Chapter II: Preface: Chapter I

WHAT IS THE CHRISTIAN HOME.--_Section I.: Home in the Sphere of Nature._--The Power of Home-Association. Inadequate Ideas of Home. Home is a Divine Institute. Its Highest Conception. Definition of Home. Its Two-fold Aspect. As simply Physical. As purely Moral. Home in the Sphere of Natural Affection. Home-Love. Home-Ties. The Angel-Spirit of Home. Our Nature Demands Home. Home-Sickness. Conclusion.

_Section II.: Some in the Sphere of the Church_.--The Heathen Home. Constituent Elements of the Christian Home. Marriage. Husband and Wife. Parents and Children. Union of the Members of a Family. The Christian Home must be Churchly. How we Abuse it. Examples of True Homes. Parental Neglect. Address to Parents and Children. Home-Meetings and Greetings.

CHAPTER II.

THE MISSION OF THE CHRISTIAN HOME.--The Nature of this Mission. David. Joshua. It is Two-fold. The Temporal Well-Being of the Members. How Parents Abuse this part of the Home-Mission. The Eternal Well-Being of the Members. Extent of the Home-Mission. Its Importance and Responsibility. Seen in the Vicarious Character of Home. The Principle of Moral Reproduction. The Visitation of Parental Iniquity upon the Children. The Guilt of Unfaithfulness to this Mission. Qualifications for it. The Law of Equality in Marriage. How Parents may Disqualify themselves for it. Incentives to Faithfulness. Address to Parents.

CHAPTER III.

FAMILY RELIGION.--The Christian Home Demands Family Religion. What is it? Different from Personal Religion. Co-existent with. Home. Essential to its Constitution. Its Historical Development from Eden to the Present Age. Its Present Neglect. What it Includes. The Example of our Primitive Fathers. The Forms in which it is Developed. The Home-Mission Demands it. Its Necessity seen in the Value of the Soul. Home without it. Home with it. Relations of Home Demand it. Reply to Excuses from it. Defect of it now. Reasons for this. It is Implied in the Marriage Relation and Obligation. Motives to Establish it.

CHAPTER IV.

THE RELATION OF HOME TO THE CHURCH.--It must be Churchly. This Relation is Vital and Necessary, involving Mutual Dependence. Relation of Preparation. Home Completes Itself in the Church. It has Power only in the Sphere of the Church. This Relation involves Duties and Responsibilities.

CHAPTER V.

HOME-INFLUENCE.--Home has Power. This is either a Curse or a Blessing. What is Home-Influence? Its Character. Its Degree Estimated from the Force of First Impressions. Scripture Testimony to it. Its Legitimate Objects. How it Acts in the Formation of Character. Augustine. Washington. John Q. Adams. Bishop Hall. Dr. Doddridge. Dr. Cumming. A Mother Won to Christ by a Daughter. Its Influence upon the State. Napoleon. Homes of the Revolution. The Spartan Mother and Home. Its Influence upon the Church. Its Responsibility Inferred.

CHAPTER VI.

HOME AS A STEWARDSHIP.--What is a Steward? Home is a Stewardship. Parents. Home-Interests. Identity of Interest between the Master and Steward. Mother of Moses. Character and Responsibilities of this Stewardship. The Social Prostitution of Home. The Principle of Accountability this Stewardship Involves. The Final Settlement.

CHAPTER VII.

RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE CHRISTIAN HOME.--These Inferred from Home-Influence and Stewardship. Their Measure. By the Magnitude of Home-Interest. By the Kind of Influence upon the Members. By the Guilt and Punishment of Parental Unfaithfulness. They are Incentives to Parental Integrity. A Family Drama in Two Acts. Filial Responsibility. Address to Parents and Children.

CHAPTER VIII.

THE FAMILY BIBLE.--The Memories which cluster around it. The Household Interests it Contains. The Bible as a Family Record. As a Home-Inheritance. As the Gift of a Mother's Love. An Indispensable Appendage to Home. Its Adaptation to Home. It should be Used as the Text-Book of Home-Education. Its Abuse and Neglect.

CHAPTER IX.

INFANCY.--New Eras in Family History. The First-Born. Charm and Interest of Infancy. The Infant as a Member of Home. Its Emblematic Character. Its Helplessness. Its Prophetical Character. The Trust and Responsibility Involved. The Mother's Relation to Infancy. Address to Parents.

CHAPTER X.

HOME-DEDICATION.--The Hebrew Mother and her Child. Reasons for Dedication. Dedication of Children. Abraham. Offering of Isaac. Little Samuel. David. Typical Character of Old Testament Family Offerings. Benefits of Home-Dedication. Duty of Parents to Devote their Sons to the Ministry. The Unfaithfulness of Parents to this duty.

CHAPTER XI.

CHRISTIAN BAPTISM.--The Baptismal Altar. It is the Sacrament of Home-Dedication. Infants are its True Subjects. Home Demands it. Infant Baptism Proven, by the Child's Need of Salvation, by the Idea and Mission of Christ, by the Idea of the Church, by the Hereditary Character of Sin, by the Relation of Christian Parents to their Children, by the Constitution of Family Life. Enemies of Infant Baptism. Why Opposed to it. Their Sophistry. Dr. A. Carson. Appeal to Parents. Duty and Privilege of Parents to have their Children Baptized. Its Neglect and Abuse. How Abused. The Old Landmarks. Striking Statistics. Abuse by Parents and Children.

CHAPTER XII.

CHRISTIAN NAMES.--Proper Kind of Names. Law of Correspondence and Association. Christian Names. Much in a Name. Naming a Child should not be Arbitrary. Nebuchadnezzar. Adam. The Hebrews. Woman. Eve. Cain. Seth. Samuel. Dr. Krummacher. Names now Given. The Folly and Evil of it. Why we should give Suitable Names. Why Scriptural Names. Mary. Instances of Proper Christian Names.

CHAPTER XIII.

HOME AS A NURSERY.--Idea of Nursing. What a Nursery Is. The sense in which Home is a Nursery. Character of the Home-Nursery. The Mother's Special Sphere. Relation of the Nursery to the Formation of Character. The Nursery is Physical. Sickly and Immoral Nurses. Consequences. It is Intellectual. Its Abuse. It is Moral and Spiritual. The Ways in which the Nursery is Abused. Boarding Schools.

CHAPTER XIV.

HOME-SYMPATHY.--An Argument against the Neglect and Abuse of the Nursery. Its Natural Elements. Its Definition and Nature. The Ancients. Baptista Porta. Plato. Middle Ages. It is Passive and Active. Its Disease. Good Samaritan. Rousseau. Robespierre. Its Relation to Natural Affection. Its Relation to Woman. Its Religious Elements. Christ. Ruth. Joseph. Mother of Samuel. Peter. Esther. Paul. Family of Lazarus. Its True Pattern. Its Attractive Power. Unfaithfulness to its Law. Its Highest Element.

CHAPTER XV.

FAMILY PRAYER.--Its Relation to Home-Sympathy. Its Necessity. Its Idea. Dr. Dwight's View. The Duty to establish it Proven. Its Neglect. Excuses from Family Prayer. Address to Parents.