The Human Family—I

Complaints that families are in bad shape are probably are old as fallen humanity, so it should not be surprising that many biblical families are in terrible condition. Cain kills his brother Abel one generation after creation. Not that much later, two of Noah’s children behave shamelessly and, in more historical times, David’s families are chaotic and rebellious. The advent of Christianity did not obviously change things for the better. Starting in Corinth in the days of Paul, where members of the new Church were accused of incest,¹ Christian families have kept on misbehaving, around the world and in all