The Vocation of the Child

Those of us looking to get an early jump on our Christmas shopping should be ecstatic that Patrick Brennan's indispensable new book, The Vocation of the Child, is now available.  Here's the description:

Rather than discussing their possible vocation, discussions of children tend to center on their rights or duties. Does God have intentions for their young lives — before they grow up and become “real” people?  Distinguished jurist Patrick McKinley Brennan has gathered sixteen authors to approach this idea in various ways, from historical to psychological to theological. The authors explore throughout whether it is possible for adults to either squander their children’s vocations or instead to help discover and embrace them.

My contribution to the book analyzes the teachings on childhood and salvation set forth in the Christian sacramental, covenantal, and conversional traditions, and analyzes how the lenses provided by those traditions shape our critique of modern law's conception of "the best interests of the child."  The book features contributions from a variety of interdisciplinary scholars, including some familiar to the MoJ crowd such as John Witte, John Coons, Charles Glenn, and Chuck Reid.  Kudos to Patrick for putting this all together.