US Protestant Natalist Reception of Old Testament “Fruitful Verses”: a Critique
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US Protestant natalist reception of Old Testament "fruitful verses" : A critique Item Type Thesis or dissertation Authors McKeown, John P. Citation McKeown, J. (2010). Receptions of Israelite nation-building: Modern Protestant Natalism and Martin Luther. Dialog, 49(2), pp. 133-140 Publisher University of Liverpool (University of Chester) Download date 29/09/2021 20:42:56 Link to Item http://hdl.handle.net/10034/254075 This work has been submitted to ChesterRep – the University of Chester’s online research repository http://chesterrep.openrepository.com Author(s): John Patrick McKeown Title: US Protestant natalist reception of Old Testament "fruitful verses": A critique Date: July 2011 Originally published as: University of Liverpool PhD thesis Example citation: McKeown, J. P. (2011). US Protestant natalist reception of Old Testament "fruitful verses": A critique. (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Liverpool, United Kingdom. Version of item: Submitted version Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10034/254075 The University of Liverpool US Protestant Natalist Reception of Old Testament “Fruitful Verses”: A Critique Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by John Patrick McKeown July 2011 Contents Abstract...................................................................................................................i Acknowledgements................................................................................................ii Abbreviations........................................................................................................iii Chapter 1. Biblical reception and method....................................................................1 Project rationale .....................................................................................................5 Scope and primary sources ..................................................................................12 Theory and methodology .....................................................................................19 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................28 Chapter 2. Protestant natalism in the USA.................................................................30 Historical context.................................................................................................30 Reception of Christian Scriptures ........................................................................37 Contours of Protestant natalism...........................................................................42 Survey of Bible-based arguments ........................................................................49 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................65 Chapter 3. Martin Luther: forerunner of natalism?....................................................67 Luther’s battle against works-religion and sin.....................................................71 Commands, and orders of creation ......................................................................78 Saved through childbirth : then and now .............................................................84 Luther’s apocalyptic eschatology ........................................................................90 Conclusion ...........................................................................................................96 Chapter 4. The ancient Near Eastern context.............................................................98 Cultural context....................................................................................................99 Ideas about reproduction....................................................................................105 Natalism compared with OT ideas.....................................................................117 Application of fruitful verses.............................................................................123 Conclusion .........................................................................................................125 Chapter 5. Augustine on fruitfulness........................................................................127 Historical context of Augustine’s thought .........................................................129 Reproduction: past, present and future ..............................................................136 Ressourcement contrasted with natalism ...........................................................144 Conclusion .........................................................................................................156 Chapter 6. An ecological critique of natalism..........................................................158 Ecological hermeneutics ....................................................................................158 Fertility in ecobiblical perspective.....................................................................167 Responding to natalist arguments ......................................................................176 Conclusion .........................................................................................................189 Chapter 7. Conclusion..............................................................................................191 Appendix ..................................................................................................................197 Works Cited .............................................................................................................203 i Abstract US Protestant Natalist Reception of Old Testament “Fruitful Verses”: A Critique The advocacy of a high birth rate is an ideology called natalism. In the USA since 1985 some Protestants have used Old Testament verses to support natalist arguments. This thesis argues that natalism is inappropriate as a Christian application of Scripture, especially since rich nations’ populations’ total footprint is detrimental to biodiversity and to poor nations’ welfare. The methodology is analysis of natalist writings, investigation of possible historical roots, and then evaluation of natalist interpretation from three perspectives: the ancient Near Eastern OT context, patristic Christian tradition, and contemporary ecological concerns. The analysis and historical investigation consists of two chapters. Chapter 2 considers wider natalism, modern secular and religious varieties, and the cultural context of US Evangelicalism. Through textual analysis of biblical reception in recent natalist writings, it identifies the verses cited and common interpretative arguments. Chapter 3 asks whether this natalism has roots in historic Protestantism. It investigates the claim made by some natalist advocates that Martin Luther in the 16th century expounded similar ideas about fecundity. The evaluation consists of three chapters. Chapter 4 explores the ancient Near Eastern cultural context, and Old Testament ideas about fecundity’s role in God’s project of salvation. Ventures by biblical scholars into contemporary application of the verses in question are critiqued. Chapter 5 considers Augustine’s comments on human fruitfulness in the Bible and his thinking on fecundity. Using ressourcement from this representative of patristic tradition, Augustine’s reception is compared with natalism. Chapter 6 explains an ecological hermeneutic which brings biblical and classic Christian biblical reception into conversation with contemporary concerns. My reception of the verses uses a hermeneutic lens derived from Genesis 1, and gives priority to the contextual issues of biodiversity and the un/sustainability of the ecological footprints of overpopulated rich nations. The thesis is the first to offer systematic analysis of natalist biblical reception, and focuses on the neglected majority of natalists which accepts family planning. It highlights exegetical arguments which are then compared with Luther’s writings, tested against plausible meanings of the fruitful verses, and tested against Augustine and patristic tradition. Previous research on ecologically responsible interpretation of these verses and on Christian thinking about human fecundity and overpopulation is updated and extended in this dissertation. ii Acknowledgements This thesis could not have been completed without help from many people. Above all, my primary supervisor Professor David Clough gave detailed advice on every part and encouraged its completion. My secondary supervisor, Professor Celia Deane-Drummond guided me at key stages in the thesis development. My original supervisor, Dr Eric Christianson, as well as guiding the early stages of this project, also shaped my earlier work on the denigration of nonhuman creatures in reception. Dr John Bimson guided me as External Advisor and also, by recruiting me to teach at Trinity College Bristol about population, stimulated my thinking on that. Professor Tom Greggs kindly read the whole thesis. My proof-reader, Mrs Karen Vincent, helpfully identified many errors and infelicities. Thanks are also due to others who helped with particular chapters. Dr Kathryn Blanchard read the Luther chapter, and Revd Dr Kristin Johnston Largen, the editor of Dialog: A Journal of Theology, published a compact version of it. Professor Kate Cooper chaired the Ecclesiastical History Society postgraduate forum at which the Augustine chapter was presented, and pointed