I love good sequels. Sometimes they disappoint you, sometimes they surprise you, and other times they’re just helpfully different.
Harriet Connor has again brought together wisdom from seasoned, experienced, and faithful Christian parents in Parenting in God’s Family Volume 2: More Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Issues. This is a good sequel that provides more perceptive insights into various aspects of parenting Christianly. Volume 2 can be read like volume one, either by reading through the chapters sequentially by yourself or with your spouse, or by finding relevant and interesting chapters to focus on them. While there are similarities between both books, volume two is quite different in both content and tone.
The book has been compiled very intentionally. Connor notes her further reflections on Christian parenting that shaped the structure of her new book:
Parenting in God’s Family Volume 2: More Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Issues
Harriet Connor (ed.)
Purchase from ReformersParenting in God’s Family Volume 2: More Biblical Wisdom for Everyday Issues
Harriet Connor (ed.)
It has become clear to me that Christian parenting also involves balancing – or holding in tension – a number of different truths about the context in which we are raising our children. So Christian parenting means being aware of ‘where’ we are raising our children. Our families are living in creation, in a fallen world, in Christ, in a changing world, within the Church and in the light of eternity – all at once.” (pp. 2-3).
Structure
Volume two follows the pattern of creation (section 1), fall (section 2), Christ (section 3), our changing world (section 4), and the Church (section 5). The first section outlines Christian parenting in creation with considerations about contraception, infertility, fatherhood, motherhood, and marriage. The second section outlines parenting as finite beings in a fallen world, looking at ecological stewardship, the impact of suffering and grief, sexuality, gender, and neurodivergence. Section three looks at our responsibility in Christ to raise our children to know God, to love Him and to follow Him. It covers God conversations in the home, raising children who serve, and partnering with your child’s school. Section four discusses Christian parenting in a changing world, looking at conversations about faith and culture, simple habits for mental health, the internet, and parenting in an age of AI. In the final section, ‘Christian Parenting Within the Church’, we read about intergenerational discipleship, and the blessing of carrying one another’s burdens.
Confronting Difficult Topics
Many difficult topics are confronted. If the first book was a general overview for all parents, this felt more like a deeper probe into very specific questions that, while helpful for every Christian parent to consider, may not impact everyone in the same way. I’m sure there will be divided opinion amongst faithful Christian experts, and faithful Christian parents, about several of the topics put forward in this volume. But controversy is no reason to shy away from addressing important questions that many Christians face. As someone who has read Megan Best’s Fearfully and Wonderfully Made, I was well familiar with the content of the chapters on contraception and infertility. But there will be many who haven’t had to wrestle with the ethics of ART (assisted reproductive technology) before. Other readers have lived experience engaging in ART from different ethical convictions, and so these chapters will have a range of different readers engaging with the material from different places. The discussions on climate change, sexuality, gender, neurodivergence, mental health, motherhood, and fatherhood will similarly challenge readers to think carefully and biblically. There’s no shortage of topics that will guarantee disagreements between faithful Christian parents on these issues. That’s actually what I really respect about this work. It’s so easy to shy away from controversial topics, to not think deeply about why something matters, or how it might affect you and those around you. As Christian parents, we are called not only to watch our lives and our doctrine closely (1 Tim. 4:16), but to raise our children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord also (Eph. 6:4). When we are confronted with big questions, and when our children are confronted with big questions, we need to take our cues from Scripture, not from culture, tradition, or experience. We need to show them how God’s Word speaks into our lives and guides our responses to anything we encounter in this life. These chapters give readers the parenting cues from God’s Word, to help guide these conversations from a solid foundation. Like the first volume, each author has further works in this space if the chapter fails to answer your questions or concerns.
What I Found Helpful
As a mum of littlies, there were a lot of chapters that weren’t really where my head is at right now in parenting. It was helpful to get a bigger picture view of parenting though and have these words sitting in the back of my mind as my boys continue to grow. I really enjoyed the mental health chapter (Alexis Hudson, ch. 17) and the chapter asking, ‘who is raising your child online’ (James and Simone Boswell ch. 18). I also loved the practical ideas given on talking about faith at home (Annemarie Rivers ch. 13), and how to live a life of Christian service (Al James, ch. 14). I hadn’t thought a whole lot about AI in the context of parenting before (ch. 19), nor of how I might potentially partner with my child(ren)’s school one day (ch. 15), and I found the chapters on suffering and grief (Ruth Barry chs. 8, 9) quite heavy, but necessarily so. The one piece of advice I have for you should you read this book is to give appropriate time for the nature of some of these topics. Some are heavy, some you won’t have thought about before, and others you might have a different opinion about. In that respect, it’s a tricky book to just read through from end to end.
There was one quote in the book that stopped me in my tracks. I started tearing up, wrote it out, and sent it to all of my sisters. Jenn Phillips, talking about faith and culture (ch. 16), writes:
Parenting in a post-Christian world is overwhelming. But God hasn’t left us to do it alone, and he hasn’t left us to do it perfectly. You are not the saviour of your children – Jesus is. And that means you can rest. Grace isn’t a soft cushion for failure – it’s the power of Christ in our weakness. (2 Corinthians 12:9). Parenting under grace means trusting that the Spirit can work through our broken efforts to grow eternal fruit. When we fall short, we fall into the arms of our Father, and he parents us with patience, wisdom, and relentless love. So we press on, not because we’ve got it all together but because the gospel holds us together (p. 124).
So Christian parents, go buy this book. Volume 2 is unique because of the wide range of topics that are tackled. Expect to be overwhelmed, expect to disagree with some things, expect to have so many new ideas you may never remember which ones you wanted to put into practice (take notes!). I hope and pray that you will find encouragement and growth in the wisdom set forth by those Christian parents who have gone before us. I hope and pray that you can have fruitful discussions about these topics with your spouse and other Christian parents in your village. But most of all, I hope and pray you press on as parents, knowing that in Christ, we are held together. Rest your parenting burdens on Him. He is sufficient.
