a new personal environment, a new personality as the center and
root of all social betterment. He who would come into this new social
order must come into the divine family, must humble himself and become
as a little child, must know his Father and love his brothers.

Christianity, then, not only seeks an ideal family; it makes the family
the ideal social institution and order. It makes family life holy,
sacramental, religious in its very nature. This fact gives added
importance to the preservation and development of the ideals of family
life for the sake of their religious significance and influence. It not
only makes religion a part of the life of the home but makes a religious
purpose the very reason for the existence of the Christian type of home.
It makes our homes essentially religious institutions, to be judged by
religious products.

I. References for Study

G.A. Coe, _Education in Religion and Morals_, chap. xvi. Revell,
$1.35.

Article on "The Family," in Hastings, _Encyclopaedia of Religion
and Ethics_.

II. Further Reading

On the educational function of the family: A.J. Todd, _The
Primitive Family as an Educational Agency_. Putnam, $2.00.

On the religious place of the family: C.F. and C.B. Thwing, _The
Family_. Lothrop, Lee & Shepard, $1.60.

I.J. Peritz, "Biblical Ideal of the Home," _Religious Education_,
VI, 322.

H. Hanson, _The Function of the Family_. American Baptist
Publication Society, $0.15.

W. Becker, _Christian Education, or the Duties of Parents_. Herder,
$1.00. A striking presentation of the Roman Catholic view; could be
read to advantage by all parents.

III. Topics for Discussion

1. What place did religion hold in the primitive family? What
reference or allusion do we find in the Old Testament to the place
of religion in the family (Deut. 6:7-9, 20-25)? What in the New
Testament?

2. What has been the effect of purity of family life on the Jewish
race?

3. What place did the family hold in the teachings of Jesus?

4. What shall we think of the relations of the church and family as
to their comparative rights and our duty to them?

5. Do you agree that the family is the most important religious
institution?

FOOTNOTES:

[7] For a brief statement see Brinton, _Religions of Primitive Peoples_,
Lecture 4, Sec. 7; also T