Future Men [Paperback]

Douglas Wilson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 7, 2001

As much as it may distress us, our boys are future men.

When Theodore Roosevelt taught Sunday school for a time, a boy showed up one Sunday with a black eye. He admitted he had been fighting and on a Sunday too. He told the future president that a bigger boy had been pinching his sister, and so he fought him. TR told him that he had done perfectly right and gave him a dollar. The stodgy vestrymen thought this was a bit much, and so they let their exuberant Sunday school teacher go. What a loss.

Unbelief cannot look past surfaces. Unbelief squashes; faith teaches. Faith takes a boy aside and tells him that this part of what he did was good, while that other part of he did got in the way. "And this is how to do it better next time."

As we look to Scripture for patterns of masculinity for our sons, we find them manifested perfectly in the life of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the one who set the ultimate pattern for friendship and courage, for faithfulness and integrity.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Douglas Wilson is pastor of Christ Church, Moscow, Idaho, and editor of Credenda/Agenda magazine. He is author of Recovering the Lost Tools of Learning, Reforming Marriage, and Federal Husband.

Product Details

• Paperback: 199 pages
• Publisher: Canon Press (June 7, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1885767838
• ISBN-13: 978-1885767837
• Product Dimensions: 0.5 x 5.4 x 8.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #680,910 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Douglas Wilson is the minister of Christ Church in Moscow, Idaho, which is a member of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC). After his stint in the submarine service of the U.S. Navy, he attended the University of Idaho, where he obtained an MA in philosophy.

As one of its founders, he has served on the board of Logos School, a classical and Christian school (K-12), since its inception. He is also a Senior Fellow of theology at New St. Andrews College. He is the author of numerous books, including Reforming Marriage, The Case for Classical Christian Education, Letter from a Christian Citizen, and Blackthorn Winter. He is also the general editor for the Omnibus textbook series. His blog can be found at www.dougwils.com.

All his favorite authors begin their names with initials--C.S. Lewis, G.K. Chesterton, H.L. Mencken, J.R.R. Tolkien, N.D. Wilson, and P.G. Wodehouse. The one exception is Nancy Wilson, a favorite author to whom he has been married for over thirty-four years. They have three children and fifteen grandchildren.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

46 of 49 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars profound and godly wisdom March 26, 2002

By Cheryl Dunlop

Format:Paperback

Would you like to know how to rear sons (or teach others' sons) in such a way that their honor would refuse the lure of pornography? sons who would know how and when to fight, but would never fight for merely selfish reasons? sons with true godly masculinity--strong men who honor women, take responsibility, and refuse excuse-making? sons who honor their mother but don't become feminine in the process? sons who avoid the dual dangers of false macho masculinity and effeminacy? sons who gladly take on the role of fighting dragons, and see the Christian faith as a faith of warriors, not wimps?

Those future men are today's boys, and Douglas Wilson shows great wisdom (and lots of humor) in showing how to avoid the pitfalls of our culture, our community, our media--and even our churches--in rearing truly masculine sons. He covers little and big things with equal wisdom and a charming writing style. I have no sons, but I have many nephews, and I care greatly about the fatherless boys I teach at church (but whom I cannot teach adequately by myself, without godly men alongside in their lives, their church, their community). I read at least 50 books a year, and this one is in the top ten or twenty most profound books I've read in the last five years.

Cheryl Dunlop, author of Follow Me As I Follow Christ: A Guide for Teaching Children in a Church Setting

46 of 53 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars God's wisdom and shaping young men October 24, 2003

By "fozzy_bear"

Format:Paperback

Wilson's "Future Men" is another invaluable work in the family series he and his wife have penned. The book spells out solid Christian principles, neither becoming preachy nor overly sentimental, but refutes twin the dangers of false masculinity and the feminization of young men. Wilson never makes excuses for immature behavior, but demonstrating how boys can be forged into men by teaching them through their adolescent foolishness. One of the other reviewers missed this key point, thinking that Wilson would have us believe that punching someone's lights out is his answer to Godliness. Wilson only points out that the child in the story about Teddy Roosevelt was acting on good principles, but did so in an immature way. Roosevelt rewarded the child, not for his immature action, but for his desire to preserve and protect the honor of his sister. Wilson constantly admonishes and encourages parents with the wisdom of the Proverbs, helping them to see through the troubles of teaching a boy to the joy of biblical manhood.

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars More, more! October 29, 2002

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

This book gives a wonderful outline for raising future men, of which I have two (at present). It can be hard to see how much our society has emasculated men (and masculated - if that's a word - women). This book gave me a fresh perspective and reasoning that I needed to hear. My husband and I read it aloud together a chapter at a time. Wilson borrows heavily from "The 5 Aspects of Man" here. I don't have the FM in front of me but the idea is to raise boys who are strong in the Christian faith who stand up for Christ, take responsiblity for all of their actions and defend and provide for the women in their lives.
The only problem I had with this book was that Wilson only gives a bare sketch of how to go about accomplishing this in a practical sense. More concrete examples and less theory (however accurate) would have been welcome. Now...if only Nancy Wilson would write a similiar book for raising girls.