In a speech delivered at the launch of National Family Week at Suntec Convention Centre on 4 June 2022, then-Prime Minister of Singapore, Lee Hsien Loong, articulated the Singapore government’s unwavering commitment to support the family in these memorable words:
Strong families are the bedrock of our society. They are crucial to develop resilient individuals. Our families mould our character and values. They shape our personality and beliefs. They anchor our sense of belonging in our society.1
These words express truths about the importance of the family that can be described as universal, transcending time and culture. They convey the very kernel of the Christian understanding of the family and its importance for the well-being of society.
The Christian faith has a high view of marriage and family because of the belief that they are the institutions ordained by God, and not merely a social construct as it is sometimes perceived by contemporary society. The origins of marriage and family can be traced to the very first book of the Bible which tells the story of God uniting Adam and Eve in marriage and giving them the mandate to “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis 1:26-30).
Because marriage and family are instituted by God, they bear certain normative features which cannot be subject to revision or adaptation in response to the changing whims of culture. Following the Bible, the Church teaches that marriage is between a man and a woman, and that children are a gift from God as the result of the conjugal union.
The family is the fundamental and primary environs where moral and spiritual formation takes place, the school of humanity, as some writers have put it.
Parents are the spiritual shepherds of their children, nurturing and guiding them in such a way that they imbibe values such as love, kindness and respect for others.
Most importantly, Christian parents are to teach their children the commandments of God as found in his written word, the Scriptures. This is articulated clearly in Deuteronomy: “And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children” (Deuteronomy 6:6-7).
The family also plays a formative role in that it is in this context that children learn the importance of practices such as prayer, Scripture reading and worship. That is why theologians such as John Chrysostom in the fourth century have described the Christian household as a ‘little church’.
The family is where children first learn to relate to others with the love and respect that they themselves have received. In other words, the family serves as the child’s first community—a nurturing environment where they are introduced to the principles of justice, mutual respect and the common good.
Families therefore contribute—however imperfectly—to the stability and flourishing of society. They do so by nurturing and preparing their youngest members to be socially responsible individuals in the larger community as well as engaged and active citizens.
Families therefore contribute—however imperfectly—to the stability and flourishing of society. They do so by nurturing and preparing their youngest members to be socially responsible individuals in the larger community as well as engaged and active citizens.
The foundational role of the family in society is eloquently articulated in the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
The family is the original cell of social life. It is the natural society in which husband and wife are called to give themselves in love and in the gift of life. Authority, stability, and a life of relationships within the family constitute the foundations for freedom, security, and fraternity within society.2
However, there are powerful developments in our time—some subtle while others not so—that are slowly eating away at the fabric of the traditional family like acid. Writers as diverse as the American sociologist Charles Murray and the late Pope John Paul II have sounded the alarm that the traditional family has come “under assault” and is being undermined by social and cultural forces.
In the West, rabid individualism and the sexual revolution which erupted in the 1960s and which resulted in significant shifts in sexual mores are the chief sources of opposition to the traditional family.
Alternative marriage and family structures such as same-sex civil unions and marriages, same-sex parenting and transgender marriages and families, which are being mainstreamed in the West, have also challenged the traditional norms of marriage and family. Not only do they signal a radical departure from Christian teaching concerning these institutions, they are also a perversion.
Church, society and the state have the responsibility to address these seismic shifts in sensibilities that threaten to relegate marriage and family as they are traditionally understood to obsolescence.
Church, society and the state have the responsibility to address these seismic shifts in sensibilities that threaten to relegate marriage and family as they are traditionally understood to obsolescence.
The Church can do this by faithfully upholding the biblical teachings about sexuality, marriage and the family and resist the pressure to conform. Societal institutions can also contribute by reinforcing the value of traditional marriage and family through education and awareness. And the state can protect the traditional family by introducing more pro-family policies and by not acquiescing to the pressure to enact laws which make it easier for couples to terminate their marriage or legalise same-sex union or marriage.
The three institutions—Church, society and the state—can work collaboratively to foster a culture where traditional marriage and family are valued and supported for the common good.
1 “Transcript of speech by PM Lee Hsien Loong at the launch of National Family Week at Suntec Convention Hall 403 and 404 on 4 June 2022,” Prime Minister’s Office Singapore, accessed Feb 3, 2025, https://www.pmo.gov.sg/Newsroom/PM-Lee-at-the-Launch-of-National-Family-Week-2022.
2 Catechism of the Catholic Church (1992), para 2207, https://www.vatican.va/content/catechism/en/part_three/section_two/chapter_two/article_4/ii_the_family_and_society.html
Dr Roland Chia is Chew Hock Hin Professor of Christian Doctrine at Trinity Theological College and Theological and Research Advisor at the Ethos Institute for Public Christianity.