"If the book was written in the eighteenth century, it was directed to fathers. If it was written in the nineteenth century, it was directed to mothers. What happened? The nineteenth century brought many profound social changes which rocked the family and paved the way for the absentee fathers of the twentieth century," Phillips said. "The influence of Unitarianism and early feminism, certain adverse effects of the industrial revolution, and the abandonment of the old Reformation view of the family all contributed to the decline of fatherhood in America. The result, for the first time in the history of the church, was the gradual transfer of spiritual training responsibilities from the father to the mother.
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That's where Vision Forum steps in. Besides writing and editing books, Phillips founded the Witherspoon School of Law and Public Policy, The Christian Boys' and Men's Titanic Society, The National Center for Family-Integrated Churches, The All-American Boy's Adventure Catalog, The Beautiful Girlhood Collection Catalog, and the Vision Forum Book Catalog. He holds the title of Professor of Apologetics with the adjunct faculty of the Institute for Creation. Phillips travels and speaks around the calendar, having appeared on numerous radio and television programs, and at more than 100 home school conferences in 42 states. When Phillips speaks of children honoring their fathers, he's walked it. When he writes about men loving their wives and God-honoring women submitting to their own husbands, he writes from experience.
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"Our name - The Vision Forum - points to our desire that the Lord would use this work to be a forum for communicating a vision of victory to Christian families," he said, adding to the goal substance. "Not surprisingly, the scriptural warning against such hypocrisy is specifically given within the context of the family. If we have not taught our wives and daughters to love children and be `keepers at home' then we are `blasphemers' (Tit. 2); if we have not trained our men to be providers, then we are `worse than infidels' (1 Tim. 5)."

Phillips, who teaches that "the church is impoverished as a result of forcing little girls out of the God-given role of wife and mother," is doing all he can this Christmas season to help you keep your little girl on the path of feminine humility, while preparing her brother for acts of manly courage.

SAN ANTONIO, Nov. 24 Christian Newswire -- Vision Forum, Inc., a San Antonio-based Christian ministry, has announced the release of two new dolls -- Abigail and Fidelia -- as part of their Beautiful Girlhood Collection, a doll line which promotes biblical femininity to girls in contrast to the perverse vision of girlhood advanced by other leading doll providers.

"Amid a culture brimming with mixed messages, shallow and self-serving ideals, and depraved `role models,' we seek to offer a refreshing and edifying alternative through our distinct line of dolls and accessories," noted Doug Phillips, President of Vision Forum and founder of the Beautiful Girlhood Collection.
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"America's leading doll providers have declared war on biblical femininity. Whether it's Barbie's sassy `B who U wanna B' campaign, Bratz' call for girls to `strut [their] stuff,' or American Girl's recent support of Girls, Inc. -- an organization that openly promotes abortion and lesbianism to young girls -- the elite doll lines have sullied the innocence of our daughters by glorifying perversity," Phillips observed.

"Yet even as others frown on biblical femininity, minimize motherhood, and belittle the beauty of being a true woman of God, we dare to chart a different path through our doll line," continued Phillips. "We dare to believe that the biblical vision for girlhood is a glorious vision. It is a vision so bright and so wonderful that it must be boldly proclaimed."

And proclaimed just in time for Christmas, too. Vision Forum's front page is currently headlined by a banner advertising its Beautiful Girlhood Collection.

When a girl plays with a doll, she is preparing to be a mommy someday. Her first role model is her own mother, and her first opportunity at role-playing is with her dolls. With this in mind, we are pleased to offer the Liberty doll for your girls to cherish for years to come and then pass onto a future daughter.
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Liberty has soft brown hair and lovely blue eyes. Exquisitely crafted, Liberty can stand and sit alone. As durable as she is lovely, Liberty is ready to be hugged and squeezed with love! Liberty comes wearing an adorable pink, feminine dress, complete with white socks and white shoes.

Your little girls can relive history when they dress their Liberty doll in our specially designed, Vision Forum exclusive, historical costumes. ... True "little girl" dolls are rare in our age of fashion models and rushed childhood. Playing with Liberty will fill your daughter's childhood with memories to inspire her as she grows up to be a mommy.

And if your little girl plays with nothing except "Vision Forum exclusives," it likely will never occur to her that she might grow up to be anything else.

Six years ago, Jewish World Review contributor and Phillips friend Betsy Hart waxed enthusiastic over the Vision Forum catalogue for boys, while venturing a guess that the then forthcoming girls' catalog "will not include the 'honed sharp' 'Frontier Tomahawk.'" Hart shouldn't have needed a direct line to Doug Phillips to puzzle that one out. The closest a Vision Forum girl comes to a tomahawk is a Victorian sewing set.

One hundred years ago, it was not uncommon for a girl to carry her sewing tools around her neck. This not only provided easy access, but it was decorative. Our handsome pewter scissors come in a special brooch case and necklace. The floral decoration is beautifully crafted.
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As a girl begins to cultivate her skills in needlework, her appreciation for the tools of this craft grows. Nineteenth century mothers looked forward to passing to their daughters their favorite sewing implements. These "tools" usually carried a hundred memories of time invested in the lives of others. One of the heirlooms to be passed to a beloved daughter was the needle case, often made of silver or pewter. Our case is decorated with a floral pattern and is made of solid pewter.

While your little girl is squinting over her needlework, her brother is outside, learning "chivalrous leadership in the name of Jesus Christ" with the Air Burst Rocket System ...

Every boy loves the exhilaration of launching projectiles into the skies above. This Air Burst Rocket tops them all. Powered by air, its use of an entirely new burst membrane propulsion technology makes it the highest and fastest air rocket in the world. Booster disks give five different power levels for flights clear out of sight -- soaring over 1000 feet! Easy to fly -- no flames, no batteries, no electrical problems. A few pumps from a stand-up bike pump are all that is needed to send this rocket skyward.

... doing target practice with his crossbow ...

Whether your All-American Boy "commando team" is pretending to protect the home from intrusive squirrel invaders or enjoying target practice to develop hand-eye coordination, the toy of choice is the crossbow. Our miniature crossbow is perfect for the fellow who is not quite ready for the genuine article, or for the Dad who still thinks he is a boy.

... or -- if he's at least a recommended eight years old -- reliving his favorite scenes from Braveheart ...

A traditional two-handed broadsword, Sir William Wallace's trusty blade was as imposing in battle as the hero who wielded it. With this weapon, Wallace fought for the honor of Scotland, his beloved homeland. Wallace would die a martyr, but his unflinching courage would spur his countrymen onto ultimate victory at Bannockburn. This handsome, scaled-down version of Wallace's sword is housed in a leather scabbard... 52" Long. 4.8 lbs.

... because after all, he's a boy. Do we see a pattern here? Doug Phillips certainly does.

One of our goals is to demonstrate that the skills and experiences which historically made up the life of a boy were God-honoring vehicles for preparing him to be a man. He learns to explore because he is called to take dominion over the earth. He learns to emulate the lives of heroic Christians because he, too, is called to leadership.

Scripture is clear, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." Boys need vision. We humbly offer this catalog to you and the All-American boys in your family in the sincere hope that, together, we can rebuild a culture of courageous boyhood.

But your little girl can still have plenty of fun with a rousing game of Tiddlywinks ...

Though the game of Tiddlywinks has been played for hundreds of years, it enjoyed its greatest popularity during the 1890s. The game pieces used in this classic contest of skill consist of small discs called "winks" which are propelled into the air with a shooter; otherwise known as the "tiddledy." Our tin box of Tiddlywinks comes with 6 shooters, 26 winks, 1 scoring platform, and a 20-page historical handbook.

... or even Hopscotch, Jacks or Jump Rope ...

... and when the day is done, she can curl up by the fire with any of Vision Forum's 17 versions of the lifelong trials and tribulations of Elsie Dinsmore.

The words of Jesus, "Suffer the little children to come unto me ... for of such is the kingdom of God" ought to be a living reality in young children. This 19th century story demonstrates just such a reality through the life of a little girl who loves the Savior and tries to obey his commands through persecution, temptation, and disappointment. Set in the coastal South of the 1840s, this Christian classic provides clear testimony to the Grace of God in the life of a child.

Persecution and disappointment is putting it lightly, since Elsie is the antebellum South's Protestant counterpart to Patient Griselda.  But that's all no more than must be expected in A Girl's Life.

However, if she is a very good little girl, studies all the lessons in dutiful daughterhood that she needs to become a Maiden of Virtue ...

Do you want your daughter to cherish her purity and honor God by the chaste and lovely way she presents herself? Raising Maidens of Virtue is an engaging tool for mothers to use in training daughters who are approaching womanhood to think biblically. ... Raising Maidens of Virtue covers topics such as guarding the tongue, idleness, sibling relationships, honoring parents, contentment, modesty, purity, cleanliness, and feminine biblical beauty.

... learns How to Be a Lady ...

Somewhere within the recesses of every girl's heart is the desire to act, and be treated, as a lady. But a true lady is more than just graceful and feminine; she has a Christ-centered character that regulates her inner thoughts and motives, as well as her outward graces. In this book, originally published in 1850, extraordinarily practical wisdom is offered to young girls in the practice of developing womanly character.

... remembers to wear her modesty slip ...

Solve the transparency issues of your daughter's dresses forever with this modesty slip. Made of lightweight cotton and trimmed in lace, this long, feminine slip will add modesty without adding extra bulk.

... and keeps her pinafore and pantaloons very, very clean ...

You can make a half a dozen play pinafores in unbleached muslin or calico and use them over everyday dresses, sparing the dresses from frequent washing! Secondly, pinafores could be made out of heirloom materials like voile, organdy, or batiste and fancied up with ruffles, tucks, lace, and/or embroidery for wear over tea dresses, for visiting, and for church. These look especially charming over solid-colored dresses, since all the fancy work shows up beautifully against such a background.
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Also included is a bonus pattern for pantaloons. Pantaloons first appeared for little girls in the late 18th century and continued in use throughout the Victorian Era.

You can create plain sturdy pantaloons for play (and warmth in the colder seasons), and you can create fancy ones with tucks and lace for dress-up. They look especially darling beneath the shorter, fuller skirts of the Romantic Era.

... she might even find a Father-Daughter Purity Locket under the tree on Christmas morning.

This one small piece of jewelry has for centuries been the symbol of a special relationship between two people.
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After much searching, Vision Forum is pleased to offer a locket worthy of such lofty history and promise. Beautifully embossed with a floral design, this 1/2" sterling silver locket is the perfect gift for those special young ladies in your family.

It is an especially fitting gift on a special occasion, as a loving gift between a father and daughter to symbolize the importance of purity and remaining as a joyful daughter under her father's protection until the time of release to her future husband.

"Merry Christmas, honey."

[Title image from Stacey's Simple Stuff

Closing image: "Visions of Sugarplums" by Tom Browning, from AllPosters.com]