Kevin DeYoung Delivers Drummond Lecture in Christ Chapel at Hillsdale College
DeYoung’s lecture addressed the Christian case for marriage and children.
HILLSDALE, Mich. — Kevin DeYoung, senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina, presented the fifth talk in the “Drummond Lectures in Christ Chapel” series for the 2024-25 academic year on April 7. His lecture, titled “Family, Civilization, and the Church: The Christian Case for Getting Married and Having Children,” addressed the problem of declining birth rates and presented a case for getting married and having children.
“At no time in human history have human beings been having fewer children than they are now.”
DeYoung argued that the most significant thing happening in the world today may be the declining fertility rate.
“At no time in human history have human beings been having fewer children than they are now,” DeYoung said. “In most countries, the number of births per woman is well below the replacement rate. In fact, unless you are in Africa, you are almost certainly in a country with a replacement rate that is not being met by current fertility numbers. The human race seems to have grown tired of itself.”
DeYoung said that being for more children means being for more marriage.
“The post-war baby boom, which we all know so much about, was actually a marriage boom,” De Young said. “The average size of the family did not increase as much as the number of people forming families did, thus driving up the total fertility rate on a national level. It was even more a marriage boom than a baby boom.”
DeYoung argued that the fortunes of faith are intertwined with those of family.
“Say your parents were divorced, or today if you grew up with two mothers or two fathers, or if you are currently sleeping with your girlfriend, or you’ve never been particularly drawn to the concept of monogamy,” DeYoung said. “All of that will make the Christian faith, which has always had a radical sexual ethic, which has always been a scandal — that Christian faith will carry an additional offense that previous generations did not have to overcome.”
A graduate of Hope College, Kevin DeYoung obtained his Master of Divinity degree from Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary and his Doctorate in Early Modern History from the University of Leicester in the UK. There, he studied the theology of John Witherspoon, founding father and Scottish-American Presbyterian theologian. Dr. DeYoung is a member of the Council for The Gospel Coalition and a frequent speaker at churches, conferences, and colleges. He has published more than a dozen books several of which have been awarded Book of the Year by Christianity Today. He is the senior pastor at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, North Carolina.
The “Drummond Lectures in Christ Chapel” series presents faculty, staff, and students with lectures on faith, learning, and related issues of the day. Previous speakers include University of Cambridge Professor Michael Hurley, Bishop Robert Barron, Heritage Foundation President Kevin Roberts, Grove City College Professor Carl Trueman, and University of Findlay President Katherine Fell.