A Brief Book Notice from Books At a Glance
Our culture speaks of men and masculinity as being “toxic.” Conventional manhood is seen as harmful and evil while men who pretend to behave like women are honored. This cultural turn needs to be exposed. In The War on Men: Why Society Hates Them and Why We Need Them, Owen Strachan examines our culture’s understanding in light of Scripture teachings.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1 How Men Are Struggling
Chapter 2 Why Men Are Struggling
Chapter 3 The Foundation of Strong Manhood: Genesis 1-3
Chapter 4 The Foundation of Manhood: Old Testament Men
Chapter 5 The Foundation of Strong Manhood: Jesus Christ
Chapter 6 The Foundation of Strong Manhood: New Testament Teaching
Chapter 7 The Physical Distinctiveness of Men
Chapter 8 The Social Distinctiveness of Men
Chapter 9 A Plan for Boys and a Way Back for Men
Selected Quotes
- The new paganism is a vision of the world that sees all that exists as “one.” There is no Creator; there is only the divinized human person, and we may do—sexually and otherwise—whatever we wish. The new paganism that dominates our age is not communal. The new paganism is strikingly imperial. When you embrace this evil ideology, you will not be left to your own devices. No, the regime will come for you, and swiftly. p.xx
- Broadly speaking, our culture now actively champions the inverse of nature, the reversal of what is good. p.xxii
- You could summarize the trends this way: In our time, defined manhood is bad, and defined womanhood is bad. Bodily clarity is out; bodily confusion is in. xxiii
- In a culture that wars against manhood, this means boys need both biblical teaching and practical training. Boys and young men certainly need to know how God defines manhood. That is of first importance. But learning does not stop with biblical study; boys need wisdom about all sorts of things that may not be explicitly covered in Scripture. They also need to know how to talk to a girl. They need to know how to dress. They need to know how to hold a mature conversation. They need to know how to change a tire. They need to know how to avoid the trap of pride but also the trap of becoming effeminate. xxix
- All this means, quite simply, that strong men are not the problem. As this book exists to say, strong men powered by God are the solution. p.xxxviii
Endorsements
John MacArthur
“Vigilance, steadfastness, and strength are identified as masculine virtues in 1 Corinthians 16:13. Radical feminism and postmodern gender theory argue that those qualities (and other typically masculine traits) are inherently oppressive, overbearing, onerous, or in other ways ‘toxic.’ Government, education, and the entertainment industry relentlessly promote that point of view. Indeed, the deliberate, methodical demonization of masculinity is one of the main reasons we are now witnessing the speedy collapse of Western society. Owen Strachan shows why the current assault on masculinity has been so corrosive on human relationships at every level of our culture. He has been at the forefront of this battle for more than a decade, and he makes a compelling biblical and rational case for the recovery of and respect for a biblical view of manhood—showing in the process why this is such a vitally urgent matter, especially for Christians.”
Voddie Baucham, Jr.
“This book is important because men really are not toxic … God designed men on purpose and with a purpose … This book is important because men need the grace and mercy of God to reclaim and reassert their manhood in today’s anti-masculine world.”