Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #973173 in Books
• Published on: 1994-04-15
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 144 pages

From Booklist
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

Ingram
In this important and timely book. Herbert Anderson and Susan Johnson examine issues pertinent to the successful reaing of children. A ful range of issues dealing with children in our society is addressed in this book, including the child in relation to the family, the child as individual, the dysfunctional family, and the interdependence of the family and the larger social system. Written to empower parents and others who care for and nutrue our children, this book will also greatly enthance the ministry of the church on behalf of and for the sake of families with children and for our society at large.

Customer Reviews

Buy the Whole Series
I own Anderson's entire Family Living in Pastoral Perspective series (Leaving Home, Becoming Married, Regarding Children, Promising Again, and Living Alone), and I refer to them frequently.

Each book focuses on a different transitional event and the family tasks that event brings into focus. Anderson and his co-authors deal sensitively with the pastoral issues involved.

Regarding Children begins with an examination of society's indifference toward childhood and the proposal of a new theology of childhood. The authors then examine the changes children evoke in families, the ways families can effectively care for children, and the problems families can have. Finally, they examine the roles that society and churches can play in helping or hindering the care of children.

All of the books are well-written and easy to read--no convoluted prose to parse here. The works have added texture from the many personal examples shared by the authors (both their own and examples others have shared with them).

Every book in the series deserves an honored place on any religious professional's shelf. Except, you may find them so valuable they rarely make it back to your shelf.