The family and Christian ethics / Petrushka Schaafsma, Protestant Theological University.

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 31 Jul 2023).

The difficult question of what family is about -- Family as mystery ; 'What is family about?' as a basic, open and neutral moral question -- A focus in exploring what family might mean: givenness and dependence -- The current state of the family -- Family as a moral problem -- Gabriel Marcel: Approaching family as mystery -- A mystery approach as a theological contribution to family research -- The mystery approach of this book -- The Family Tie as Mystery ; Family ties in Sophocles' Antigone -- Judith Butler's trouble reading Antigone in view of family -- The ethical complexity of Hegel's view of family -- The critical potential of Hegel's attention for the unreflective morality of family -- Conclusion: The unnameable family tie and the divine law -- Family and givenness as mystery -- Rembrandt: What may the image of an ordinary family scene evoke? -- Contemporary views of givenness as the natural: Brenda Almond and Don Browning -- Understanding kinship as made instead of given in recent anthropology -- Conclusion: Family as a 'strong image' and taking givenness actively -- Family and dependence as mystery ; Hosea's lived image of an adulterous family -- Acknowledging dependence and a suspicion against family in current (care) ethics -- Constructive approaches to family as revealing fundamental dependence: Friedrich Schleiermacher and Jean Lacroix -- Conclusion: A mystery approach to overcome the impasses of dependence -- Epilogue: Morality of appeal and answer - Ethics and the sacred character of the family as mystery.

In this book, Petruschka Schaafsma offers an innovative appraisal of family. Eschewing the framework of worry and renewal that currently dominates family studies, she instead explores the topic through the concepts of 'givenness' and 'dependence'. 'Givenness' highlights the fact that family is not chosen; 'dependence' refers to being intimately included in each other's identities and lives. Both experiences are challenging, especially in a contemporary context, where independence and freedom to shape one's own life have become accepted ideals. Schaafsma shows the impasses to which these ideals lead in several disciplines - theology, philosophy, sociology, social anthropology and care ethics. She moves constructively beyond them by tapping literary, artistic and biblical sources for their insights on family. Grounded in a theological approach to family as 'mystery' rather than 'problem', she develops an understanding of the current controversial character of family that accounts for both its ordinary and transcendent character.