Family religion,
in this sense, implies the acknowledgment of God in the family circle,
by the assembling of all its members around the domestic altar, morning
and evening, and by united prayer and praise to the God of the families
of all flesh; by the invocation of God's blessing and the giving of
thanks at every social repast; by the strict observance of the Sabbath;
and by the religious instruction and training of children and servants,
and the constant recognition of God's providence and care. This
constitutes, and these are the duties of family religion--duties which
no Christian head of a family, whether father or mother, can be excused
from performing. They are duties which all who take upon themselves the
responsibilities of the family should feel it a privilege to observe.
The duty of family prayer, especially by the one or the other head of
the household, as the leading exercise of the family religion, should be
performed with seriousness, order and punctuality. John Angell James
very properly asks if the dwellings of the righteous ought not to be
filled with the very element of piety, the atmosphere of true religion.
"Yet, how few are the habitations, even of professors, upon entering
which the stranger would be compelled to say, Surely this _is_ the house
of God, this _is_ the gate of heaven! It may be that family prayer is
gone through with, such as it is, though with little seriousness and no
unction.
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