Book, 260 pages

The Family is a combination of two 19th century books on the Christian family by Benjamin M. Palmer and James W. Alexander. These men were well-regarded, faithful Presbyterian ministers. Each served during their careers as pastors and and seminary professors.

They each wrote a book on the family, which Sprinkle Publications has combined into one volume. Rev. Lloyd Sprinkle, pastor of Park View Baptist Church in Harrisonburg, Virginia, wrote the following in the publisher’s note in the book (emphasis added):

Drs. B. M. Palmer and J. W. Alexander were both Presbyterian pastors of the nineteenth century. In these two works on the family they treat the subject of the Abrahamic Covenant and infant baptism from the Presbyterian point of view. It would be out of the question to alter these classic works and useless to append notes on the points which separate Baptist from Presbyterian opinion. The reader will know what to expect and how to consider the views presented. To this pastor’s mind, the work, ‘The Family” presents the best teaching on the family that I have had the pleasure to read.

We heartily endorse Rev. Sprinkle’s comments. The reader will gain a wealth of biblical wisdom from these two authors. Palmer’s work—The Family in its Civil and Churchly Aspects—is presented first. The first part of Palmer’s book has to do with the family’s “civil aspects.” Palmer is not writing about the family’s relationship to civil government; he is writing about family government. Palmer is dealing with the family in its various relationships, such as husband-wife and parent-child. The second part of Palmer’s work addresses the relationship of the family to the church. He argues that the family is the foundation of the church and mirrors the church.

The second work in this book is Alexander’s Thoughts on Family-Worship. Alexander shows that the family’s worship does not end after the Sunday morning church service. He argues that worship should continue within our families throughout the week. He shows how doing so will strengthen our families and our churches. Alexander also gives some practical advice on how to effectively conduct family worship.

Readers will find occasional anachronistic references in the book, especially when discussing servants in the household, but bear in mind that both works were written in the 19th century, one in 1876 and the other in 1847. Do not let this put you off from this book. It contains much that can be of help to today’s Christian.

The Family is published as a high quality hardcover book and has an easy-to-read format.