We were blessed to receive the book The Battle for the Biblical Family by George Scipione from Crown & Covenant Publications.  This is an excellent quality, thick three hundred four page paperback book full of help for raising a Biblical family in today’s world.

I am always on the lookout for encouragement and practical application regarding raising our children Biblically. I know I often fail, and it helps to have solid advice that lines up with the Bible because honestly, much family and parenting advice does not even though it proclaimed as “Christian.”  Overall, I was pleased with this book’s alignment to Biblical values.  It was firm in its stance that the family is the first ordained structure by God, and he never places another higher in His eyes.  I fully appreciate that because I have seen too many touting that the state or church has higher authority than the family. This was not to say those structures do not have their places, but God never gives them the jobs he gave to families.

The book is also clear about what type of structure and people make up a Biblical family. This is extremely important in today’s gender fluidity and role reversals.  The author is very bold in his statements of how the husband and wife relate to each other and their children in a clear line of authority.

I was significantly helped and encouraged by this book and believe that it was excellent overall. There was one reference that somewhat concerned me regarding homeschooling and house churches. I can find no scripture condemning house churches, which the author seems to feel are dangerous.  I was not able to understand that or agree with that. However, I feel like the book is very applicable to homeschooling families and many of their desires to raise a Godly family.

The author also spells out the exact authority of the church and state concerning the family.  He gives several real-life examples from his counseling of families that succeeded or failed based on their world view and how they chose to build their families.

A great deal of research went into this book, and all the references are included in the back for anyone who would like to research or read further into the different subjects addressed.

I also want to note that the author is a good writer and kept me interested throughout the book. It is from the Reformed theology perspective, so there were a few theological differences for me, but honestly, they were minor, and I easily overlooked them.  I recommend this book and would read more from this author and company!

-Product review by Jenny Underwood, The Old Schoolhouse® Magazine, LLC, December 2020