Date of Award

12-16-2022

Document Type

Major Applied Project

Degree Name

Doctor of Ministry (DMin)

Department

Practical Theology

First Advisor

Richard Marrs

Scripture References in this Resource

Genesis 1:28; Psalm 127:3

Abstract

Hagerman, Nicholas L. "Children Are a Heritage from the Lord: A Procreation-Centric Approach to Christian Marriage and Family Education." Doctor of Ministry. Major Applied Project, Concordia Seminary, 2022. 242 pp.

As youth and young adults are being raised in the church, they are often taught about issues related to sex and marriage. However, procreation and raising families are rarely mentioned in such teaching, which tends to focus instead on relational issues between spouses, the avoidance of sexual sins, and the marital institution's reflection of the relationship between Christ and His church. This project seeks to remedy this deficiency by taking a procreation-centric approach to educating young adults about marriage and sex. A Bible study that discussed these issues with a heavy emphasis on God's gifts of procreation and children was conducted with seven recent high school graduates. The participants were interviewed before and after the Bible study to learn what they had learned at church about these issues during their childhood and youth, and to determine whether or not their views and understanding had changed as a result of attending the Bible study. The results demonstrated that procreation-centric teaching can indeed in some cases raise young people's awareness of God’s gifts of procreation and children, and encourage them to actively pursue these gifts when they grow older and get married. The results also indicate that more instruction in God's procreative design for marriage is needed in the church, as not everyone will naturally be inclined to understand and accept it.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

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