Christian Beliefs about Life and Death » The Christian Family and the Local Church
What you'll learn this session
Study time: 30 minutes
Edexcel spec: Paper 1, 2.7 (Christianity)
- Why Christians see family life as important
- Duties between parents, children and grandparents
- Christian attitudes to changing family structures and roles
- How local churches support families, and the rights of children
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Unlock This CourseWhy family matters to Christians
The lesson Family Life: Types of Family, Roles and Responsibilities explained the types of family, the law and what non-religious people think. This lesson looks at what Christians believe. The lesson Christian Marriage: Vows, Monogamy and Purposes showed that most Christians see marriage as the starting point of a family.
Christians believe the family is part of God's plan. Genesis 2:24 describes a man and woman joined together, and the Bible often shows God working through families. Many Christians call the family the first place where faith and love are learned. A child sees how people forgive, share and pray at home before meeting these ideas anywhere else.
Key terms:
- Nurture (recap from Free Will, Determinism and Predestination): caring for children and helping them to grow, here in their faith as well as their health.
- Baptism: a Christian ceremony using water that welcomes a person into the Church. Babies are baptised in many Churches.
- Sunday school: a class or group, held at church, where children learn about the Bible and the Christian faith.
Duties inside the family
👪 Parents
Christians teach that parents should love their children, provide for them and bring them up in the faith. Deuteronomy 6:6-7 tells parents to talk about God's commands with their children at home. 1 Timothy 5:8 says that anyone who does not provide for their relatives has denied the faith.
👧 Children
One of the Ten Commandments (the fifth in most Protestant and Orthodox lists) says: "Honour your father and your mother" (Exodus 20:12). Christians take this to mean respect, listening and thanks, not only obedience. Ephesians 6:1 asks children to obey their parents.
👴 The generations
Care goes both ways. Jesus criticised people who used religion as an excuse to avoid supporting their parents (Mark 7:9-13). 1 Timothy 5:4 says children and grandchildren should care for their parents and grandparents, and so repay them.
The rights of children
Christians believe children matter greatly to God. Psalm 127:3 calls children a gift from the Lord, so they are to be valued, not owned. In Mark 10:13-16, people bring children to Jesus and his disciples tell them to stop. Jesus is angry. He says, "Let the little children come to me", and he blesses them. Christians use this story to show that children deserve welcome, respect and a place in the community.
Ephesians 6:4 tells fathers not to provoke their children to anger, but to bring them up with Christian teaching and guidance. Christians take this to mean that parents must not be harsh or unfair. From these teachings, Christians say children have a right to love, protection, care and to be taught about God.
Changing families and roles
Families today are not all the same. As well as nuclear and extended families, there are single-parent and reconstituted families. Roles have changed too: many mothers go out to work and many fathers share the housework and childcare.
- Traditional view: some Christians, such as many Catholic and Orthodox Christians, believe the best setting for children is a married mother and father. Some also believe fathers and mothers have different roles, and cite Ephesians 5:22-25.
- Liberal view: other Christians stress that love and care matter most. They say men and women are equal, citing Galatians 3:28, and share the work of the home.
- Common ground: most Christians say that single parents and other family types should be welcomed and supported by the Church, not judged.
How local churches help families
Christians believe the Church is itself like a family, so a local church tries to support the families around it.
- Family services: worship made short and lively so that children and parents can take part together.
- Baptism and Sunday school: at a baptism, parents and godparents (people who promise to help a child's faith) promise to help the child grow in the faith, and the congregation (the people who attend the church) promises to support them. Sunday school then teaches the child.
- Toddler and youth groups: parents meet others and make friends, while young people have a safe place to take part in activities.
- Marriage preparation and counselling: couples meet a priest or minister (the church's leader) before the wedding, and counselling is offered when a marriage is struggling, to help families stay together.
- Practical help: members may offer meals, lifts, childcare, a food bank or visits to the lonely and elderly.
Common mistakes
- Saying "children must always obey". Christians also teach that parents must not provoke or be harsh with children.
- Saying all Christians think the same about family roles. Traditional and liberal Christians differ.
- Listing church activities without saying how they help families. Explain what each one does.
Exam-style question
(a) Identify three ways a local church can support families. [3 marks, AO1]
(b) Choose one religion. Outline two teachings about the rights of children in this religion. [4 marks, AO1]
(c) Explain why some Christians think family life is important. [6 marks, AO1 and AO2]
(d) "The Church should do more to help families than to help anyone else." Evaluate this statement, showing you have considered different points of view. In your answer you should refer to at least one religion. [12 marks, AO1 and AO2]
Model answer
(a) 1. Sunday school (1). 2. Marriage preparation (1). 3. Toddler groups (1).
(b) Christianity. Christians teach that children are a gift from God (1), so they should be valued and cared for (1). Christians also teach that fathers should not provoke their children (1), because Ephesians 6:4 says they should bring them up with loving guidance (1).
(c) Christians think family life is important because they believe it is part of God's plan, shown in Genesis 2:24, where a couple are joined together. It is also the first place where children learn faith and love. Parents are told to teach their children about God (Deuteronomy 6:6-7), so family life passes the faith to the next generation. The Ten Commandments tell people to honour their parents, so the family is where Christians learn respect and care for others. Finally, care between the generations (1 Timothy 5:4) shows Christians how to love others, so a strong family helps the Church and society.
(d) Plan. For: families bring up the next generation of Christians; children are a gift from God and Jesus welcomed them (Mark 10:13-16); strong families help the whole Church and society; churches already run family services, Sunday schools and counselling. Against: Jesus taught love of neighbour and care for the poor, sick and lonely (Matthew 25:36), so no group should come first; not everyone has a family, and single people and the elderly also need help; the Church could seem to judge people who are not in a traditional family; humanists say all people deserve equal help, whatever religion or family type. Conclusion. A strong answer could say that families deserve special help because of their role, but that Christian teaching says the Church must care for everyone, so "more" is too strong. State which side you find stronger and why.
Exam tip
In part (c), do not just say "family is important". Give a reason, support it with a teaching such as Deuteronomy 6:6-7 or Genesis 2:24, and say what it means for how Christians live.
Recap
- Christians see the family as part of God's plan and the first place to learn faith and love.
- Children are told to honour their parents; parents must love, provide for and teach their children; care goes both ways between the generations.
- Children are a gift from God (Psalm 127:3), welcomed by Jesus (Mark 10:13-16) and not to be provoked (Ephesians 6:4).
- Christians differ on family roles and structures, but most say the Church should support all families.
- Local churches help through family services, baptism, Sunday school, groups, marriage preparation, counselling and practical help.