The Case for the Family
I am always one to remind my generation that Christ's Great Commission has more to do with making converts than babies, such that the modern Church should be calling her young people to the former even over and above the latter. This opinion is all Stanley Hauerwas' fault. But with that having been said, the numbers do speak for themselves. Check out this statistic, which represents the outcome of basic numbers and other variables, delivered in my seminar yesterday:
Current World Population Demographics:
1 Billion Muslims
14 Million Jews
1.8 Billion Christians
1 Billion Muslims
14 Million Jews
1.8 Billion Christians
The average Western Muslim family produces 6.4 children.
The average Western Modern Orthodox Jewish family produces 3.23 children.
The average Western Christian family produces 1.82 children.
If the numbers were to remain consistant in one generation:
The legacy of the Western Muslim family is 295 people.
The legacy of the Western Modern Orthodox Jewish family is 151 people.
The legacy of the Western Christian family family is 62 people.
... and if the numbers were to remain consistant over four generations:
The legacy of the Western Muslim family will be 2,588 people.
The legacy of the Western Modern Orthodox Jewish family will be 346 people.
The legacy of the Western Christian family will be 13 people.
...you get the idea.
Source: Dr. John C. Lamoreaux, Southern Methodist University.
posted by MM at 6:14 AM
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