The Bible\\u2019s Perspectives on Child-bearing and Family Size<\\/span><\\/h2>\\n \ The Bible makes clear that God expects his children to multiply and replenish the earth. The first commandment given to Adam and Eve, believed in the Christian world to be the first parents of all humans, was this: \\u201cBe fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.\\u201d<\\/span><\\/p>\\n \ \\n " Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth\\u2026 \\u2013 Genesis 1:28<\\/p><\\/blockquote>\\n* *\* \\n *\* *Many other verses in the Bible directly support the idea that God wants couples to have children. Here are some of those verses.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n Psalms 127:3-5<\\/b><\\/a><\\/p>\\n 3 Lo, <\\/span>children are an heritage of the Lord<\\/b>: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.\\u00a0<\\/span><\\/p>\\n 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.\\u00a0<\\/span><\\/p>\\n 5 <\\/span>Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them<\\/b>: they shall not be shamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n Proverbs 17:6<\\/b><\\/a><\\/p>\\n Children\\u2019s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n The major characters in the Bible were family people. Abraham welcomed the blessing from God that he would become \\u201ca father of many nations\\u201d as the Lord promised him a fruitful posterity.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n Abraham\\u2019s grandson, Jacob, better known as Israel, had 12 sons, through whom the covenants of Abraham were perpetuated.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n The prevailing attitude of the Bible is clearly one in which righteous men and women sought for offspring, oftentimes going to great lengths and demonstrating great faith in order to be blessed with children.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n The Doctrine of Family in the LDS Church<\\/span><\\/h2>\\n The doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\\/a> is unique when it comes to family life and children. Although <\\/span>Christians in general tend to have more children than people who are non-religious<\\/span><\\/a>, the LDS Church\\u2019s teachings about the role of the family gives us a perspective on kids that goes beyond what is taught in most of modern Christianity. For Mormons<\\/a>, one of the most important priorities for life is to fulfill that first commandment given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to be fruitful and multiply replenishing the earth with posterity.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n But there is something deeper and more motivating for Mormons that causes us to want more children.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n For Latter-day Saints, having lots of children isn\\u2019t just about fulfilling that important commandment. Just as important, we expect that our family relationships, including husband and wife, parents and children, will last (in many ways similar to how they exist now) beyond death and into the eternal world. That expectation motivates us to welcome into our home more children than we would if we didn\\u2019t hold to that belief. We understand that creating a parent-child relationship with each of the children who we\\u2019re privileged to raise is an investment in relationships that are eternal.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n This attitude towards our children is captured in a scripture wherein God describes his purpose, which explains clearly where his priorities lie.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n " This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. \\u2013 Moses 1:39<\\/a><\\/p><\\/blockquote>\\n God, being perfect, omnipotent and omniscient, continues in his position as Patriarch to the human race to gain satisfaction and glory through His offspring. Creating children and influencing those children to make good decisions that lead them to become like Him is what God\\u2019s existence is all about.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n Just as all mankind is made in the image of God, families are also representative of how associations exist in eternity. Non-Mormons may be surprised to learn that our doctrines include the belief God is married, that we are spirit children of Heavenly Parents, not just a single male Parent. As one our hymns explains, \\u201cIn the heavens, are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare. Truth is reason. Truth eternal tells me I\\u2019ve a Mother there.\\u201d<\\/span><\\/p>\\n Another unique aspect of Latter-day Saint theology that motivates us to be parents of several children is our understanding of the pre-mortal life. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only Christian belief system I\\u2019m aware of that teaches that people exist as spirits prior to their birth to parents on earth. It naturally follows from that belief that it\\u2019s better for children who are waiting their turn to experience mortality to be born and raised in a home where the principles of the gospel are taught and in an environment that helps those children reach their potential as disciples of Jesus Christ. Latter-day Saints believe that the principle of foreordination applies to many aspects of a person\\u2019s mission in life, including into which family that person is born.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n \\n \"Benjamin's When one of our sons was in the hospital recently, we brought his siblings to visit him. The nurses thought that we had brought extended family and friends to see him.<\\/figcaption><\\/figure>\\n\\n Parenting: A Partnership with God<\\/span><\\/h2>\\n******* *\* When my wife and I were in our first year of marriage, we were impressed to make a mutual commitment not to infringe upon our ability to bring children into our home, a place of refuge and instruction we intentionally set up to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ as best we know how. As I mentioned earlier, we now have eight children. It feels like our family is complete, but we don\\u2019t know for sure. Each time we have a child, it\\u2019s hard to comprehend not having that child as part of our family.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n *\* *******In return for our commitment to keeping God\\u2019s first commandment, we also expected that He would provide a way for us to financially provide for and otherwise care for and nurture those children. He has done that for us.\\u00a0<\\/span><\\/p>\\n My wife and I started building internet-based businesses when we were newlyweds. I sincerely feel like the inspiration we received to start and grow those businesses came from our commitment to partnering with God to raise His children the way he wants them raised. Our businesses have grown such that, once we\\u2019ve got them off the ground, they don\\u2019t need much daily involvement to keep them profitable. After selling our ecommerce stores over the past several years, I have been working on businesses that involve blogging about <\\/span>technology<\\/span><\\/a> and <\\/span>aspects of prosperity<\\/span><\\/a> (including discussing <\\/span>how to raise a large family<\\/span><\\/a>).\\u00a0 Running those businesses has freed me up to be highly available to my wife and kids, helping with everything from keeping the house in order (as much as that\\u2019s even possible) to running kids to activities to coaching sports to helping them develop their musical talents and learn how to work hard.<\\/span><\\/p>\\n \\n******* *\* My oldest child, Maylee, is an aspiring musician. We use music extensively as part of our family dynamic and for learning and worship.<\\/p>\\n *\* *******This is a song she recorded recently with the help of two of her younger brothers.<\\/p>\\n " "

{"id":236,"date":"2023-12-05T15:39:07","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T20:39:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yeshallprosper\/?p=236"},"modified":"2023-12-06T01:35:44","modified_gmt":"2023-12-06T06:35:44","slug":"why-do-latter-day-saints-have-large-families","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/yeshallprosper\/2023\/12\/why-do-latter-day-saints-have-large-families\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Do Latter-day Saints Have Large Families?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

I am one of seven children. I married a girl who has seven siblings. We both enjoyed and benefited immensely by growing up in large families, despite the many challenges and difficulties that come with having to share almost everything (including one-on-one time with parents), limited financial resources, and other aspects of growing up in a large household.<\/span><\/p>\n

"Growing <\/p>\n

Now, after 20 years of marriage, my wife and I have eight children of our own. On nearly a daily basis we have many reminders that our family is uniquely large. Two kids ago we had to upgrade from an 8-passenger Toyota Sienna to a 13-passenger Ford Transit. One of our kids made the observation when we bought the Transit that, \u201cNow we\u2019re going to be known as the family in the big, white van.\u201d He was right.<\/span><\/p>\n

"Latter-day <\/p>\n

We take up an entire pew at church on Sunday. At baseball games, it\u2019s not rare to see people counting our kids as we corral them through the entrance gate and into an area of the park where they can be out of the way of people who don\u2019t want to be distracted by the playfulness of little kids. Sometimes we can be overwhelming, especially to people who are not used to having lots of kids around.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s clear from the fertility and family size trends in the United States over the past century that having children is becoming a lower and lower priority for most Americans.<\/span><\/p>\n

While family size is decreasing among Latter-day Saints, it is still higher than other religious groups. In 1981, <\/span>LDS families had a fertility rate of 3.31<\/span><\/a> compared to the national average of 1.81. <\/span>More recent studies<\/span><\/a> show the average number of kids in the home for LDS couples at close to 3, whereas the typical household has 2 children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Despite economic and cultural influences to the contrary, Latter-day Saints clearly are motivated to have more children.<\/span><\/p>\n

Among some of our Latter-day Saint peers, our family doesn\u2019t seem quite so large. We have many LDS friends who have 10, 11, even 12 kids. As the breadwinner for my own large family, I don\u2019t know how people manage things when they reach double digits. They figure it out. They make do.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those of us with large families are certainly outliers compared to the average American family. In the modern age, it is rare to see couples with more than three kids. Heck, most relationships don\u2019t even stay together long enough to produce more than one or two children. On the other hand, the \u201cmost Mormon\u201d of families (the ones who are more zealous for their faith) often have five children or more, even in a financial environment that has progressively maxed out breadwinners, taking the mom out of the home more often than in previous generations.<\/span><\/p>\n

What produces this disparity among so many Latter-day Saint families compared with the rest of society?<\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

Last fall when I was in line with my two oldest boys waiting to get them into an airsoft competition, I got into a conversation with a father behind me who was registering his son. The topic of how many kids naturally came up, and I told him that I had six sons. His next question to me was a sarcastic one similar to what I\u2019ve heard from sports coaches, the security guy at the airport, and several other random strangers: \u201cYou know what causes that, right?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

My response to this guy surprised him: \u201cYes, reading the Bible. You ought to try it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know whether this fellow understood the gist of what I was saying. He seemed a little perplexed at my response. If you\u2019re reading this and don\u2019t follow why reading the Bible would cause a person to have a large family, I\u2019ll explain.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Bible\u2019s Perspectives on Child-bearing and Family Size<\/span><\/h2>\n \ The Bible makes clear that God expects his children to multiply and replenish the earth. The first commandment given to Adam and Eve, believed in the Christian world to be the first parents of all humans, was this: \u201cBe fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \ \n " Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth\u2026 \u2013 Genesis 1:28<\/p><\/blockquote>\n* \n *Many other verses in the Bible directly support the idea that God wants couples to have children. Here are some of those verses.<\/span><\/p>\n Psalms 127:3-5<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n 3 Lo, <\/span>children are an heritage of the Lord<\/b>: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 4 As arrows are in the hand of a mighty man; so are children of the youth.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n 5 <\/span>Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them<\/b>: they shall not be shamed, but they shall speak with the enemies in the gate.<\/span><\/p>\n Proverbs 17:6<\/b><\/a><\/p>\n Children\u2019s children are the crown of old men; and the glory of children are their fathers.<\/span><\/p>\n The major characters in the Bible were family people. Abraham welcomed the blessing from God that he would become \u201ca father of many nations\u201d as the Lord promised him a fruitful posterity.<\/span><\/p>\n Abraham\u2019s grandson, Jacob, better known as Israel, had 12 sons, through whom the covenants of Abraham were perpetuated.<\/span><\/p>\n The prevailing attitude of the Bible is clearly one in which righteous men and women sought for offspring, oftentimes going to great lengths and demonstrating great faith in order to be blessed with children.<\/span><\/p>\n The Doctrine of Family in the LDS Church<\/span><\/h2>\n The doctrine of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints<\/a> is unique when it comes to family life and children. Although <\/span>Christians in general tend to have more children than people who are non-religious<\/span><\/a>, the LDS Church\u2019s teachings about the role of the family gives us a perspective on kids that goes beyond what is taught in most of modern Christianity. For Mormons<\/a>, one of the most important priorities for life is to fulfill that first commandment given to Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden to be fruitful and multiply replenishing the earth with posterity.<\/span><\/p>\n But there is something deeper and more motivating for Mormons that causes us to want more children.<\/span><\/p>\n For Latter-day Saints, having lots of children isn\u2019t just about fulfilling that important commandment. Just as important, we expect that our family relationships, including husband and wife, parents and children, will last (in many ways similar to how they exist now) beyond death and into the eternal world. That expectation motivates us to welcome into our home more children than we would if we didn\u2019t hold to that belief. We understand that creating a parent-child relationship with each of the children who we\u2019re privileged to raise is an investment in relationships that are eternal.<\/span><\/p>\n This attitude towards our children is captured in a scripture wherein God describes his purpose, which explains clearly where his priorities lie.<\/span><\/p>\n " This is my work and my glory, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man. \u2013 Moses 1:39<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n God, being perfect, omnipotent and omniscient, continues in his position as Patriarch to the human race to gain satisfaction and glory through His offspring. Creating children and influencing those children to make good decisions that lead them to become like Him is what God\u2019s existence is all about.<\/span><\/p>\n Just as all mankind is made in the image of God, families are also representative of how associations exist in eternity. Non-Mormons may be surprised to learn that our doctrines include the belief God is married, that we are spirit children of Heavenly Parents, not just a single male Parent. As one our hymns explains, \u201cIn the heavens, are parents single? No, the thought makes reason stare. Truth is reason. Truth eternal tells me I\u2019ve a Mother there.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Another unique aspect of Latter-day Saint theology that motivates us to be parents of several children is our understanding of the pre-mortal life. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only Christian belief system I\u2019m aware of that teaches that people exist as spirits prior to their birth to parents on earth. It naturally follows from that belief that it\u2019s better for children who are waiting their turn to experience mortality to be born and raised in a home where the principles of the gospel are taught and in an environment that helps those children reach their potential as disciples of Jesus Christ. Latter-day Saints believe that the principle of foreordination applies to many aspects of a person\u2019s mission in life, including into which family that person is born.<\/span><\/p>\n \n When one of our sons was in the hospital recently, we brought his siblings to visit him. The nurses thought that we had brought extended family and friends to see him.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n Parenting: A Partnership with God<\/span><\/h2>\n*** When my wife and I were in our first year of marriage, we were impressed to make a mutual commitment not to infringe upon our ability to bring children into our home, a place of refuge and instruction we intentionally set up to teach the gospel of Jesus Christ as best we know how. As I mentioned earlier, we now have eight children. It feels like our family is complete, but we don\u2019t know for sure. Each time we have a child, it\u2019s hard to comprehend not having that child as part of our family.<\/span><\/p>\n In return for our commitment to keeping God\u2019s first commandment, we also expected that He would provide a way for us to financially provide for and otherwise care for and nurture those children. He has done that for us.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n My wife and I started building internet-based businesses when we were newlyweds. I sincerely feel like the inspiration we received to start and grow those businesses came from our commitment to partnering with God to raise His children the way he wants them raised. Our businesses have grown such that, once we\u2019ve got them off the ground, they don\u2019t need much daily involvement to keep them profitable. After selling our ecommerce stores over the past several years, I have been working on businesses that involve blogging about <\/span>technology<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>aspects of prosperity<\/span><\/a> (including discussing <\/span>how to raise a large family<\/span><\/a>).\u00a0 Running those businesses has freed me up to be highly available to my wife and kids, helping with everything from keeping the house in order (as much as that\u2019s even possible) to running kids to activities to coaching sports to helping them develop their musical talents and learn how to work hard.<\/span><\/p>\n \n My oldest child, Maylee, is an aspiring musician. We use music extensively as part of our family dynamic and for learning and worship.<\/p>\n ***This is a song she recorded recently with the help of two of her younger brothers.<\/p>\n " "