Moms, Kids, and the Physique Politic: Historic Christianity and the Restoration of Human Dignity

Heartily recommend
If Nadya Williams’s first book Cultural Christians in the Early Church Church (that I also recommend) is a survey of cultural questions early Christians struggled with, her just published Mothers, Children, and the Body Politic is a seminar engaging the big question of human dignity or worthiness that challenges us today. Specifically, part 1 points to 21st-century devaluing of pregnancy, child bearing, the maternal body, “assembly line life,” and the privileging of the “creative life” over against motherhood. Part 2 sketches lives of “worthless” and “useless” ones of antiquity and moments of their redemption in Judeo-Christian tradition. And, Part 3 moves to “healing words” (borrowed from Judeo-Christian scriptures, the early church, and contemporary author Wendell Berry) and that point to “the importance of valuing bodies, minds, and souls in caring for the lives of mothers, children, and all image bearers [as the Judeo-Christian epithet would consider humans to be]” (p. 155). She asks, “what does it look like to be not merely pro-life but pro-human flourishing” and insists that these “overwhelming, big-picture questions” require “local, concrete, rooted answers” (pp. 210-11).Williams’s caringly provocative questions offer much to the typical reader of an Intervarsity Press Academic book. I suspect they will be similarly fruitful when read by other thoughtful readers who also grapple with our utilitarian 21st century and find that joyful relationships with family, children, friends, and “meaningful work” promote human flourishing (p. 211). For Williams, love for all human beings is “revolutionary fruit” of the imago Dei that calls humanity to “extraordinary, lavish action…to love” (p. 221).A skilled andragogue, Williams walks the proverbial line between telling you what she thinks and offering you the opportunity to ponder and respond to questions yourself, questions that may well beget other questions in your own mind, questions that might further human flourishing, one reader and their relationship circle at a time. I heartily recommend this book.

Tried to read it.
I found the premise of this book very promising, but couldn’t get through the chapter on the assembly line life. The author equated designing a baby through IVF with a desire to send kids to school. The way the author shamed parents about being overwhelmed during summer was especially glaring. She seems to think homeschool is the only way to go.

Fantastic book, must read
I was so excited to hear of the upcoming publication of this book on Dr. Williams’ Substack a few months ago. Reading the introduction that was offered as a preview of the book, I was all the more excited to read it. The book intrigued me on multiple levels, from my personal interest in Dr. Williams’ recent choice to leave her academic position to homeschool her children, to her analysis of how our culture devalues motherhood, to learning about how this compares to attitudes in antiquity and early Christianity. Somehow, even with these incredibly high expectations, the book delivered more than I expected. It was validating and encouraging to read Dr. Williams’ experiences as a mother, and I learned so much from her deep knowledge of antiquity and the early church. I was inspired by the stories she included, from her own to those of Perpetua, Augustine, and Wendell Berry. The book ends with an inspiring call to extraordinary, lavish love for all humans who bear the image of God. Highly recommend this book to all Christians, or anyone interested in the current cultural devaluation of those who are seen as “useless” and how this relates to patterns throughout history.