About the Author

RONALD A. SIMKINS is Professor of Theology and Director of the Kripke Center for the Study of Religion and Society at Creighton University.
He is the editor of numerous books and the general editor of the Journal of Religion & Society.

GAIL S. RISCH is a lecturer in theology and a researcher in the Center for Marriage and Family at Creighton University.

Reviews

Family has been and continues to be a surprisingly evolving reality, and each permutation carries with it a new constellation of religious ideas and practices. Whether tradition refers to several hundred years or to merely two or three generations, it is always, to varying degrees, adapted an transformed as it is passed on. Religion was enmeshed in the family so that as definitions of the family and marriage shifted over time, religion was shaped accordingly. But the converse is also true. Religion has shaped our understanding of the family. Most weddings in the United States, for example, are conducted by clergy and take place in a religious institution, regardless of the religious devotion or piety of the couple... The tension around family diversity is acutely illustrated by the polarized "family values" debate that emerged over a decade ago and continues to undergird political and religious discourse related to family issues."