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Abstract
The current scholarship of fatherhood revolves around the question posited by Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen: "how can we put children first without putting women last and without putting men on the sidelines of family life? In other words, how can we honor children's needs for stable, nurturant families without re-embracing the doctrine of separate spheres for men and women?"1 I will begin this paper by evaluating the current state of fatherhood in American society and then assess various scholarly accounts on the issue of redefining fatherhood. In light of these positions, I will review the Church's position on the subject, arguing for a Christian fatherhood model that helps fulfill the Church's goal of facilitating and aiding Christian families. Furthermore, this Christian model of fatherhood will attempt to answer Van Leeuwen's question in that it will attempt to put children first without diminishing the mother's or father's role within the family.
1Van Leeuwen, 230
