Flawed Families of the Bible: How God's Grace Works through Imperfect Relationships

"The Garlands achieve their goal of highlighting the imperfections of ancient families in the biblical narrative by combining traditional exegesis, contemporary illustrations drawn from personal experiences, art, cinema, modern drama, and poetry."--Linda McKinnish Bridges, Interpretation
Take a close look at family life in the Old Testament and you will find the same dysfunctions that plague families today--betrayal, jealousy, physical and emotional violence, infidelity, and mean-spiritedness. In Flawed Families of the Bible, David Garland and Diana Garland offer an honest and careful reading of scripture, showing that the families of the Bible were not so different from imperfect families today. Even so, God worked through those imperfections to reveal hope and grace to families then, just as he does today.
This book's message is crucial for contemporary families. Everyone--those in the church and those outside of the church--struggles to sift through the dysfunction and build healthy and close families. The Garlands combine their expertise in scripture study and family life to unpack issues like feeling unloved by your spouse, family shame, betrayal of family members, abuse, and loss.
Flawed Families of the Bible will be valuable to pastors and counselors, as well as anyone looking for encouragement in family issues.