Family Religion by Matthew Henry

Family Religion is a compilation of writings by Matthew Henry about the Christian life in the context of family. In the first part of the book, he discusses the need of having a church at home, the catechizing of youth, and Christ’s favor to little children. The second part of the book is a treatise on baptism.

The first part of the book is full of exhortations on everyday family life. He explains how and why you should have a church at home and catechize your children. This section was convicting, but not overwhelming, if that makes sense. He emphasizes the importance of family worship, but he does not make it seem like a huge task to begin. The third chapter of this section explains how we bring our children to Christ and why Christ will receive them, and it is a good transition into the second part of the book, a treatise on baptism.

While the first part of the book felt more pastoral as I read it, much of the second part reads more like an essay. I found certain chapters, particularly “Subjects of Baptism” (i.e. infants) and the “Administration of Baptism,” really funny. The proper old English, read in my mind with attitude (of course), just made for some good sophisticated-sounding slams directed at Baptists, or anti-paedobaptists/anabaptists, as he would call them. Humor aside, I did think he made some great arguments for infant baptism, but it is hard to say if they are convincing since I am already convinced.

As to the mode of baptism, I found many of the arguments interesting that I had never heard them made before. For example, one of his arguments against immersion is that it could be dangerous to a person’s health. In an age of water heaters and baptism pools in heated buildings and hair dryers, it wouldn’t have occurred to me that this would be a concern. But in a cold climate without modern luxuries, it doesn’t make sense that immersion should be absolutely required of all people regardless of their health.

The last few chapters of this section are again more pastoral in encouraging Christians ways to practically improve their baptisms, explaining to parents their duties in light of their children’s baptisms, and directing the congregation in its responsibility at a baptism. I really enjoyed the chapter on improving ones baptism, and I found myself many times wanting to highlight every other sentence.

I recommend this book to parents, those interested in the baptism issue, and people baptized as infants. There are certain little sections (I would call them side notes) that I didn’t really understand/agree with about confirmation and adult/child church membership, but this book helped me understand family religion more and encouraged me as a parent to implement biblical instruction in our home.