Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies by Hillary Morgan Ferrer

Mama Bear Apologetics: Empowering Your Kids to Challenge Cultural Lies Reviews

• 
  Christian

  Before I begin I would like to acknowledge that this is a book written explicitly for evangelical mothers; I am a man who is neither married nor a father, and, while I am a Christian, I am not an evangelical. The author(s) invite childless mothers to read their book and once acknowledges the possibility that a father could be reading, but despite this I could never really shake the feeling that I had crashed a party and proceeded to criticize their music choices. As a result I tried to be as charitable as I could while reading, and there were points where I thought the author(s) made good points; I have tried my best to approach the book in good faith and to only make fair criticisms.
  
  Mama Bear Apologetics™ is a collection of essays written by several women all of whom write for the same blog and podcast. I have never read a collection of essays quite like this one, because it felt very unified and did not feel like it had multiple voices or perspectives. I suspect this came both from a lot of discussion prior to writing followed by heavy editing. This is not a criticism, just an observation.
  
  Mama Bear Apologetics™ is meant as a crash course in Christian apologetics, written to equip mothers to best protect their children as they are raised in a hostile world. The book argues that most of Generation Y and Z are falling away from the Church, and this is primarily because of the lies that the world keeps telling them, and because their parents have failed to prepare them. The job of a mother is to equip their child in order to best defend against those lies, and they are lies. The authors never name the Devil as the source of these lies, but I would expect it has to be either that or a collection of conspiracies (they do actually lean more in this direction) that is spreading these lies. The authors never specifically address this, but I think it's worth pointing out. I have been annoyed in the past by atheists referring to Christianity as a lie; Christianity being untrue would not make me a liar, because my belief is sincere. Lying requires intent, and that intention also applies to everyone the authors are accusing of lying (which is pretty much all non Christians).
  
  The main way society lies is through a process called Linguistic Theft. The authors outline what this is early on and build many of their later arguments on this. I was unfortunately unconvinced. “Linguistic theft refers to purposefully hijacking words, changing their definitions, and then using those same words as tools of propaganda.” The author(s) only example of a word being purposely changed was the word "gay" which I understand as having been a deliberate altering of the word for public relations reasons. The rest were either just a normal process of words changing over time, or an ideological view changing the definition of the word (marriage, gender). No one hijacked the word marriage and claimed it had always referred to any combination of genders, but rather they were arguing that the definition of the word should be expanded to reflect a new cultural norm. The author(s) is ascribing a malicious theft where only ideological difference exists.
  
  One way in which they attempt to demonstrate the original definition of these words is by reading the definitions in the Miriam Websters Dictionary in order to demonstrate what the word is supposed to mean. This seems mistaken to me as the English language changes constantly and had already before that dictionary was published, but also because dictionaries are inherently political and will to some extent choose definitions that fit what the majority of people want them to fit. I find it doubtful that political bias in dictionaries is exclusively a new phenomenon.
  
  The authors also explain how to approach apologetics and it's in these sections that they best reveal the core problem in their whole book; The authors explain that their role is to approach others with love and kindness, but to "demolish their lies". This is repeated several times. The problem I have is that if you approach my argument assuming it's a lie then all you are doing is looking for ways to destroy it and for weaknesses to exploit. That's not a debate, but an exercise in public humiliation. I think that this attitude explains why the authors so consistently miss-characterize their opponents; they are assuming everyone else is insincere or deluded and so they are trying to find out why they are so wrong, rather than assessing their arguments. I would argue that the purpose of a debate is not to "demolish lies", but rather to find truth together.
  
  The later section of the book is spent on those liars of all stripes as the authors explain their arguments and then "demolish" them. They also often explain their motivation, and this is where the whole book goes from being alright to being genuinely troubling. The authors explain several different modern perspectives and ideas with varying degrees of accuracy. The section on the New Atheists for example was simplistic, but not terrible (which brings up another point; this book felt weirdly dated. Who is worrying about new atheists, Rob Bell, and coexist bumper stickers in 2019?)
  
  The section that started to really annoy me was when they talked about Post Modernists, who they characterize as deceptive clowns who claim that everyone can make their own truth, while secretly having more nefarious agendas. The main source cited in this section is
  Explaining Postmodernism: Skepticism and Socialism from Rousseau to Foucault, a book written by an objectivist with the main purpose of revealing the insidious agendas of post-modernism (my understanding is that Hicks attempts to argue that Kant was a counter-enlightenment thinker which should reveal how inadequate his understanding of philosophers is). Regardless of Hicks's failings, maybe the authors should have read a primary text or two before they "demolish" post-modernism.
  
  Even worse is their chapter on Marxism in which the authors state that they see no difference between socialism, Marxism, and communism and even imply that Bernie Sanders has no real difference from Karl Marx. The real point of this chapter though is to reveal the insidious plot of Marxism which was to champion social justice causes in order to weaken America and begin a glorious communist revolution. The author spends the remainder of the chapter ranting about "SJW"s who hide their communism behind a veneer of empathy. The chapter on feminism is similar, but less paranoid sounding.
  
  The authors finish off by talking about progressive Christianity who they characterize as agnostics or future atheists. They point out that Tony Campolo's son has become an atheist as evidence that that is the direction that all future progressive Christians are heading. This has a similar problem to the feminist and communist chapters in that the authors spend a lot of time arguing that there were problems once, but they are mostly all gone now. Just like with the whole concept of "word theft" a lot of the book is an appeal to the past. At some point we reached a perfect civilization and now our job is to ensure that no one wrecks it. No real consideration is given to the idea that America is flawed in any real way, and those saying it is are fighting a boogie man.
  
  The problem with this book isn't that they don't like feminists, Marxists, or progressives. The problem is that the authors are so unable to believe that someone could genuinely subscribe to those views that they have created a villain out of them. I think it's important to attempt to understand the people we disagree with, because otherwise we risk creating silly conspiracies in which Marxist pretended to be social justice warriors in order to weaken America. As the authors themselves state; “we establish trust with people by acknowledging their good intentions. Few people think that they are on the wrong side of history. Everyone sees themselves as crusading for the greater good. We must try to see their idea from their perspective. What are they valuing? What are they trying to accomplish? What is their ultimate goal?” I think this is true, but I think they have failed to do this on several occasions. In their defense, they do try to do so a lot more than I have implied here, and even devote a section of each chapter to listing the good of each perspective.
  
  Overall, I think the authors' hearts are in the right place, but I think they accidentally created a book that teaches me not to best argue for and find truth, but rather to defeat people I disagree with through rhetorical tricks and conspiracy theories. There was a point where I tried to google whether the authors had ever written about
  Ben Shapiro or
  Jordan Peterson as they seemed to be repeating a lot of their talking points. Ultimately this is just
  How to Debate Leftists and Destroy Them: 11 Rules for Winning the Argument in a nicer package.
• 
  Cat

  This was given to me by another mom who was a member of the launch team (or something like that). While I found some sections helpful and clarifying, I would not recommend this book. Systematic Theology is a much better place to begin your study of apologetics. **Edited 4/09/22 to add: I understand that Systematic Theology might be too academic and dry for a lot of busy caregivers. I also recommend Phylicia Masonheimer's IG/website Every Woman A Theologian. While I don't agree with her on every point, I love her balanced, humble, truth-seeking approach to theology, theological history, and her comfort with the diversity of thought in the Church.
  
  This book was more about protecting a conservative worldview and arguing against anything that is seemingly opposed to right-leaning (capitalist) American evangelical Christianity than it was about apologetics. The tone was often derisive and mocking, as though anyone who “buys” these other viewpoints is simply not as smart or savvy as “us”; our job then is to gently show them how wrong and misled they really are. I can’t possibly imagine a successful relationship building scenario in which my motive to befriend another mom at the playground is so I can prove to her that she’s been brainwashed.
  
  What really got me was in the chapter on PostModernism, the author claims that you could be charged with a hate crimes in Canada for accidentally using the wrong gender to refer to someone. (She actually writes “no one is safe” as though this is part of a grand conspiracy.) I was surprised enough when I read this to google the law and discovered a viral article posted on a conservative website. Even Fox News had a story about how the article in question was an erroneous and sensational interpretation of the law. Since the entire book is supposed to be about confronting cultural lies, exposing how worldview distorts our ability to separate fact from fiction, and attempting to find truth in a world of misinformation, I couldn’t really take the authors seriously anymore.
  
  For what it’s worth, I am a moderate evangelical who is interested in biblical truth and raising my children to be deep, considerate thinkers in all areas of their faith and education, which means regularly confronting and re-examining my own political and cultural beliefs. I tried to read this book with an open mind, praying throughout for discernment. Ultimately I feel this book offers a glimpse into the way conservative evangelicals view the world and other people but does not offer much in the way of Christian apologetics. It is more “why we don’t believe this nonsense” than “why we do believe this truth.”
• 
  Jami Balmet

  A fantastic introduction to understand the cultural battles we are facing today. A must read for all moms! We need to be aware of the cultural lies we face.
• 
  Kayla Whittinghill

  I LOVED this book. It taught me a lot, clarified things I already believed, and made me more passionate and excited about my job as a mother and apologist to my children. I highly recommend!
• 
  Jennifer DeFrates

  If you're a Christian parent, you want to raise your children to know and love the Lord, but there is no one sure-fired 100% way to parent that brings kids to Jesus. But we can make sure to point the way to a faith built on the solid foundation of truth. And Mama Bear Apologetics gives us the tools to build that foundation.
  
  One of my favorite quotes from the book is, "Blind faith is easy to lose. Faith grounded in evidence is harder to walk away from." - Hillary Morgan Ferrer. So how do we give our kids that kind of foundation? You could spend years studying apologetics or you can start with this book.
  
  Mama Bear Apologetics is like a cheat sheet for all the important concepts we need to know as parents to teach our children why we believe that Christianity is more than a good idea, it's the truth. Each of the authors writes with authority, but in a conversational tone that makes you feel like you could be sitting around the playground chatting.
  
  Each chapter walks you through the way the world twists the truth or subverts Gods' word and offers real ways to clarify our thinking and think critically about the issues. And this book is written by busy moms for busy moms! Mama Bear Apologetics gets to the heart of each issue quickly and gives you easy answers to deal with each type of objection. I really appreciate the end of each chapter walks you through a concrete way to handle each subject. I love learning, but if I don't have a concrete take-away, sometimes what I've read doesn't stick. MBA makes sure you know how to use each concept to solidify not only the faith of your children, but your own, and give you the confidence to share your faith with the people you encounter in your daily life.
  
  Every chapter is so good, you won't want to put it down. But I really appreciated the chapter on Linguistic Theft. I know that words are being misappropriated, but since reading that chapter, I've started seeing just how many words aren't being used authentically and how that shapes our thought processes.
  
  The chapters on naturalism, truth, evidence, and relativism are really excellent. I love how the authors take concepts that we've heard so often, we've internalized them without realizing it and show us how flawed they are. Kids are walking away from faith in larger numbers than ever because they don't know how faulty these 'great sound bite' ideas really are. But MBA exposes the flaws in their logic.
  
  While MBA covers just about every main objection to Christianity and explains many contradictory worldviews, we can teach our kids HOW to think critically using the skills outlined in this book even when confronted with an argument that wasn't specifically covered because they covered how to discern the message and measure it against truth and logic. We don't have to leave our brains at the door to be Christians. In fact, we need to use them now more than ever.
  
  One chapter that was particularly important as the mother of a young girl is the one on toxic feminism. I want my daughter to see herself correctly as an image bearer of God created in His likeness, loved and cherished deeply. But I don't want her to fall victim to the viciousness passing as the "pro-women movement". MBA helps us see the beauty in being women without feeling like we have to go to war against men. The book dispels the clear contradictory messages in third wave feminism that are actually damaging to women and families. And challenges us as a body of Christ to do better in how we protect women.
  
  MBA ends with a chapter full of ways to use all this information to make a difference for the next generation.
  
  I really can't recommend this book enough. The wisdom and knowledge of the various authors is astounding. The years of their experience and educational background is a treasure trove that we get to ravage to contend for the faith of our children. Every Christian should read this book, but especially parents ready to Roar like a Mama Bear for the faith of their children.
  
  I received a copy for my honest review, but bought one too! I think this book is that important!
  
• 
  Misty Wilson read.fine.print

  
  I enjoy learning why I believe what I believe about the Bible and how to defend my faith. Also, I like learning about parenting. This book combines the two: it talks about how to help your kids understand Biblical truth.
  •
  I was blown away by the wisdom in this book. My kids are big, but I’m eager to help others navigate the waters of parenting in today’s culture. I hold strong beliefs about some things but until I read this book, it was hard for me to put into words WHY. The chapters on self-help, feminism, and emotionalism were especially thought provoking.
  •
  I am a bit overwhelmed! To put it simply, Mama Bear Apologetics is full of hard words and concepts that I can’t fully get straight in my mind. There is so much great information and truth but I’m having a hard time processing how I can roll that over to impact my family and my kids. I have purchased the study guide for this and I plan to start a group at my church to go through it, so I’m hoping to squeeze every ounce of knowledge from it!
• 
  Libby Powell

  Mama Bear Apologetics is a resource that guides mothers to understand and teach their children to defend Christianity against false worldviews in culture.
  
  I am not a mom, so quite frankly, a lot of the mommy humor in this book fell flat for me.
  
  As for the content, on the whole, Mama Bear Apologetics is a book I can see being a very useful resource to jumpstart moms in incorporating apologetics into the home. It is solid and biblical in its analysis and responses, and is written in an easy-to-read style (though definitely meant for moms!).
  
  However, a few concerns came to mind as I read. The first was with the tone of the book in some places, which seemed almost condescending and deriding of the worldviews the authors were critiquing. Though the authors do claim many times believers need to be gentle and loving toward the people while addressing their flawed ideas, I was surprised and disturbed by how often they would come to an idea, pick it apart, and suggest it is ridiculous or absurd to believe in it. What bothered me more was the use of sarcasm and italics, which made me feel as though the author’s were rolling their eyes as they wrote, and led me to think that they weren’t consciously trying to graciously address people holding the worldviews. I felt that balance of graciousness and criticalness wasn’t met in this book.
  
  The other concern I had was the author’s emphasis on apologetics as the source of keeping kids from leaving the church, while (most likely unintentionally) neglecting to offer the real source of salvation, which is the Gospel. Apologetics is a useful tool, certainly. But I have seen friends who have studied apologetics deeply, only to walk away from traditional Christianity because they didn’t believe the Biblical Gospel. They could defend so many parts of their faith and reason with false philosophies, but did not understand the Gospel of Christ, which is the foundation of Christianity.
  
  So, I would recommend Mama Bear Apologetics as a solid resource and basic introduction to relevant apologetic issues, but would caution parents to keep the above issues in mind as they use it. Mama Bear Apologetics is useful for apologetics, but apologetics in itself is not enough. I would also recommend a few other books dealing with the doctrines of Scripture that would take what Mama Bear Apologetics offers to a deeper level. Most of all, I would urge parents to turn first and foremost to Scripture, to reading the Bible and teaching its Truth to their children. With that foundation, I think Mama Bear Apologetics has the potential to be a valuable tool for families.
• 
  Rachel {bibliopals}

  Reread Summer 2021: still 5 star😁
  ---------------
  I've read several parenting books, but it's been a long while since I've read one that is so applicable to today's parenting struggles in a world where foundations are constantly blurred.
  
  Such a great resource! Highly recommend!!!
• 
  Alaina

  A book I wanted a physical copy of. Some books I can read on kindle or listen to. This one I had my highlighter, pen, and engaged in each page. This will be a reference book for me in the future. I know I will read it again. Good enough to do a book club with. The truths presented here are eternal. Every mom, grandma, aunt, sister or care giver or friend of children/teenagers in some way need to read this book!
• 
  Haleigh DeRocher

  A great overview of the prevalent false worldviews that are enticing our children to leave the faith. A must read for Christian moms.
  Valuable reading recommendations at the end.
• 
  Soojung Lee

  There was research put into this book, but I have an issue with the limited textbook view of feminism presented in this text manipulated to serve the purpose of "Mama Bear Apologetics" (a business as well as the book title). There are feminist movements that are currently happening that are not addressed in this book that address the concerns that Valerius, Childers, and Ferrer raise. I think their stance on social justice is concerning in addition to their denial of the patriarchy. Many other views are trivialized due to lack of understanding. They recognize the #metoo movement, and in the same essay argue the patriarchy is false since Valerius's brother has endured struggles "at the hands of women" (236). But the feminist issues and stances on social justice aside, I feel that this book presents some good info. Ironically, you will need to "chew and spit" (a process they coin to refer to the sifting of wisdom from a work that is problematic) while consuming these essays. But I would hate to refer to this book and reinforce problematic patriarchal views onto readers and by default their children/children they encounter. Especially if any woman is facing abuse, I would hate for her to reach page 244 and contemplate if her situation of abuse qualifies as "truly violent" or if she should stick it out because it's only a bit violent.... and fulfills "gender roles" (244, 240). In good conscious I cannot recommend this book to another woman as I feel it could do so much more harm than good. I'll refer women to other resources.
• 
  Danielle Vogt

  I have mixed feelings about this book. It might deserve one more star. On the one hand, it did a pretty good job of giving an introduction to a variety of important cultural topics; a lot of the suggestions for activities or discussions with children were practical and helpful; the presentation of certain topics was actually much more balanced and nuanced than I had expected. On the other hand, I found the writing quality really uneven (partly due to the fact that it was written by a “committee” and not a single person); I felt the book tried to tackle too many things at once; I couldn’t stand the cutesy humor or “Mama Bear” references, and felt at times the book talked down to mothers, like they couldn’t possibly understand the real meat of apologetics, theology, philosophy, etc. Still, there was a lot that was useful and helpful here, especially as an introduction.
• 
  Ashlee Kirschner

  My rating would be somewhere between 3.5-4.5 stars depending on what part of the book I was at.
  
  For the first chunk of this book, I nearly stopped reading it (but I usually feel guilty for not finishing a book so I kept going). Here’s why.
  
  There is an example story of a group going on a river rafting ride. An adult daughter falls out of the boat and the mother jumps in the water and hoists her daughter out (even though physically speaking this woman shouldn’t have been able to lift her daughter). The authors relate this story to how we are to be as parents - grabbing our children out of the evil isms and thinking of the world.
  
  This made me angry. I felt like it was representing the entire world as being evil and something we need to protect our children from. And I know this is not the case. I have read books by many different spectrums of people and oftentimes people who don’t know God live out and understand the heart behind the law much better than the huge majority of Christians do.
  
  I want my kids to not be afraid of people or ideas. I do want them to recognize truth and be able to sift through ideas and thoughts, but I do not want them to be terrified of every thought and idea outside of the church thinking it is somehow out to get them.
  
  That being said, I did appreciate the last half of the book where the authors presented many schools of thought that are currently being held in our culture. I especially appreciated the sections they included on feminism, Marxism, emotionalism and progressive Christianity as these are not usually discussed in most apologetics books. Giving a brief breakdown of the isms main tenants, how it is played out and then going through how that relates to historical and Biblical Christianity is very helpful. I also appreciated that they brought up the beneficial aspects each of these isms forced the church (and world) to look at. For instance, feminism forced the church to do a shake up and deal with abusive leaders.
  
  What a good goal to try and get moms to start thinking and teaching their children how to think about their faith. I think I would recommend this book to many of my Christian friends, especially ones that mostly go to church on Sundays and don’t do much other study about their faith. I would give a word of caution about the “Christians vs. Everyone Else in the World (who is essentially evil)” thing.
• 
  Joanna Jennings

  I found this really helpful, although it is really just a summary of different “isms”. The whole Mama Bear thing seemed a little cheesy to me. Apologetics in and of itself is limited— you can give your kids all the right answers but without the desire and the reality of a personal walk with God, Christianity falls flat. That being said, kids need to know that issues can and need to be thought through, and this book is a great place to start. I thought the chapter on Linguistic Theft was especially eye-opening and the one on Marxism very thought-provoking.
• 
  Shannon

  Reading the more negative reviews and interpreting the cover art as antagonistic, I was prepared not to like this book, but I did benefit from what it had to say and even found it a mostly enjoyable read.
  
  It's a crash course in the worldviews that are most often championed in our culture: a few preliminary chapters to lay down some principles and then one chapter for each major worldview.
  
  I would say the book is more useful as a preventative, "Worldviews 101" read than as a read for moms whose kids are already attracted to these worldviews. For one, the time the authors can give to each worldview is of course limited, so what we end up getting is a very superficial skim through the worldview's arguments and stances, as well as a short section on how to discern what each gets right and wrong from a biblical perspective.
  
  The reason I say it's better as a preventative education is that if a person or child is actually entrenched in one of these worldviews, this short treatment is not nearly enough material to engage with it well. (The authors, however, provide suggested reading lists in the back--some of which I do want to check out.) Despite the authors' warning against straw men in the beginning chapters, I found that some of the ways they treated the other worldviews' arguments were simplified to the point of being straw man-ish, at least. As someone who was once fairly ensconced in many if not most of these beliefs, I can say with confidence that 1) the authors of this book did not do justice to the more nuanced and sincere arguments of other worldviews, again most likely due to time/space issues, and 2) none of the arguments put forward in this book would have convinced me or anyone around me that my worldview was wrong, often because they are not acknowledging those nuances. In other words, they may be useful in small debates against people who are only seeking a "gotcha!" moment to score a point against Christians, but I'm not confident they could disciple someone who's genuinely and intelligently holding to that other worldview.
  
  I was also put off by the sarcastic quips that were sometimes directed at these other philosophies. While I recognize that sarcasm is a legitimate way to communicate and that some families/subcultures can use it entirely without insult, it can come across as dismissive or even caustic and unloving, and I think the book would've been better off avoiding it.
  
  Critiques aside, I was empowered and inspired by this book to go ahead and start training my kids in cultural discernment. For example, I recognized their passion for the MULAN song "True To Your Heart," in which one line is "Your heart can tell you no lies" and another line asks, "Why second guess what feels so right?" I printed out the lyrics and let my two oldest girls (7 and 6) color on their sheets while we went through the song line-by-line to see what was good about it, what was unwise about it, and what the Bible would have to say about it. We ended up talking about how to choose a spouse, how Mulan misinterprets her family's expectations in the film, and a host of other great topics. At the end, my eldest said, "I like this--this talking about what's good and bad in songs. Can we do this again?" And I honestly never would've thought to do it without having read this book. I would've felt more helpless, like my only option was to tell them they couldn't listen to it anymore or shrug my shoulders and hope it didn't sink in too much.
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  Esther

  This book is providing a critical message for Christians at this time in our culture. Even though it is directed towards moms, I believe it can and should be read by any Christian adult who cares about the younger generation. In addition, it is important for us to understand the current culture and the issues we are facing not just as parents but also as a church looking to connect with and reach those who do not know Jesus. The book addresses multiple issues and lies that our culture is believing right now, but it is very readable and not too academic. Highly recommend!
• 
  Haley Annabelle

  This book provides a great overview of all the “isms” that are attacking Christianity in modern times. It also emphasizes the importance of having a strong foundation before you even encounter those things, so that you won’t be shaken.
  I would definitely recommend to all moms, especially those who don’t know much about apologetics.
• 
  Hanna Lee

  I must confess this book went over my head a few times. I think it’s one I can/should return to again and again to remind myself both of the truths the Bible teaches and the many different realms of thought that affect culture around us. I like the basic principles outlined to address and respond to any number of issues your kids (or you!) might have to various topics. The resource guide in the back was also quite helpful and I have been challenged to dive deeper into Christian apologetics.
• 
  Katie Ramsey

  Wow! Such a timely and important book. I feel better equipped to teach my children and in my own life and faith after reading this book. The chapters on self-helpism, Marxism, and feminism were especially helpful. Although, I feel like this is just the tip of the iceberg and I plan to keep digging and learning and going through many of the other resources recommended in this book.
• 
  Kayla Dernier

  This book is a fantastic introduction to apologetics, and a great stepping stone to further study. I learned a lot, and realized I’ve read about many of these topics already. It’s so important to understand what our kids are facing in today’s world, to understand what is being shoved down their throats daily from many different angles.
• 
  Allison G.

  “You can see why propaganda writers phrase their arguments with inflammatory language intended to trigger the emotions. It's much more efficient than presenting actual information.” And that’s what this book is. Oh, the irony. It’s not Biblically backed - it’s simply a few conservative women’s opinions.
• 
  Sara Hollar

  10 stars. Every Christian parent should read this. I now need a year long class that goes in depth on each chapter. 😂 There is so much here, it is overwhelming. But it's invaluable information in this day and age.
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  Kay Black

  Helpful in thinking about how to help raise children who understand the Gospel and can defend it their faith. I should read it again when I have my own children, but it was helpful in thinking about my role in kids lives now.
• 
  Victoria Keyser

  My mama friends, do yourselves a favor and pick this one up. I had to get a physical copy because there are so many things I wanted to underline and return to--mainly resources for further deep diving. Don't be intimidated -- this is a fantastic beginner level, introductory toe-dipping into apologetics. Grab it! It's worth it!
• 
  Erica

  4.5,⭐
  Each chapter is a broad overview of the many different -isms in our culture and how they are against a biblical worldview. There are different discussion questions at the end of each chapter to help you and your child to think and come up with bible reasons for our beliefs. It definitely was thought provoking and I'll be doing some more research and reading.
  The mama bear part felt a little overdone and cheesy and there were a few things I didn't agree with.
• 
  Rachelle Cobb

  Enjoyed reading this book with a small group of mamas. Biblical truth + practical application but with grace mixed in? Yes please. Looking forward to reading their next book.
• 
  Brittany Shields

  I am so excited about Mama Bear Apologetics!
  
  I think every person should read this. It appears to be targeted towards moms, but the content is not specialized just for women and the writing style is not strictly feminine. I believe the company is made up of mostly women and they know that moms typically spend the most time with their kids, and thus answering more questions, so they’ve kinda honed in on moms, but it truly would be good for everyone.
  
  We want our children to be critical thinkers and to be able to discern for themselves right from wrong, truth from lie. We want them to know that their faith is reasonable and not blind. We want to teach them that asking questions is good. We want them to know why they believe what they believe. As parents or mentors, we can help our children develop a solid foundation for them to understand, view, and interpret the world.
  
  Don’t let the word ‘apologetics’ scare you.
  
  “Apologetics is how we handle questions.”
  
  “No, we are not apologizing for our faith, nor are we being defensive about it. Rather, we are giving reasons and evidence for what we believe.”
  
  Personally I enjoy reading books about apologetics but it’s not the lightest of reading and can often be confusing.
  
  This book is not that.
  
  They have written this for people who aren’t going to go out and read allll the books. They have written this to equip all adults to understand what cultural lies our children may be hearing or being influenced by. They have written this to help us communicate better with our children about really important things. (Or even recognize these things for ourselves.)
  
  So it is very easy to follow and understand.
  
  As I’ve said, I’ve read several apologetics books (browse my book blog) and this one has stood out to me because I believe it’s an excellent and accessible resource for all minds and especially geared toward talking to our children about things.
  
  I can read lots of complicated books but how do I simplify it so it makes sense to my children? What questions are appropriate for my kids? This book is perfect for that!
  
  “On the following pages, you will gain wisdom to help you listen well to your children— to discern their thoughts and questions, and then guide them in thinking critically and biblically about the postmodern culture they face.”
  
  
  Some of these ideals are overt and easy to spot, but most of the time they’re hard to detect if we’re not paying attention. And to counter the ‘isms’ I list below often comes with unpopularity or rejection. Today’s culture presents their belief system in such a positive light that it’s hard to identify the lies that are hidden within or packaged differently, and it’s harder to go against the current.
  
  I think this book is an invaluable resource that I know I will keep coming back to as things come up with my kids.
  
  
  One of the best things about this book is that they are committed to discernment which means that they don’t believe in dichotomous thinking.
  
  “We don’t inhale 100% oxygen. We inhale a combination of oxygen, carbon dioxide, nitrogen, and atmosphere. Our bodies were designed to take in the oxygen and exhale everything else… [we want] our little bears to be able to interact with this culture with grace, love, and critical thinking— inhaling the spiritual oxygen and exhaling everything else— in a way that is as natural as breathing.”  
  
  With each chapter they acknowledge both the good and the bad of a certain idea. We inhale, or hold on to, the good and we exhale, or discard the bad.
  
  This is not a promotion of an a la carte belief system but to help us see how a lot of bad thinking or ideas are attractive or persuasive to us because they have some truth to them. We need to see how truth is twisted or added to in ways that are unbiblical.
  
  They warn against teaching our kids in a way that divides the world into ‘safe’ things and ‘dangerous’ things. I think this is very wise.
  
  “The danger of dividing up the world into simplistic ‘safe’ and ‘dangerous’ or even ‘Christian’ and ‘non-Christian’ categories is that our kids will eventually (and perhaps accidentally) swallow a lie from something they thought was safe or Christian, or reject a truth from something they thought was dangerous or non-Christian.”
  
  
  The chapter on linguistic theft was super good. I won’t go into detail here, but it’s basically recognizing the affects of redefining words. Some of the words they discuss that have been hijacked are love, truth, tolerance, justice, injustice, equality, bigot, and authentic. I’d bet you could think of a time when one of these words were used in a new way. Have you thought about the dangers of that?
  
  
  How It’s Organized
  
  This book was written by several contributors. Each chapter covers a new ‘ism’ or belief.
  
  They provide a brief history of the idea.
  
  They break it down using the acronym ROAR:
  - Recognize the message (what message or values are being promoted or demonized?)
  - Offer discernment (correctly identify the good and the bad)
  - Argue for a healthier approach (provide evidence and reasons)
  - Reinforce with discussion, discipleship, and prayer (putting it into practice, practical application)
  
  They identify lies and myths and counter them with reason and evidence.
  
  I really like how they include a prayer at the end of each chapter. There’s nothing wrong with praying their prayers verbatim, yourself. Growing up I was taught the acronym ACTS for praying (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication).
  They use PAWS:
  - Praise (worshiping/adoring God for who he is or what he has done)
  - Admit (confessing/repenting of a sin in thought, word or deed)
  - Worship with Thanksgiving (thanking God for who he is or the blessings he has given us)
  - Supplication (asking for help)
  
  At the end of each chapter are also discussion questions. There’s an ice-breaker question, main theme (reviewing what we learned kind of questions), self-evaluation, brainstorming (which are just thought-provoking questions), and ‘releasing the bear’ which is an activity to do with your kids.
  
  
  I think the questions are thoughtful and would spur on good discussion. This book would be an excellent option to do as a Bible study— as women or as a mixed group of people! Each chapter is so relevant and I think it would be great to discuss with others how to work together and encourage one another in these hard conversations.
  
  
  Disclaimer
  
  I want to put in this disclaimer before sharing the chapters overview.
  
  When my husband saw the cover of this book he commented on the angry looking mama bear on the front.
  
  Mama Bear Apologetics says their tagline is: “We love people but demolish their ideas.”
  
  The picture may appear harsh, and the word ‘demolish’ seems a bit aggressive. But they really do love people and are not endorsing people start up protests and Facebook comment rants to argue with people.
  
  I love that they say this:
  
  “With most of the ‘isms’ in this book, we are not dealing with willful rebels, but with captives— people held hostage to bad ideas.”
  
  We are all image-bearers of God. And some of us may be held captive to bad ideas. We are called to speak truth. And how we do that is important. But contrary to popular belief, it’s not wrong to defend your beliefs and to challenge bad ideas.
  
  We love our children fiercely and want to protect them.
  
  “The greatest protection we can give our kids is to equip them to face the cultural lies head-on while remaining gracious, loving, and winsome.”
  
  Mama Bear Apologetics’ heart is to offer freedom and escape from their captivity to lies and harmful beliefs.
  
  I think they do a good job of balancing being bold and confident yet gracious and humble. They are ‘attacking’ the ideas, not the people.
  
  
  The ‘Isms’
  
  Part 2 of this book is dedicated to “Lies you’ve probably heard but didn’t know what they were called”
  [Each book listed below is reviewed on my
  book review blog]
  
  They include:
  
  Self-Helpism
  
  Covers things like: Self-empowerment. What is our source of authority or power? Do we have all that we need inside of us? Can we fix our own problems? Are we responsible for making our life what we want it to be?
  
  “Trying to fix ourselves is as futile as expecting a broken vacuum to fix itself. It won’t happen. Not even if we gather the family around to shout, ‘You’re an amazing vacuum! You can do it!’”
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  You Who? by Rachel Jankovic
  When Strivings Cease by Ruth Chou Simons
  
  Naturalism
  
  Covers things like: Are science and Christianity at odds? What’s the difference between science and faith? How do we explain the origin of the world or God? What about evolution? Can everything be explained by the material world? Can we ignore the supernatural?
  
  “The universal problem with denying the existence of God is the difficulty of explaining creation apart from a creator.”
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  Why God Makes Sense in a World that Doesn’t by Gavin Ortlund
  A Biblical Case Against Theistic Evolution by Wayne Grudem
  The Reason for God by Tim Keller
  
  Skepticism
  
  Covers things like: Can we trust the Bible? Isn’t Christianity just wishful thinking- like Santa? You can’t know anything for sure. Religion is child abuse.
  
  “A child who understands how to discover truth is primed for a faith that lasts much longer than that of a child who is merely presented with the truth.”
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  Surviving Religion 101 by Michael J. Kruger
  Taking God at His Word by Kevin DeYoung
  
  Postmodernism
  
  Covers things like objective and subjective truth— the phrase ‘your/my truth’ or ‘true for you but not for me.’ Is perception reality? Are all truth claims power plays?
  
  “With all the battles fought over truth, society saw truth as the bully, not the people supposedly wielding it… In fact, truth had become synonymous with power and oppression.”
  
  For further reading on this topic (and the next one) check out:
  The Gathering Storm by Al Mohler
  
  Moral Relativism
  
  Covers things like: Love is love. Don’t force your truth on me. What does true mean? Should personal autonomy be our highest priority? Are truth and compassion at odds? Is moral relativism even logically possible?
  
  “Once upon a time, counseling was centered upon helping someone’s emotions to match reality. Now people are more concerned with crafting reality to either match emotions or alleviate bad emotions. Even science must bend the knee.”
  
  Emotionalism
  
  Covers things like: Can we control our emotions? Are negative emotions harmful? Should we try to change anything that causes negative feelings? Follow your heart. Be offended. Is emotional distress injustice?
  
  “Emotionalism basically refers to replacing our God-given reasoning faculties with emotion. Is something right or wrong? I’m not sure. Hold on a sec, let me see how I feel about it…”
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  The Coddling of the American Mind by Jonathan Haidt and Greg Lukianoff
  
  Pluralism
  
  Covers things like: Are all religions equally valid? Does sincerity or popularity make a belief true? What does tolerance mean? Aren’t all religions still worshiping the same God?
  
  “In a society where multiple religious beliefs coexist, secularism, colored with tolerance, leads the false dichotomy that either 1) all religions are equally valid, or 2) no religion should be discussed.”
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  The Intolerance of Tolerance by D.A. Carson
  
  New Spirituality
  
  Covers things like: Pantheism- we are one with nature (i.e. Avatar, Star Wars- the ‘Force’). Meditation will fix your problems. We are one with God.
  
  “We are all sinners in desperate need of a Savior. We can strive all we want, try all we want, meditate all we want, center ourselves all we want, but doing these things will never make us good. Apart from Christ, there is nothing that can save us, redeem us, cleanse us, or make us worthy.” 
  
  Marxism
  
  Covers things like: What’s the difference between Marxism, socialism, and communism? Is Marxism just an economic system or is it a belief system? In what ways do social justice warriors draw from Marxist ideals? Who is oppressed? What is justice and equality?
  
  “Acknowledge. Grieve. Work for reform. Godly conviction is good. Let true injustices spur your heart to action. But stay alert for the lies in the social justice movement that we need to spit out.”  
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  Cynical Theories by Helen Pluckrose and James Lindsay
  Confronting Injustice without Compromising Truth by Thaddeus Williams
  Discrimination and Disparities by Thomas Sowell
  
  Feminism
  
  Covers things like: The three waves of feminism. Is there a war on women? Do we even need men? How do men control women? How has the church failed women? What is gender? Does feminism free women?
  
  “A victim who is desperate to be heard will overlook the flaws of a movement that is willing to listen and be angry on her behalf.”
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  Radical Womanhood by Carolyn McCulley
  Eve in Exile by Rebekah Merkle
  Talking Back to Purity Culture by Rachel Joy Welcher
  Irreversible Damage by Abigail Shrier
  A(typical) Woman by Abigail Dodds
  
  Progressive Christianity
  
  Covers things like: The five key beliefs of progressive Christians. What critiques have progressive Christians made of the church that are helpful?
  
  “Instead of staying within the bounds of orthodox Christianity and bringing reform from within, progressives set their aim on the actual doctrines of Christianity rather than the abuses committed by Christians.” 
  
  “Christianity is not progressive; it’s eternal.”
  
  For further reading on this topic check out:
  Gospel People by Michael Reeves
  
  
  Conclusion
  
  I cannot stress enough how much I recommend this book. See I even BOLDED it!
  
  Considering how helpful I found this book even though I’ve already read a handful of apologetic books this year, how much more beneficial will this book be for any of you who don’t have time to read all the books?
  
  If you hear hard questions and feel overwhelmed and helpless to articulate an answer…
  If you hear hard questions and start to question your own faith foundation…
  If you hear hard questions and get frustrated by the ideology your children face…
  If you hear hard questions and feel motivated to find the answers…
  If you have never heard a hard question but are curious what may come up later…
  If you have no problem with self-helpism, naturalism, skepticism, postmodernism, moral relativism, emotionalism, pluralism, spirituality, marxism, feminism, or progressive Christianity and you wonder what the big deal is…
  
  … this book is for you.
  
  It is not too early and it is not too late to start communicating about hard things with your children.
  
  Read this book. Read it with friends. Be inspired to learn more. Be bold. Think critically. Speak truth.
  
  And as their saying goes: #RoarLikeaMother. (or a father… or a mentor… or a friend… you get it.)
  
  
  The
  Mama Bear Apologetics Website has a lot of resources.
  
  They mention
  this website for a parental guide on movies.
  
  There is also further resources listed at the end of the book for more books on each chapter.
  
  
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