Written by Barton J. Gingerich |
Sunday, January 8, 2023
It’s not like young people in ages past were sealed off from the “facts of life” (especially since so many more children in those days grew up around livestock). But more Americans are finally seeing that the sexual revolution’s demands—that moral corruptions be legalized, socially endorsed, and even celebrated—have immense costs, and one of them is the corruption of childhood.

The Biblical faith comes with a theology of children. In Genesis, a promised Seed is prophesied to undo the Curse of the Fall. In Exodus, we find God opposing an infanticidal regime and blessing the midwives subverting that regime’s genocide. God’s supreme judgment and mercy climax in the great Passover, which is thereafter memorialized in rituals that involve childbirth and infants.
The Psalter proclaims, “Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings hast thou ordained strength because of thine enemies, that thou mightest still the enemy and the avenger.” When we look at the New Testament, we find a Messiah who bids that little children be brought to Him and blessed, revealing that they are the prototype for any member of the Kingdom of Heaven. And anyone who is a cause of offense for “little ones” (all members of Christ’s flock, but we cannot help but imagine infants and children) is warned, “It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea.”
Even as we approach Christmas, the themes become all the more explicit. We celebrate the nativity of an infant King. We mourn the martyrdom of the innocents. We even traditionally commemorate St. Nicholas of Myra, the patron saint of children.
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Let us consider that it is far better to suffer than to be disgraced; that it is better to strive against evil than to succumb to it effetely; that loyalty and unity of heart are virtues for which no transient prosperity could make up to us if haply they were lost; that when the soul of a people moves as it does, thank God today with one strong impulse toward that which is just and right, that our soul is growing every hour to true nobility and to the worthiness of its mission.

The following excerpts were selected from a sermon preached by Morgan Dix just a few days after the beginning of the Civil War in April 1861. Considering the turmoil presently found in our stormy social and political climate, both here and abroad, it seems fitting that these words might likewise find some resonance in our day. — Editor.
The Way of God in the Storm
“The Lord hath His way in the whirlwind and in the storm, and the clouds are the dust of His feet,” saith the prophet (Nahum 1:3). And the way of the Lord, whether it be in the whirlwind or in the summer’s breeze, in the storm or in the fair weather, is a way of justice, of mercy, and of truth. If a storm arises and blows, be it lighter or heavier, we need not fear if we know that the way of the Lord is there. Even in the whirlwind and in the storm “let the people praise Thee, O God, yea, let all the people praise Thee” (Psalm 67:5).
Storms are not the worst and greatest evils. Ask the sailor which he will choose, a mere storm or the dead calm of windless waters; and do not doubt his reply. Ask the wretched inhabitant of some pestilential climate, on which the stillness of the curse lies heavy day after day, what he would give for a storm from the cool, healthy north to blow upon the fever swamps and drive the destroyer from before it.
Yes, brethren, the words of the prophet are true, and the way of the Lord is in the storm. The storm is His minister of mercy and benefit, though in a rough, fierce way of its own. The storm does us good service in keeping the equilibrium among the elements, and it ministers beneficial discipline in its time — just as God appoints. This is the mission of the stormy wind and tempest in the firmament above: angry of face, but full of benefit and good; stern and sharp, but profitable also.
And that which is true in the firmament is just as true beneath it. Here, upon the way of this life, rises storm after storm. Here, also, the winds blow and beat upon the earthly house of this tabernacle. Here are blast and tempest along the way of each man, and of each community, and of all the nations upon earth. But the way of God is in them here below as well as up there over our heads.
Here, likewise, the clouds of strife and struggle are the “dust of His feet.” Here, also, have storm and tempest found their needful place and their healthful mission. It is so with them all. All are but God’s means of castigation which we need, and of advancement of which we have when we have been deemed worthy. This is true of the storms of life, whether they eddy in a narrow radius around one man, or around each one of us in his turn; or whether they gather into notable volume around some whole community; or whether, lastly, they expand to the compass of the round cyclone, and getting leverage below, through the strong arms of the earthquake, where it might shake the mighty nation and the ancient and honorable people to its center.
Finding the Virtue in the Storm
It is not the part of men to fly from the storm every time it falls upon them, but to look it full in the face; to search amid its folds and its rising fury for the mysterious way of the Lord which is surely therein. And, by doing so, to draw from it the virtue and the strength which are lodged there; thus rising, with added security from the temporary shock, to be taught by the event and gain a reverence and fear of the Lord.
Brethren, there is a deep and divine philosophy, crystallized into visible shape in nature, illustrated in all the inner history of man, and assented to by the convictions of the heart wherever that heart beats. It is a teaching, one and the same for every place, every age and every time. This philosophy runs thus: that all things are purified by trial. “Every one,” saith our Lord, “shall be salted with fire, and every sacrifice shall be salted with salt” (Mark 9:49, KJV).
The whirlwind and the storm must come; and men must meet them. There is no exemption from this law; and the philosophy of which we speak is probably the simplest and the most universal that ever was taught. Advancement and honor come by the pathway of trial.
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Even without the draft, congregation leaders already encounter young women considering the military who need counsel since women are now sent into combat.  Still, few congregation leaders with whom I have spoken either know the main points in biblical studies about women and the military, or that everyone who enlists agrees to go into combat.

Provisions to register women for military conscription were included in the original versions of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for 2022 that passed in both the House and Senate. The provisions were removed in the committee process that reconciled the two versions, so they were not included in the final NDAA. The Supreme Court is expected to hear a case arguing that excluding women from draft registration is discriminatory. Whether by legislation or litigation, efforts to register women for the draft will continue.
Many Protestant denominations (links below) that take a complementarian position about gender have prepared studies that oppose assigning women to combat and/or conscripting women. In 2002, for example, the Presbyterian Church in America’s (PCA) 30th General Assembly concluded (in part): “This Assembly declares it to be the biblical duty of man to defend woman and therefore condemns the use of women as military combatants, as well as any conscription of women into the Armed Services of the United States” (Minutes, pp. 282-9). In 2014, the Presbyterian and Reformed Commission on Chaplains and Military Personnel extended such conclusions by describing the high risk that military women face of being raped by military men.
Six Biblical objections to using women as combatants appear in denomination studies.

The Lord assigned Adam to “keep” the Garden of Eden, where “keep” includes protecting it. Adam failed by standing aside while Eve faced Satan (Genesis 2:15; Genesis 3:1-6).
Husbands are to protect wives (I Peter 3:7) as Christ protects the church (Ephesians 5: 22-3).
Women should not put on the things special for men; the language suggests men’s things for war (Deuteronomy 22:5).
Throughout the Old Testament, the Lord always sent men and never women to attack enemies (e.g., Joshua 1:14; Judges 4:6-7; Nehemiah 4: 14).
In the one instance where Israel’s military leader, Barack, rebelled against the Lord by demanding that a woman, Deborah, accompany him into battle, he is rebuked (Judges 4: 8-9).
A woman can be pregnant even before being aware; military women, then, can take an unborn baby into combat risking its death (Jeremiah 1:5; Psalm 139:13).

Some General Assembly minutes include minority arguments that women should be encouraged to volunteer for combat. No recorded denomination discussion, however, has ever supported registering women for military conscription.
Even without the draft, congregation leaders already encounter young women considering the military who need counsel since women are now sent into combat.  Still, few congregation leaders with whom I have spoken either know the main points in biblical studies about women and the military, or that everyone who enlists agrees to go into combat (Enlistment/ Reenlistment Document C 9. a. (4)).
Rather than repeat the extensive explanations, objections, and responses in the denomination studies (links below), I will describe personal experiences over 10 years to disseminate their points. These experiences include conversations with pastors, elders, presbyteries, Stated Clerks, seminary faculty, chaplains and chaplain endorsers, parachurch ROTC group leaders, senior staff of Senators, and Congressional committee members. They also include preparing and distributing a booklet adapting for Christian girls the theological language of denomination studies.
The most common response to draft registration that I receive is that we need not do anything because we can still rely on conscientious objection. Doing so, however, provides a thin hope.
Conscientious objection to being drafted has been possible, but not to registering. Also, conscientious objection policy traditionally recognizes pacifist opposition to war in any form (notably by Anabaptists), but not to Reformed just war views supporting some wars but not others, like wars fought by conscripted women.
Conscientious objection policy today is designed for military people who come to the conviction that they can no longer fight. The acceptable rationale, however, has shifted from religious affiliation to demonstrated, well-articulated personal conviction. A Chaplain Colonel advises me, however, that even chaplains who carefully articulate conscientious objection for exemption from Covid vaccination policy are being declined.
Given current policy, it seems unreasonable to expect 18-year-old women to convince draft boards that they should be exempt from draft registration. As legal adults, the burden to convince is on them personally, not on their parents or pastors. Even with a lawyer’s help, that burden seems especially challenging when a woman’s local church, presbytery/ synod, or denomination shows ambivalence about whether women should agree to combat by enlisting and has not confirmed its opposition to draft registration.
Why now?
When a war lacks sufficient voluntary enlistment to require a draft, draft boards will be overloaded with intermixed genuine and ingenuous appeals for exemption. It would be to our shame to wait until our daughters are involuntarily carrying weapons and our sons are ordered to send them into combat before beginning the slow process of building church consensus and appealing for government exemptions.
What to consider doing?
Parents – consider reading the denomination studies before advising your children and asking your elders to take a stand.
Elders – consider working with your colleagues to create appropriate congregation policy. Perhaps contact Elders in nearby congregations to do likewise, or ask your regional leader (e.g., Stated Clerk, Bishop) to raise the issue in your area.
Regional leaders – consider contacting your congregation leaders to address this issue and contacting regional leaders of other denominations to offer joint support. I have successfully promoted interdenominational cooperation among Bible-believing churches to influence a Senator.
Public Christian leaders (authors, bloggers, publishers, radio/ television hosts, Christian educators, women’s ministry leaders) — consider expanding your vision; take courage; recognizing government sin can be a way to introduce repentance and the Gospel of grace.
What may not be helpful?
Waiting for denomination leaders. For many denominations, studies like the one supporting the PCA’s 2002 resolution await local and regional confirmation that may be delayed until a catastrophe prompts belated, ineffectual action. Silence tells denomination leaders that we do not care. One chaplain who faithfully raised the issue of women and the military for many years wrote to me about our negligence in supporting denomination studies by saying, “Members of our churches love their daughters, they just do not love them in this way.”
We are leaving our children on the edge of adulthood to deal with problematic government decisions to the children themselves without adult guidance, without adult protection. We dare not repeat Adam’s sin by letting our children and young people face the Enemy alone.
Mark Peterson is a member of Redlands Community Church in Homestead, Fla.; he is in the process of moving his church home near to his new residence in central Florida. He was ordained a PCA Deacon in 1984. He is a semi-retired business professor, author, and editor.

Studies
Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, 2016, pp. 405-408, 449.
Associated Gospel Churches, 2013, fourth Mandated Policy. (AGC is the chaplain endorsing agency for many independent, non-denominational Bible churches)
Lutheran Church Missouri Synod, 2018.
Orthodox Presbyterian Church, 2001, pp. 258-282.
Presbyterian Church in America, 2001, pp. 258-320. Sections 29-53 to 29-57; 2002, pp. 283-290. Sections 30-57 to 30-60.
Reformed Presbyterian Church of the United States, 1996 (no link available)
Reformed Episcopal Church, third (2017) and fourth (2021) Resolutions
Reformed Presbyterian Church of North America, 2004.
Southern Baptist Convention, 1998, 2016.