Ulteriori informazioni
Informationen zum Autor Adrian Thatcher is part-time Professorial Research Fellow at the University of Exeter, having previously been Professor of Applied Theology at the College of St Mark and St John in Plymouth. His numerous books include: The Daily Telegraph Guide to Christian Marriage (2003), Celebrating Christian Marriage (2002), Living Together and Christian Ethics (2002), Spirituality and the Curriculum (1999), Marriage After Modernity (1999) and (with Elizabeth Stuart) People of Passion - what the churches teach about sex (1997). Klappentext Families and children are becoming increasingly important within theology. Families are smaller. In some countries, 40% of births occur outside marriage, and 40% of children experience parental divorce by their 16th birthday. Relations between men and women, women and work, and parents and children, are all contributing to global changes to family forms and practices. This timely book, by one of the world's leading theologians in this field, makes a positive theological contribution to present intellectual and practical discussions about families and children. It identifies and utilizes theological sources for thinking about real human families; and it reclaims for the Christian church the notion that real "family values" are rooted in the life of the triune God. The core question which the book answers is, how the resources of Christian faith can contribute to the thriving of families, and in particular, to children. The book contributes originally to a host of other important theological and ethical questions, such as whether marriage any longer remains the ideal family form; why couples are increasingly choosing to be childless; whether "God the Father" can inform human parenting, and if so how; whether the rights of children have a place in theology; and what a much-needed theology of parenting looks like. Zusammenfassung * Explores the intellectual and practical debates about the changing nature of family forms! roles and relationships! and how Christian faith and theology can contribute to the thriving of families and children. * Considers the causes and consequences of changes to families over recent decades. Inhaltsverzeichnis Preface. PART I: SOURCES. 1. BEGINNING WITH REAL FAMILIES AND CHILDREN. Family Forms. Global Upheavals. Theological Responses. Theology and Families: Arguments and Themes. 2. THE BIBLE IN THE SERVICE OF FAMILIES. Families Then and Now. The Bible and Critical Familism. Family-Friendly Readings. 3. THE TEACHING OF JESUS ABOUT FAMILIES AND CHILDREN. The Teaching of Jesus about Families. The Teaching of Jesus about Children. Parents, Children and Priorities. Loving Neighbours, Loving Children?. 4. RELATIONS, FAMILIES AND THE TRIUNE GOD. Relations and Families. Love as a Relation. Families and the Trinity. The Gift of a Child. Our Families and Ourselves in God's Image. Families and Structural Sin. PART II: RELATIONS. 5. SPOUSES AND PARTNERS. Do Families Need Marriages?. Disputes about evidence. 'Marital Values' and the Problem of Commitment. 6. CHILDREN, PARENTS AND RIGHTS. Where are the Children?. The Defence of Children's Rights. The Christ Child and the Rights of all Children. 7. GOD, PARENTS AND CHILDREN. God the Father and Human Parenting. God the Father: Revisionary Proposals. Parenting, Divine and Human. Parents, Children and Sacrificial Love. 8. OPEN FAMILIES: CHOOSING TO BE CHILDLESS. Extending Families. Families and Neighbourhoods. Open Families and the Teaching of Jesus. Choosing Childlessness. Ch...
