The Hearth
Men, books, and a good fire. Once a month, we read, we sing, and we wrestle.
What's on Tap · In nineteen days
Tuesday, November 38:00 PM
Honor Thy Fathers: Recovering the Anti-Feminist Theology of the Reformers
- Led by
- Jordan Iliff
- Where
- A member's home in Cedar Falls
What this is
Not a Tame Lion
It began with a question from Jordan Iliff: “So are we going to start a book club or what?” Avery Johnson, our host and organizer, whom we call the Landlord, said yes, and in November 2025 the first meeting wrestled with C.R. Wiley’s The Household and the War for the Cosmos.
The working name was “Not a Tame Lion Book Club,” after Aslan. “Safe? … Course he isn’t safe. But he’s good.” It was too wordy, so it became Book Pub, after the old tavern and coffee-house tradition where men gathered at the end of the day to share news and hash out ideas. That is the aim: a meeting house for ideas worth weighing.
We meet the first week of each month, at eight in the evening, in members’ homes and now and then a public spot. Lewis, Tolkien, Douglas Wilson and C.R. Wiley are the house favorites, but the shelf is wide: Stoicism, American history, the early Fathers. We sing a psalm or hymn before we begin. Fresh-baked treats were promised at the very first meeting. Absences earn demerits.
And this autumn we added a second door: Debate Pub, where the book discussion gives way to a debate.
On the Table
About this month’s book
Zachary Garris argues that much of what modern Protestants assume about men, women and the family was shaped by the feminist movements of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, not by the Reformers. Going back to Calvin, Luther, Knox and Vermigli, he sets out what they taught about male headship and rule in the home, the church and the commonwealth.
He then asks the reader to weigh it: is the modern departure from that teaching more faithful to Scripture, and has it made for a more orderly society? Timed for Reformation Day, and sure to start a good argument.
What we will wrestle with
- What the Reformers actually taught about the family
- Male headship in the home, the church and civil society
- How feminism reshaped Protestant doctrine and practice
- Historic Reformed teaching set beside modern departures from it
- Publisher
- New Christendom Press
- Edition
- Hardcover, 159 pages
- Led by
- Jordan Iliff
Read it, mark it up, and come ready to disagree well. Remember the rule: you may join the discussion only if you have read it.
The Rules of Engagement
House Rules
- Read with discernment. If you're reading well, you likely won't agree with everything the author writes.
- Expect some wrestling in our discussions. This is not permission to bash on each other, but argumentation should be no surprise. If you get knocked down, don't take it personally. It's good practice in self-control and humility. As iron sharpens iron.
- You're welcome to come even if you don't read the book. But you're only allowed to take part in the discussion if you've read it. If you haven't, listen in and bring thoughts and questions at the end.
- Print or audiobook both count. Underlining and notes are encouraged, not required.
- Book Pub meets once a month, first week, 8:00 PM. If you're not in attendance, you'll be given a demerit. If you can live with that, you'll be fine.
- The invite is open. Know someone who'd fit? Have them reach out and we'll add them to the list.
- Expect to sing a psalm or hymn before we discuss the book of the month.
Mark the calendar
On the Horizon
-
Nov 3 2026
Honor Thy Fathers: Recovering the Anti-Feminist Theology of the Reformers
Timed for Reformation Day.
-
Dec 1 2026
Stop, In the Name of God
Reclaiming the sacred rhythm of Sabbath rest.
-
Jan 5 2027
On the Incarnation
The fourth-century classic of Christian theology.
Laid down since November 2025
The Cellar
12 books laid down · 9 authors · most read: C.R. Wiley (3)
-
Oct 2026Manmade: Saint Anthony's Guide to Surviving the AI Apocalypse
The suggested (optional) read for Debate Pub I.
-
Sep 2026The Problem of Pain
Lewis's answer to how a good God permits suffering.
-
Aug 2026The Abolition of Man
Lewis's Durham lectures on universal moral absolutes.
-
Jul 2026America's Expiration Date
The fall of empires and superpowers, and the future of the United States.
-
Jun 20261776
The campaign year that carried the whole American cause.
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May 2026Principles of War: A Handbook on Strategic Evangelism
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Apr 2026The Boys in the Boat
Nine working-class boys and their quest for gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
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Mar 2026Meditations
The Stoic classic from a philosopher-king.
-
Feb 2026Man of the House
A handbook for building a shelter that will last in a world that is falling apart.
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Jan 2026God Rest Ye Merry: Why Christmas Is the Foundation for Everything
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Dec 2025Slaying Leviathan: Limited Government and Resistance in Christian Tradition
-
Nov 2025The Household and the War for the Cosmos
The inaugural read: recovering a Christian vision for the family.
Extra credit, no demerits
From the Bonus Batch
- Book A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War Joseph Loconte
- Book After Humanity Michael Ward
- Book The Closing of the American Mind Allan Bloom
- Book The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self Carl R. Trueman
- Podcast On Pipes, Poetry, and the Christian Life Pints with Aquinas, with Malcolm Guite · 2h 13m
From the Landlord's desk
Tolkien looks west; Lewis looks east
But when the tale is told and the end has come, there is an interesting comparison to be made: Tolkien looks to the West while Lewis looks to the East. … What if it’s as simple as the sun sets in the west and rises in the east?
We live in an epic. It is the Epic, and it was written by the Author of Life. … We are to make the most of the Sunset while we anticipate the Sunrise.
— Avery Johnson, the Landlord. Glad-heartedly.