Church, State, and Family

Church, State, and Family provides an engaging argument for the importance of family to religion and to civil society. In this book, John Witte, Jr. stakes out important ground, making powerful arguments for the social value of the family while also supporting the inclusion of LGBT families. Rather than defending the caricature of the “Christian” family used by some antireligious culture warriors, which portrays the family as being male dominated and exclusively heterosexual, Witte demonstrates how Christian teachings about the family have evolved and can continue to evolve to be more protective of women, children, and the rights of members of the LGBT community. The book as a whole is an intellectual tour de force. The first three chapters and chapter five guide the reader through the historical and theological development of the family in a variety of Christian traditions. Chapters four and six address classic socioeconomic and liberal views of the family, respectively. Witte shows that the teachings about family from St. John Chrysostom and St. Augustine to more recent times tell a story that has maintained certain core truths while evolving and adapting over time. Moreover, he demonstrates that classic economic and liberal discussions of the family echo, albeit often in non-religious terms, some of the salient features of the religious concept of family. The first six chapters provide a jumping-off point for the book’s broader arguments.

Argument (complex analysis) · Family law · Political science · Sociology · State (computer science) · Value (mathematics) · Variety (cybernetics) · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Gender Studies · Law · Multicultural Socio-Legal Studies · Philosophy · Religious studies · Theology and Canon Law Studies