The Family in Christian Social and Political Thought

by Brent Waters

Overview

Brent Waters examines the historical roots and contemporary implications of the virtual disappearance of the family in late liberal and Christian social and political thought. Waters argues that the principal cause of this disappearance is late liberalism's fixation on individual autonomy, which renders familial bonds unintelligible. He traces the history of this emphasis, from its origin in Hobbes and Locke, through Kant, to such contemporary theorists as Rawls and Okin. In response, Waters offers an alternative normative account of the family's role in social and political ordering, drawing upon the work of Althusius, Grotius, Dooyeweerd, and O'Donovan.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780199271962
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Publication date:	08/30/2007
Series:	Oxford Studies in Theological Ethics
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	8.82(w) x 5.81(h) x 0.93(d)

About the Author

Brent Waters is Director, The Jerre L. and Mary Joy Stead Center for Ethics and Values, and Associate Professor of Christian Social Ethics, Garrett-Evangelical Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

1. Biblical and Historical Sources2. Modern Liberalism and its Critics3. Late Liberalism and Contemporary Christian Thought4. Retrospect and Prospect5. Alternative Conceptual Themes6. The Teleological Ordering of the Family7. The Church and the Family8. The Family, the Church, and Civil Ordering