First mosey over and read this column by Albert Mohler. I’ll wait. . . Some of the guys at Boars Head Tavern hated it, so I figured I might like to read what Dr. Mohler had to say. First, let’s review what he didn’t say:

1. He didn’t say that married couples who are unable to have children or who are unable to have as many children as they might like to have are sinful or cursed or less spiritual. “Morally speaking, the epidemic in this regard has nothing to do with those married couples who desire children but are for any reason unable to have them, but instead in those who are fully capable of having children but reject this intrusion in their lifestyle.”
2. He didn’t say that Christian couples must never use contraceptives under any circumstances or that they must do everything they can to conceive and give birth to all the children they possibly can. “Couples are not given the option of chosen childlessness in the biblical revelation. To the contrary, we are commanded to receive children with joy as God’s gifts, and to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.”
3. Finally, Dr. Mohler says nothing to justify this question by Michael Spencer at BHT: Isn’t he just saying the “Full Quiver” position- pregnant, bed-ridden 48 year old wives pregnant for the twentieth time and all- is the Biblical position?”
No, actually, Dr. Mohler said nothing of the kind—which is why I agree with the ideas in his column. I am 48; I’m not pregnant; and I agree with the Full Quiver position (as defined by me, not by someone else).

What he did say (and I agree):
Our culture is becoming anti-child, and this attitude is bad for our society and wrong for Christians.

Couples are not given the option of chosen childlessness in the biblical revelation. To the contrary, we are commanded to receive children with joy as God’s gifts, and to raise them in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. We are to find many of our deepest joys and satisfactions in the raising of children within the context of the family. Those who reject children want to have the joys of sex and marital companionship without the responsibilities of parenthood. They rely on others to produce and sustain the generations to come.

I have been reading The Empty Cradle: How Falling Birthrates Threaten World Prosperity and What To Do About It by Philip Longman and Fewer: How the New Demography of Depopulation Will Shape Our Future by Ben J. Wattenberg. Both of these books document, from a purely secular point of view, how the anti-child ethos in Western civilization is a new kind of “population bomb” set to go off in this century and cause all kinds of somewhat unpredictable problems and challenges for our children and grandchildren.
For both practical and spiritual reasons, Christians should be different. Christians should welcome children, regard them as gifts from a loving God, and do the work and self-sacrifice required to nurture and admonish each child God gives.

Part 2 tomorrow. Wow, a lot of people have already written a lot of good stuff about this subject.