Doug Phillips’ “Hopeful Theology of Miscarriage”
Speaking this past weekend at ”The Baby Conference,” in San Antonio, Texas, Vision Forum speaker, Doug Phillips gave a talk entitled, ”A Hopeful Theology of Miscarriage” ~ a summary of which, Phillips shared on his blog.
After taking the position that not all children who die go to heaven ~ but only the “children called of God,” Phillips discussed “the significant role that the unborn and young children play in God’s’ covenant of grace …” and then added:
Though acknowledging the sadness and loss of miscarriage — with he and his wife Beall having lost two unborn children — Doug offered two key points of hope that the loss of a child in the womb can bring:
- The hope of discipling our families on the priorities, nobilities, and sacrifices of Motherhood.
- The hope that tragedy provides to model confidence in the sovereignty of God to your children and the world.
Somehow ~ this is supposed to bring comfort to mothers who have lost children through miscarriage. Plus, it should be a great lesson about the nature and dealings of God for children and ”the world” too! Ack.
Here’s the ”piercing question” that really turned my stomach as Phillips’ words reminded me of the spiritual manipulation which was so much a part of my old Quiverfull world:
“What if miscarriage was God’s mean [sic] of showing mercy and love on a human soul, and if He chose you to be the honored vehicle to usher that child into eternity?”
And then he says, “Miscarriage is for a moment; a soul is forever.”
Mr. Phillips ~ your God is an evil monster!
May He go the way of Molech, Baal, and all the other sons-of-bitches tribal gods of the ancient Near-East that nobody has taken seriously for centuries.
So how is it that God is showing mercy and love to a baby when He chooses to to kill it ~ or at least, not to continue sustaining its life ~ His way of ”discipling” families with regard to moms’ priorities (the noble ones will sacrifice) and as an object lesson for children and “the world” ~ and when He uses our wombs to accomplish His capricious display of sovereignty, we should feel honored?!!!
What does this have to do with God’s covenant of grace?
And women should readily submit our wombs to the capricious whims of this Big Guy, why?
Yes, our mother-hearts will often compel us to sacrifice ourselves for our families. But unlike the Patriarchs, we women are not so cruel as to willfully sacrifice our own children to populate Hell. With no assurance that the precious lives which we grow in our wombs and hold in our hearts are among the “children called of God” ~ why should we cooperate in their creation for eternal destruction?
My apologies if Phillips’ flippancy with regard to what most women experience as a most devastating loss and an unbearable tragedy trips any PTSD triggers. His wolf-like insensitivity-disguised-in-spiritual-virtue sheep’s clothing certainly grabbed hold of my heart and my head and twisted my being into knots of confusion, dismay and anger.
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