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Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies
*Foreword written by Nancy Pearcey*
#RoarLikeAMother
The problem with lies is they don’t often sound like lies. They seem harmless, and even sound right. So what’s a Mama Bear to do when her kids seem to be absorbing the culture’s lies uncritically?
Mama Bear Apologetics™ is the book you’ve been looking for. This mom-to-mom guide will equip you to teach your kids how to form their own biblical beliefs about what is true and what is false. Through transparent life stories and clear, practical applications—including prayer strategies—this band of Mama Bears offers you tools to train yourself, so you can turn around and train your kids.
Are you ready to answer the rallying cry, “Mess with our kids and we will demolish your arguments”? Join the Mama Bears and raise your voice to protect your kids—by teaching them how to think through and address the issues head-on, yet with gentleness and respect.
#RoarLikeAMother
The problem with lies is they don’t often sound like lies. They seem harmless, and even sound right. So what’s a Mama Bear to do when her kids seem to be absorbing the culture’s lies uncritically?
Mama Bear Apologetics™ is the book you’ve been looking for. This mom-to-mom guide will equip you to teach your kids how to form their own biblical beliefs about what is true and what is false. Through transparent life stories and clear, practical applications—including prayer strategies—this band of Mama Bears offers you tools to train yourself, so you can turn around and train your kids.
Are you ready to answer the rallying cry, “Mess with our kids and we will demolish your arguments”? Join the Mama Bears and raise your voice to protect your kids—by teaching them how to think through and address the issues head-on, yet with gentleness and respect.
288 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2019
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May 7, 2020
Before I begin I would like to acknowledge that this is a book written explicitly for evangelical mothers; I am a man who is neither married nor a father, and, while I am a Christian, I am not an evangelical. The author(s) invite childless mothers to read their book and once acknowledges the possibility that a father could be reading, but despite this I could never really shake the feeling that I had crashed a party and proceeded to criticize their music choices. As a result I tried to be as charitable as I could while reading, and there were points where I thought the author(s) made good points; I have tried my best to approach the book in good faith and to only make fair criticisms.
Mama Bear Apologetics™ is a collection of essays written by several women all of whom write for the same blog and podcast. I have never read a collection of essays quite like this one, because it felt very unified and did not feel like it had multiple voices or perspectives. I suspect this came both from a lot of discussion prior to writing followed by heavy editing. This is not a criticism, just an observation.
Mama Bear Apologetics™ is meant as a crash course in Christian apologetics, written to equip mothers to best protect their children as they are raised in a hostile world. The book argues that most of Generation Y and Z are falling away from the Church, and this is primarily because of the lies that the world keeps telling them, and because their parents have failed to prepare them. The job of a mother is to equip their child in order to best defend against those lies, and they are lies. The authors never name the Devil as the source of these lies, but I would expect it has to be either that or a collection of conspiracies (they do actually lean more in this direction) that is spreading these lies. The authors never specifically address this, but I think it's worth pointing out. I have been annoyed in the past by atheists referring to Christianity as a lie; Christianity being untrue would not make me a liar, because my belief is sincere. Lying requires intent, and that intention also applies to everyone the authors are accusing of lying (which is pretty much all non Christians).
The main way society lies is through a process called Linguistic Theft. The authors outline what this is early on and build many of their later arguments on this. I was unfortunately unconvinced. “Linguistic theft refers to purposefully hijacking words, changing their definitions, and then using those same words as tools of propaganda.” The author(s) only example of a word being purposely changed was the word "gay" which I understand as having been a deliberate altering of the word for public relations reasons. The rest were either just a normal process of words changing over time, or an ideological view changing the definition of the word (marriage, gender). No one hijacked the word marriage and claimed it had always referred to any combination of genders, but rather they were arguing that the definition of the word should be expanded to reflect a new cultural norm. The author(s) is ascribing a malicious theft where only ideological difference exists.
One way in which they attempt to demonstrate the original definition of these words is by reading the definitions in the Miriam Websters Dictionary in order to demonstrate what the word is supposed to mean. This seems mistaken to me as the English language changes constantly and had already before that dictionary was published, but also because dictionaries are inherently political and will to some extent choose definitions that fit what the majority of people want them to fit. I find it doubtful that political bias in dictionaries is exclusively a new phenomenon.
The authors also explain how to approach apologetics and it's in these sections that they best reveal the core problem in their whole book; The authors explain that their role is to approach others with love and kindness, but to "demolish their lies". This is repeated several times. The problem I have is that if you approach my argument assuming it's a lie then all you are doing is looking for ways to destroy it and for weaknesses to exploit. That's not a debate, but an exercise in public humiliation. I think that this attitude explains why the authors so consistently miss-characterize their opponents; they are assuming everyone else is insincere or deluded and so they are trying to find out why they are so wrong, rather than assessing their arguments. I would argue that the purpose of a debate is not to "demolish lies", but rather to find truth together.
The later section of the book is spent on those liars of all stripes as the authors explain their arguments and then "demolish" them. They also often explain their motivation, and this is where the whole book goes from being alright to being genuinely troubling. The authors explain several different modern perspectives and ideas with varying degrees of accuracy. The section on the New Atheists for example was simplistic, but not terrible (which brings up another point; this book felt weirdly dated. Who is worrying about new atheists, Rob Bell, and coexist bumper stickers in 2019?)
The section that started to really annoy me was when they talked about Post Modernists, who they characterize as deceptive clowns who claim that everyone can make their own truth, while secretly having more nefarious agendas. The main source cited in this section is Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, a book written by an objectivist with the main purpose of revealing the insidious agendas of post-modernism (my understanding is that Hicks attempts to argue that Kant was a counter-enlightenment thinker which should reveal how inadequate his understanding of philosophers is). Regardless of Hicks's failings, maybe the authors should have read a primary text or two before they "demolish" post-modernism.
Even worse is their chapter on Marxism in which the authors state that they see no difference between socialism, Marxism, and communism and even imply that Bernie Sanders has no real difference from Karl Marx. The real point of this chapter though is to reveal the insidious plot of Marxism which was to champion social justice causes in order to weaken America and begin a glorious communist revolution. The author spends the remainder of the chapter ranting about "SJW"s who hide their communism behind a veneer of empathy. The chapter on feminism is similar, but less paranoid sounding.
The authors finish off by talking about progressive Christianity who they characterize as agnostics or future atheists. They point out that Tony Campolo's son has become an atheist as evidence that that is the direction that all future progressive Christians are heading. This has a similar problem to the feminist and communist chapters in that the authors spend a lot of time arguing that there were problems once, but they are mostly all gone now. Just like with the whole concept of "word theft" a lot of the book is an appeal to the past. At some point we reached a perfect civilization and now our job is to ensure that no one wrecks it. No real consideration is given to the idea that America is flawed in any real way, and those saying it is are fighting a boogie man.
The problem with this book isn't that they don't like feminists, Marxists, or progressives. The problem is that the authors are so unable to believe that someone could genuinely subscribe to those views that they have created a villain out of them. I think it's important to attempt to understand the people we disagree with, because otherwise we risk creating silly conspiracies in which Marxist pretended to be social justice warriors in order to weaken America. As the authors themselves state; “we establish trust with people by acknowledging their good intentions. Few people think that they are on the wrong side of history. Everyone sees themselves as crusading for the greater good. We must try to see their idea from their perspective. What are they valuing? What are they trying to accomplish? What is their ultimate goal?” I think this is true, but I think they have failed to do this on several occasions. In their defense, they do try to do so a lot more than I have implied here, and even devote a section of each chapter to listing the good of each perspective.
Overall, I think the authors' hearts are in the right place, but I think they accidentally created a book that teaches me not to best argue for and find truth, but rather to defeat people I disagree with through rhetorical tricks and conspiracy theories. There was a point where I tried to google whether the authors had ever written about Ben Shapiro or Jordan Peterson as they seemed to be repeating a lot of their talking points. Ultimately this is just How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument in a nicer package.
Mama Bear Apologetics™ is a collection of essays written by several women all of whom write for the same blog and podcast. I have never read a collection of essays quite like this one, because it felt very unified and did not feel like it had multiple voices or perspectives. I suspect this came both from a lot of discussion prior to writing followed by heavy editing. This is not a criticism, just an observation.
Mama Bear Apologetics™ is meant as a crash course in Christian apologetics, written to equip mothers to best protect their children as they are raised in a hostile world. The book argues that most of Generation Y and Z are falling away from the Church, and this is primarily because of the lies that the world keeps telling them, and because their parents have failed to prepare them. The job of a mother is to equip their child in order to best defend against those lies, and they are lies. The authors never name the Devil as the source of these lies, but I would expect it has to be either that or a collection of conspiracies (they do actually lean more in this direction) that is spreading these lies. The authors never specifically address this, but I think it's worth pointing out. I have been annoyed in the past by atheists referring to Christianity as a lie; Christianity being untrue would not make me a liar, because my belief is sincere. Lying requires intent, and that intention also applies to everyone the authors are accusing of lying (which is pretty much all non Christians).
The main way society lies is through a process called Linguistic Theft. The authors outline what this is early on and build many of their later arguments on this. I was unfortunately unconvinced. “Linguistic theft refers to purposefully hijacking words, changing their definitions, and then using those same words as tools of propaganda.” The author(s) only example of a word being purposely changed was the word "gay" which I understand as having been a deliberate altering of the word for public relations reasons. The rest were either just a normal process of words changing over time, or an ideological view changing the definition of the word (marriage, gender). No one hijacked the word marriage and claimed it had always referred to any combination of genders, but rather they were arguing that the definition of the word should be expanded to reflect a new cultural norm. The author(s) is ascribing a malicious theft where only ideological difference exists.
One way in which they attempt to demonstrate the original definition of these words is by reading the definitions in the Miriam Websters Dictionary in order to demonstrate what the word is supposed to mean. This seems mistaken to me as the English language changes constantly and had already before that dictionary was published, but also because dictionaries are inherently political and will to some extent choose definitions that fit what the majority of people want them to fit. I find it doubtful that political bias in dictionaries is exclusively a new phenomenon.
The authors also explain how to approach apologetics and it's in these sections that they best reveal the core problem in their whole book; The authors explain that their role is to approach others with love and kindness, but to "demolish their lies". This is repeated several times. The problem I have is that if you approach my argument assuming it's a lie then all you are doing is looking for ways to destroy it and for weaknesses to exploit. That's not a debate, but an exercise in public humiliation. I think that this attitude explains why the authors so consistently miss-characterize their opponents; they are assuming everyone else is insincere or deluded and so they are trying to find out why they are so wrong, rather than assessing their arguments. I would argue that the purpose of a debate is not to "demolish lies", but rather to find truth together.
The later section of the book is spent on those liars of all stripes as the authors explain their arguments and then "demolish" them. They also often explain their motivation, and this is where the whole book goes from being alright to being genuinely troubling. The authors explain several different modern perspectives and ideas with varying degrees of accuracy. The section on the New Atheists for example was simplistic, but not terrible (which brings up another point; this book felt weirdly dated. Who is worrying about new atheists, Rob Bell, and coexist bumper stickers in 2019?)
The section that started to really annoy me was when they talked about Post Modernists, who they characterize as deceptive clowns who claim that everyone can make their own truth, while secretly having more nefarious agendas. The main source cited in this section is Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, a book written by an objectivist with the main purpose of revealing the insidious agendas of post-modernism (my understanding is that Hicks attempts to argue that Kant was a counter-enlightenment thinker which should reveal how inadequate his understanding of philosophers is). Regardless of Hicks's failings, maybe the authors should have read a primary text or two before they "demolish" post-modernism.
Even worse is their chapter on Marxism in which the authors state that they see no difference between socialism, Marxism, and communism and even imply that Bernie Sanders has no real difference from Karl Marx. The real point of this chapter though is to reveal the insidious plot of Marxism which was to champion social justice causes in order to weaken America and begin a glorious communist revolution. The author spends the remainder of the chapter ranting about "SJW"s who hide their communism behind a veneer of empathy. The chapter on feminism is similar, but less paranoid sounding.
The authors finish off by talking about progressive Christianity who they characterize as agnostics or future atheists. They point out that Tony Campolo's son has become an atheist as evidence that that is the direction that all future progressive Christians are heading. This has a similar problem to the feminist and communist chapters in that the authors spend a lot of time arguing that there were problems once, but they are mostly all gone now. Just like with the whole concept of "word theft" a lot of the book is an appeal to the past. At some point we reached a perfect civilization and now our job is to ensure that no one wrecks it. No real consideration is given to the idea that America is flawed in any real way, and those saying it is are fighting a boogie man.
The problem with this book isn't that they don't like feminists, Marxists, or progressives. The problem is that the authors are so unable to believe that someone could genuinely subscribe to those views that they have created a villain out of them. I think it's important to attempt to understand the people we disagree with, because otherwise we risk creating silly conspiracies in which Marxist pretended to be social justice warriors in order to weaken America. As the authors themselves state; “we establish trust with people by acknowledging their good intentions. Few people think that they are on the wrong side of history. Everyone sees themselves as crusading for the greater good. We must try to see their idea from their perspective. What are they valuing? What are they trying to accomplish? What is their ultimate goal?” I think this is true, but I think they have failed to do this on several occasions. In their defense, they do try to do so a lot more than I have implied here, and even devote a section of each chapter to listing the good of each perspective.
Overall, I think the authors' hearts are in the right place, but I think they accidentally created a book that teaches me not to best argue for and find truth, but rather to defeat people I disagree with through rhetorical tricks and conspiracy theories. There was a point where I tried to google whether the authors had ever written about Ben Shapiro or Jordan Peterson as they seemed to be repeating a lot of their talking points. Ultimately this is just How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument in a nicer package.
April 9, 2022
This was given to me by another mom who was a member of the launch team (or something like that). While I found some sections helpful and clarifying, I would not recommend this book. Systematic Theology is a much better place to begin your study of apologetics. **Edited 4/09/22 to add: I understand that Systematic Theology might be too academic and dry for a lot of busy caregivers. I also recommend Phylicia Masonheimer's IG/website Every Woman A Theologian. While I don't agree with her on every point, I love her balanced, humble, truth-seeking approach to theology, theological history, and her comfort with the diversity of thought in the Church.
This book was more about protecting a conservative worldview and arguing against anything that is seemingly opposed to right-leaning (capitalist) American evangelical Christianity than it was about apologetics. The tone was often derisive and mocking, as though anyone who “buys” these other viewpoints is simply not as smart or savvy as “us”; our job then is to gently show them how wrong and misled they really are. I can’t possibly imagine a successful relationship building scenario in which my motive to befriend another mom at the playground is so I can prove to her that she’s been brainwashed.
What really got me was in the chapter on PostModernism, the author claims that you could be charged with a hate crimes in Canada for accidentally using the wrong gender to refer to someone. (She actually writes “no one is safe” as though this is part of a grand conspiracy.) I was surprised enough when I read this to google the law and discovered a viral article posted on a conservative website. Even Fox News had a story about how the article in question was an erroneous and sensational interpretation of the law. Since the entire book is supposed to be about confronting cultural lies, exposing how worldview distorts our ability to separate fact from fiction, and attempting to find truth in a world of misinformation, I couldn’t really take the authors seriously anymore.
For what it’s worth, I am a moderate evangelical who is interested in biblical truth and raising my children to be deep, considerate thinkers in all areas of their faith and education, which means regularly confronting and re-examining my own political and cultural beliefs. I tried to read this book with an open mind, praying throughout for discernment. Ultimately I feel this book offers a glimpse into the way conservative evangelicals view the world and other people but does not offer much in the way of Christian apologetics. It is more “why we don’t believe this nonsense” than “why we do believe this truth.”
This book was more about protecting a conservative worldview and arguing against anything that is seemingly opposed to right-leaning (capitalist) American evangelical Christianity than it was about apologetics. The tone was often derisive and mocking, as though anyone who “buys” these other viewpoints is simply not as smart or savvy as “us”; our job then is to gently show them how wrong and misled they really are. I can’t possibly imagine a successful relationship building scenario in which my motive to befriend another mom at the playground is so I can prove to her that she’s been brainwashed.
What really got me was in the chapter on PostModernism, the author claims that you could be charged with a hate crimes in Canada for accidentally using the wrong gender to refer to someone. (She actually writes “no one is safe” as though this is part of a grand conspiracy.) I was surprised enough when I read this to google the law and discovered a viral article posted on a conservative website. Even Fox News had a story about how the article in question was an erroneous and sensational interpretation of the law. Since the entire book is supposed to be about confronting cultural lies, exposing how worldview distorts our ability to separate fact from fiction, and attempting to find truth in a world of misinformation, I couldn’t really take the authors seriously anymore.
For what it’s worth, I am a moderate evangelical who is interested in biblical truth and raising my children to be deep, considerate thinkers in all areas of their faith and education, which means regularly confronting and re-examining my own political and cultural beliefs. I tried to read this book with an open mind, praying throughout for discernment. Ultimately I feel this book offers a glimpse into the way conservative evangelicals view the world and other people but does not offer much in the way of Christian apologetics. It is more “why we don’t believe this nonsense” than “why we do believe this truth.”
April 1, 2021
A fantastic introduction to understand the cultural battles we are facing today. A must read for all moms! We need to be aware of the cultural lies we face.
January 4, 2023
I really wanted to like this book. A friend gave it to me and we read the book together. I unfortunately would not recommend it, and I detail why below. But I will begin with what I did appreciate about this book:
(1) I agree with the authors that we should care about the central cultural messages being shared in the world. We should learn about them and be teaching our children about them (as the authors advocate).
(2) I agree with the aim presented in the book that parents should work to help our children learn to discern what is of God and what is not, while acknowledging we live in a fallen, broken world.
(3) I appreciate that the authors argue that we need to listen to the other side and respect them, even if we don’t agree with them.
(4) I appreciate that the authors attempt to be practical in each book chapter, which is helpful for readers.
However, while I agree with these ideas, I cannot recommend the book because:
(1) This book doesn’t center on Jesus. The framing of this book puts the *mom* at the center (even calls her the “hero”). Jesus is the hero. Jesus is our hero. By making the mom the hero, then all the stress for particular outcomes (children not leaving the church! Demolishing ideas! Etc.) is placed on the mother...and that is greatly misplaced. Moms are not in control; God is. Moms are not able to ensure that their children don’t leave the church. Moms are not able to demolish ideas. Jesus is able to hold fast to those in the church (not moms). Jesus is able to demolish ideas (not moms). The authors do not stress and emphasize how moms should learn about all of these cultural “isms” because it will *help us as we instruct our children in their pursuit of Jesus* - which is a more theologically consistent view of the gospel. We aren’t the hero in our story, and we can’t the hero in our children’s story. King Jesus is! We need to have a theologically correct view of our role. So, while the premise of the book is a good one (learning about cultural messages), it is very problematic how these authors shape the role of the mom. (Ironically, this book has a chapter on self-helping, but ignores that this book is really framed as a self-help book itself in the way it makes moms the hero!)
(2) This book is written with a very rosy view of the past and whiteness is centered. What do I mean? Well, repeatedly the authors in different chapters talk about how the world is “different” and not the same type of place as it was for our parents or grandparents. Examples: “You might want to find a dictionary from before 1950 and look at some of the definition before agendas started creeping in.” (Page 74) Or, “We mama bears have noticed how much kids’ questions have changed since we were young. Back then, children asked questions like, ‘What was it like to walk on dry land after Moses parted the Red Sea?’ But when Alisa read through Exodus with her daughter, Dylan’s first question was ‘Mom, did those miracles really happen?’” (Page 133) And I could give more! The point here is there is a lot of “hand-wringing” and bemoaning about how America just isn’t the place it used to be - because agendas are here! Kids are asking hard questions! Etc. What’s the problem with this? First, agendas have *always* been present in society. The authors just are bemoaning that agendas that are different than theirs are being brought to the attention now. Okay, but isn’t that bad? Shouldn’t we as believers want to not have non-Christian viewpoints shared the same way? Well, the issue is that they keep arguing for what was prominent in the 1950s... which was only the voices of WHITE Christians. I could write a really lengthy review just on how this book is very white centered in the way it paints such a rosy view of America historically. The America they speak of was only great for *some* people at those times...and those people were white. The authors, with this rosy view of history, discount the history of Christians of color in this country. Secondly, the authors discount that kids have *always* had hard questions. There have always been struggles. There have always been heresies.
(3) This book doesn’t address any “isms” that are on the ideologically conservative end of the spectrum that are *also* just as dangerous for our children and their faith! I would have loved the authors to include chapters on legalism, hyperfundamentalism, and white nationalism. But these chapters are absent.
(4) I have problems with many of the individual chapters - not necessarily in conclusion (the authors and I end in the same place), but in how they frame and discuss some do these “isms”. I think they’re especially lacking in their discussions of justice. Basically, this book is written by politically conservative women who portray no room in the church for individuals that believe what they believe about Jesus, sin, faith, the gospel, the Bible, and so on (our faith)- but still care about the world around them and advocate for justice (social justice).
(1) I agree with the authors that we should care about the central cultural messages being shared in the world. We should learn about them and be teaching our children about them (as the authors advocate).
(2) I agree with the aim presented in the book that parents should work to help our children learn to discern what is of God and what is not, while acknowledging we live in a fallen, broken world.
(3) I appreciate that the authors argue that we need to listen to the other side and respect them, even if we don’t agree with them.
(4) I appreciate that the authors attempt to be practical in each book chapter, which is helpful for readers.
However, while I agree with these ideas, I cannot recommend the book because:
(1) This book doesn’t center on Jesus. The framing of this book puts the *mom* at the center (even calls her the “hero”). Jesus is the hero. Jesus is our hero. By making the mom the hero, then all the stress for particular outcomes (children not leaving the church! Demolishing ideas! Etc.) is placed on the mother...and that is greatly misplaced. Moms are not in control; God is. Moms are not able to ensure that their children don’t leave the church. Moms are not able to demolish ideas. Jesus is able to hold fast to those in the church (not moms). Jesus is able to demolish ideas (not moms). The authors do not stress and emphasize how moms should learn about all of these cultural “isms” because it will *help us as we instruct our children in their pursuit of Jesus* - which is a more theologically consistent view of the gospel. We aren’t the hero in our story, and we can’t the hero in our children’s story. King Jesus is! We need to have a theologically correct view of our role. So, while the premise of the book is a good one (learning about cultural messages), it is very problematic how these authors shape the role of the mom. (Ironically, this book has a chapter on self-helping, but ignores that this book is really framed as a self-help book itself in the way it makes moms the hero!)
(2) This book is written with a very rosy view of the past and whiteness is centered. What do I mean? Well, repeatedly the authors in different chapters talk about how the world is “different” and not the same type of place as it was for our parents or grandparents. Examples: “You might want to find a dictionary from before 1950 and look at some of the definition before agendas started creeping in.” (Page 74) Or, “We mama bears have noticed how much kids’ questions have changed since we were young. Back then, children asked questions like, ‘What was it like to walk on dry land after Moses parted the Red Sea?’ But when Alisa read through Exodus with her daughter, Dylan’s first question was ‘Mom, did those miracles really happen?’” (Page 133) And I could give more! The point here is there is a lot of “hand-wringing” and bemoaning about how America just isn’t the place it used to be - because agendas are here! Kids are asking hard questions! Etc. What’s the problem with this? First, agendas have *always* been present in society. The authors just are bemoaning that agendas that are different than theirs are being brought to the attention now. Okay, but isn’t that bad? Shouldn’t we as believers want to not have non-Christian viewpoints shared the same way? Well, the issue is that they keep arguing for what was prominent in the 1950s... which was only the voices of WHITE Christians. I could write a really lengthy review just on how this book is very white centered in the way it paints such a rosy view of America historically. The America they speak of was only great for *some* people at those times...and those people were white. The authors, with this rosy view of history, discount the history of Christians of color in this country. Secondly, the authors discount that kids have *always* had hard questions. There have always been struggles. There have always been heresies.
(3) This book doesn’t address any “isms” that are on the ideologically conservative end of the spectrum that are *also* just as dangerous for our children and their faith! I would have loved the authors to include chapters on legalism, hyperfundamentalism, and white nationalism. But these chapters are absent.
(4) I have problems with many of the individual chapters - not necessarily in conclusion (the authors and I end in the same place), but in how they frame and discuss some do these “isms”. I think they’re especially lacking in their discussions of justice. Basically, this book is written by politically conservative women who portray no room in the church for individuals that believe what they believe about Jesus, sin, faith, the gospel, the Bible, and so on (our faith)- but still care about the world around them and advocate for justice (social justice).
July 15, 2021
The title of this book caught my attention because I would love to teach my kids (and myself!) a solid foundation of Christian apologetics. There were some good ideas in this book; the importance of knowing the facts of our faith and being able to critically examine the messages we constantly hear from our culture. I feel genuinely motivated to dive deeper into apologetics with my family and engage my kids on hard topics. However, I simply can’t endorse many of the ideas and beliefs presented by the authors. Below are a few examples (there were too many to list!)...
Pg 74 - “What does God say about love? What does he say about truth? You might want to find a dictionary from before 1950 and look at some of the definitions before agendas started creeping in.”
This section was about ‘linguistic theft’; highlighting the ways our culture has taken the word ‘love’ and twisted it away from a biblical definition. While I agree that the word ‘love’ is misused, it is laughable to think that there were no agendas present before the 1950’s. The book is riddled with statements harkening back to an ‘agenda free’ America. An honest study of American history would debunk this belief within 10 seconds.
Pg 177 - (referring to the concept of trigger warnings) “but good grief, we can’t orchestrate the world so that nobody ever experiences bad emotions! Sadly, Legislators in North America are under this delusion and are trying to engrave this aspect of political correctness into law. That they are attempting to do this should scare us, for there are far-reaching implications for us Christians if this trend continues.”
This is one of many examples where the authors allude to something terrible/scary happening but give no specific information to back up their point. How am I supposed to asses the reality of their claim? I know they want me to feel scared about something, but I’m not sure why?
Pg 186 - Under the heading “A Brief History of Religious Pluralism.” “When settlers first came to the United States, it was to find a place where they could worship freely (think pilgrims). It was freedom of worship that became the bedrock of American society and the first amendment.”
Nope! This description of America’s first settlers is a major oversimplification (several explanations of history throughout the book follow this theme). Pilgrims represent such a small fraction of the people who came to ‘settle’ North America and a lot of their motivation was actually economical (Pilgrims already had religious freedom where they lived, but not much chance to escape poverty). There is no mention of the masses of European ‘settlers’ who came to America (again for economic gain) or the ways these settlers oppressed Native Peoples and denied THEIR right to religious freedom. Yes, many early settlers were faithful Christians. But do not side-step the larger socio-economic motivators that drove people to come here and the atrocities they committed, sometimes in the name of God. You can’t boil down the “bedrock of American society” into a simple desire for religious freedom. It’s a very small piece of a huge, complicated picture and is very disingenuous. I’m gonna say it: this summary of American history is giving off strong Christian nationalist vibes.
Pg 216 - “The history your kids are learning in school is not the history that you and I learned. The pilgrim’s search for religious freedom has been replaced by horrible stories of Native American slaughters, conquest, and generally racist examples of the founding fathers. I’m not saying that this stuff isn’t true, but there is an agenda here: America is bad. America is capitalist. Therefore, capitalism is bad.”
So, the authors acknowledge that the accounts of Native American slaughter and the founding fathers being racist are true, but we shouldn’t teach them to our kids? Several of the founding fathers practiced Christianity and had genuine belief in God. But they were sinners (just like me). They were sinners who enslaved other human beings because they believed they were less than human. When you remove those facts from the history lesson, you exalt the founding fathers into Christian demi-gods.
Teaching the truth of American history to my children does not mean I teach them to hate America. It means they learn to analyze the good and bad of American history in a world that is very broken and complex. A world that is utterly hopeless without the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I’m so tired of Christians railing against the teaching of historical racism as an agenda to get our kids to hate America. Stop teaching that the love of America is more important than truth and repentance from sin.
Pg 226 - In reference to clear accounts that racism and sexism run rampant in the church... “I am saddened that it has taken a secular movement to urge Christians to clean their own houses”
The secular movement they are referring to here is ‘social justice’. The authors repeatedly use strong, emotional language to condemn ‘liberal’ philosophies and ideas as dangerous. But when referring to sin within the church, the word used is “saddened”. A wise pastor once told me that an organization’s character can be judged by how strongly they deal with sin within their own ranks. Over and over it felt like the authors worked hard to whip readers into anger over certain ideas, while using gentle language to describe disgusting sin within the church. If it truly took a secular movement to confront sexual abuse and racism in the church, we should be much more concerned about how very sick the American church is than about some of these other concerns.
Pg 228 - “Lie #2: Differences are more important than similarities.” “In identity politics, people are taught to focus on their differences and their individual communities rather than their collective and shared experiences. Newsflash: Everyone has felt powerless. Everyone has felt invisible. Everyone has felt small or like they can’t catch a break.”
Again, with the over-simplification! The whole reason there is such an emphasis on racial/gender/class differences right now is because of the centuries of ignoring those differences and allowing oppression to go unchecked and even encouraged. Can identity politics go too far sometimes? Yes. Different races and classes of people are not monoliths. But you cannot end oppression without acknowledging AND celebrating the differences in our races/cultures/classes/genders, etc. Elsewhere in the book, the authors acknowledge real racism/classism/sexism and concede that these sins can have real affects on the outcomes of people’s lives (ie, we do not all start on the same footing). But, these brief acknowledgements are followed by an urging to look past this stuff to see that we are all human sinners. Yes: we are all sinners AND Yes: our skin color, culture, gender have real effects on our life experiences and the opportunities we get. Acknowledging the differences between us is not a bad thing. Sometimes it’s necessary to do so in order to address the REAL challenges and discriminations people face. We can acknowledge our differences AND our collective condition as sinners at the same time.
Pg 231 - “Colossians 3:11, There is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all”. Followed by the statement.... “When we are in Christ, we are no longer defined by our gender, race, or socioeconomic status. We are defined by Christ. Period. Let’s start acting like it.”
It is true that all believers are defined by Christ! But I’m confused why this ‘charge’ is included in a book whose primary message is teaching Christians how to respond thoughtfully to the culture of non-believers and their ideas?
This feels like a challenge statement to Christians to stop identifying with our gender, race, etc. and just focus on the banner of Christ. This is a valuable frame of mind when among believers, but how is this helpful when engaging with non-believers?
Pg 235 - “I am a nasty woman” - Citing Ashley Judd at the Women’s March on Washington.
The authors open the chapter on feminism with these divisive words from Ashley Judd, completely ignoring their context. The phrase “I am a nasty woman” is part of a poem Ms. Judd recited at the march entitled “Nasty Woman”. The poem was written by a 19 year old from Nashville in response to Donald Trump calling Hilary Clinton a “nasty woman” during his presidential campaign. I make no endorsement of the poem or the character of either Ashley Judd or Hilary Clinton. But it is very misleading to present this phrase as some misguided war-cry from a celebrity, when its actual source was our former president. The authors briefly address that one purpose of the Women’s March was in objection to “the new president’s crass remarks” but are never honest that Donald Trump is the originator of the phrase “nasty woman”.
What’s so frustrating is that the authors make some valid points about feminism (that abortion has become the central issue and that the movement refuses to make room for pro-life women). Most women of faith simply don’t feel welcome under the banner of feminism anymore. But the authors drive the wedge further when they misrepresent Ashley Judd’s words in the beginning of the chapter. If you have to mischaracterize someone to prove your point, you lose all credibility in the argument you’re making.
In summary, this book advocates the skill of discernment when engaging with the culture (specifically the “chew and spit” method of wisely spitting out whatever does not align with biblical teaching) but often describes the culture dishonestly. I believe the authors had good intentions of advocating for apologetics, but there is just too much that needs to be spat out here. The authors claim to be experts at identifying ‘bad’ agendas, and are completely blind to the agendas they themselves have swallowed. Consider going elsewhere for your intro to apologetics.
Pg 74 - “What does God say about love? What does he say about truth? You might want to find a dictionary from before 1950 and look at some of the definitions before agendas started creeping in.”
This section was about ‘linguistic theft’; highlighting the ways our culture has taken the word ‘love’ and twisted it away from a biblical definition. While I agree that the word ‘love’ is misused, it is laughable to think that there were no agendas present before the 1950’s. The book is riddled with statements harkening back to an ‘agenda free’ America. An honest study of American history would debunk this belief within 10 seconds.
Pg 177 - (referring to the concept of trigger warnings) “but good grief, we can’t orchestrate the world so that nobody ever experiences bad emotions! Sadly, Legislators in North America are under this delusion and are trying to engrave this aspect of political correctness into law. That they are attempting to do this should scare us, for there are far-reaching implications for us Christians if this trend continues.”
This is one of many examples where the authors allude to something terrible/scary happening but give no specific information to back up their point. How am I supposed to asses the reality of their claim? I know they want me to feel scared about something, but I’m not sure why?
Pg 186 - Under the heading “A Brief History of Religious Pluralism.” “When settlers first came to the United States, it was to find a place where they could worship freely (think pilgrims). It was freedom of worship that became the bedrock of American society and the first amendment.”
Nope! This description of America’s first settlers is a major oversimplification (several explanations of history throughout the book follow this theme). Pilgrims represent such a small fraction of the people who came to ‘settle’ North America and a lot of their motivation was actually economical (Pilgrims already had religious freedom where they lived, but not much chance to escape poverty). There is no mention of the masses of European ‘settlers’ who came to America (again for economic gain) or the ways these settlers oppressed Native Peoples and denied THEIR right to religious freedom. Yes, many early settlers were faithful Christians. But do not side-step the larger socio-economic motivators that drove people to come here and the atrocities they committed, sometimes in the name of God. You can’t boil down the “bedrock of American society” into a simple desire for religious freedom. It’s a very small piece of a huge, complicated picture and is very disingenuous. I’m gonna say it: this summary of American history is giving off strong Christian nationalist vibes.
Pg 216 - “The history your kids are learning in school is not the history that you and I learned. The pilgrim’s search for religious freedom has been replaced by horrible stories of Native American slaughters, conquest, and generally racist examples of the founding fathers. I’m not saying that this stuff isn’t true, but there is an agenda here: America is bad. America is capitalist. Therefore, capitalism is bad.”
So, the authors acknowledge that the accounts of Native American slaughter and the founding fathers being racist are true, but we shouldn’t teach them to our kids? Several of the founding fathers practiced Christianity and had genuine belief in God. But they were sinners (just like me). They were sinners who enslaved other human beings because they believed they were less than human. When you remove those facts from the history lesson, you exalt the founding fathers into Christian demi-gods.
Teaching the truth of American history to my children does not mean I teach them to hate America. It means they learn to analyze the good and bad of American history in a world that is very broken and complex. A world that is utterly hopeless without the saving grace of Jesus Christ. I’m so tired of Christians railing against the teaching of historical racism as an agenda to get our kids to hate America. Stop teaching that the love of America is more important than truth and repentance from sin.
Pg 226 - In reference to clear accounts that racism and sexism run rampant in the church... “I am saddened that it has taken a secular movement to urge Christians to clean their own houses”
The secular movement they are referring to here is ‘social justice’. The authors repeatedly use strong, emotional language to condemn ‘liberal’ philosophies and ideas as dangerous. But when referring to sin within the church, the word used is “saddened”. A wise pastor once told me that an organization’s character can be judged by how strongly they deal with sin within their own ranks. Over and over it felt like the authors worked hard to whip readers into anger over certain ideas, while using gentle language to describe disgusting sin within the church. If it truly took a secular movement to confront sexual abuse and racism in the church, we should be much more concerned about how very sick the American church is than about some of these other concerns.
Pg 228 - “Lie #2: Differences are more important than similarities.” “In identity politics, people are taught to focus on their differences and their individual communities rather than their collective and shared experiences. Newsflash: Everyone has felt powerless. Everyone has felt invisible. Everyone has felt small or like they can’t catch a break.”
Again, with the over-simplification! The whole reason there is such an emphasis on racial/gender/class differences right now is because of the centuries of ignoring those differences and allowing oppression to go unchecked and even encouraged. Can identity politics go too far sometimes? Yes. Different races and classes of people are not monoliths. But you cannot end oppression without acknowledging AND celebrating the differences in our races/cultures/classes/genders, etc. Elsewhere in the book, the authors acknowledge real racism/classism/sexism and concede that these sins can have real affects on the outcomes of people’s lives (ie, we do not all start on the same footing). But, these brief acknowledgements are followed by an urging to look past this stuff to see that we are all human sinners. Yes: we are all sinners AND Yes: our skin color, culture, gender have real effects on our life experiences and the opportunities we get. Acknowledging the differences between us is not a bad thing. Sometimes it’s necessary to do so in order to address the REAL challenges and discriminations people face. We can acknowledge our differences AND our collective condition as sinners at the same time.
Pg 231 - “Colossians 3:11, There is no Gentile or Jew, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbarian, Scythian, slave or free, but Christ is all, and is in all”. Followed by the statement.... “When we are in Christ, we are no longer defined by our gender, race, or socioeconomic status. We are defined by Christ. Period. Let’s start acting like it.”
It is true that all believers are defined by Christ! But I’m confused why this ‘charge’ is included in a book whose primary message is teaching Christians how to respond thoughtfully to the culture of non-believers and their ideas?
This feels like a challenge statement to Christians to stop identifying with our gender, race, etc. and just focus on the banner of Christ. This is a valuable frame of mind when among believers, but how is this helpful when engaging with non-believers?
Pg 235 - “I am a nasty woman” - Citing Ashley Judd at the Women’s March on Washington.
The authors open the chapter on feminism with these divisive words from Ashley Judd, completely ignoring their context. The phrase “I am a nasty woman” is part of a poem Ms. Judd recited at the march entitled “Nasty Woman”. The poem was written by a 19 year old from Nashville in response to Donald Trump calling Hilary Clinton a “nasty woman” during his presidential campaign. I make no endorsement of the poem or the character of either Ashley Judd or Hilary Clinton. But it is very misleading to present this phrase as some misguided war-cry from a celebrity, when its actual source was our former president. The authors briefly address that one purpose of the Women’s March was in objection to “the new president’s crass remarks” but are never honest that Donald Trump is the originator of the phrase “nasty woman”.
What’s so frustrating is that the authors make some valid points about feminism (that abortion has become the central issue and that the movement refuses to make room for pro-life women). Most women of faith simply don’t feel welcome under the banner of feminism anymore. But the authors drive the wedge further when they misrepresent Ashley Judd’s words in the beginning of the chapter. If you have to mischaracterize someone to prove your point, you lose all credibility in the argument you’re making.
In summary, this book advocates the skill of discernment when engaging with the culture (specifically the “chew and spit” method of wisely spitting out whatever does not align with biblical teaching) but often describes the culture dishonestly. I believe the authors had good intentions of advocating for apologetics, but there is just too much that needs to be spat out here. The authors claim to be experts at identifying ‘bad’ agendas, and are completely blind to the agendas they themselves have swallowed. Consider going elsewhere for your intro to apologetics.
August 16, 2019
I was only a few pages into this book when I began to wonder whether or not this was the long-awaited answer to my question: how can I get the bear that mauled my brother to death to apologize to our family? I'm still seeking an answer to that question, and this book, despite it's promising title, did nothing to aid my quest.
October 18, 2019
I LOVED this book. It taught me a lot, clarified things I already believed, and made me more passionate and excited about my job as a mother and apologist to my children. I highly recommend!
June 4, 2019
If you're a Christian parent, you want to raise your children to know and love the Lord, but there is no one sure-fired 100% way to parent that brings kids to Jesus. But we can make sure to point the way to a faith built on the solid foundation of truth. And Mama Bear Apologetics gives us the tools to build that foundation.
One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "Blind faith is easy to lose. Faith grounded in evidence is harder to walk away from." - Hillary Morgan Ferrer. So how do we give our kids that kind of foundation? You could spend years studying apologetics or you can start with this book.
Mama Bear Apologetics is like a cheat sheet for all the important concepts we need to know as parents to teach our children why we believe that Christianity is more than a good idea, it's the truth. Each of the authors writes with authority, but in a conversational tone that makes you feel like you could be sitting around the playground chatting.
Each chapter walks you through the way the world twists the truth or subverts Gods' word and offers real ways to clarify our thinking and think critically about the issues. And this book is written by busy moms for busy moms! Mama Bear Apologetics gets to the heart of each issue quickly and gives you easy answers to deal with each type of objection. I really appreciate the end of each chapter walks you through a concrete way to handle each subject. I love learning, but if I don't have a concrete take-away, sometimes what I've read doesn't stick. MBA makes sure you know how to use each concept to solidify not only the faith of your children, but your own, and give you the confidence to share your faith with the people you encounter in your daily life.
Every chapter is so good, you won't want to put it down. But I really appreciated the chapter on Linguistic Theft. I know that words are being misappropriated, but since reading that chapter, I've started seeing just how many words aren't being used authentically and how that shapes our thought processes.
The chapters on naturalism, truth, evidence, and relativism are really excellent. I love how the authors take concepts that we've heard so often, we've internalized them without realizing it and show us how flawed they are. Kids are walking away from faith in larger numbers than ever because they don't know how faulty these 'great sound bite' ideas really are. But MBA exposes the flaws in their logic.
While MBA covers just about every main objection to Christianity and explains many contradictory worldviews, we can teach our kids HOW to think critically using the skills outlined in this book even when confronted with an argument that wasn't specifically covered because they covered how to discern the message and measure it against truth and logic. We don't have to leave our brains at the door to be Christians. In fact, we need to use them now more than ever.
One chapter that was particularly important as the mother of a young girl is the one on toxic feminism. I want my daughter to see herself correctly as an image bearer of God created in His likeness, loved and cherished deeply. But I don't want her to fall victim to the viciousness passing as the "pro-women movement". MBA helps us see the beauty in being women without feeling like we have to go to war against men. The book dispels the clear contradictory messages in third wave feminism that are actually damaging to women and families. And challenges us as a body of Christ to do better in how we protect women.
MBA ends with a chapter full of ways to use all this information to make a difference for the next generation.
I really can't recommend this book enough. The wisdom and knowledge of the various authors is astounding. The years of their experience and educational background is a treasure trove that we get to ravage to contend for the faith of our children. Every Christian should read this book, but especially parents ready to Roar like a Mama Bear for the faith of their children.
I received a copy for my honest review, but bought one too! I think this book is that important!
One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "Blind faith is easy to lose. Faith grounded in evidence is harder to walk away from." - Hillary Morgan Ferrer. So how do we give our kids that kind of foundation? You could spend years studying apologetics or you can start with this book.
Mama Bear Apologetics is like a cheat sheet for all the important concepts we need to know as parents to teach our children why we believe that Christianity is more than a good idea, it's the truth. Each of the authors writes with authority, but in a conversational tone that makes you feel like you could be sitting around the playground chatting.
Each chapter walks you through the way the world twists the truth or subverts Gods' word and offers real ways to clarify our thinking and think critically about the issues. And this book is written by busy moms for busy moms! Mama Bear Apologetics gets to the heart of each issue quickly and gives you easy answers to deal with each type of objection. I really appreciate the end of each chapter walks you through a concrete way to handle each subject. I love learning, but if I don't have a concrete take-away, sometimes what I've read doesn't stick. MBA makes sure you know how to use each concept to solidify not only the faith of your children, but your own, and give you the confidence to share your faith with the people you encounter in your daily life.
Every chapter is so good, you won't want to put it down. But I really appreciated the chapter on Linguistic Theft. I know that words are being misappropriated, but since reading that chapter, I've started seeing just how many words aren't being used authentically and how that shapes our thought processes.
The chapters on naturalism, truth, evidence, and relativism are really excellent. I love how the authors take concepts that we've heard so often, we've internalized them without realizing it and show us how flawed they are. Kids are walking away from faith in larger numbers than ever because they don't know how faulty these 'great sound bite' ideas really are. But MBA exposes the flaws in their logic.
While MBA covers just about every main objection to Christianity and explains many contradictory worldviews, we can teach our kids HOW to think critically using the skills outlined in this book even when confronted with an argument that wasn't specifically covered because they covered how to discern the message and measure it against truth and logic. We don't have to leave our brains at the door to be Christians. In fact, we need to use them now more than ever.
One chapter that was particularly important as the mother of a young girl is the one on toxic feminism. I want my daughter to see herself correctly as an image bearer of God created in His likeness, loved and cherished deeply. But I don't want her to fall victim to the viciousness passing as the "pro-women movement". MBA helps us see the beauty in being women without feeling like we have to go to war against men. The book dispels the clear contradictory messages in third wave feminism that are actually damaging to women and families. And challenges us as a body of Christ to do better in how we protect women.
MBA ends with a chapter full of ways to use all this information to make a difference for the next generation.
I really can't recommend this book enough. The wisdom and knowledge of the various authors is astounding. The years of their experience and educational background is a treasure trove that we get to ravage to contend for the faith of our children. Every Christian should read this book, but especially parents ready to Roar like a Mama Bear for the faith of their children.
I received a copy for my honest review, but bought one too! I think this book is that important!
September 27, 2021
Mama Bear Apologetics is a resource that guides mothers to understand and teach their children to defend Christianity against false worldviews in culture.
I am not a mom, so quite frankly, a lot of the mommy humor in this book fell flat for me.
As for the content, on the whole, Mama Bear Apologetics is a book I can see being a very useful resource to jumpstart moms in incorporating apologetics into the home. It is solid and biblical in its analysis and responses, and is written in an easy-to-read style (though definitely meant for moms!).
However, a few concerns came to mind as I read. The first was with the tone of the book in some places, which seemed almost condescending and deriding of the worldviews the authors were critiquing. Though the authors do claim many times believers need to be gentle and loving toward the people while addressing their flawed ideas, I was surprised and disturbed by how often they would come to an idea, pick it apart, and suggest it is ridiculous or absurd to believe in it. What bothered me more was the use of sarcasm and italics, which made me feel as though the author’s were rolling their eyes as they wrote, and led me to think that they weren’t consciously trying to graciously address people holding the worldviews. I felt that balance of graciousness and criticalness wasn’t met in this book.
The other concern I had was the author’s emphasis on apologetics as the source of keeping kids from leaving the church, while (most likely unintentionally) neglecting to offer the real source of salvation, which is the Gospel. Apologetics is a useful tool, certainly. But I have seen friends who have studied apologetics deeply, only to walk away from traditional Christianity because they didn’t believe the Biblical Gospel. They could defend so many parts of their faith and reason with false philosophies, but did not understand the Gospel of Christ, which is the foundation of Christianity.
So, I would recommend Mama Bear Apologetics as a solid resource and basic introduction to relevant apologetic issues, but would caution parents to keep the above issues in mind as they use it. Mama Bear Apologetics is useful for apologetics, but apologetics in itself is not enough. I would also recommend a few other books dealing with the doctrines of Scripture that would take what Mama Bear Apologetics offers to a deeper level. Most of all, I would urge parents to turn first and foremost to Scripture, to reading the Bible and teaching its Truth to their children. With that foundation, I think Mama Bear Apologetics has the potential to be a valuable tool for families.
I am not a mom, so quite frankly, a lot of the mommy humor in this book fell flat for me.
As for the content, on the whole, Mama Bear Apologetics is a book I can see being a very useful resource to jumpstart moms in incorporating apologetics into the home. It is solid and biblical in its analysis and responses, and is written in an easy-to-read style (though definitely meant for moms!).
However, a few concerns came to mind as I read. The first was with the tone of the book in some places, which seemed almost condescending and deriding of the worldviews the authors were critiquing. Though the authors do claim many times believers need to be gentle and loving toward the people while addressing their flawed ideas, I was surprised and disturbed by how often they would come to an idea, pick it apart, and suggest it is ridiculous or absurd to believe in it. What bothered me more was the use of sarcasm and italics, which made me feel as though the author’s were rolling their eyes as they wrote, and led me to think that they weren’t consciously trying to graciously address people holding the worldviews. I felt that balance of graciousness and criticalness wasn’t met in this book.
The other concern I had was the author’s emphasis on apologetics as the source of keeping kids from leaving the church, while (most likely unintentionally) neglecting to offer the real source of salvation, which is the Gospel. Apologetics is a useful tool, certainly. But I have seen friends who have studied apologetics deeply, only to walk away from traditional Christianity because they didn’t believe the Biblical Gospel. They could defend so many parts of their faith and reason with false philosophies, but did not understand the Gospel of Christ, which is the foundation of Christianity.
So, I would recommend Mama Bear Apologetics as a solid resource and basic introduction to relevant apologetic issues, but would caution parents to keep the above issues in mind as they use it. Mama Bear Apologetics is useful for apologetics, but apologetics in itself is not enough. I would also recommend a few other books dealing with the doctrines of Scripture that would take what Mama Bear Apologetics offers to a deeper level. Most of all, I would urge parents to turn first and foremost to Scripture, to reading the Bible and teaching its Truth to their children. With that foundation, I think Mama Bear Apologetics has the potential to be a valuable tool for families.
February 25, 2021
I enjoy learning why I believe what I believe about the Bible and how to defend my faith. Also, I like learning about parenting. This book combines the two: it talks about how to help your kids understand Biblical truth.
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I was blown away by the wisdom in this book. My kids are big, but I’m eager to help others navigate the waters of parenting in today’s culture. I hold strong beliefs about some things but until I read this book, it was hard for me to put into words WHY. The chapters on self-help, feminism, and emotionalism were especially thought provoking.
•
I am a bit overwhelmed! To put it simply, Mama Bear Apologetics is full of hard words and concepts that I can’t fully get straight in my mind. There is so much great information and truth but I’m having a hard time processing how I can roll that over to impact my family and my kids. I have purchased the study guide for this and I plan to start a group at my church to go through it, so I’m hoping to squeeze every ounce of knowledge from it!
July 28, 2021
Reread Summer 2021: still 5 star😁
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I've read several parenting books, but it's been a long while since I've read one that is so applicable to today's parenting struggles in a world where foundations are constantly blurred.
Such a great resource! Highly recommend!!!
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I've read several parenting books, but it's been a long while since I've read one that is so applicable to today's parenting struggles in a world where foundations are constantly blurred.
Such a great resource! Highly recommend!!!
December 12, 2021
A great overview of the prevalent false worldviews that are enticing our children to leave the faith. A must read for Christian moms.
Valuable reading recommendations at the end.
Valuable reading recommendations at the end.
March 2, 2021
There was research put into this book, but I have an issue with the limited textbook view of feminism presented in this text manipulated to serve the purpose of "Mama Bear Apologetics" (a business as well as the book title). There are feminist movements that are currently happening that are not addressed in this book that address the concerns that Valerius, Childers, and Ferrer raise. I think their stance on social justice is concerning in addition to their denial of the patriarchy. Many other views are trivialized due to lack of understanding. They recognize the #metoo movement, and in the same essay argue the patriarchy is false since Valerius's brother has endured struggles "at the hands of women" (236). But the feminist issues and stances on social justice aside, I feel that this book presents some good info. Ironically, you will need to "chew and spit" (a process they coin to refer to the sifting of wisdom from a work that is problematic) while consuming these essays. But I would hate to refer to this book and reinforce problematic patriarchal views onto readers and by default their children/children they encounter. Especially if any woman is facing abuse, I would hate for her to reach page 244 and contemplate if her situation of abuse qualifies as "truly violent" or if she should stick it out because it's only a bit violent.... and fulfills "gender roles" (244, 240). In good conscious I cannot recommend this book to another woman as I feel it could do so much more harm than good. I'll refer women to other resources.
October 2, 2023
DNF
I just will not and cannot recommend a book, nor will I finish reading a book that calls it "propaganda" when there is an LGBTQ plus summer camp in existence.
I honestly expected this book to be very good and maybe a little more extreme than I'm used to in my own spiritual journey, but this book is absolutely not for those who believe that God is Love and the Christians are called to a life of loving others.
I actually thought maybe there was hope because in the introduction it was discussed that science and God's story are not mutually exclusive.
Imagine living your life believing that a safe space for children who have been continuously hurt by religious people's opinions and self-appointed judgment is considered propaganda. What a small life these authors preach and what a loss for humanity.
All of this before chapter 2.
Maybe this mass exodus of youth from church has more to do with teachings and hate like, this book present.
I just will not and cannot recommend a book, nor will I finish reading a book that calls it "propaganda" when there is an LGBTQ plus summer camp in existence.
I honestly expected this book to be very good and maybe a little more extreme than I'm used to in my own spiritual journey, but this book is absolutely not for those who believe that God is Love and the Christians are called to a life of loving others.
I actually thought maybe there was hope because in the introduction it was discussed that science and God's story are not mutually exclusive.
Imagine living your life believing that a safe space for children who have been continuously hurt by religious people's opinions and self-appointed judgment is considered propaganda. What a small life these authors preach and what a loss for humanity.
All of this before chapter 2.
Maybe this mass exodus of youth from church has more to do with teachings and hate like, this book present.
June 5, 2019
I’ll be honest. Raising my kids to love and follow Jesus has felt quite overwhelming lately. The statistics with regard to kids leaving their faith in college are overwhelming and Christianity seems increasingly under attack. However, this book gave me the encouragement I needed to not give up the fight. I found strength in knowing there are other Mama Bears right beside me, who also see apologetics as an essential element in the discipleship of our kids. This book is extremely current on the false ideas that are permeating our culture and more importantly, gives the tools necessary to help you and your kids withstand spiritual attacks, answer tough questions and demolish arguments. After reading this book I am fired up and ready to keep fighting for the hearts and minds of the next generation
February 1, 2023
I have mixed feelings about this book. It might deserve one more star. On the one hand, it did a pretty good job of giving an introduction to a variety of important cultural topics; a lot of the suggestions for activities or discussions with children were practical and helpful; the presentation of certain topics was actually much more balanced and nuanced than I had expected. On the other hand, I found the writing quality really uneven (partly due to the fact that it was written by a “committee” and not a single person); I felt the book tried to tackle too many things at once; I couldn’t stand the cutesy humor or “Mama Bear” references, and felt at times the book talked down to mothers, like they couldn’t possibly understand the real meat of apologetics, theology, philosophy, etc. Still, there was a lot that was useful and helpful here, especially as an introduction.
April 4, 2020
A book I wanted a physical copy of. Some books I can read on kindle or listen to. This one I had my highlighter, pen, and engaged in each page. This will be a reference book for me in the future. I know I will read it again. Good enough to do a book club with. The truths presented here are eternal. Every mom, grandma, aunt, sister or care giver or friend of children/teenagers in some way need to read this book!
June 23, 2020
My rating would be somewhere between 3.5-4.5 stars depending on what part of the book I was at.
For the first chunk of this book, I nearly stopped reading it (but I usually feel guilty for not finishing a book so I kept going). Here’s why.
There is an example story of a group going on a river rafting ride. An adult daughter falls out of the boat and the mother jumps in the water and hoists her daughter out (even though physically speaking this woman shouldn’t have been able to lift her daughter). The authors relate this story to how we are to be as parents - grabbing our children out of the evil isms and thinking of the world.
This made me angry. I felt like it was representing the entire world as being evil and something we need to protect our children from. And I know this is not the case. I have read books by many different spectrums of people and oftentimes people who don’t know God live out and understand the heart behind the law much better than the huge majority of Christians do.
I want my kids to not be afraid of people or ideas. I do want them to recognize truth and be able to sift through ideas and thoughts, but I do not want them to be terrified of every thought and idea outside of the church thinking it is somehow out to get them.
That being said, I did appreciate the last half of the book where the authors presented many schools of thought that are currently being held in our culture. I especially appreciated the sections they included on feminism, Marxism, emotionalism and progressive Christianity as these are not usually discussed in most apologetics books. Giving a brief breakdown of the isms main tenants, how it is played out and then going through how that relates to historical and Biblical Christianity is very helpful. I also appreciated that they brought up the beneficial aspects each of these isms forced the church (and world) to look at. For instance, feminism forced the church to do a shake up and deal with abusive leaders.
What a good goal to try and get moms to start thinking and teaching their children how to think about their faith. I think I would recommend this book to many of my Christian friends, especially ones that mostly go to church on Sundays and don’t do much other study about their faith. I would give a word of caution about the “Christians vs. Everyone Else in the World (who is essentially evil)” thing.
For the first chunk of this book, I nearly stopped reading it (but I usually feel guilty for not finishing a book so I kept going). Here’s why.
There is an example story of a group going on a river rafting ride. An adult daughter falls out of the boat and the mother jumps in the water and hoists her daughter out (even though physically speaking this woman shouldn’t have been able to lift her daughter). The authors relate this story to how we are to be as parents - grabbing our children out of the evil isms and thinking of the world.
This made me angry. I felt like it was representing the entire world as being evil and something we need to protect our children from. And I know this is not the case. I have read books by many different spectrums of people and oftentimes people who don’t know God live out and understand the heart behind the law much better than the huge majority of Christians do.
I want my kids to not be afraid of people or ideas. I do want them to recognize truth and be able to sift through ideas and thoughts, but I do not want them to be terrified of every thought and idea outside of the church thinking it is somehow out to get them.
That being said, I did appreciate the last half of the book where the authors presented many schools of thought that are currently being held in our culture. I especially appreciated the sections they included on feminism, Marxism, emotionalism and progressive Christianity as these are not usually discussed in most apologetics books. Giving a brief breakdown of the isms main tenants, how it is played out and then going through how that relates to historical and Biblical Christianity is very helpful. I also appreciated that they brought up the beneficial aspects each of these isms forced the church (and world) to look at. For instance, feminism forced the church to do a shake up and deal with abusive leaders.
What a good goal to try and get moms to start thinking and teaching their children how to think about their faith. I think I would recommend this book to many of my Christian friends, especially ones that mostly go to church on Sundays and don’t do much other study about their faith. I would give a word of caution about the “Christians vs. Everyone Else in the World (who is essentially evil)” thing.
June 13, 2022
“You can see why propaganda writers phrase their arguments with inflammatory language intended to trigger the emotions. It's much more efficient than presenting actual information.” And that’s what this book is. Oh, the irony. It’s not Biblically backed - it’s simply a few conservative women’s opinions.
December 7, 2020
I found this really helpful, although it is really just a summary of different “isms”. The whole Mama Bear thing seemed a little cheesy to me. Apologetics in and of itself is limited— you can give your kids all the right answers but without the desire and the reality of a personal walk with God, Christianity falls flat. That being said, kids need to know that issues can and need to be thought through, and this book is a great place to start. I thought the chapter on Linguistic Theft was especially eye-opening and the one on Marxism very thought-provoking.
December 9, 2023
I think every Christian mom should read this. I see so many women sucked into modern philosophies without any idea of how dangerous and unbiblical they are. I love the suggestions for talking through some of the issues with your kids. Provides great talking points and perspective .
August 12, 2021
Reading the more negative reviews and interpreting the cover art as antagonistic, I was prepared not to like this book, but I did benefit from what it had to say and even found it a mostly enjoyable read.
It's a crash course in the worldviews that are most often championed in our culture: a few preliminary chapters to lay down some principles and then one chapter for each major worldview.
I would say the book is more useful as a preventative, "Worldviews 101" read than as a read for moms whose kids are already attracted to these worldviews. For one, the time the authors can give to each worldview is of course limited, so what we end up getting is a very superficial skim through the worldview's arguments and stances, as well as a short section on how to discern what each gets right and wrong from a biblical perspective.
The reason I say it's better as a preventative education is that if a person or child is actually entrenched in one of these worldviews, this short treatment is not nearly enough material to engage with it well. (The authors, however, provide suggested reading lists in the back--some of which I do want to check out.) Despite the authors' warning against straw men in the beginning chapters, I found that some of the ways they treated the other worldviews' arguments were simplified to the point of being straw man-ish, at least. As someone who was once fairly ensconced in many if not most of these beliefs, I can say with confidence that 1) the authors of this book did not do justice to the more nuanced and sincere arguments of other worldviews, again most likely due to time/space issues, and 2) none of the arguments put forward in this book would have convinced me or anyone around me that my worldview was wrong, often because they are not acknowledging those nuances. In other words, they may be useful in small debates against people who are only seeking a "gotcha!" moment to score a point against Christians, but I'm not confident they could disciple someone who's genuinely and intelligently holding to that other worldview.
I was also put off by the sarcastic quips that were sometimes directed at these other philosophies. While I recognize that sarcasm is a legitimate way to communicate and that some families/subcultures can use it entirely without insult, it can come across as dismissive or even caustic and unloving, and I think the book would've been better off avoiding it.
Critiques aside, I was empowered and inspired by this book to go ahead and start training my kids in cultural discernment. For example, I recognized their passion for the MULAN song "True To Your Heart," in which one line is "Your heart can tell you no lies" and another line asks, "Why second guess what feels so right?" I printed out the lyrics and let my two oldest girls (7 and 6) color on their sheets while we went through the song line-by-line to see what was good about it, what was unwise about it, and what the Bible would have to say about it. We ended up talking about how to choose a spouse, how Mulan misinterprets her family's expectations in the film, and a host of other great topics. At the end, my eldest said, "I like this--this talking about what's good and bad in songs. Can we do this again?" And I honestly never would've thought to do it without having read this book. I would've felt more helpless, like my only option was to tell them they couldn't listen to it anymore or shrug my shoulders and hope it didn't sink in too much.
It's a crash course in the worldviews that are most often championed in our culture: a few preliminary chapters to lay down some principles and then one chapter for each major worldview.
I would say the book is more useful as a preventative, "Worldviews 101" read than as a read for moms whose kids are already attracted to these worldviews. For one, the time the authors can give to each worldview is of course limited, so what we end up getting is a very superficial skim through the worldview's arguments and stances, as well as a short section on how to discern what each gets right and wrong from a biblical perspective.
The reason I say it's better as a preventative education is that if a person or child is actually entrenched in one of these worldviews, this short treatment is not nearly enough material to engage with it well. (The authors, however, provide suggested reading lists in the back--some of which I do want to check out.) Despite the authors' warning against straw men in the beginning chapters, I found that some of the ways they treated the other worldviews' arguments were simplified to the point of being straw man-ish, at least. As someone who was once fairly ensconced in many if not most of these beliefs, I can say with confidence that 1) the authors of this book did not do justice to the more nuanced and sincere arguments of other worldviews, again most likely due to time/space issues, and 2) none of the arguments put forward in this book would have convinced me or anyone around me that my worldview was wrong, often because they are not acknowledging those nuances. In other words, they may be useful in small debates against people who are only seeking a "gotcha!" moment to score a point against Christians, but I'm not confident they could disciple someone who's genuinely and intelligently holding to that other worldview.
I was also put off by the sarcastic quips that were sometimes directed at these other philosophies. While I recognize that sarcasm is a legitimate way to communicate and that some families/subcultures can use it entirely without insult, it can come across as dismissive or even caustic and unloving, and I think the book would've been better off avoiding it.
Critiques aside, I was empowered and inspired by this book to go ahead and start training my kids in cultural discernment. For example, I recognized their passion for the MULAN song "True To Your Heart," in which one line is "Your heart can tell you no lies" and another line asks, "Why second guess what feels so right?" I printed out the lyrics and let my two oldest girls (7 and 6) color on their sheets while we went through the song line-by-line to see what was good about it, what was unwise about it, and what the Bible would have to say about it. We ended up talking about how to choose a spouse, how Mulan misinterprets her family's expectations in the film, and a host of other great topics. At the end, my eldest said, "I like this--this talking about what's good and bad in songs. Can we do this again?" And I honestly never would've thought to do it without having read this book. I would've felt more helpless, like my only option was to tell them they couldn't listen to it anymore or shrug my shoulders and hope it didn't sink in too much.
January 18, 2022
I had high hopes for this book, and it started out well. Unfortunately, the sarcasm throughout really started to wear on the overall tone. I think the writers tried to address so many different ideas that they had to oversimplify at some points and it became almost a caricature of what the actual ideas are. No where was this clearer than the chapter on Communism. I think Ferrer really did a disservice in this chapter in describing what communism, marxism, and socialists believe and this book would have been so much more powerful without that chapter. The book was filled with straw man arguments and not a lot of quality citations for an apologetics book. Yes-they even cite Ravi Z, yikes.
June 4, 2019
This book is providing a critical message for Christians at this time in our culture. Even though it is directed towards moms, I believe it can and should be read by any Christian adult who cares about the younger generation. In addition, it is important for us to understand the current culture and the issues we are facing not just as parents but also as a church looking to connect with and reach those who do not know Jesus. The book addresses multiple issues and lies that our culture is believing right now, but it is very readable and not too academic. Highly recommend!
October 29, 2020
I threw this book on multiple occasions. I would not recommend it at all if you consider yourself on the Progressive end of Christianity. In fact, there's an entire chapter about how "dangerous" Progressive Christianity is. For a book that is exploring why young people are leaving the church, it's incredibly close-minded about the faith a lot of young people are moving towards. The concern is strictly over the evangelical church without acknowledgment that this type of Christianity is relatively new. I'm glad it's been a gift to other mothers, definitely not a book for me!
April 21, 2021
I was really disappointed with this book- I had high expectations since it comes highly recommended and I love the premise. The purpose is to help equip moms to teach critical thinking skills and Christian apologetics to our kids, which is great- we need more of that! But the tone of this book is condescending to people who hold other world views, with a lot of sarcasm and eye rolling. I would never want somebody who isn’t a Christian to read this book, and I would never want to pass this attitude to Christians, especially ones who are trying to influence their kids.
April 14, 2020
I must confess this book went over my head a few times. I think it’s one I can/should return to again and again to remind myself both of the truths the Bible teaches and the many different realms of thought that affect culture around us. I like the basic principles outlined to address and respond to any number of issues your kids (or you!) might have to various topics. The resource guide in the back was also quite helpful and I have been challenged to dive deeper into Christian apologetics.
March 9, 2021
This book provides a great overview of all the “isms” that are attacking Christianity in modern times. It also emphasizes the importance of having a strong foundation before you even encounter those things, so that you won’t be shaken.
I would definitely recommend to all moms, especially those who don’t know much about apologetics.
I would definitely recommend to all moms, especially those who don’t know much about apologetics.
April 18, 2023
I want to give it more than 3 stars but I found it very hard to read. The format hindered the message for me. I switched to audio about 2/3 of the way through and found that much more easy to follow along with. The breaks and sections were just too much.
That being said the content was good. The writing was thoughtful and truthful. Would recommend to anyone interested in ideologies or apologetics
That being said the content was good. The writing was thoughtful and truthful. Would recommend to anyone interested in ideologies or apologetics
October 1, 2023
DNF
Typically I can take good points from a book, even if I disagree. But it just didn’t seem worth it to me to keep going if in the foreword and introduction I already had so many issues.
The premise of the book seems based on fear and I could feel myself getting anxious reading it as the author seems to stir up anxiety over the “world” and “culture”. I have no doubt the authors have good intentions, but they do seem to prey on a Mother’s fear- at least initially.
If apologetics are as important as the authors presume, why isn’t this book to both parents instead of only Mom’s. And I really could have don’t without the “mama bear” lingo.
Here are some quotes from even before chapter 1, that gave me pause and ultimately led me to not finish.
The woman who wrote the forward shares about the “secular influence” at her public’s high school noting:
“The teachers were secular, the textbooks were secular, and my friends were mostly secular or Jewish. I did know a few Christians, but they were theologically liberal.”
First, I would expect the teachers and textbooks to be secular in a public school. It also just seemed to be that “liberal Christians” didn’t even count as Christians which fit into the “us vs them” theme that pervades the forward and preface.
She shares a story about a woman whose son denied being a Christian after he started his first job post-college. So the Mother started studying apologetics because:
“But her baby’s eternal destiny was in the balance! What else could a Mama Bear do? She saw the philosophical bulldozer crushing her son, and she jumped in with both hands—as all Mama Bears do—wanting to lift it off of him, even though it meant studying apologetics of all things.”
While I do think it’s important to be able to engage with others and culture in a way that is informed and biblically sound, the “what else could a mama bear do?” part leaves out so much! For starters she could pray to the God who desires that none shall perish and lives to intercede for her. Once again, the writing seems to play on fears and emotions.
It takes a surprisingly long time for the author to mention Jesus especially considering his kindness (not apologetics) leads us to repentance.
“What if we could prime our children to think biblically before they are presented with the questions that challenge the faith? Thinking biblically isn’t merely about knowing Bible verses (though that’s a great place to start!). No, thinking biblically is about taking what we know from the Bible and understanding how the principles presented in it apply to everyday situations. That’s the kind of biblical thinkers we want our kids to become!”
While I don’t think teaching believers to think biblically is bad at all, I think I just disagree with the authors that children (who may or may not be believers) should be taught to think biblically as upmost importance. I think knowing who God is and trusting him, would be a priority so that THEN you can think like his thinks and obey.
“Don’t read this book for yourself. Read it if for no other reason than you need to know what the world is telling your kids the eight-plus hours a day that they are away from you. Read it so that you can recognize the lies and help your little bears to recognize them too.”
Once again, the fear. Fear of school (for the 2nd time within the introduction) and what “they” are indoctrinating your kid with and more of the “us” vs “them” mentality.
Once again, I DNF.
Typically I can take good points from a book, even if I disagree. But it just didn’t seem worth it to me to keep going if in the foreword and introduction I already had so many issues.
The premise of the book seems based on fear and I could feel myself getting anxious reading it as the author seems to stir up anxiety over the “world” and “culture”. I have no doubt the authors have good intentions, but they do seem to prey on a Mother’s fear- at least initially.
If apologetics are as important as the authors presume, why isn’t this book to both parents instead of only Mom’s. And I really could have don’t without the “mama bear” lingo.
Here are some quotes from even before chapter 1, that gave me pause and ultimately led me to not finish.
The woman who wrote the forward shares about the “secular influence” at her public’s high school noting:
“The teachers were secular, the textbooks were secular, and my friends were mostly secular or Jewish. I did know a few Christians, but they were theologically liberal.”
First, I would expect the teachers and textbooks to be secular in a public school. It also just seemed to be that “liberal Christians” didn’t even count as Christians which fit into the “us vs them” theme that pervades the forward and preface.
She shares a story about a woman whose son denied being a Christian after he started his first job post-college. So the Mother started studying apologetics because:
“But her baby’s eternal destiny was in the balance! What else could a Mama Bear do? She saw the philosophical bulldozer crushing her son, and she jumped in with both hands—as all Mama Bears do—wanting to lift it off of him, even though it meant studying apologetics of all things.”
While I do think it’s important to be able to engage with others and culture in a way that is informed and biblically sound, the “what else could a mama bear do?” part leaves out so much! For starters she could pray to the God who desires that none shall perish and lives to intercede for her. Once again, the writing seems to play on fears and emotions.
It takes a surprisingly long time for the author to mention Jesus especially considering his kindness (not apologetics) leads us to repentance.
“What if we could prime our children to think biblically before they are presented with the questions that challenge the faith? Thinking biblically isn’t merely about knowing Bible verses (though that’s a great place to start!). No, thinking biblically is about taking what we know from the Bible and understanding how the principles presented in it apply to everyday situations. That’s the kind of biblical thinkers we want our kids to become!”
While I don’t think teaching believers to think biblically is bad at all, I think I just disagree with the authors that children (who may or may not be believers) should be taught to think biblically as upmost importance. I think knowing who God is and trusting him, would be a priority so that THEN you can think like his thinks and obey.
“Don’t read this book for yourself. Read it if for no other reason than you need to know what the world is telling your kids the eight-plus hours a day that they are away from you. Read it so that you can recognize the lies and help your little bears to recognize them too.”
Once again, the fear. Fear of school (for the 2nd time within the introduction) and what “they” are indoctrinating your kid with and more of the “us” vs “them” mentality.
Once again, I DNF.
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