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53-657: 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

106-868: 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. 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". The movement has been criticized by journalists from Glamour Magazine for what they perceive to be sexism and

159-408: 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,

212-430: 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. 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,

265-468: A demeaning approach to women. 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

318-489: 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

371-438: 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,

424-443: A master over his household). The master is designated in accordance with the rules of inheritance . He has no administrative staff nor any machinery to enforce his will by force alone; he depends on the willingness of the group members to respect his authority. Those members stand in personal relations to him. They obey him based on the belief that this is their duty sanctioned by immemorial tradition and on feeling of filial piety for

477-543: 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

530-604: 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, "[Pride] differentiates herself from these approaches without denying

583-492: A twisted understanding of biblical forgiveness." Providentialism In Christianity , providentialism is the belief that all events on Earth are controlled by God . Providentialism was sometimes viewed by its adherents as differing between national providence and personal providence. Some English and American Christians came to view personal providentialism as backward and superstitious, while continuing to believe in national providentialism. National providentialism

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636-500: Is abortion . 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 . According to journalist Kathryn Joyce, writing in

689-530: 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

742-687: Is a form of leadership in which the authority of an organization or a regime is largely tied to tradition or custom. Reasons for the given state of affairs include belief that tradition is inherently valuable and a more general appeal to tradition . In sociology , the concept of traditional authority (domination) comes from Max Weber 's tripartite classification of authority , the other two forms being charismatic authority and rational-legal authority . All of those three domination types represent an example of his ideal type concept. Weber noted that in history those ideal types of domination are always found in combinations. In traditional authority,

795-596: 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

848-418: 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. 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

901-402: Is selfishness, lack of love, refusing to consider children an unmitigated blessing. In a word, family planning ." 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

954-421: 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

1007-737: The Amish and Mennonites , and Laestadian Lutherans in Finland). Many are thriving as seculars and moderates have transitioned to below-replacement fertility. 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. 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

1060-623: 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." Adherents view barrenness , referred to as an "empty quiver", as something to be accepted from God as His choice, which then becomes

1113-631: 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. Quiverfull authors and adherents express their core motivation as

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1166-535: 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

1219-430: The 19th century, on the grounds that the suffering caused by European conquest was justified under the grounds of furthering God's plan and spreading Christianity and civilization to distant nations. In the words of historians, it was an interpretive framework of occurring natural, political and social events at a time when the religious and the secular were not clearly divided. Providentialism may be understood as

1272-770: 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

1325-402: The L ORD : 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

1378-488: The acceptance of the belief that all that happens in the world is for the greater good, since, "God created the social order and appointed each individual in his place within it." Traditional authority 1800s: Martineau · Tocqueville  ·  Marx ·  Spencer · Le Bon · Ward · Pareto ·  Tönnies · Veblen ·  Simmel · Durkheim ·  Addams ·  Mead · Weber ·  Du Bois ·  Mannheim · Elias Traditional authority

1431-461: 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

1484-421: The consent of the rulers, to be judged by independent courts instead of officials of the royal household, etc.). One of the best examples of almost pure type of patrimonialism is ancient Egypt , where the population was entirely dependent upon the control of the waterways ( Nile River ). This facilitated the creation of centralised government . When the royal household required it, the individual had to perform

1537-409: 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

1590-525: 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

1643-536: 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

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1696-485: 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

1749-417: The legitimacy of the authority comes from tradition; in charismatic authority from the personality and leadership qualities of the individual; and in rational-legal authority from people that are bureaucratically and legally attached to certain positions. Weber derives the traditional domination from patriarchies and their households – in other words, from the ancient tradition of family (the authority of

1802-611: 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

1855-404: The low tens of thousands". As 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

1908-430: The magazine The Nation : "[T]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

1961-430: The military is a tool of the ruler, solely for his use—but he is responsible for its upkeep (equipment, maintenance and wages). With the growth of the territory organized and more independent administrative staff and military force became a necessity. This usually leads to decentralisation , and some individuals gain more independence in the form of certain rights (for example, the right to inheritance and marriage without

2014-498: The movement. In 2018, Eve [Hännah] 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

2067-473: The officials; he empowers them from case to case, assigns specific tasks, promotes and demotes. They have no rights, rather they have privileges granted and withdrawn by the ruler. It is rare to discover any clear and stable hierarchy and responsibility in the deluge of official titles of most patrimonial administrations. Military force is an important instrument of a patrimonial rule. Weber distinguished five types of military organisations. In all of those cases

2120-504: 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

2173-442: The person of the master. Patrimonial government occurs when the ruler's household expands with the household administration giving rise to governmental offices. All officials are personal dependents or favourites of the ruler, appointed by him. Their interactions with the ruler are based on paternal authority and filial dependence. The officials treat their work as a personal service to the ruler. The ruler has complete control over

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2226-601: The power of the emperor and European knights who evolved into powerful aristocracy in many cases vastly limiting the power of the kings (especially in the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth )). Patrimonial dominance has often prevailed in the Orient , where land remained in the control of the ruler. However, in the Occident the ruler lost control of the lands given to the nobility, which according to Weber

2279-526: 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 . Quiverfull authors and adherents advocate for and seek to model

2332-511: The public duties, such as participate in labor-intensive project (rising of the pyramids ). Thus the whole country was in fact the patriarchal household of the pharaoh . When land is given to military or officials for the performance of their duties, their independence increases and the power of the ruler weakens (consider the Mameluks and their rebellions, or the difference between Chinese Confucian literati who were never able to overthrow

2385-494: 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." 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

2438-485: 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

2491-408: 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

2544-588: 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"...

2597-540: Was a major reason for patrimonialism being replaced by feudalism. When compared to patrimonialism, feudalism has one major similarity and several important differences. The similarity is that both are based on tradition and have powerful rulers who grant rights in return for military and administrative services. The differences are important for the subtler distinction: Most of the representatives of any dynasty ruling for more than one generation ( kings , emperors , sultans , etc.) would fall into that category. Thus,

2650-468: Was described by the British historian Nicholas Guyatt as encompassing three broader beliefs: God judged nations on the virtues of its leaders, there is a special role for certain nations, and finally that God worked out a master plan through the role of various nations. Providentialism was frequently featured in discussions of European political and intellectual elites seeking to justify imperialism in

2703-601: 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 . 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

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2756-484: 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. In

2809-482: 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

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