Quiverfull

Historical backdrop

:"Also see: History of Birth Control"Some of the beliefs held among Quiverfull adherents have been held among various Christians during prior eras of history. 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.

Anglican allowance of birth control and feminism

In 1930 the Anglican Church 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 feminist movement which began about a decade earlier under American Birth Control League (which eventually became Planned Parenthood) founder Margaret Sanger emerged to advocate for modern birth control.cite journal | author=Benjamin, Hazel C.| title=Lobbying for Birth Control| journal=The Public Opinion Quarterly| year=1938| volume=2| issue=1| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0033-362X%28193801%292%3A1%3C48%3ALFBC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-I| pages=48–60| doi=10.1086/265152] 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] In the decades that followed, birth control became gradually accepted among Protestants, even among the most conservative evangelicals.cite journal | author=Campbell, Flann| title=Birth Control and the Christian Churches| journal=Population Studies| year=Nov., 1960| volume=Vol. 14| issue=No. 2| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0032-4728%28196011%2914%3A2%3C131%3ABCATCC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-X| pages=131–147| doi=10.2307/2172010 ] cite journal | author=Allen, James E.| title=Family Planning Attitudes of Seminary Students| journal=Review of Religious Research| year=1976| volume=9| issue=1| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0034-673X%28196723%299%3A1%3C52%3AFPAOSS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R| pages=52–55| doi=10.2307/3509598] 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| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0039-3665%28198801%2F02%2919%3A1%3C48%3ARAACUC%3E2.0.CO%3B2-8| pages=48–57| doi=10.2307/1966739] 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| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8294%28199712%2936%3A4%3C512%3ACPAATF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5| pages=512–529| doi=10.2307/1387687]

Early Quiverfull authors

: "Main article: Mary Pride": "Also see: Feminism, Anti-feminism, and Birth control"

Within that context, Quiverfull as a modern Christian movement began to emerge.cite journal | author=Marcum, John P.| title=Explaining Fertility Differences among U.S. Protestants| journal=Social Forces| year=1981| volume=60| issue=2| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0037-7732%28198112%2960%3A2%3C532%3AEFDAUP%3E2.0.CO%3B2-A| pages=532–543| doi=10.2307/2578449] The movement was 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 journey away from what she stated were 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 said was 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 that most Christian women had been unknowingly duped by feminism, importantly in their acceptance of birth control.cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| year=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0] 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| url=http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0021-8294%28199712%2936%3A4%3C512%3ACPAATF%3E2.0.CO%3B2-5| pages=512–529| doi=10.2307/1387687]

As the basis for her arguments, Pride selected numerous Bible verses 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 birth control, 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.

Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD:
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.(emphasis added).KJV

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."cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| year=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0]

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 social networks. Around this time, numerous church pastors issued sermons in accord with Pride's ideas and various small publications and a few Quiverfull-oriented books emerged.

As the Internet 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, listserves, websites, and digests, most notably "The Quiverfull Digest". The largely decentralized "Quiverfull" movement resulted.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|date=9 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML] cite book | title=The More the Holier?| date=January 3, 2006| publisher=ABC News Nightline]

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, accepting and obedient attitude toward the possibility of birthing 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 are seen as inconsistent with this attitude and are thus entirely avoided, as is abortion.

Missionary effort

Population and demography

According to journalist Kathryn Joyce,

Conservative politics

Quiverfull authors Hess and Hess, along with Joyce, also connect the proliferation of conservative politics as a motivation behind Quiverfull. Hess and Hess state,

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.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| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3]

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.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| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3] 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|date=9 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML]

Beliefs

The principal Quiverfull belief is that Christians should maintain a strongly welcoming attitude toward the possibility of bearing children. With minor exception, adherents reject birth control use as completely incompatible with this belief.

Majority doctrine

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.

"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?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| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3]

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".cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| year=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0] cite book | title=The Bible and Birth Control| last=Provan| first=Charles D.| year=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] 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| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3] 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] 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."cite book | title=The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality| last=Pride| first=Mary| year=1985| publisher=Good News Publishers| location=Wheaton, IL| id=ISBN 0-89107-345-0] 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 [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2020:18;&version=49; Genesis 20:18] , [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2029:31;&version=49; 29:31] , [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Genesis%2030:22;&version=49; 30:22] ; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=1%20Samuel%201:5-6;&version=49; 1 Samuel 1:5-6] ; [http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah%2066:9;&version=49; Isaiah 66:9] ).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| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3] cite book | title=Birthing God's Mighty Warriors| last=Scott| first=Rachel| year=2004| publisher=Xulon Press| location=Longwood, FL| id = ISBN 1-59467-465-5] Hess and Hess state that couples "just need to trust God to provide them with the perfect number of children for their situation."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| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3]

Rejection of birth control by some Quiverfull adherents is based upon the belief that the Genesis creation and post-Noahic flood Bible passages to "be fruitful and multiply" (see [http://bible.cc/genesis/1-22.htm Genesis 1:22] ; [http://bible.cc/genesis/9-7.htm 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.cite book | title=The Bible and Birth Control| last=Provan| first=Charles D.| year=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]

Quiverfull advocates such as Hess and Hess, Nancy Leigh DeMoss, 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.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| id = ISBN 0-943497-83-3] cite book | title=Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free| last=DeMoss| first=Nancy Leigh| year=2002| publisher=Moody Publishers| location=Chicago, IL| id = ISBN 0-8024-7296-6] cite book | title=Birthing God's Mighty Warriors| last=Scott| first=Rachel| year=2004| publisher=Xulon Press| location=Longwood, FL| id = ISBN 1-59467-465-5] A Quiverfull adherent quoted in 1991 in the "Calgary Herald" 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."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| url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=207093851&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD| pages=OS.10]

Infertility

Adherents view barrenness, referred to as an "empty quiver" by adherents, as something to be accepted from God if that is his choice, while also making it a matter of prayer in the belief that God may wish to miraculously intervene. Infertility treatments, like birth control, are seen as a usurpation of God's providence and accordingly rejected.

Minority doctrine

:"Also see: Pragmatism"Not all Quiverfull families and authors would agree with each statement made by the movement's principal authors.

Samuel Owens considers that there may be aspects of a fallen universe that sometimes justify an option to use a non-potentially abortive birth control method. 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 orphans or serving as career missionaries in a dangerous location.cite book | title=Letting God Plan Your Family| last=Owen, Jr.| first=Samuel A.| year=1990| publisher=Crossway Books| location=Wheaton, IL| id = ISBN 0-89107-585-2]

Practices

Non-use of contraception

:"Also see: Fertility and Infertility, and 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 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 conception, during routine sexual intercourse irrespective of timing of the month during the ovulation cycle. This is considered by Quiverfull adherents to be a principal, if not the primary, aspect of their Christian calling in submission to the lordship of Christ.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] 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 infertility 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 marriage. Quiverfull adherents advocate for child spacing through breastfeeding, so return of fertility after childbirth could be delayed by lactational amenorrhea, although the method is not certain. This method is only believed to act as a contraceptive method in 50% of cases, meaning that the general advice is never to rely on this alone if conception is not desired.

Family organization, homeschooling, homesteading

:"Also see: Family and Patriarchy"

Quiverfull authors and adherents advocate for and seek to model a return to Biblical Patriarchy. Families are typically arranged with the mother as a homemaker under the authority of her husband 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.

Additionally, Quiverfull families are strongly inclined toward homeschooling and homesteading in a rural 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.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| pages=393–410]

terilization reversals

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 sterilization reversal surgery.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] Protestants such as Bill Gothard also advocate for reversals, saying that sterilized couples have "cut off children" but should instead devoted themselves to "raising up godly seed".

Criticisms

From Protestants

Jeffrey J. Meyers examines the biblical and theological arguments that Pride puts forth and carefully points out the shortcomings of her interpretations.cite book | title=Does the Bible Forbid Family Planning?: A Biblical and Theological Evaluation of Mary Pride's Arguments Against All Forms of Birth Control| last=Meyers| first=Jeffrey J.| year=1990| publisher=Biblical Horizons| location=Niceville, FL|]

John Piper's "Desiring God Ministries" criticizes Quiverfull by saying that

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.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]

From Catholics

"Humanae Vitae", Pope Paul VI's encyclical encompassing family life and sexuality, which reconfirmed the Church's stance against abortion and birth control, also discussed responsible parenthood. Responsible parenthood "is exercised, either by the deliberate and generous decision to raise a numerous family, or by the decision, made for grave motives and with due respect for the moral law, to avoid for the time being, or even for an indeterminate period, a new birth." [ [http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/paul_vi/encyclicals/documents/hf_p-vi_enc_25071968_humanae-vitae_en.html Humanae Vitae - Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Paul VI on the regulation of birth, 25 July 1968 ] ]

Pope Paul VI further stated in "Gaudium et Spes", No, 50, "let them thoughtfully take into account both their own welfare and that of their children, those already born and those which the future may bring. For this accounting they need to reckon with both the material and the spiritual conditions of the times as well as of their state in life. Finally, they should consult the interests of the family group, of temporal society, and of the Church herself. The parents themselves and no one else should ultimately make this judgment in the sight of God." [ [http://www.vatican.va/archive/hist_councils/ii_vatican_council/documents/vat-ii_cons_19651207_gaudium-et-spes_en.html Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern Word-Gaudium et Spes ] ]

In addition, Humanae Vitae reconfirmed that conjugal life between married people is both unitive and procreative, and that mis-attention to either of those is disordered. "It is in fact justly observed that a conjugal act imposed upon one's partner without regard for his or her condition and lawful desires is not a true act of love, and therefore denies an exigency of right moral order in the relationships between husband and wife."

The Catholic teaching therefore is that, while humankind have been commanded by God in Genesis to increase and multiply (Gen 2:18), parents also have a responsibility to their families and to society to ensure that the children they have, can be appropriately cared for. In addition, the health of the mother is a concern; having pregnancy after pregnancy with no recuperative time does not fall under responsible parenthood.

From feminists

Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff, 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."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| date=November 29, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/29] 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." 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| date=November 14, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/i-name-the-patriarchy-part-i-the-truth-about-full-quiver-women/] cite journal | author=Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff| title=Confronting the Religious Right| journal=Of Our Backs Feminist Newsjournal| year=2006| volume=36| issue=3]

Controversies

Andrea Yates

Seelhoff and others claim that Andrea Yates 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 murdered her five young children, ages six-months, two, three, five, and seven, by holding them down and drowning them in their home bathtub. She was found "not guilty by reason of insanity" and is currently institutionalized. Her husband, Rusty, was aware that she was depressed and unwell, and did not ensure that his wife was well enough to stay home and take care of five children. Because his actions were not deemed criminal, he was not prosecuted, and in fact he obtained a divorce from Yates and remarried only two days prior to the beginning of her trial.

Quiverfull adherents argue that the Yates never specifically self-identified as Quiverfull and thereby reject that they were actually part of the movement.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/] 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| date=November 14, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/i-name-the-patriarchy-part-i-the-truth-about-full-quiver-women/] cite journal | author=Joan Kennedy Taylor| title=What Weren't We Discussing about "Andrea Yates?"| journal=Free Inquiry| year=Summer 2002| volume=22| issue=3| url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=aph&AN=6842652&site=ehost-live| pages=20–22] 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] cite journal | author=Timothy Roche| title=The Yates Odyssey| journal=TIME Magazine| date=January 20, 2002| url=http://www.time.com/time/printout/0,8816,195325,00.html]

Quiverfull and Roman Catholicism

:"Also see: Roman Catholic views on contraception"

Although there are a few similarities between the two, Roman Catholics sometimes adopt the Quiverfull label without understanding the quite substantial distinctions.

imilarities

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.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]

Differences

Moreover, Roman Catholic theology emphasizes the relationship between sexual intercourse and fertility, rather than children "per se", as part of the natural law 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 natural family planning (NFP) for grave reasons, although the translation of the Latin word "grave" is sometimes debated. [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 | year = 1993 | url = http://home.comcast.net/~icuweb/c00206.htm | accessdate = 2006-09-12 ] Use of NFP to avoid pregnancy may be actively promoted in extreme circumstances such as serious health problems, dire poverty, and active persecution. [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 ]

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 birth control 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 previously garnered some attention in the Christian press,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] 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|date=1 August 2006|author=Leslie Leyland Fields|format=HTML] the Canadian press in March 2001,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| url=http://proquest.umi.com/pqdweb?did=207093851&sid=1&Fmt=3&clientId=6993&RQT=309&VName=PQD| pages=OS.10| format=subscription required] and in various scholarly pieces, it began to receive focused attention in the U.S. national press in 2004.

"New York Times"

In an article on December 7, 2004, "New York Times" journalist David Brooks described an arising movement he called simply "natalism" and sought to show how in the future it could shift the U.S. political landscape from a philosophy of liberalism to conservatism. Brooks concluded, "Natalists are associated with red America, but they're not launching a jihad".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] 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|date=9 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML]

"The Nation"

Journalist Kathryn Joyce connected Brooks' "natalism" with Quiverfull and disagreed with him in her November 9, 2006, 5-page exposé on Quiverfull in "The Nation". Joyce emphasized that the movement uses what she described as "military-industrial 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."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|date=9 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML]

"Newsweek"

Four days later, on November 13, 2006, "Newsweek" 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.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|date=13 November 2006|author=Eileen Finan|format=HTML]

ABC News "Nightline"

On January 3, 2006, ABC News "Nightline" aired a special segment, "The More the Holier?", on the Quiverfull movement.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|date=January 3, 2007|author=Ted Gerstein and John Berman|work= Nightline|format=HTML] The coverage was re-aired on ABC's "World News Now" about four hours later. On September 15th, 2007, "Nightline" revisited the issue as part of their "Faith Matters" series, again featuring the Carpenter family.

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".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] Additionally, a few disagreeing Quiverfull adherents undertook apologetic responses on the Internet discussion forums provided by the latter national publishers in immediate on-site connection with their articles.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|date=9 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML] 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|date=13 November 2006|author=Eileen Finan|format=HTML]

Notable adherents

* The Duggar family -- headed by Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, the family consists of, as of June 2008, seventeen children (#18 is due around January 2009). The Duggars are perhaps the most widely known example of the Quiverfull movement in the United States, as they have been featured on several programs on the American cable network TLC, including a new series ("17 Children and Counting") which began in September 2008.

* Michael Farris - Farris is a conservative United States constitutional lawyer and founder of the Home School Legal Defense Association (HSLDA) and Patrick Henry College. His wife Vickie is the author of "A Mom Just Like You" (2002). The couple have ten children and six grandchildren cite web|url=http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Michael_P._Farris |title=Bio for Mr Farris |accessdate=2007-04-20 |language=American English ] .cite book | title=A Mom Just Like You| last=Farris| first=Vickie| year=2002| publisher=B&H Publishing Group| location=Nashville, TN| id=ISBN 0-8054-2586-1]

*Doug Phillips - Phillips is the son of U.S. Constitution Party leader Howard Phillips and president of Vision Forum Ministries that advocates for Biblical patriarchy, creationism, homeschooling, and Quiverfull. Doug and his wife Beall have eight children.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] cite book | title=Be Fruitfull and Multiply| last=Campbell| first=Nancy| year=2003| publisher=Vision Forum| location=San Antonio| id=ISBN 0-9724173-5-4]

* Charles D. Provan - 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 The Nation Magazine. He is an author of books and articles on other Christian topics and that criticize outright Holocaust denial while revising certain elements thereof. He and his wife have ten children.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|date=9 November 2006|author=Kathryn Joyce|format=HTML]

* R.C. Sproul, Jr. is a Calvinist Christian minister and theologian and is the son of Robert Charles Sproul, a noted Reformed theologian and founder of Ligonier Ministries. Sproul Jr. and his wife Denise have seven children.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| date=November 14, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/i-name-the-patriarchy-part-i-the-truth-about-full-quiver-women/] cite book | title=Bound for Glory: God's Promise for Your Family| last=Sproul| first=R. C., Jr.| year=2003| publisher=Crossway Books| id=ISBN 1581344953] Cite web|url=http://highlands.gospelcom.net/|title=Highlands Study Center|accessdate=2007-01-21|publisher=Highlands Study Center|year=2007|format=HTML]

*Matthew Trewhella - Trewhella is a Calvinist minister and founder of Missionaries to the Pre-Born. He was the subject of a 1994 FBI investigation for incitation of abortion clinic violence. He and his wife, Clara, have eleven children.cite journal | author=Melinda Liu| title=Inside the Anti-abortion Underground: The FBI probes a ministry of fear| journal=Newsweek Magazine| date=August 29, 1994] cite journal | title=The Quiverfull Digest| year=2007| issue=#3395] 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]

Notable former adherents

*Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff - divorced birth-mother of eleven children and former editor of "Gentle Spirit Magazine", a magazine on Christian topics and homeschooling that reached a circulation of 35,000. She now considers herself a feminist.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| date=November 29, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/29] 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| date=November 14, 2006| url=http://womensspace.wordpress.com/2006/11/14/i-name-the-patriarchy-part-i-the-truth-about-full-quiver-women/] cite journal | author=Cheryl Lindsey Seelhoff| title=Confronting the Religious Right| journal=Of Our Backs Feminist Newsjournal| year=2006| volume=36| issue=3]

Further reading

Books dedicated to 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 1883893240 ; Sentinel Press 2002. ISBN 0971569401
* Campbell, Nancy. "Be Fruitful and Multiply." Vision Forum, San Antonio, TX: 2003. ISBN 0-9724173-5-4
* 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: 2007. ISBN 1-60034-851-8
* Owen, Jr., Samuel A. "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
* Scott, Rachel. "Birthing God's Mighty Warriors." Xulon Press, Longwood, FL: 2004. ISBN 1-59467-465-5

Books advocating Quiverfull as a secondary focus

* DeMoss, Nancy Leigh. "Lies Women Believe: And the Truth that Sets Them Free." Moody Publishers, Chicago, IL: 2002. ISBN 0-8024-7296-6
* Farris, Vickie. "A Mom Just Like You". B&H Publishing Group, Nashville, TN: 2002. ISBN 0-8054-2586-1

See also

* Amish
* Antifeminism
* Breeder (slang)
* Christian movements
* Christian views on contraception
* Creationism
* Fecundism
* Natalism
* Overpopulation
* Patriarchy
* Population
* Providentialism
* Traducianism
* Childfree
* Voluntary Human Extinction Movement

References

External links

* [http://www.fullquivermission.com/ Full Quiver Mission]
* [http://www.quiverfull.com/ QuiverFull.Com]
* [http://www.aboverubies.org Aboverubies.org]
* [http://www.cmomb.com Christian Moms of Many Blessings]
* [http://www.momys.com/ MOMYS.com] (Mothers Of Many Young Siblings)
* [http://bellsouthpwp.net/e/w/ewenste/quiverfulllinks.html Quiverfull Links Page] - contains many pro and con links
* [http://www.newscloud.com/read/77984 Video feeds of ABC News "Nightline" on Quiverfull]

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Quiverfull — est un mouvement chrétien conservateur qui ne constitue pas une église en lui même mais qui est transversal. Certains de ses membres sont baptistes, d autres protestants d une autre congrégation ou catholiques[réf. nécessaire]. Le nom… … Wikipédia en Français
Quiverfull-Bewegung — Die Quiverfull Bewegung ist eine soziale Bewegung unter konservativen protestantischen Paaren. Sie hat ihre meisten Anhänger in den USA. Die Bewegung vertritt die Meinung, dass Kinder ein Geschenk Gottes seien. Die natürliche Rolle der Frau sei… … Deutsch Wikipedia
Quiverfull — noun A conservative evangelical Christian movement that promotes procreation, rejects birth control, and regards children as a blessing from God … Wiktionary
Duggar family — The Duggar family is an Arkansas family, headed by Jim Bob Duggar and Michelle Duggar (married July 21, 1984), who have been repeatedly featured in the news and entertainment media for having seventeen children. The family has been filmed for… … Wikipedia
Jim Bob Duggar — Infobox Person name = Jim Bob Duggar image size = 200px caption = Jim (left) with his wife Michelle (right). birth date = birth date and age|1965|7|18 birth place = death date = death place = education = occupation = Real estate agent Former… … Wikipedia
Providentialism — is a belief that God s will is evident in all occurrences. It can further be described as a belief that the power of God (or Providence) is so complete that humans cannot equal his abilities, or fully understand his plan. Another aspect of… … Wikipedia
Mary Pride — (born 1955) is an American author and magazine producer on homeschooling and Christian topics. She is best known for her homeschooling works, but has also written on women’s roles, computer technology in education, parental rights, and new age… … Wikipedia
Natalism — (also called pronatalism or the pro birth position) is a belief that promotes human reproduction. The term is taken from the Latin adjective form for birth , natalis. Natalism promotes child bearing and glorifies parenthood. It typically… … Wikipedia
List of Baptists — The following list of Baptists is a catalogue of those who were members of Baptist churches or who were raised in Baptist churches. It is not intended to imply that all those who appear on the list were practicing Baptists or that they remained… … Wikipedia
Doug Phillips — For the former rugby player, see Doug Phillips (rugby). For the politician, see Doug Phillips (politician). Douglas W. Phillips Other names Doug Phillips Occupation President of Vision Forum, Writer, Minister, Attorney Religion Christian … Wikipedia

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