(RNS) — When former “Bachelor” contestant Madison Prewett Troutt announced this summer that she and her husband would be disciplining their daughter by spanking, many of the Christian influencer’s 1.8 million followers were shocked.
“There are consequences to our sin,” said Prewett Troutt on her “Stay True” podcast. “There are consequences to disobedience.”
But to Christian authors Marissa Franks Burt and Kelsey Kramer McGinnis, this admission made perfect sense — not because they agreed with spanking, but because since 2023, they’d been reading hundreds of Christian parenting resources. Their research suggests that in most evangelical Christian homes, corporal punishment is still the norm, despite widespread findings condemning the practice.
Spanking is just one feature of what Burt and Kramer McGinnis call the “Christian Parenting Empire,” an interconnected movement of evangelical authors and ministry leaders who’ve marketed their rigid parenting methods as God-endorsed. Citing the Bible, these leaders teach that instant obedience, corporal punishment, conformity and hierarchical family structures will guarantee faithful children.
But in their new book “The Myth of Good Christian Parenting: How False Promises Betrayed a Generation of Evangelical Families,” coming out Tuesday (Oct. 14), the authors argue these methods aren’t as biblical or as effective as their purveyors would have Christian parents believe. RNS spoke to Burt and Kramer McGinnis about the alluring nature of Christian parenting resources, why spanking isn’t a biblical response to sin and how these teachings have impacted families down the line. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
What is the “myth” of g …