Authentic Parenting In a Post Modern Culture

I want to share a little about a great book that just recently came out. Most of you know I am an avid reader, so I thought it would be fun to pass on some info on Authentic Parenting. This book was written by Mary DeMuth, and here she shares a bit on why she wrote this book on post-modern parenting:



Why did you write this book? Aren't there a bazillion other books on parenting out there?

Yes, I do believe there are a bazillion. I always struggle when I write a parenting book because I feel so darned small and weak. I don't parent perfectly. But, we did live through two and half years in France, the hotbed of hyper-postmodernity. We had to learn how to parent our kids in that culture. It occurred to me that the things we learned would be helpful to American parents too.

What does postmodern mean? And why should it matter to parents?

Postmodernism is the waiting room between what used to be a modern worldview and what will be. According to several postmodern scholars, we're in a shift right now, leaving modern ideas behind, but what we are shifting to is not yet fully defined.

Postmoderns believe that rationalism and/or more education doesn't necessarily create a better society. They typically don't embrace the notion of absolute truth, though they reach for the transcendent. They are skeptical, and often question whether science is something to be embraced or feared.

The question for parents is how will we mine the current worldview, even as it shifts? What in it can we embrace as biblical? What is not biblical? What I've seen in the church is a fearful adherence to what is familiar. So we cling to modern ideas, even though they may not be biblical and shun postmodern ideas even when they might be biblical. Our children will meet this shifting worldview no matter what our opinion of it is.

Authentic Parenting in a Postmodern Culture

by Mary E. DeMuth

Harvest House, July 1, 2007

If you'd like to read an excerpt from the book, click here.

To purchase, click here.

For more interesting reading, take a look at Mary's blog!
Meet Mary and read her crazy blog here.