Reciprocal Influences of Family and Religion in a Changing World

This paper documents an important web of reciprocal causal interrelationships between family structure and religious institutions and values. Religious beliefs had significant effects on family life in the past and are important factors in family structure and relationships today. Over the last two centuries family and household structure has been modified substantially, and the timing and pace of those family trends were influenced by religion and the changing place of religion in the social structure. At the same time family change has led to substantial modification in the teachings and policies of the churches, and the ways in which the churches responded to family change have had ramifications for the moral authority of the churches.