Family : A Christian Social Perspective

by Cahill, Lisa Sowle

• ISBN13: 9780800632526
• ISBN10: 0800632524
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2000-08-01
• Publisher: Augsburg Fortress Pub

Summary

Cahill's important work brings fresh historical, theological, and ethical thought to the explosive area of family -- deeply contested territory in today's cultural and religious skirmishes. In the religious arena, evangelical-conservative vs. mainline-feminist lines echo larger social battles, contesting the authentic meaning of family within a Christian framework.

Though "family" has been dissected in the academic and cultural wars, Cahill asserts that the usual religious agenda of restoring the traditional nuclear family is actually misinformed and misguided. It bolsters oppressive social, economic, and racial mechanisms that are destroying families at the bottom, middle, and even top of the ladder.

Is there an authentically Christian notion of family? Cahill's contribution shows in a striking way how very different were counter-cultural New Testament and early-church notions of family from our ideas of "family values; " how, throughout history, other influential Christian examples have emerged in the work of John Chrysostom, Martin Luther, and the Purita

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
Families Christian Ethics and Civil Society	1	(17)
The Family as Church	4	(3)
The Family and Civil Society	7	(9)
Conclusions: Three Convictions	16	(2)
Family Bonds and Christian Community: New Testament Sources	18	(30)
Family and Society in the First-Century Mediterranean World	19	(4)
The Jewish Context	23	(5)
Jesus and Families	28	(2)
The New Family of Believers	30	(2)
Divorce Sayings	32	(1)
House Churches	33	(3)
The Evolving Christian Family	36	(2)
Household Codes	38	(4)
Christian Ritual Sacrifice	42	(2)
Conclusions: Christian Identity's Implications for the Family	44	(4)
Family as Church: Three Historical Representations	48	(35)
John Chrysostom	51	(9)
Martin Luther	60	(8)
The Puritans	68	(11)
Conclusions: Christian Views of Family and Children	79	(4)
Domestic Church: Families and the Common Good	83	(28)
The Domestic Church Metaphor	83	(2)
Recent Catholic Themes	85	(1)
Family and Catholic Social Teaching	86	(3)
John Paul II and Families	89	(6)
The Practicality of the Message and a Grassroots Response	95	(4)
Families, Welfare, and the Bishops' Response	99	(4)
Catholicism, Economics, and Families	103	(8)
Lessons from African American Families	111	(19)
An Important Perspective	111	(1)
Some History	112	(2)
Current Factors	114	(5)
Community Solutions	119	(2)
Black Church, Domestic Church	121	(5)
Racial Equality, Civil Society, and Catholic Social Teaching	126	(3)
Conclusions: Learning from African American Families	129	(1)
A Christian Family Vision	130	(8)
Ecumenical Christian Commitment to Families Today	132	(3)
A Program for Christian Families	135	(3)
Notes	138	(23)
Index	161