The Way Home: Beyond Feminism, Back to Reality [Paperback]

Mary Pride (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 21, 2010

--Are stay-at-home wives old-fashioned and outmoded (at best) or parasites (at worst)? --Is daycare the natural habitat for babies and toddlers? --Is family planning the only responsible choice for married Christian couples? --Are Christian children doomed to rebel against their parents, and ultimately abandon church? --Does the Bible include examples of "working wives"? --Can a lovely Christian home actually affect the culture and the economy -- just by being there? 25 years ago, The Way Home was the first book to ask all these questions -- and answer them. A bestseller when it first came out, for decades The Way Home has been a source of inspiration and encouragement for married Christian women. It shows how the life plan set out in Titus 2:3-5 brings love and creativity to home, church, and society, and the deadly consequences to all three when women reject it. We have a special mission, and this book explains it step by step. This 25th Anniversary Edition preserves the original book's text, so you can see for yourself how accurate its social predictions were. You will also find a new Preface and Afterthoughts dealing with such topics as Home Business (what kind NOT to start), TV and the Internet (the latest research and some suggestions), Fruitfulness (why "trusting God for your family size" is not a "baby derby"), Modesty (it's important, but it's not about skirt lengths), and where the Patriarchy movement has veered off-course (starting with its name!). Just as thought-provoking as the original edition, the 25th Anniversary Edition of The Way Home brings the Bible's message on family and social roles to an entire new generation of Christian women.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Mary Pride entered the working world at age 15, as a bookkeeper. Paying her own way through college, she earned a B.S. in Electrical Engineering and a Master's degree in Computer Systems Engineering. Later, she studied theology at Covenant Seminary in St. Louis, Missouri. Before she became a Christian in 1977, Mrs. Pride had been active as a radical feminist. From her experience as an insider at the very beginning of the modern feminist movement, she shares a clear assessment of the shortcomings of feminism, and emphasizes the need to develop a new vision of Christian womanhood which is deeply rooted in biblical truth. At the time of writing the original edition of The Way Home, Mrs. Pride and her husband had three children. Twenty-five years later, they have nine, all professing Christians. Their family business publishes a number of books, magazines, and websites devoted to reviving authentic Christian family life.

Product Details

• Paperback: 256 pages
• Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 25 Anv edition (October 21, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1453699309
• ISBN-13: 978-1453699300
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 9 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (47 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #158,421 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Mary Pride is the publisher of Practical Homeschooling magazine and the author of numerous books on women's roles, homeschooling, educational software, parental rights, and new age thought from a conservative evangelical perspective. She is perhaps best known as the author of the first mass-market homeschool how-to book (The Big Book of Home Learning (1986), which won both the ECPA Gold Medallion and the Silver Angel Award). It has had five editions so far, under various names.

Often credited as a pioneer in the Christian Quiverfull movement, thanks to her groundbreaking book The Way Home (1985), Mary says she prefers the concept of an "Open Quiver"--families welcoming children with an open heart, but not competing over family size. To that end, she recently released a 25th Anniversary Edition of The Way Home, with an Afterthought that tackles topics--such as the Patriarchy movement and Quiverfull--that didn't exist when the book first came out. Now that her own nine children are grown, she hopes to come out with more books soon.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

144 of 177 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars The real story of Mary Pride June 1, 2004

By Sarah Pride

Format:Paperback

As Mary Pride's eldest daughter, I was checking out for fun what people have written about my mother's books here on Amazon. Naturally, I am very proud of my mother, and I think this book is wonderful.

I would like to respond to some of the other reviewers, who have posted suppositions about my mother and her life to support their criticism of The Way Home. First, staying at home is _not_ a 20th-century invention. Quite the opposite, in fact. Yes, women worked hard through the ages, but at _house work._ Who does this particular reviewer think scrubbed the floors, cooked food over a fire, spun, wove and sewed the clothes, etc? This was the women, and they raised the children. Any elementary study of history will tell you this.

To the people who commented on my mother's "hypocrisy" in working and telling other mothers not to: While I was growing up (I am 20 years old now), my mother traveled to two or three conventions a year, this is true. She always took at least one of us kids with her, however; conventions were a learning experience, and never lasted more than a week. She writes and works from our home, and mixes the time with correcting assignments and talking to kids. I cannot tell you how wonderful it has been having her at home. I cannot imagine it any other way.

Big families: To the woman who said that it can hardly be helpful to have older kids help raise the younger, obviously she has never encountered a large family. My older brother spontaneously taught me to read when I was three years old, meaning that by the time I was eight I was reading Isaac Asimov's science fiction. I myself helped teach my younger siblings many subjects, including Latin, so that now when I think about teaching any future children, I know that I _can._ This was profitable for both me and my siblings. Several of my friends from one- or two-kid families cannot even imagine themselves able to be parents!

I grew up in the halo of this book. I don't know even how much of an influence it had. All I know is that, whenever I went with my mother to homeschool conferences, dads and moms would bring up their children and say, "Look! He wouldn't be here if we hadn't read your book!" I am so proud of my mother. I wish everyone would read the real historical accounts and see what has indeed happened to our country. Read Alexis de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" at least. But begin with this book of my mother's.

42 of 55 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Why an educated woman chose to be a homemaker. November 2, 1998

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I was glad to find a book that offers an alternative to building a career outside the home. It is one thing to say "stay home with your family and be a homemaker" and another to actually define a fulfilling role inside the home. I spent years of schooling preparing to work outside the home, but this is the first book I have read that explains how to be fulfilled while staying in the home. Mary Pride was an engineer before she started a family. She relates to the educated woman who chooses to invest her time and talents into her family instead of a career outside the home. I appreciated the outline that she has for practical ways to do this. I felt like I was inspired to see my role at home as significant and necessary to the well being of my family and friends. Most media tells me that it doesn't make any difference whether you are at home or not. She talks about working from the home and working your career around your family, even if it means putting it on hold for other priorities. I have recommended this book to lots of people who are thinking of staying home with their children, but aren't sure they will be happy staying at home.

24 of 33 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars Thought Provoking; b/c of provoking thoughts January 8, 2004

By A Customer

Format:Paperback

I read the rest of the reviews before I read the book, because I had heard of it and wondered what others thought.The reviewers seem pretty clearly divided between "love it" and "hate it"...in case you hadn't noticed. That made me read through it more carefully, because the accusation of poor exegesis is not one to be taken lightly. For the record, the comments on pps 41&42 re: "she shall be saved through childbearing" conclude that Paul is informing women of their role in the church (since he says they are not to be teachers or leaders), NOT that they do not need Christ to be saved. Mary Pride points to 1 Tim. 4:16, which she says is the same grammatical construction, to support this idea, saying that Paul is showing various people addressed in this passage what their roles are.

I think that this book raises some very pertinent questions. I cannot address the topic of poor exegesis with any authority except that of someone who has also read the passages referred to. There may indeed be other interpretations for these passages, but Mary's veiwpoint certainly seemed supportable, even within the context of the rest of scripture, to me. I intend to buy a copy of this book for myself so that I can study it more in depth, and make notes in the margins. Whether she is right or wrong, she certainly raises issues that the Church needs to address. She is very blunt. I like that. Many don't, especially when the person being blunt is telling them that they are wrong.

I highly recommend this book for every Christian who is married or considering marriage. The issues it raises are issues that ought to be wrestled with, and a conclusion come to. We are commanded to know what we believe, and always be ready to give a defense. I noticed that those who didn't like the book claimed her interpretation was flawed, but didn't offer any specifics. This is something that you will have to research, and decide for yourself.