Table of Contents

Introduction 

Part One Wives
Chapter 1 Massachusetts Hope
Chapter 2 The Church Comes Home
Chapter 3 The Men Who Would Be Kings
Chapter 4 The New Reformation
Chapter 5 Titus 2: Submission and War
Chapter 6 Titus 2 in Tennessee
Chapter 7 No Greater Joy
Chapter 8 Submission and Abuse
Chapter 9 The Small World of Vision Forum
Chapter 10 Life in the Garden

Part Two Mothers
Chapter 11 Be Fruitful and Multiply
Chapter 12 The Bible and Birth Control
Chapter 13 Trust and Obey
Chapter 14 Blessed Arrows
Chapter 15 The Natural Family
Chapter 16 Return to Patriarchy
Chapter 17 Godly Seeds
Chapter 18 Demographic Winter
Chapter 19 Exiting the Movement

Part Three Daughters
Chapter 20 Victory through Daughters

Conclusion

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Kathryn Joyce is a freelance journalist whose writing has appeared on Salon and in the Nation, Mother Jones, Newsweek, Double X, and other publications. She lives in New York City.

Reviews

Engrossing . . . Skillfully reported by journalist Kathryn Joyce, Quiverfull has echoes of The Handmaid's Tale. Unfortunately, it's not fiction.—Rebecca Braverman, Bust

"An invaluable contribution to understanding how religious fundamentalism still stands in the way of sexual justice . . . An urgent call to dismantle fundamentalism's hold on our politics, and our policy-making."—Sarah Posner, American Prospect online

"Insightful . . . A call to reexamine our own beliefs . . . The issues Joyce's book raises are fundamental to our identity as human beings, and as Christians. Perhaps they could stand some reexamination."—Elrena Evans, Christianity Today

"[An] excellent, frightening new book . . . Quiverfull merits wide readership."—Edd Doerr, The Voice of Reason: Journal of Americans for Religious Liberty

"Riveting and deeply disturbing. This important book shines a light on a corner of the Christian right that has taken misogyny to sadomasochistic extremes, and reveals the sexual anxieties so often underlying modern fundamentalism."—Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming

"Joyce gives us a first-ever glimpse into the Christian patriarchy movement, and her riveting reporting makes it all the scarier. If you've been feeling complacent about women's status, read this book!—Barbara Ehrenreich

"A groundbreaking investigation . . . Future historians and journalists will owe Joyce a debt of gratitude for her foray into this still nascent religious group."—Publishers Weekly

If any religious movement badly needs critiquing, the self-titled Quiverfull movement does, because its Christian patriarchy seeks to reverse the advances in equality women have made in the last 150 years or so. In this movement of the Christian Right, the author, a journalist, tells us, women are subordinate to men, and their sole God-given task is to be mothers and nurturers. Women have no authority outside the home and never any authority over men. All family planning is forbidden; women must have all the babies they can because the Bible tells us so. Joyce discusses the origins and expansion of the movement in Protestant fundamentalist and evangelical circles. She writes in a readable style and has a respectful approach that will appeal to most readers. She doesn't hesitate to highlight the social and personal damage caused by the movement to women's physical and mental health and to large and poor families struggling to survive on one paternal income. A modest complaint is that she doesn't critique the doctrinal roots of the movement in either biblical inerrancy or the authoritarianism of male leaders. Recommended for academic and public collections.-James F. DeRoche, Alexandria, VA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.

Engrossing . . . Skillfully reported by journalist Kathryn Joyce, Quiverfull has echoes of The Handmaid's Tale. Unfortunately, it's not fiction.-Rebecca Braverman, Bust

"An invaluable contribution to understanding how religious fundamentalism still stands in the way of sexual justice . . . An urgent call to dismantle fundamentalism's hold on our politics, and our policy-making."-Sarah Posner, American Prospect online

"Insightful . . . A call to reexamine our own beliefs . . . The issues Joyce's book raises are fundamental to our identity as human beings, and as Christians. Perhaps they could stand some reexamination."-Elrena Evans, Christianity Today

"[An] excellent, frightening new book . . . Quiverfull merits wide readership."-Edd Doerr, The Voice of Reason: Journal of Americans for Religious Liberty

"Riveting and deeply disturbing. This important book shines a light on a corner of the Christian right that has taken misogyny to sadomasochistic extremes, and reveals the sexual anxieties so often underlying modern fundamentalism."-Michelle Goldberg, author of Kingdom Coming

"Joyce gives us a first-ever glimpse into the Christian patriarchy movement, and her riveting reporting makes it all the scarier. If you've been feeling complacent about women's status, read this book!-Barbara Ehrenreich

"A groundbreaking investigation . . . Future historians and journalists will owe Joyce a debt of gratitude for her foray into this still nascent religious group."-Publishers Weekly