We are all interested in the topic of the family. We've been hearing in the news recently of young men who have been harassed and beaten because of their homosexuality. It has even raised some to ask if Christian views of sexuality are related to the suicides of gays. In his book, God, Marriage, and Family, Andreas Kostenberger begins by pointing out that now is the time to explain what a family actually is:
For the first time in history, Western civilization is confronted with the need to define the meaning of terms "marriage" and "family." What until now has been considered a "normal" family, made up of a father, a mother, and a number of children, has in recent years increasingly begun to be viewed as one among several options, which can no longer claim to be the only or even superior form of ordering human relationships. The Judeo-Christian view of marriage and the family with its roots in the Hebrew Scriptures has to a significant extent been replaced with a set of values that prizes human rights, self-fulfillment, and pragmatic utility on an individual and societal level. It can rightly be said that marriage and the family are institutions under siege in our world today, and that with marriage and the family, our very civilization is in crisis.
If Kostenberger is correct, then it is incumbent upon Christians to think biblically and lovingly about family matters. Next Sunday morning: "Words on the Family" from the book of Proverbs.
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