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Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking!
Review: I would strongly recommend this book. It's short, concise, but packs plenty of punch. As a history and theology major, it's always bothered me that Christians tend to think of the "traditional family" (mom at home, dad works) as something that the Bible dictates. (They need to read Proverbs 31 again!) As Hicks points out, our current notion of the traditional family has a lot more to do with the Christian sub-culture and urban industrialization than it does with the Bible. I'd encourage all of those readers who feel like their marriage and family just don't seem to fit comfortably within the "traditional family" model to spend a couple hours with this book.
Rating: 
Summary: "Traditional" Families Challenged
Review: In his book, "The Christian Family in Changing Times," Robert Hicks challenges every notion that a "traditional" family exists in the Bible or in life. He suggests that the common notion of family is only a myth. He challenges the nature of "roles" in relationships and goes as far as to say that although there are many contributors to a child's success or failure, none of them have to do with the family.While I do beleive he does a good thing by getting the reader to think seriously about the myths of family, he goes overboard in his dramatic questioning of every commonly held notion of what it means to be family.
Rating:
Summary: "Traditional" Families Challenged
Review: In his book, "The Christian Family in Changing Times," Robert Hicks challenges every notion that a "traditional" family exists in the Bible or in life. He suggests that the common notion of family is only a myth. He challenges the nature of "roles" in relationships and goes as far as to say that although there are many contributors to a child's success or failure, none of them have to do with the family. While I do beleive he does a good thing by getting the reader to think seriously about the myths of family, he goes overboard in his dramatic questioning of every commonly held notion of what it means to be family.
Rating: 
Summary: Exposing the pink elephant in the "christian family" room
Review: This unassuming little book, with its generic cover and title, blends nonchalantly in with the miriad of similarly packaged products claiming to offer insight into the "Christian family". Don't let these trapping discourage you - this is a gutsy bit of writing, and one not to be missed! Dr. Hick's warm conversational style is the perfect foil for this long over-due questioning of the all pervasive American cultural Christianity spin on the definition and mission of family. His treatise is thoughtful, wise and pointed, yet without a trace of malice for those whose sacred cow he seeks to lead to new pastures.
Especially instructive are his chapters entitled "How Hollywood taught me to think about Family" and "Common Myths about the Christian Family". The first includes a gentle correction for "Focus on the Family" dogma and a careful historical deconstruction of the revisionist history that an adherence to "traditional values" requires (along with its subtle elitist social underpinnings). The second involves a sound, biblical, entry-level guide to the gender/role debate.
This book belongs in the library of every Christian (single, married, divorced, whatever) who is wrestling with a desire to honor God in the context of their family.
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