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Jesus Christ to his Church, the Church being the harbinger of the new creation. In the Historic Christian perspective, whether Eastern Orthodox, Roman Catholic, Evangelical or Reformed, the family is a Continental institution. The family is thus seen as an institution placed under the special protection of God. Since the end of the Xviii Century this covenant character of the family has in the West been replaced by the secular notion that the family is simply a contractual institution and, as such, dissociable at will.
This means that the vision of the family as a stable reared form (Like species In biology or the elements of chemistry) has been abandoned In favor of the notion that Individuals (Like the Isolated atoms of Newtonian physics governed only by mathematical laws) can make (or unmake) the family at will. Thus the West has abandoned all sense of the sacred character of the family . This secularists of the family is the fruit of the attestation of Western thought. Today, with the legal recognition of so-called В??homosexual marriagesВ?? we have gone a step further.
We no longer even recognize the normative of the natural character of the family. As a religious institution the family has a temporal and practical (if not spiritual) priority over the Church. In the beginning, in the persons of our first parents, Adam and Eve, the family represented the Church. It is interesting to note that the first sacrifices, those of Cain and Abe’, were offered in the context of the family. This is seen also with Noah at the time of the universal flood as well as In the sacrifices offered by Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. This state of affairs changed to some degree with the Inauguration of the ceremonies of the Mosaic
Law and much later In the ecclesiastic form of worship practiced In the Apostolic Church. We can observe in the Apostolic Church how the Biblical household often serves as the nucleus for the establishment of local Churches. But even today in the Christian family the father retains a spiritual authority which makes of him not only the political, Judicial and economic leader of his social microcosm, but its religious head as well. We have seen that the Christian view of government is first personal ; then it is the government of the family by the parents ; finally we come to the political overspent of the nation.
Likewise, the relation of the Christian to God is first intimately personal ; then it is exercised in the wider context of family worship ; finally it Is formally ecclesiastical. We have gradually discovered to what extent from the Christian perspective The natural family Is the fundamental social unit. We find now that this Is equally true In the religious sphere. For If the family Is disordered spiritually, then the wider religious community will manifest very similar disorders. Such religious disorders will very soon cause serious damage to the society at large.
All Christians believe families are important. Many Christians believe that the family is the best place for having, and raising children. They believe God intended the family to be a place where children can be raised in a loving and supportive environment. They also believe parents should raise their children to learn about, and believe in God. The love that family members show to each other, should show how much God loves everyone. Many Christians believe that parents play an important role in showing their children, and non-family members, how much God loves and cares for them.