Customer Reviews

Future Men

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

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

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.

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.

This book is full of wit & wisdom that would have been common sense a hundred years ago, but in this age of muddled sexual roles is a rare gem. It made me laugh, it made me think, it made me both cherish and guard my role as father to two sons.

Warning: this book chock full of political incorrectness and dang proud of it!

Here are a few of my favorite quotes:

Men must learn to be men themselves before they can teach their boys to be men.

Instilling toughness in boys is extraordinarily important. A masculine toughness is the only foundation upon which a masculine tenderness may be safely placed.

Manners for boys should be a means of disciplining and directing strength, and not a means of denying it.

And my favorite of the year...

A young boy who is somewhat timid needs to learn the piety of courage. If he has a good lacrosse coach, he will be urged to knock somebody down to the glory of God. (What would Alan Alda think of that?)

Several reviewers of this book seem to be upset over the idea of Biblical patriarchy, which is really a rebellion against the authority of God's Word. True, it is unfashionable to structure one's family and church after the pattern laid out in Scripture, but is our aim is to please God rather than men, we dare not depart from His commands.

Here lies the rub: if the Bible is fully inspired, and authoritative in all it teaches, then these "troublesome" passages from 1 Timothy 2 and Ephesians 5 are authoritative, clear and binding on the Christian family. My guess is that the negative reviewers above have a lower view of inspiration than Wilson (along with most conservative Reformed Christians) does.

That being said, Wislon does an excellent job of explaining the importance of teaching our boys (I have 2) to be men. Not "persons", but men. Real men. His work is succinct, practical, and inspiring. He writes as an experienced elder, father and grandfather. God bless you, Doug, for this fantastic work. I pray my sons grow up to be as Godly as yours.

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.

I found this book to be very helpful. I especially liked the segment on guns. We live in a society that wants to blame the gun for the violence instead of the person holding the gun. There is nothing wrong with guns, but we must be diligent in our instruction to our boys that they are not toys. They are weapons that can be used for good causes.

(example: protecting our country) This book was a good reminder that our little boys will one day be men and the training must begin now.

I have sons, how do I prepare them?

Future Men is an excellent read for knowing the basic principles that a father should under-gird his son with. It touches numerous topics such as girls, fighting, work, money, and laziness. The author, Douglas Wilson, begins by defining the obstacles that prevent boys from becoming Godly men, then enlists the fathers to take up the responsibility God has given them in the raising of a son, and finishes with several chapters on key topics, as mentioned above.

I found this book to be principly sober. This book was short and concise, consisting mostly of biblical principles that sons must know and fathers must teach. Biblically, this book, was aligned correctly with the Word of God. I found all of Mr. Wilson's points to be exegetically correct and applied aply to any and all issues of our sons. Each chapter was short and carefully outlined in such a way that referencing it in the future for quick review on a certain issue is helpful. The book began and ended by establishing the truth that men are to be obedient to God. In fact, every chapter alluded to this very basic and absolutely essential truth - men are called to be obedient to God.

If you are looking for a book with very practical applications to it, this is not the book. The principles outlined on each topic allow for personal digestion and personal application. For instance, Mr. Wilson does not advocate a certain type of education for our sons over another, i.e. homeschooling is better than public. He lays out the truth of what our sons need and then rightly applies the implications -fathers are to make sure their sons know the proper truth as future men.

My favorite moment in the book was in the chapter on Christian Liberty. He carefully laid out the truth that Christian liberty is for the service of another, not our own personal self-will. We do have the liberty with certain practices, as mature adults distinguishing between good and evil. We are to train our sons to be able to distinguish the same and not give into their appetites for their own glutoness passions. As he closes out the chapter he tells the reader that wine makes a heart glad and that a father is to train his son to enjoy a glass of wine responsibly. He is not hypocritical in his position, just balanced and led by the truths of Scripture.

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to any father who needs a basic primer on the principles that are necessary for the training of our future men.

I recieved this book from Canon Press for free in exchange for my review. I am not required to give a positive review and the opinions expressed are my own.

A thought-provoking guide on training up boys and young men in biblical masculinity. Drawing heavily from the Book of Proverbs, his observations of our culture, and his own experience as a father, Wilson gives much fresh and practical teaching on this important subject. Raising boys is one of the greatest duties and privileges in the world; we dare not take it lightly.

(husband's review) To me, Mr. Wilson comes across as fairly legalistic in this book. He does not seem to offer much practical advice on parenting or mentoring young men. He spends a significant amount of time focusing on dangerous temptations and destructive cultural lifestyles, while often reminding the reader not to be overly legalistic. The book has lofty goals but fails to deliver. I am a conservative Christian, a new father with 1 young son & another on the way. I hope that I will find other Christian authors that will impart more wisdom on raising boys. Although I appreciate Mr. Wilson's aims, I would not recommend this book.