Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches

5 Responses to “Adopted for Life: The Priority of Adoption for Christian Families & Churches”

1. Mark K. Wickersham says:

   July 8, 2010 at 11:33 pm

   My wife gave me this book as an anniversary gift in July after she learned I had placed it on my Amazon Wish List a few months ago. Dr. Moore is the dean of the School of Theology at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville and the father of two adopted boys from Russia. His book, Adopted For Life, has been fervently endorsed by many Godly men whose sites I regularly visit. These men include Tim Challies, block Colson, John MacArthur, and Albert Mohler.

   As the father of two girls who are not part Japanese and white bread like I am, it is vital for me to learn more about the adoption of children. Moore’s book is not simply about adoption though. It is also a book about the gospel. That makes Adopted For Life unlike additional books my wife and I have read about adoption. Although this book might be more appealing to certain kinds of people such as the couple who are thinking about adopting or the high schooler who is trying to figure what does it mean to be adopted, others would most certainly benefit from reading Adopted For Life. The nine chapter book starts off more theological and finishes giving more practical applications, but the entire book weaves the gospel doctrine of adoption. I highly recommend the book to all people who have been adopted into God’s heavenly family tree.

   “Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.” James 1:27
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
2. C. Haight says:

   July 9, 2010 at 12:06 am

   Adopted for Life disturbs me (as an adult adopted person) very much. Russell Moore adopted two boys from Russia and weaves his tale (NOT theirs) into a rambling Biblical justification and call for evangelicals to save unwanted orphans from abortion by wholesale adoptions. Two excerpts:

   “That’s adoption. We’re part of a brand-new family tree, a new tribe, with a new tale, a new identity.
   
   As Maria and I went through the adoption process, we were encouraged by everyone from social workers to family tree friends to “teach the children about their cultural heritage.” We have done just that.

   “Now, what most people probably meant by this counsel is for us to teach our boys Russian folk tales and Russian songs, observing Russian holidays, and so into the world. But as we see it, that’s not their heritage anymore, and we hardly want to signal to them that they are strangers and aliens, even welcome ones, in our home. We teach them about their heritage, yes, but their heritage as Mississippians. They hear, then, about their fantastic-grandfather, a faithful Baptist pastor from Tippah County… They learn about their people before them in the Confederate army and civil rights movement.

   “Yes, I’ll read Dostoyevsky and Tolstoy to them one day, I suppose, but not with the same intensity with which I’ll read to them William Faulkner and Eudora Welty. They wouldn’t know an arrangement of “Peter and the Wolf” if they heard it, but they can admit the voices of Charley Pride and Hank Williams in seconds. When we sit at the table for our holiday meals, they don’t eat borscht. They eat what we eat- red beans and rice or fried catfish…. They share our lives, and our tale. They belong here. They are Moores now, with all that entails.” p.36

   And as to their previous identities –

   “I remember standing in that courtroom in Russia, giving the judge there the new names of our boys. The court was issuing new birth certificates, with these new Americanized names…. These names were, legally now, who they were. But they didn’t know it.

   “We knew these boys were adjusting to their new identity when they ongoing turning around when we said “Benjamin” or “Timothy.” There came a day when one could weep out “Maxim” or “Sergei” and no one would respond. Persons ancient names now meant nothing to them. They seemed to them to be a name else’s names, and they were.

   “Some people would reflect we’ve done something incorrect by renaming these boys. One book for adoptive parents advises against it because it can “interfere with the continuity of the child’s life” or “interfere with their sense of self” We didn’t agree.

   “… A name is vital to one’s identity. And that’s why in the tale of our fathers and mothers God keeps changing people’s names.” – p.40

   I find this attitude terrifying. In his absolute certainty that the Bible justifies his behavior, Moore believes he is on a holy mission to rescue orphans and lead them to his God. He is willing to dismiss the advice of professionals because he only believes in his own interpretation of the Bible. Not only is he so “convicted” of his beliefs himself, he urges others to follow in his footsteps.

   Most of the book is a concantenation of Scriptural verses chosen to “prove” his point- a method that I find hard to follow. In my religious traditions, Scripture is read in entire parables or sections, placing it in context. I am regularly baffled by the ways in which some preachers grab a verse from Psalms, a half verse from Romans, a snippet from Deuteronomy and a axiom from John to illustrate an obscure part of Revelation – I consider it extremely selective editing, which regularly changes the entire meaning of Scripture. Using this method, any point can be justified, especially when no one dare question the sources as unerring Truth. Even more treacherous, Moore appears to come to his conclusions first, then go in search of supporting Scripture passages; I find that an arrogant usage of the Bible.

   I don’t personally judge that every adoption is really excellent or really evil; every situation is unique, as are the individuals involved. That is not to say that practices and actions cannot be improved upon; I don’t wish that I had grown up in St. Anthony’s or additional orphanages. Nor do I judge that my parents did not sincerely like me and do the best they knew to raise me. But this book represents a return to the worst practices and beliefs of the past; it perpetuates the thought of children as “blank slates,” and sees adoption as only a cure for infertility and a way to combat abortion.

   Even worse, this deliberate blinding to reality is being applauded throughout the evangelical community. This is the justification which Laura Silsbey and her ilk used to defend their attempted kidnapping of Haitian children (none of whom were truly orphans) and which celebrities use to gather praise and publicity for their international adoptions.

   I have friends who have adopted children internationally. But they are very ethical people, and received their children as caretakers from the mothers themselves, and return with their children to the Adean village where their children were born – another family tree brought their girls back to India, establish their children’s birth parents, and telephone weekly with them. Both of these sets of adoptive parents truly want their children to have perfect knowledge of their birth countries and families – theirs are ethical guardianship of human beings, not self-righteous saviors or purchasers of living property.

   We Americans tend to have a smug arrogance that Pleased Meals are better than rice or borscht, that no child could possibly prefer a rural hut or teeming slum to Fox Run subdivision, and that two parents – or in many cases, a nanny and boarding school – are superior to growing up surrounded by persons who share culture, appearance and genetic ties even if it means living at a survival level. The Carpenter from Nazareth indeed called us to care for widows and orphans, but He didn’t demand that we change their names and hide their origins from them.

   For generations, we only heard adoption praised by agencies and adoptive parents (persons who gained), but persons who lost (birth parents and adopted children) were told to keep silent, be grateful and pretend it didn’t take place. Criticism of adoption as practiced was denounced as ingratitude or sour grapes, signs of maladjustment or even of mental illness. Only in the last few decades have adopted persons and birth parents establish the courage to speak out of their experiences and tell their side of the losses involved to a world which had largely assumed that the myths were unchallenged truth.

   Adoption is not a cure-all, win-win solution to end abortions, cure infertility or the problem of parents who are unable to care for their children; it is a compromise in which some gain while others lose. To described it in terms of a holy campaign or salvation ignores the problems it can (and regularly does) make. If Mr. Moore’s children grow to become healthy, pleased, well-adjusted adults he then may be qualified to offer his advice, but there is a long time between now and then, and many shoals to navigate through first.
   Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
3. John Gardner says:

   July 9, 2010 at 2:11 am

   This is a book I never thought I’d read. Now I can’t imagine how a book exactly like it wasn’t published long before 2009! In his first chapter Moore clarifies why you ought to read the book, even (and especially) if you don’t want to… and I’m ashamed to admit that this probably described me.

   There are plenty of “how-to” books regarding adoption. There are plenty of books describing the fantastic need for adoptive families felt by orphans all over the world. There are plenty of books examining the theological doctrine of spiritual adoption. This, to the best of my knowledge, is the only book that combines these three in a manner that shows how these issues absolutely cannot be separated.

   Russell Moore is a professor at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, but he writes this book as both an adoptive father and an adopted son of our Heavenly Father. His book argues that the Bible does not draw any lines between theological adoption and practical adoption, so Christians should not, either. The Bible tells us over and over what it means to be adopted into the family tree of God, as sons of the Father and co-heirs with Christ. It also tells us that pure & undefiled religion requires the care and rescue of orphans, just as Christ did not place us as orphans.

   Moore does not assert that all Christian families are called or equipped to adopt, but he DOES assert that EVERY Christian has a responsibility to be involved in adoption, whether through apt adoptive parents, helping others to adopt, or effective to make and/or support an adoption ministry in the local church. After reading this book, I am 100% convinced that this is absolutely right. After your Bible, I don’t know that there is a more vital book that I could commend to you than this one.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
4. James Konzem says:

   July 9, 2010 at 3:02 am

   Simply place this is the best book on adoption, especially for persons who are considering it for the first time.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5
5. David Andree says:

   July 9, 2010 at 5:34 am

   I have read many theology books. But, this book clarifies how Jews can be my brothers in a way I never understood until now. I remain stunned by how deep and clear this book is. I glimpsed a depth of God’s like that I never saw before. What a blessing.

   Please read this book, even if you have no desire to adopt children. You will know the implications of your own adoption into Christ so much better after reading this book.
   Reader’s Rating: 5 / 5