|title=A Full Quiver: A Growing Movement for Growing Families for God|accessdate=2007-01-04|publisher=ABC News|year=January 3, 2007|author=Ted Gerstein and John Berman|work= Nightline|format=HTML}}</ref> The coverage was re-aired on ABC's '']'' about four hours later. | |||
===Quiverfull responses=== | |||
In the proximate aftermath of the U.S. national print articles, responses from Quiverfull adherents in ''The Quiverfull Digest'' ranged from "feeling betrayed" to assertions that the articles were "fair".<ref name="QFDigest">{{Cite web|url=http://www.quiverfull.com/digest.php|title=The Quiverfull Digest|accessdate=Fall-Winter 2006|publisher=The Quiverfull Digest|year=2006|format=HTML}}</ref> Additionally, a few disagreeing Quiverfull adherents undertook ] responses on the Internet discussion forums provided by the latter national publishers in immediate on-site connection with their articles.<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="newsweek">{{Cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15701301/site/newsweek/|title=Making Babies the Quiverfull Way|accessdate=2006-12-21|publisher=Newsweek Magazine|year=13 November 2006|author=Eileen Finan|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
==Quiverfull families who have received press attention== | |||
*'''The Arndt Family''' - The family was featured on the January 28 edition of ]'s series ''Kids by the Dozen''. Rick Arndt is president of Safe At Home Ministries. He and his wife Cathy have fourteen children.<ref name="qfdig">{{cite journal | title=The Quiverfull Digest| year=2007| issue=#3395}}</ref><ref name="tlc12">{{Cite web|url=http://tlc.discovery.com/tvlistings/series.jsp?series=55654&gid=0&channel=TLC|title=TLC — Kids by the Dozen|accessdate=2007-01-24|publisher=The Learning Channel|year=2007|work=TV series|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="arndt">{{Cite web|url=http://www.famteam.com/meet/|title=Meet the Arndt Family|accessdate=2007-01-24|publisher=The Arndt Family|year=2007|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
* '''The Bortel Family''' - The family was featured in a November 13, 2006, article about Quiverfull in ]. David and Suzanne Bortel run ''Quiverfull.com'' and moderate ''The Quiverfull Digest''. They have ten children.<ref name="newsweek">{{Cite web|url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/15701301/site/newsweek/|title=Making Babies the Quiverfull Way|accessdate=2006-12-21|publisher=Newsweek Magazine|year=13 November 2006|author=Eileen Finan|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="bortelaboutus">{{Cite web|url=http://www.quiverfull.com/aboutus.php|title=About Us|accessdate=2007-02-11|publisher=Quiverfull.com|year=2007|author=Davis and Suzanne Borte|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
* '''The Carpenter Family''' - The family was featured on the January 3, 2006, ABC News '']'' segment, "The More the Holier?", about the Quiverfull movement. Husband Ken is a Christian filmmaker and music video producer for some of ]'s biggest names. He and his wife Devon have eight children.<ref name="nightline">{{Cite web|url=http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=2767898&page=1|title=A Full Quiver: A Growing Movement for Growing Families for God|accessdate=2007-01-04|publisher=ABC News|year=January 3, 2007|author=Ted Gerstein and John Berman|work= Nightline|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="franklinsprings">{{Cite web|url=http://www.franklinsprings.com/|title=Franklin Springs Family Media|accessdate=2007-01-21|publisher=Franklin Springs Family Media|year=2007|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
* '''The Duggar Family''' - The family has been featured numerous times on ]. Husband ] is a former ] state ] and former ] candidate for the District 35 Arkansas state Senate seat. He and his wife Michelle have sixteen children.<ref name="qfdig">{{cite journal | title=The Quiverfull Digest| year=2007| issue=#3394}}</ref><ref name="duggar">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jimbob.info/faq.html|title=The Duggar Family FAQ|accessdate = 2006-10-09|author=Michelle Duggar|format=html}}</ref><ref name="duggar2">{{Cite web|url=http://www.arkansasnews.com/archive/2006/03/29/News/335335.html|title=Duggar runs for Springdale state Senate seat|accessdate = 2006-10-09|publisher=Arkansas News Bureau|year=2006|author=Doug Thompson|format=html}}</ref><ref name="duggar0">{{Cite web|url=http://www.quiverfull.com/articles.php/id20/|title=13 Children Add Up To Asset For Challenger|accessdate = 2006-10-09|publisher=Arkansas Democrat-Gazette|year=2001|author=Carrie Rengers|work=Quiverfull.com Articles|format=html}}</ref> | |||
*'''The Heppner Family''' - The family was featured on the January 22 and 23 editions of ]'s series ''Kids by the Dozen''. The family owns a homeschooling resource company. DuWayne and his wife Miriam have eighteen children.<ref name="hep">{{Cite web|url=http://buildingthefamily.com/famsite/About%20Us/index.htm|title=About us|accessdate=2007-01-24|publisher=The Heppner Family|year=2007|format=HTML}} Also see .</ref><ref name="qfdig">{{cite journal | title=The Quiverfull Digest| year=2007| issue=#3395}}</ref><ref name="tlc12">{{Cite web|url=http://tlc.discovery.com/tvlistings/series.jsp?series=55654&gid=0&channel=TLC|title=TLC — Kids by the Dozen|accessdate=2007-01-24|publisher=The Learning Channel|year=2007|work=TV series|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
*'''The Jeub Family''' - The family was featured on the January 29 and 30 editions of ]'s series ''Kids by the Dozen''. Chris Jeub is president of Training Minds Ministry. He and his wife Wendy have thirteen children.<ref name="jeub">{{Cite web|url=http://jeubfamily.com/about-us/|title=About Us|accessdate=2007-01-24|publisher=The Jeub Family|year=2007|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="QFDigest">{{Cite web|url=http://www.quiverfull.com/digest.php|title=The Quiverfull Digest|publisher=The Quiverfull Digest|year=2006|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="qfdigj">{{cite journal | title=The Quiverfull Digest| year=2007| issue=#3395, #3396, #3397, #3398}}</ref><ref name="tlc12">{{Cite web|url=http://tlc.discovery.com/tvlistings/series.jsp?series=55654&gid=0&channel=TLC|title=TLC — Kids by the Dozen|accessdate=2007-01-24|publisher=The Learning Channel|year=2007|work=TV series|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
==Notable Quiverfull adherents== | |||
* ''']''' - Farris is a conservative United States constitutional lawyer and founder of the ] (HSLDA) and ]. His wife Vickie is the author of ''A Mom Just Like You'' (2002). The couple have ten children.<ref name="farris">{{cite book | title=A Mom Just Like You| last=Farris| first=Vickie| date=2002| publisher=B&H Publishing Group| location=Nashville, TN| id=ISBN 0-8054-2586-1}}</ref> | |||
*''']''' - Phillips is the son of ] leader ] and president of ] that advocates for ], ], ], and Quiverfull. Doug and his wife Beall have seven children.<ref name="vf">{{Cite web|url=http://www.visionforumministries.org/home/about/about_the_president.aspx|title=About the President|accessdate=2007-01-23|publisher=Vision Forum Ministries|year=2006|format=HTML}}</ref><ref name="campN">{{cite book | title=Be Fruitfull and Multiply| last=Campbell| first=Nancy| date=2003| publisher=Vision Forum| location=San Antonio| id=ISBN 0-9724173-5-4}}</ref> | |||
* ''']''' - Provan's book ''The Bible and Birth Control'' is credited as providing important theological justification for Quiverfull, and was quoted in a November 27, 2006, article about Quiverfull in ]. He is an author of books and articles on other ] topics and ]. He and his wife have ten children.<ref name="joyce">{{Cite web|url=http://www.thenation.com/docprint.mhtml?i=20061127&s=joyce|title=Arrows for the War|accessdate=2006-12-20|publisher=The Nation|year=09 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
* ''']''' is a ] ] ] and ] and is the son of ], a noted Reformed theologian and founder of ]. Sproul Jr. and his wife Denise have seven children.<ref name="Seelhoff-1">{{cite journal | author=Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff| title=I Name the Patriarchs, Part I: The Truth About "Full Quiver" Families| journal=Women's Space Word Press| year=November 14, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/i-name-the-patriarchy-part-i-the-truth-about-full-quiver-women/}}</ref><ref name="sproulbook">{{cite book | title=Bound for Glory: God's Promise for Your Family| last=Sproul| first=R. C., Jr.| date=2003| publisher=Crossway Books| id=ISBN 1581344953}}</ref><ref name="highlands">{{Cite web|url=http://highlands.gospelcom.net/|title=Highlands Study Center|accessdate=2007-01-21|publisher=Highlands Study Center|year=2007|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
*''']''' - Trewhella is a ] minister and founder of ]. He was the subject of a 1994 ] investigation for incitation of abortion clinic violence. He and his wife, Clara, have eleven children.<ref name="Trewhella">{{cite journal | author=Melinda Liu| title=Inside the Anti-abortion Underground: The FBI probes a ministry of fear| journal=Newsweek Magazine| year=August 29, 1994}}</ref><ref name="qfdig">{{cite journal | title=The Quiverfull Digest| year=2007| issue=#3395}}</ref><ref name="Milw-JS">{{Cite web|url=http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=545782|title=More children, a greater gift|accessdate=2007-01-21|publisher=Milwaukee Journal Sentinel|year=Dec. 26, 2006|author=Patrick McIlheran|work=Editorials|format=HTML}}</ref> | |||
== Books dedicated to advocating a Quiverfull position== | |||
* Adams, Shelly and Morgan. ''Arrows in His Hand'' (children's book). Monument Pub., Monument, CO: 2007. | * Adams, Shelly and Morgan. ''Arrows in His Hand'' (children's book). Monument Pub., Monument, CO: 2007. | ||
* Andrews, Robert. ''The Family: God's Weapon for Victory''. Winepress Publishing, 1996; {{ISBN|1-883893-24-0}}. Sentinel Press, 2002; {{ISBN|0-9715694-0-1}}. | |||
* Campbell, Nancy. ''Be Fruitful and Multiply.'' Vision Forum, San Antonio, TX: 2003. ISBN 0-9724173-5-4 <!--Thanks, ISBN is fixed--> | |||
* Campbell, Nancy. ''Be Fruitful and Multiply''. Vision Forum, San Antonio, TX: 2003. {{ISBN|0-9724173-5-4}}. <!--Thanks, ISBN is fixed--> | |||
* Hess, Rick and Jan. ''A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ.'' Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishers, Brentwood, TN: 1990. ISBN 0-943497-83-3 | |||
* Flanders, Jennifer. ''Love Your Husband/Love Yourself: Embracing God's Purpose for Passion in Marriage''. Prescott Publishing, Tyler, TX: 2010. {{ISBN|978-0982626900}}. | |||
* Houghton, Craig. ''Family UNplanning.'' Xulon Press, Longwood, FL: 2007. ISBN 1-60034-851-8 | |||
* |
* Hess, Rick and Jan. ''A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ''. Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishers, Brentwood, TN: 1990. {{ISBN|0-943497-83-3}}. | ||
* Houghton, Craig. ''Family UNplanning''. Xulon Press, Longwood, FL: 2006. {{ISBN|978-1-60034-851-8}}. | |||
* Pride, Mary. ''The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality.'' Good News Pub, Wheaton, IL: 1985. ISBN 0-89107-345-0 | |||
* |
* Owen, Samuel A. Jr. ''Letting God Plan Your Family''. Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL: 1990. {{ISBN|0-89107-585-2}}. | ||
* ]. ''The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality''. Good News Pub, Wheaton, IL: 1985. {{ISBN|0-89107-345-0}}. | |||
:Chapter of Provan's book . Free audio files of Provan's complete book . | |||
* ] ''The Bible and Birth Control''. Zimmer Printing, Monongahela, PA: 1989. {{ISBN|99917-998-3-4}}. | |||
* Scott, Rachel. ''Birthing God's Mighty Warriors.'' Xulon Press, Longwood, FL: 2004. ISBN 1-59467-465-5 | |||
** Chapter of Provan's book . Audio files of Provan's complete book available by searching with his name at sermonaudio.com | |||
* Scott, Rachel. ''Birthing God's Mighty Warriors''. Xulon Press, Longwood, FL: 2004. {{ISBN|1-59467-465-5}}. | |||
== |
===Books which advocate Quiverfull as a secondary focus=== | ||
* |
* Farris, Vickie. ''A Mom Just Like You''. B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN: 2002. {{ISBN|0-8054-2586-1}}. | ||
* Farris, Vickie. ''A Mom Just Like You''. B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN: 2002. ISBN 0-8054-2586-1 | |||
===Sources which are critical of Quiverfull=== | |||
==References== | |||
* Ettinger, Eve, and Kieryn Darkwater. podcast. | |||
<div class="references-small" style="-moz-column-count:2; column-count:2;"><references /></div> | |||
* Joyce, Kathryn. . | |||
* Joyce, Kathryn. ''Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement''. Beacon Press, Boston, MA: 2009. {{ISBN|0-8070-1070-7}}. | |||
* McFarland, Hillary. Darklight Press, 2010. | |||
* McGowin, Emily. . Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018. | |||
* McKeown, John. "US Protestant natalist reception of Old Testament "fruitful verses": a critique." Liverpool University PhD thesis, 2011. | |||
* {{cite journal |last1=Mesaros-Winckles |first1=Christy |title=TLC and the Fundamentalist Family: A Televised Quiverfull of Babies |journal=] |date=2010 |volume=22 |issue=3 |page=7 |doi=10.3138/jrpc.22.3.007}} | |||
* '''' blog (originally created by ]). | |||
== |
==External links== | ||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* | |||
* - '''M'''others '''O'''f '''M'''any '''Y'''oung '''C'''hildren | |||
* - contains many pro and con links | |||
* | * | ||
* {{cite web |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22526252 |title=The Quiverfull: The evangelical Christians opposed to contraception |date=17 May 2013 |publisher=BBC News}} | |||
{{Authority control}} | |||
== See also == | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
* ] | |||
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* ] | |||
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Latest revision as of 20:25, 28 November 2024
Pro-natalist Christian movement "Quiverful", "Quiver full", and "Full quiver" redirect here. For the container, see Quiver. For the 1980 anthology, see A Quiver Full of Arrows. For the fictional character, see Barchester Towers. For other uses, see Quiver (disambiguation).Quiverfull is a Christian theological position that sees large families as a blessing from God. It encourages procreation, abstaining from all forms of birth control, natural family planning, and sterilization reversal. The movement derives its name from Psalm 127:3–5, where many children are metaphorically referred to as the arrows in a full quiver.
Some sources have referred to the Quiverfull position as providentialism, while other sources have simply referred to it as a manifestation of natalism.
It is most widespread in the United States but it also has adherents in Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and elsewhere. One 2006 estimate put the number of families which subscribe to this philosophy as ranging from "the thousands to the low tens of thousands".
Historical background
See also: History of birth controlAs birth-control methods advanced during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, many conservative Christian movements issued official statements against their use, citing their incompatibility with biblical beliefs and ideals.
In addition, there are those who contend that Quiverfull's "internal growth" model is a manifestation of a broader trend which is reflected in the lifestyles of such groups as Orthodox Jews (particularly Haredi and Hasidic Jews) and certain Christians including Orthodox Calvinists of the Netherlands, traditional Anabaptists (such as Old Order Amish, Old Colony Mennonites, and certain Conservative Mennonites), some traditional Methodists of the conservative holiness movement, and Laestadian Lutherans of Finland. The former may also be a case of a manifestation of a movement of opinion within some ethnic, linguistic, religious, regional, or other identifiable groups whose members have expressed concern about their continued existence for historical or other reasons. Such philosophies and groups are diverse amongst themselves—being found in all segments and sectors of the political spectrum—and they usually represent, to varying extents, the diversity within their group. The manifestations of such movements and opinions include everything from comparatively high rates of in-group marriage being applauded and gently suggested, to more explicit calls for endogamy such as is the case with the Druze, to concerns which were expressed by Protestants in Northern Ireland about a higher birth rate amongst Catholics, to Decree 770 which was issued by Nicolae Ceaușescu's government in Romania with regard to contraception, and other population topics as part of its local variant of the North Korean ideology of Juche.
Anglican allowance of birth control
In 1930, the Lambeth Conference issued a statement permitting birth control: "Where there is a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood, complete abstinence is the primary and obvious method", but if there was morally sound reasoning for avoiding abstinence, "the Conference agrees that other methods may be used, provided that this is done in the light of Christian principles". Primary materials on the contemporary debate indicate a wide variety of opinion on the matter. In the decades that followed, birth control became gradually accepted among many other mainline Protestants, even among some conservative evangelicals.
Early Quiverfull authors
Main article: Mary Pride See also: Feminism, Antifeminism, and Birth controlIn the 20th century, Quiverfull as a modern Christian movement began to emerge. Nancy Campbell began publishing her magazine Above Rubies, which promotes and glorifies stay-at-home mothers who have as many children as possible, in 1977. While Campbell is in measure responsible for formulating Quiverfull ideas, the movement sparked most fully after the 1985 publication of Mary Pride's book The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality.
In her book, Pride chronicled her metaphorical journey away from what she labeled feminist and anti-natal ideas of happiness (within which she had lived as an activist before her conversion to conservative evangelical Christianity in 1977) toward her discovery of happiness surrounding what she portrayed as the biblically mandated role of wives and mothers as bearers of children and workers in the home under the authority of a husband. Pride wrote that such a lifestyle was generally biblically required of all married Christian women, but feminism had duped most Christian women without their awareness, especially in their acceptance of birth control.
As the basis for her arguments, Pride selected numerous Bible verses in order to lay out what she saw as the biblical role of women. These included verses which she interpreted as perpetuating her advocacy of compulsory childbearing and her opposition to the use of birth control which (in her view) was promoted by "the feminist agenda" by which she had formerly lived. Pride's explanations then became a spearheading basis of Quiverfull.
The name of the Quiverfull movement comes from Psalm 127:3–5, which Pride cited in The Way Home:
Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
— KJV
and the fruit of the womb is his reward.
As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man;
so are children of the youth.
Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them:
they shall not be ashamed,
but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.
Pride stated in her book: "The church's sin which has caused us to become unsavory salt incapable of uplifting the society around us is selfishness, lack of love, refusing to consider children an unmitigated blessing. In a word, family planning."
Consolidation and growth of the movement
After the publication of Pride's The Way Home, her ideas spread through informal social networks. Around this time, numerous church pastors issued sermons which were in accord with Pride's ideas and various small publications and a few Quiverfull-oriented books appeared.
As the Internet expanded several years later, the informal networks gradually took on more organized forms as Quiverfull adherents developed numerous Quiverfull-oriented organizations, books, electronic mailing lists, websites, and digests, most notably The Quiverfull Digest. The largely decentralized "Quiverfull" movement resulted.
From their onset, Quiverfull ideas have sometimes had a polarizing effect among Christians who hold to them and Christians who are skeptical of or disagree with them.
Motivations
Obedience to God
Quiverfull authors and adherents express their core motivation as a desire to obey God's commandments as stated in the Bible. Among these commandments, "be fruitful and multiply", "behold, children are a gift of the Lord", and passages showing God acting to open and close the womb are interpreted as giving a basis for their views. Quiverfull adherents typically maintain that their philosophy is first about an open, accepting and obedient attitude toward the possibility of bearing children. Within the view, this attitude may result in many, few or even no children, because God Himself maintains sole provenance over conception and birth. The duty of the Quiverfull adherent is only to maintain an "open willingness" to joyfully receive and not thwart however many children God chooses to bestow. Contraception in all its forms is seen as inconsistent with this attitude and is thus entirely avoided, as is abortion.
Missionary effort
Quiverfull's principal authors and its adherents also describe their motivation as a missionary effort to raise up many children as Christians to advance the cause of the Christian religion. Its distinguishing viewpoint is to eagerly receive children as blessings from God, eschewing all forms of contraception, including natural family planning, and sterilization.
Population and demography
According to journalist Kathryn Joyce, writing in the magazine The Nation: "he Quiverfull mission is rooted in faith, the unseen," even if "its mandate to be fruitful and multiply has tangible results as well." Others remark that Quiverfull resembles other world-denying fundamentalist movements that grow through internal reproduction and membership retention such as Orthodox Jews (particularly Haredi and Hasidic Jews), and certain Christian denominations (such as the Amish and Mennonites, and Laestadian Lutherans in Finland). Many are thriving as seculars and moderates have transitioned to below-replacement fertility.
Beliefs
The principal Quiverfull belief is that Christians should maintain a strongly welcoming attitude toward the possibility of bearing children. With minor exceptions, adherents reject birth control use as completely incompatible with this belief.
Majority doctrine
Most Quiverfull adherents regard children as unqualified blessings, gifts that should be received happily from God. Quiverfull authors Rick and Jan Hess argued for this belief in their 1990 book:
"Behold, children are a gift of the Lord." (Psa. 127:3) Do we really believe that? If children are a gift from God, let's for the sake of argument ask ourselves what other gift or blessing from God we would reject. Money? Would we reject great wealth if God gave it? Not likely! How about good health? Many would say that a man's health is his most treasured possession. But children? Even children given by God? "That's different!" some will plead! All right, is it different? God states right here in no-nonsense language that children are gifts. Do we believe His Word to be true?
Quiverfull authors such as Pride, Provan, and Hess extend this idea to mean that if one child is a blessing, then each additional child is likewise a blessing and not something to be viewed as economically burdensome or unaffordable. When a couple seeks to control family size via birth control they are thus "rejecting God's blessings" he might otherwise give and possibly breaking his commandment to "be fruitful and multiply."
Accordingly, Quiverfull theology opposes the general acceptance among mainline Protestant Christians of deliberately limiting family size or spacing children through birth control. For example, Mary Pride argued, "God commanded that sex be at least potentially fruitful (that is, not deliberately unfruitful). ... All forms of sex that shy away from marital fruitfulness are perverted." Adherents believe that God himself controls via Providence how many and how often children are conceived and born, pointing to Bible verses that describe God acting to "open and close the womb" (see Genesis 20:18, 29:31, 30:22; 1 Samuel 1:5-6; Isaiah 66:9). Hess and Hess state that couples "just need to trust God to provide them with the perfect number of children for their situation."
Some Quiverfull adherents base their rejection of birth control upon the belief that the Genesis creation and post–Noahic flood Bible passages to "be fruitful and multiply" (see Genesis 1:22; 9:7) are un-rescinded biblical commandments. For example, Charles D. Provan argues:
"Be fruitful and multiply"... is a command of God, indeed the first command to a married couple. Birth control obviously involves disobedience to this command, for birth control attempts to prevent being fruitful and multiplying. Therefore birth control is wrong, because it involves disobedience to the Word of God. Nowhere is this command done away with in the entire Bible; therefore it still remains valid for us today.
Quiverfull advocates such as Rick and Jan Hess and Rachel Giove Scott believe that the Devil deceives Christian couples into using birth control so that children God otherwise willed to create are prevented from being born. In addition, a Quiverfull adherent was quoted in the 2001 Calgary Herald as making this statement: "Children are made in God's image, and the enemy hates that image, so the more of them he can prevent from being born, the more he likes it."
Infertility
Adherents view barrenness, referred to as an "empty quiver", as something to be accepted from God as His choice, which then becomes a matter of prayer in the hope that God may decide to miraculously intervene. Quiverfull adherents also see infertility treatments as a usurpation of God's providence and accordingly reject them. Adoption is viewed as a positive option through which couples can also rely on God's providence to send children. Biblical references to God's love for the orphan and the belief that people are saved through adoption into God's family are often noted.
Some circles do accept medical interventions, since improving opportunities for pregnancy is not seen to guarantee it any more than with any healthy couple. Also, some reproductive health problems may be seen as symptomatic of other health problems which need to be addressed generally.
Minority doctrine
Not all Quiverfull families and authors agree with each statement which was made by the movement's principal authors.
Samuel Owens considers the possibility that some aspects of a fallen universe may sometimes justify the option to use a non–potentially abortive birth control method. These aspects of a fallen universe include serious illnesses, inevitable Caesarean sections, and other problematic situations, such as disabling mental instability and serious marital disharmony. Owens additionally argues that birth control may be permissible for married couples who are called to a "higher moral purpose" than having children, such as caring long-term for many orphans or serving as career missionaries in a dangerous location.
Despite some variances, all Quiverfull families and authors agree that God's normative ideal for happy, healthy and prosperous married couples is to take no voluntary actions that will prevent them from having children.
Practices
Non-use of contraception
See also: Fertility, Infertility, and Protestant views on contraceptionQuiverfull adherents maintain that God "opens and closes the womb" of a woman on a case-by-case basis, and that any attempts to regulate fertility are usurpation of divine power. Thus, the defining practice of a Quiverfull married couple is not to use any form of birth control and to maintain continual "openness to children," that is to say, engaging in routine sexual intercourse with no attempt to limit the possibility of conception. This practice is irrespective of the time of the month during the menstrual cycle, and is considered by Quiverfull adherents to be the principal—if not the primary—aspect of their Christian calling in submission to the Lordship of Christ.
Proponents of the Quiverfull movement also regard contraceptive pills and other similar contraceptives as unacceptable abortifacients.
Some Quiverfull adherents advocate for birth spacing through breastfeeding, so that the return of fertility after childbirth could be delayed by lactational amenorrhea.
Family organization, homeschooling, homesteading
See also: Dominionism and PatriarchyQuiverfull authors and adherents advocate for and seek to model a return to biblical patriarchy. Mary Pride has more recently attempted to distance herself from the patriarchy movement and from a focus on the father's role in training daughters. In a column published in her magazine Practical Homeschooling in 2009, as well as in the afterword to the 25th-anniversary edition of The Way Home, Pride clarified her position that it is primarily mothers, not fathers, who should teach girls about women's roles and duties. As Emily McGowin notes in her 2018 book Quivering Families, however, " differentiates herself from these approaches without denying the underlying gender hierarchy and pronatalism."
Quiverfull authors typically organize family governance to reflect an "umbrella of protection" with the mother as a homemaker under the authority of her husband and the children under the authority of both. Parents seek to largely shelter their children from aspects of culture deemed adversarial to their religious beliefs. Additionally, Quiverfull families strongly incline toward homeschooling and toward homesteading in a rural area. However, exceptions exist in substantial enough proportions that these latter two items are general and are often idealized correlations to Quiverfull practices and not integral parts of them.
Sterilization reversal surgery
Quiverfull adherents Brad and Dawn Irons run Blessed Arrows Sterilization Reversal Ministry. The couple advocates for Quiverfull ideas while providing funding, physician referrals, and support to Christians wishing to undergo sterilization reversal surgery. Institute in Basic Life Principles founder Bill Gothard advocates for reversals, saying that sterilized couples have "cut off children" and should devote themselves instead to "raising up godly seed".
Criticism
The movement has been criticized by journalists from Glamour Magazine for what they perceive to be sexism and a demeaning approach to women.
Criticism from other Christians
James B. Jordan maintains that, while children are indeed blessings, they are only one among a wide range of blessings God offers, and prayerfully choosing foci among them is part of prudent Christian stewardship.
John Piper's Desiring God Ministries has published some comments that relate to Quiverfull:
Just because something is a gift from the Lord does not mean that it is wrong to be a steward of when or whether you will come into possession of it. It is wrong to reason that since A is good and a gift from the Lord, then we must pursue as much of A as possible. God has made this a world in which tradeoffs have to be made and we cannot do everything to the fullest extent. For kingdom purposes, it might be wise not to get married. And for kingdom purposes, it might be wise to regulate the size of one's family and to regulate when the new additions to the family will likely arrive. As Wayne Grudem has said, "it is okay to place less emphasis on some good activities in order to focus on other good activities."
Criticism from former Quiverfull adherents
Some women who have left the Quiverfull movement are now vocally critical of it. Vyckie Garrison spent 16 years living the Quiverfull lifestyle and had seven children before leaving her husband and ultimately becoming an atheist. She told Vice that her health was negatively affected by so many births and that over time, her husband became "a tyrant." Garrison founded the blog No Longer Quivering to share her own story and the stories of other women who had been harmed by the Quiverfull lifestyle. The blog is now maintained by Suzanne Titkemeyer, another former Quiverfull adherent who describes her years in the movement as "disastrous."
Likewise, some children who were raised in Quiverfull homes have grown up to speak out against the movement. In 2018, Eve Ettinger and Kieryn Darkwater started a podcast called Kitchen Table Cult in which they discuss their experiences of being raised Quiverfull and connect the ideology to current events such as the election of Donald Trump. In a 2015 interview about their upbringing, Ettinger said that in Quiverfull families, "the parents are just as confused as the kids, and often are struggling with deep-set psychological issues and need as much therapy and compassion as the kids do to recover from the dehumanizing reality of trying to have a perfect Quiverfull family to please a demanding and holy God."
CFCtoo, an advocacy group for survivors of the Quiverfull community Christian Fellowship Center, is advocating for New York to amend their mandated reporting laws to include clergy. CFCtoo argues that such laws are necessary to combat the Quiverfull movement's propensity for "incest, child sexual abuse, and systematic abuse coverups based on a twisted understanding of biblical forgiveness."
Notable adherents
- Doug Phillips, a Calvinist Christian and the son of U.S. Constitution Party leader Howard Phillips. From 1998 to 2013, Doug Phillips was the president of Vision Forum Ministries, a now-defunct organization which advocated biblical patriarchy, creationism, homeschooling, and Quiverfull. Phillips and his wife, Beall, have seven children.
- Charles D. Provan, whose book The Bible and Birth Control is routinely cited by Quiverfull adherents as providing an important theological justification for their movement. Provan was mentioned in a November 27, 2006, article about Quiverfull in The Nation. He also authored books and articles on other Christian topics. Before Provan's death in 2007, he and his wife had 10 children.
- R. C. Sproul, Jr., a Calvinist Christian theologian and the son of the noted Reformed theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries, Robert Charles Sproul. Sproul Jr. and his wife, Denise, had eight children before Denise died.
- Nancy Campbell, author, speaker, and mother of 10 children. Nancy and her husband Colin run Above Rubies, "a ministry to encourage women in their high calling as wives, mothers, and homemakers. Its purpose is to uphold and strengthen family life and to raise the standard of God's truth in the nation." Campbell's magazine has a worldwide circulation of over 160,000, and began its publication in 1977.
- Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, known for the reality TV show 19 Kids and Counting.
See also
- Childfree
- Christian views on contraception
- Natalism
- Overpopulation
- Traducianism
- Turpin case
- Voluntary Human Extinction Movement
References
- ^ Hess, Rick and Jan (1990). A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ. Brentwood, TN: Hyatt Publishers. ISBN 0-943497-83-3.
- Dennis Rainey (2002). "The Value of Children (11 July 2002 FamilyLife Today Radio Broadcast)". FamilyLife Today. Archived from the original (Transcript of radio broadcast) on October 1, 2005. Retrieved 2006-09-30.
- ^ Campbell, Nancy (2003). Be Fruitful and Multiply: What the Bible Says about Having Children. San Antonio: Vision Forum. ISBN 0-9724173-5-4.
- ^ Kathryn Joyce (9 November 2006). "Arrows for the War". The Nation. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
- Torode, Sam and Bethany; et al. (2002). Open Embrace: A Protestant Couple Rethinks Contraception. Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing. ISBN 0-8028-3973-8.
- Strand, Paul (2006). "Back to the Future: The Growing Movement of Natalism". Christian Broadcasting Network. Retrieved 2006-10-07. (originally published by CBN News, archived September 24, 2008)
- Brooks, David (2004-12-07). "The New Red-Diaper Babies". New York Times. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- ^ Joe Woodward (Mar 31, 2001). "The godliness of fertility: A growing Protestant movement is rediscovering the sanctification available in large families". Calgary Herald: OS.10. ProQuest 244455568.
- Epp, Marlene (15 July 2011). Mennonite Women in Canada: A History. University of Manitoba Press. ISBN 978-0-88755-410-0.
- Bottos, Lorenzo Cañás (31 January 2008). Old Colony Mennonites in Argentina and Bolivia: Nation Making, Religious Conflict and Imagination of the Future. BRILL. p. 81. ISBN 978-90-474-3063-6.
- Adams C, Leverland M (1986). "The effects of religious beliefs on the health care practices of the Amish". Nurse Pract. 11 (3): 58, 63, 67. doi:10.1097/00006205-198603000-00008. PMID 3446212.
- "Contraception".
- Campbell, Flann (Nov 1960). "Birth Control and the Christian Churches". Population Studies. 14 (2): 131–147. doi:10.2307/2172010. JSTOR 2172010.
- Allen, James E. (1976). "Family Planning Attitudes of Seminary Students". Review of Religious Research. 9 (1): 52–55. doi:10.2307/3509598. JSTOR 3509598.
- Goldschneider, Calvin & William D. Mosher (1988). "Religious Affiliation and Contraceptive Usage". Studies in Family Planning. 19 (1): 48–57. doi:10.2307/1966739. JSTOR 1966739. PMID 3363605.
- ^ Ellison, Christopher G. & Patricia Goodson (1997). "Conservative Protestantism and Attitudes toward Family Planning in a Sample of Seminarians". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 36 (4): 512–529. doi:10.2307/1387687. JSTOR 1387687.
- Marcum, John P. (1981). "Explaining Fertility Differences among U.S. Protestants". Social Forces. 60 (2): 532–43. doi:10.2307/2578449. JSTOR 2578449.
- ^ Joyce, Kathryn (2009). Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement. Boston: Beacon Press. pp. 47. ISBN 9780807096222.
- ^ Pride, Mary (1985). The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality. Wheaton, IL: Good News Publishers. ISBN 0-89107-345-0.
- The More the Holier?. ABC News Nightline. January 3, 2006.
- Goodman, Patricia (1997). "Protestants and Family Planning". Journal of Religion and Health. 36 (4): 353–366. doi:10.1023/A:1027437310363. S2CID 5886144.
- Gen 1:22;8:17;9:1
- Psalm 127:3
- Gen 20:18;29:31;30:22, 1Sam 1:5–6, Isaiah 66:9
- Kaufmann, Eric. 2011. Shall the Religious Inherit the Earth: Demography and Politics in the Twenty-First Century. London: Profile Books. Also see www.sneps.net
- Toft, Monica Duffy. 2011. "Wombfare: The Religious and Political Dimensions of Fertility and Demographic Change." in Political Demography: identity, conflict and institutions ed. J. A. Goldstone, E. Kaufmann and M. Toft. Boulder, CO: Paradigm Press Archived 2017-02-26 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Provan, Charles D. (1989). The Bible and Birth Control. Monongahela, PA: Zimmer Printing. ISBN 99917-998-3-4.. Quote and its chapter available at http://www.jesus-passion.com/contraception.htm
- Robben, Donetta (2006). "Blessings by the Dozen" (PDF). American Life League Magazine. Sept.-Oct. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-10-07.
- ^ Scott, Rachel (2004). Birthing God's Mighty Warriors. Longwood, FL: Xulon Press. ISBN 1-59467-465-5.
- "Enjoying YOUR Quiverfull". 2008-05-09.
- Owen, Jr., Samuel A. (1990). Letting God Plan Your Family. Wheaton, IL: Crossway Books. ISBN 0-89107-585-2.
- Kathryn Joyce (30 November 2006). "Quiverfull: More Children For God's Army". RH Reality Check. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
- Patrick McCrystal. "QuiverFull Pill Fact Sheet". Pharmacists For Life International. Retrieved 2013-05-17.
- Trussell J (May 2011). "Contraceptive failure in the United States". Contraception. 83 (5): 397–404. doi:10.1016/j.contraception.2011.01.021. PMC 3638209. PMID 21477680.
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- Pride, Mary (2010) . The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality (25th anniversary ed.). Fenton, Missouri: Home Life Books. ISBN 9781453699300.
- McGowin, Emily Hunter (2018). Quivering Families: The Quiverfull Movement and Evangelical Theology of the Family. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. ISBN 9781506446608.
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Further reading
Books advocating a Quiverfull position
- Adams, Shelly and Morgan. Arrows in His Hand (children's book). Monument Pub., Monument, CO: 2007.
- Andrews, Robert. The Family: God's Weapon for Victory. Winepress Publishing, 1996; ISBN 1-883893-24-0. Sentinel Press, 2002; ISBN 0-9715694-0-1.
- Campbell, Nancy. Be Fruitful and Multiply. Vision Forum, San Antonio, TX: 2003. ISBN 0-9724173-5-4.
- Flanders, Jennifer. Love Your Husband/Love Yourself: Embracing God's Purpose for Passion in Marriage. Prescott Publishing, Tyler, TX: 2010. ISBN 978-0982626900.
- Hess, Rick and Jan. A Full Quiver: Family Planning and the Lordship of Christ. Wolgemuth & Hyatt Publishers, Brentwood, TN: 1990. ISBN 0-943497-83-3.
- Houghton, Craig. Family UNplanning. Xulon Press, Longwood, FL: 2006. ISBN 978-1-60034-851-8.
- Owen, Samuel A. Jr. Letting God Plan Your Family. Crossway Books, Wheaton, IL: 1990. ISBN 0-89107-585-2.
- Pride, Mary. The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality. Good News Pub, Wheaton, IL: 1985. ISBN 0-89107-345-0.
- Provan, Charles D. The Bible and Birth Control. Zimmer Printing, Monongahela, PA: 1989. ISBN 99917-998-3-4.
- Chapter of Provan's book available here. Audio files of Provan's complete book available by searching with his name at sermonaudio.com
- Scott, Rachel. Birthing God's Mighty Warriors. Xulon Press, Longwood, FL: 2004. ISBN 1-59467-465-5.
Books which advocate Quiverfull as a secondary focus
- Farris, Vickie. A Mom Just Like You. B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN: 2002. ISBN 0-8054-2586-1.
Sources which are critical of Quiverfull
- Ettinger, Eve, and Kieryn Darkwater. Kitchen Table Cult podcast.
- Joyce, Kathryn. Women’s Liberation Through Submission: An Evangelical Anti-Feminism Is Born.
- Joyce, Kathryn. Quiverfull: Inside the Christian Patriarchy Movement. Beacon Press, Boston, MA: 2009. ISBN 0-8070-1070-7.
- McFarland, Hillary. "Quivering Daughters: Hope and Healing for the Daughters of Patriarchy". Darklight Press, 2010.
- McGowin, Emily. Quivering Families: The Quiverfull Movement and Evangelical Theology of the Family. Minneapolis: Fortress Press, 2018.
- McKeown, John. "US Protestant natalist reception of Old Testament "fruitful verses": a critique." Liverpool University PhD thesis, 2011. Revised as book God's Babies: Natalism and Bible Interpretation in Modern America, OpenBook, 2014.
- Mesaros-Winckles, Christy (2010). "TLC and the Fundamentalist Family: A Televised Quiverfull of Babies". Journal of Religion and Popular Culture. 22 (3): 7. doi:10.3138/jrpc.22.3.007.
- No Longer Quivering blog (originally created by Vyckie Garrison).
External links
- QuiverFull.Com
- Video feeds of ABC News Nightline on Quiverfull
- "The Quiverfull: The evangelical Christians opposed to contraception". BBC News. 17 May 2013.