Journal: Bibliotheca Sacra
Volume: BSAC 89:353 (Jan 1932)
Article: The Christian Family In Modern Social And Industrial Conditions
Author: R. M. Karr

BSac 89:353 (Jan 1932) p. 44

The Christian Family In Modern Social And Industrial Conditions

R. M. Karr, A.M., D.D.

The importance of this subject arises from several facts: first, that the family is the natural unit of society ordained of God for the culture of social and religious personalities; second, that modern social and industrial conditions have been undergoing progressive changes which not only radically alter the environment of the family but endanger the very family type; third, that no institution beyond the walls of the home has more at stake in the proper maintenance and development of the family than does the Christian church.

I.

We take, as our point of departure, the origin of the family in the Divine ideal. “Marriage is an institution ordained of God in the time of man’s innocency in the garden of Eden.” Ideally the relation obtains between one man and one woman for life. But the marriage state is not an affair of two people only, as though it were a device to serve mere economic expedience or selfish pleasure. There is a third party, namely, society, which has a vital interest in the conduct and the product of the home. And there is a fourth party—nay rather, the first party— namely, God, who is concerned with the family in all of its interests from first to last. Any marriage which disregards the claims of society leads to an incomplete, or an arrested family. And any marriage which disregards God is a union only on the lowest levels.

In other words, the purpose of the family is personal, social, and religious. Marriage is not necessary for angels, for they are a company of immortal beings. But in a race such as ours, continually depleted by death, there must be some place where new persons are brought into being, nurtured during their years of dependence, and trained for right social adjustments as they pass into the larger spheres of the community, the state, and the world. And especially in a race created in the Divine image, preserved under

BSac 89:353 (Jan 1932) p. 45

Divine grace, and destined to serve the Divine glory, there must be some place where growing personalities are brought continuously under the influence of religious and ethical ideals, so that man’s natural sonship may be crowned with spiritual sonship by God the Father. Thus the family which fulfils its social purpose under God is the fountain of healthful social life, a fountain which in turn is fed from the inexhaustible reservoir of Him who “hath life in Himself.”

God’s ideal for the family is not absolutely dependent upon any special environment, physical or social. It may flourish in the days of utmost simplicity, as when the Patriarchs tented in the Land of promise, looking for “the City...