This imaginative, well-documented essay addresses how to raise children, how to identify what they need, what families must provide for their children's sake, and the kinds of support church and society should provide. Anderson and Johnson wish to transform how adults regard children, exchanging attitudes fostered by a current "culture of indifference" and contempt for those of a culture that recognizes children as fully human beings possessing potential that has yet to be realized. Accordingly, they propose a theology of childhood that sees children's integrity as beginning at birth and does not regard children as incomplete, depraved, or as property. Further, they regard the Christian injunctions for family living--hospitality, compassion, justice, and recognition--as providing a vision for community life in our times. Their thoughtful exploration of themes crucial to the future of children in an increasingly violent and preoccupied world ought to be fundamental reading for those concerned with ethics, social policy, families, or even the daily minutiae of child rearing.
Kathryn Carpenter
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.
Susan B. W. Johnson is Senior Minister of Hyde Park Union Church in Chicago, Illinois.
