Have You Read This Yet?

James Dobson has long been a herald for strong families in a culture that continues to oppose family values at every turn. His books have both confronted secular thought and shaped evangelical thought with far-reaching influence. His newest book, Bringing Up Girls, continues his pattern of addressing the general topic of parenting by honing in on one particular aspect. This book speaks to the unique challenges and distinctive considerations of rearing the ‘fairer sex”.

Dobson’s familiar pedagogy perpetuates with numerous cultural references, extensive statistical support, in-depth interviews, personal testimonials, and his own vast professional experience. These form the basis of his suppositions and resulting parenting advice. It is an enjoyable and fascinating read.

The strength of this book is clearly its two-fold emphasis: 1) the unparalleled significance and impact of good parenting and the plea to parents to answer this call purposefully. (The final chapter is a strong charge to this end.) And, 2) the wealth of practical responses and strategies for parents and families to use.

Bringing Up Girls is not without weakness, however. Indeed, with its scattered Bible verses and references to God (present though not numerous), one may be lulled into taking at face value its practical benefit without further scrutiny. .

My concern with this book is not so much in what is said, as what is left unsaid––not in the sense of topics and information left out, but in the reality that the issues addressed are absent of a clearly articulated, Biblical base. There is danger in merely establishing good practices and identifying solid principles unless these are solidly grounded in a Biblical and theological foundation. Parenting practice requires mooring to a thorough Biblical philosophy. Bypass or marginalize the core issues of human depravity, personal responsibility, Scriptural authority or God’s sovereign rule over all, and the result is grave. Each is an essential underpinning that must be in its proper place to effectively and Biblically parent.

Perhaps Dobson assumes the reader knows/will look at Scripture himself, but this omission of clear explanation articulation results in a feeble, seemingly non-existent theological base. One is not pushed to ponder, ‘what does God think of this?” Rather, the question is left unasked, as if irrelevant.

The book also offers many psychological premises. Dobson repeatedly fails to accurately identify behaviors and motivations based on a Biblical understanding of anthropology, thus, readers are left to poorly discern, if to infer at all, the issues (and resulting responses) and their spiritual roots. Such a psychologically-flavored base pollutes the pool of practical strategies he offers. (Is a poor relationship with her father the cause of poor self esteem in a woman’s life? Will a loving father-daughter relationship guarantee a woman’s ability to cope in adulthood? Are the emotional needs of [female] humans met by other humans? In each case the book seems to offer a resounding “yes”, based on the large amount of examples, statistics and experiences which support the cause-effect nature of these behaviors. )

For those readers with a strong theological understanding and solid grounding in Scripture’s teaching on anthropology, Dobson’s book puts forward a robust emphasis on healthy family relationships as well as many valuable and diverse examples of how this can be applied in day to day life. Take it in with discernment.