The Family Handbook (The Family, Religion and Culture) [Paperback]

Herbert Anderson (Editor), Don S. Browning (Editor), Ian S. Evison (Editor), Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen (Editor)

Book Description

Series: Family, Religion, and Culture | Publication Date: May 1, 1998

This encyclopedic volume brings clarity and focus to a multitude of family issues. The expert contributors deal with practical and important questions, thereby providing information of significant usefulness to social workers, therapists, lawyers, ministers, and health-care professionals. Those who work with families will learn new techniques and see their efforts in a larger context. An extensive directory of family resources provides the reader with helpful and practical information.

The Family, Culture, and Religion series offers informed and responsible analyses of the state of the American family from a religious perspective and provides practical assistance for the family's revitalization.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Herbert Anderson is currently Research Professor of Practical Theology at Pacific Lutheran Theological Seminary in Berkeley, California. He is the author or coauthor of over ninety articles and thirteen books, many of which are focused on integrating theology and family systems theory.

Don S. Browning is Alexander Campbell Professor Emeritus of Ethics and the Social Sciences at the University of Chicago Divinity School in Chicago, Illinois. He is the author of Religious Thought and Modern Psychologies and Reviving Christian Humanism: The New Conversation on Spirituality, Theology, and Psychology.

Ian S. Evison is Director of Research at the Alban Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.

Mary Stewart Van Leeuwen is Professor of Psychology and Philosophy at Eastern University in St. Davids, Pennsylvania. She has been a senior editor of Christianity Today and is currently a contributing editor for Books & Culture. She has written, cowritten, and contributed to several books, including The Psychology of Intergroup Relations, The Person in Psychology, After Eden, and Women and the Future of the Family.

Product Details

• Paperback: 345 pages
• Publisher: Westminster John Knox Press; 1st edition (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0664256902
• ISBN-13: 978-0664256906
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,208,351 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Practical resource for family ministry, May 8, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Family Handbook (The Family, Religion and Culture) (Paperback)

This book is a practical reference resource for churches and other institutions working with families. In a time when churches seem hesitant to preach, teach, or even have open discussion on the subject of marriage and family for fear of alienating their members, this book provides numerous jumping off points for conversation and ministry.

The book begins with useful summaries of the Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and secular perspectives on marriage, family, divorce, reproductive technologies, division of domestic responsibilities, and the relation of family to government. It also discusses approaches from these four perspectives to family ministry with children and youth, single parents, stepfamilies, families of gays and lesbians, the elderly, abusive families, and bereaved families. There are also sections on the impact of violence, substance abuse, and popular culture on today's families.

Of particular interest to ministers is the section on resources for congregational ministry with families. This section includes interpretations of specific Biblical passages on the family from the Old and New Testaments. These Biblical references are placed in context with discussion of the family in ancient Israel, the Greco-Roman world, early Christianity, medieval Christianity and the Reformation, and the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. This resource section furnishes material that would be extremely useful in sermon preparation or as the basis for congregational education.

The book concludes with a directory of family resources. This list of religious and secular organizations dealing with family issues provides helpful summaries of these organizations' offerings for individuals and congregations, including web site and e-mail contact information. This is a very practical resource for anyone involved in family ministry or simply interested in a highly accessible comparative summary of religious perspectives on the most pressing issues for contemporary families.