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The Household and the War for the Cosmos: Recovering a Christian Vision for the Family
The household is not just a shelter from a war zone, it is the command center from which we launch our attacks. It's this vision of the world, with the Christian family at the heart, that modern parents desperately need to recover.
144 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2019
About the author
C.R. Wiley
6 books324 followersC. R. Wiley is a Presbyterian minister living in the Pacific Northwest. He has written for Touchstone Magazine, Modern Reformation, Sacred Architecture, The Imaginative Conservative, Front Porch Republic, National Review Online, and First Things, among others. His short fiction has appeared in The Mythic Circle (published by the Mythopoeic Society) and elsewhere, and he has published young adult fiction. He is one of the hosts of The Theology Pugcast (a podcast available on iTunes and elsewhere), and he has been a commercial real estate investor and a building contractor. He also taught philosophy to undergraduates for a time. He is the Vice President of the Academy of Philosophy and Letters, and a board member of New Saint Andrews College.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 274 reviews
June 9, 2019
This is one first-rate book. What I really enjoyed was how the entire book was a sustained argument, building to a crescendo. Really good.
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February 21, 2020I didn't give this a star rating because I have some questions and concerns about some of it, and because I listened to the audio book in a single day and have no hard copy to refer back to or check against my memory. So here's my grain of salt. Please take it.
First, the comparison between Abraham and Aeneas was fresh and compelling, and Wiley makes a number of sharp-witted and spot-on critiques of the failings of contemporary secular society and its distortions of what family and the home ought to be. Second, his explanation of what the first-century Christians would have understood as a household was also helpful and sheds light on how to understand the Bible's regular use of the family/household as a metaphor for the church (the household of faith, the family of God, etc.). A right understanding of the household has big implications for society, the church, and, yes, the cosmos. And a right understanding of the church and the cosmos has big implications for the household as well.
But one thing that raised, if not a red flag, then at least a yellow one for me was simply positioning the household as the central institution rather than the church. I'd like to know what he thinks about the roles of those two institutions, since Jesus' call to be willing to leave father and mother, children and lands for His sake seems to indicate that belonging to the church takes precedence over the family. His mother and His brothers, He says, are those who do the will of His Father. And God can raise up children of Abraham from the very stones. The blood of Christ, not the blood of family, is the primary thing that unites us. I'm sure Wiley doesn't disagree, but it doesn't come through very clearly with the centrality he places on the household.
The second concern is the almost nostalgic descriptions of the way family life used to be in a pre-industrial world where the economy was driven by husband, wife, and children working harmoniously from home-centered businesses, and so on. His portrayal of the good old days struck me as a bit simplistic and romanticized. No doubt home-based proprietorship was more common in centuries past (this seems beyond dispute), but that this was the norm everywhere and that it therefore ought to be our ideal for 21st-century Christians seems problematic.
I say problematic, in part, because my husband recently had a conversation with a young husband and father who had just read this book and was on the brink of quitting his steady job in order to start some kind of unspecified home business. What kind of business he didn't know, but he was feeling burdened with guilt for being "just a wage earner" outside the home. I don't know if Wiley intended this to be the response, but it's not hard to see why it was. And something may be wrong if men come away from this book feeling like they aren't measuring up as Christians unless they're the self-employed owners of their own home-based businesses.
Don't get me wrong. Self employment can be great for some. But it can also (as I've repeatedly seen with my own eyes) be financially less secure or even ruinous, not to mention a less efficient use of the talents and human resources that may already be in short supply within a community.
The other reason this call to business ownership raises a yellow flag is that we already live in one of the most individualistic cultures in history, and I'd argue that there's actually something spiritually beneficial—for young men in particular—to have to answer to somebody other than themselves as they earn their paycheck. My husband will tell you that getting chewed out by his boss as a young man was one of the best experiences he ever had for shaping the trajectory of his life and work ethic from that point forward. It was the centurion, remember, whose faith grew from his military employment as a man under authority. It taught him something true and commendable about what Christ’s authority was like.
There's no question that we've lost something valuable by turning our homes into little more than places of weekend recreation, nor that this loss can distort our understanding of both the church and the world. But at the same time, living in a culture that exalts individual autonomy, and in a sector of Christendom that tends to reject the established authorities and lean heavily libertarian has pitfalls of its own—namely the potential to produce men who have no concept of what it means to live under legitimate authority.
My concern here (particularly as the mom of five boys who are just months away from beginning to launch out into the world themselves) is that in rejecting one set of errors, this book could, perhaps, drive some Christians toward a different set of errors as they establish their own households.
We have a certain Christian subculture with an already-strong impulse to drive all of our dealings back into the home—to school the children at home, treat medical conditions at home, have babies at home, keep the government out of the home, spend leisure time at home, to work from home and so on. The result is that we have no teachers, no doctors, no governors, and now no bosses to submit ourselves to. None of these things is bad in itself, and I understand the reasons behind choosing to do all of the above. But if no one except God Himself stands as a legitimate authority over a single facet of a man's life, it can—and sometimes does—produce the kind of men who become a law unto themselves and who split churches, ruin marriages, and alienate children.
And because church is the one place where authority over these men may still exist, and because they have little practice submitting to legitimate authority or accepting rebuke and criticism from anyone above them, the minute the leaders of that church makes a ruling they don't like, they cast it off and do one (or all) of three things: gather a little clique of fellow dissenters around themselves to complain about and to the authorities, go start their own separate sect where they themselves call the shots (home church, anyone?), or march off to some church down the road that won't tell them what to do. (I am not making this up. I'd go so far as to call it a predictable pattern.) In other words, for some men, working outside of the home for a boss could be the crucial part of character formation that teaches them what it actually means to have a master in heaven and to live accordingly.
Lastly, I'm no historian, but I am quite sure there were plenty of men, even in the early church, who were employed by others and were doing God-honoring work out in the world, without wife and children alongside them throughout the day. There were teachers and tent makers, jesters and judges. Take the fishermen Jesus called to follow him. They were engaged in work that necessitated leaving home, and it wasn't exactly family-friendly work either, but Jesus uses fishing as a metaphor for reaching lost souls, and the disciples clearly continued in their work even after the resurrection without being rebuked for falling short of the ideal.
Then, as now, there were many ways to make a living, and then, as now, each kind of living must have come with its own set of practical, financial, and spiritual benefits and drawbacks. I wish the book had presented more of a call to faithfulness suited to the post-industrial century into which we were born rather than calling us to the faithfulness that requires the pre-technological underpinninings of a society that has largely passed away.
To be fair, I have not yet read Man of the House, so Wiley may very well have made the careful qualifications and caveats that seem to be missing from what he says here. But without them, this book, though valuable in many respects, concerns me in how it may work itself out in the lives of those who read it.
First, the comparison between Abraham and Aeneas was fresh and compelling, and Wiley makes a number of sharp-witted and spot-on critiques of the failings of contemporary secular society and its distortions of what family and the home ought to be. Second, his explanation of what the first-century Christians would have understood as a household was also helpful and sheds light on how to understand the Bible's regular use of the family/household as a metaphor for the church (the household of faith, the family of God, etc.). A right understanding of the household has big implications for society, the church, and, yes, the cosmos. And a right understanding of the church and the cosmos has big implications for the household as well.
But one thing that raised, if not a red flag, then at least a yellow one for me was simply positioning the household as the central institution rather than the church. I'd like to know what he thinks about the roles of those two institutions, since Jesus' call to be willing to leave father and mother, children and lands for His sake seems to indicate that belonging to the church takes precedence over the family. His mother and His brothers, He says, are those who do the will of His Father. And God can raise up children of Abraham from the very stones. The blood of Christ, not the blood of family, is the primary thing that unites us. I'm sure Wiley doesn't disagree, but it doesn't come through very clearly with the centrality he places on the household.
The second concern is the almost nostalgic descriptions of the way family life used to be in a pre-industrial world where the economy was driven by husband, wife, and children working harmoniously from home-centered businesses, and so on. His portrayal of the good old days struck me as a bit simplistic and romanticized. No doubt home-based proprietorship was more common in centuries past (this seems beyond dispute), but that this was the norm everywhere and that it therefore ought to be our ideal for 21st-century Christians seems problematic.
I say problematic, in part, because my husband recently had a conversation with a young husband and father who had just read this book and was on the brink of quitting his steady job in order to start some kind of unspecified home business. What kind of business he didn't know, but he was feeling burdened with guilt for being "just a wage earner" outside the home. I don't know if Wiley intended this to be the response, but it's not hard to see why it was. And something may be wrong if men come away from this book feeling like they aren't measuring up as Christians unless they're the self-employed owners of their own home-based businesses.
Don't get me wrong. Self employment can be great for some. But it can also (as I've repeatedly seen with my own eyes) be financially less secure or even ruinous, not to mention a less efficient use of the talents and human resources that may already be in short supply within a community.
The other reason this call to business ownership raises a yellow flag is that we already live in one of the most individualistic cultures in history, and I'd argue that there's actually something spiritually beneficial—for young men in particular—to have to answer to somebody other than themselves as they earn their paycheck. My husband will tell you that getting chewed out by his boss as a young man was one of the best experiences he ever had for shaping the trajectory of his life and work ethic from that point forward. It was the centurion, remember, whose faith grew from his military employment as a man under authority. It taught him something true and commendable about what Christ’s authority was like.
There's no question that we've lost something valuable by turning our homes into little more than places of weekend recreation, nor that this loss can distort our understanding of both the church and the world. But at the same time, living in a culture that exalts individual autonomy, and in a sector of Christendom that tends to reject the established authorities and lean heavily libertarian has pitfalls of its own—namely the potential to produce men who have no concept of what it means to live under legitimate authority.
My concern here (particularly as the mom of five boys who are just months away from beginning to launch out into the world themselves) is that in rejecting one set of errors, this book could, perhaps, drive some Christians toward a different set of errors as they establish their own households.
We have a certain Christian subculture with an already-strong impulse to drive all of our dealings back into the home—to school the children at home, treat medical conditions at home, have babies at home, keep the government out of the home, spend leisure time at home, to work from home and so on. The result is that we have no teachers, no doctors, no governors, and now no bosses to submit ourselves to. None of these things is bad in itself, and I understand the reasons behind choosing to do all of the above. But if no one except God Himself stands as a legitimate authority over a single facet of a man's life, it can—and sometimes does—produce the kind of men who become a law unto themselves and who split churches, ruin marriages, and alienate children.
And because church is the one place where authority over these men may still exist, and because they have little practice submitting to legitimate authority or accepting rebuke and criticism from anyone above them, the minute the leaders of that church makes a ruling they don't like, they cast it off and do one (or all) of three things: gather a little clique of fellow dissenters around themselves to complain about and to the authorities, go start their own separate sect where they themselves call the shots (home church, anyone?), or march off to some church down the road that won't tell them what to do. (I am not making this up. I'd go so far as to call it a predictable pattern.) In other words, for some men, working outside of the home for a boss could be the crucial part of character formation that teaches them what it actually means to have a master in heaven and to live accordingly.
Lastly, I'm no historian, but I am quite sure there were plenty of men, even in the early church, who were employed by others and were doing God-honoring work out in the world, without wife and children alongside them throughout the day. There were teachers and tent makers, jesters and judges. Take the fishermen Jesus called to follow him. They were engaged in work that necessitated leaving home, and it wasn't exactly family-friendly work either, but Jesus uses fishing as a metaphor for reaching lost souls, and the disciples clearly continued in their work even after the resurrection without being rebuked for falling short of the ideal.
Then, as now, there were many ways to make a living, and then, as now, each kind of living must have come with its own set of practical, financial, and spiritual benefits and drawbacks. I wish the book had presented more of a call to faithfulness suited to the post-industrial century into which we were born rather than calling us to the faithfulness that requires the pre-technological underpinninings of a society that has largely passed away.
To be fair, I have not yet read Man of the House, so Wiley may very well have made the careful qualifications and caveats that seem to be missing from what he says here. But without them, this book, though valuable in many respects, concerns me in how it may work itself out in the lives of those who read it.
March 4, 2023
A great book that gives the central principles for why the family exists. It provides the foundation for Man of the House. His discussion of piety is excellent as others have noted. More and more I think that sentimentality has destroyed our view of the household, marriage, children, and just about everything else. Wiley is not sentimental. He has the end in mind. What is the goal of the family? It is not so we can all feel good about ourselves. The household is not recreational nor primarily consumeristic nor is it a group of independent folks each going their own way and then gathering to sleep in the same dwelling. The household has a purpose. This book is truly counter -cultural and Biblical. I would highly encourage all to read it, but especially young men who are in their teens or preparing to marry or newly married.
Read first in September 2019. Read again in February 2023.
A great book that weaves together significant themes from history and Scripture. Well written with a good economy of words and well place illustrations. Highly recommended.
Read first in September 2019. Read again in February 2023.
A great book that weaves together significant themes from history and Scripture. Well written with a good economy of words and well place illustrations. Highly recommended.
July 25, 2022
Great book. Paradigm shifting.
June 20, 2022
A much quicker read than Wiley's first volume, this little book is something of a theoretical expansion on the theme of the household's relationship to the created order (cosmos) found in "Man of the House." Having recently read both books, I think that it makes sense to read this one first in sequence, though "Man of the House" is more effective as a standalone volume (as Wiley's footnotes in this book may suggest). Again, Wiley proves himself to be an effective writer. He held my attention, even as he meandered through heady philosophical themes and historical developments (which he simplifies to the point of erasing any complexity in pursuit of his aim). He tends to appeal to etymology more for rhetorical force than for substantive argumentation, but the force is well-deployed. If you are looking for an intellectually (and morally) stimulating treatment of the microcosmic nature of the household, this is a worthwhile read. If you are looking for something closer to a practical handbook for the vision put forth in this book, then "Man of the House" is more fitting. A caution for the faint-hearted: take the title very seriously; Wiley discusses the themes of household, war, and cosmos (and their relations) on nearly every page. In this respect, he offers a unified work to his readers. I especially appreciate his expansive definition for piety (more akin to classical pietas or virtue than to modern pietism and sentimentality).
June 18, 2019
Christopher Wiley is a pastor and author on a rescue mission. He is on a quest to save some ancient and noble words from being lost. In “The Household and War for the Cosmos” Wiley ably sets out to recover these old words and reintroduce them to a new generation of Christians that desperately need them.
The first word to be rescued is ‘piety’. Wiley notes how this word has been displaced by contemporary terms that some might think are synonymous. He is at pains to show that, unlike contemporary terms like ‘devotions’ or ‘spiritual disciplines’, piety as understood by the ancients, the authors of Scripture, and most of the Christian tradition, is an objective, external, and public sort of thing. It is more than mere personal fervor or private exercise; it encompasses our obligations, first to God, but also to our families, communities, and nations.
Wiley traces out the dimensions of piety by looking at the examples of Aeneas and Abraham. By looking at the similarities and differences between their stories he demonstrates how much the ancient pagans and ancient Christians overlapped in their understanding of piety. The upshot of this survey is to show that, while Aeneas (whether he was a real figure or not) and the Romans were ultimately pagans, they had a remarkably similar understanding of the dimensions of piety to that of the Jews and early Christians. Both understood that each man has a responsibility to the god(s), his forefathers, his descendants, and his countrymen. The major difference is at the top of the chain- who is the divine ruler?
Now that gods are in the picture, Wiley takes up the second endangered word- ‘cosmos’. Wiley takes time to argue that this word is not a synonym for ‘universe’. It’s more of a political idea than an astronomical one. There are cosmic powers and rulers beyond and among us on Earth. At the top of them all is God Himself, that great Father and Lord of the cosmic household. And that is the third word Wiley is out to save.
Again, Wiley feels it important to show that ‘household’ is not just a synonym for a more familiar word. It is not another term for family, though of course they are closely intertwined. The household is also a legal and political thing. It is the structure and rule of a family and its properties. The household is also a microcosm- a miniature cosmos. Like the larger reality it images, a properly functioning household is based on that system moderns dread- hierarchy. Oh, and not just any hierarchy- a *gasps* patriarchy! Wiley examines the household codes of the New Testament, which he argues are largely ignored in most churches today. He brings in the Greek philosopher Xenophon, who living centuries before Christ, wrote about management of households extensively. Once again we see that there are major areas of overlap between Christian and the best pagan teaching on household economy. What is revolutionary about the New Testament is not the obligations and authority structures proposed for the household, but what they represent and the character of the God who stands behind them.
I very much enjoyed the historical, philosophical, and biblical survey of ideas presented in the book up to this point. But Wiley does not say so much about how exactly my household relates to the great war for the cosmos in the title. In the final pages he begins to bring it into focus. I do wish he would have said more here, but the alert reader can put the pieces together.
Wiley reminds us that the fight Abraham’s children are in is a fight to stay true to the Lord Jesus Christ, who rules over all, even as cosmic powers in rebellion against Christ seek to compel us to serve them instead. Wiley shows us that these powers hate the natural, biblical household because of Who it serves and what it represents, even as they rely on its generative power to create the new generations of workers and subjects they need. And in our time we are at a crisis point. Modern society has eroded and weakened the household severely.
And here Wiley lays out why our little households are so important. “You may wonder how your small stake could possibly threaten the powers that be. Just remember, a household ordered by the household code in Ephesians reflects the rule of Christ. Besides that, all things connect. The little tune that your household sings is in harmony with the music of the spheres, and that harmony restores many things that the enemy has perverted.” (page 121)
The household, biblically ordered strikes a blow for the Lord of the Cosmos. You and I, ordering our homes to image the rule of Christ, are helping to push back the enemies of our Lord. This is no small thing. This is why our households matter, according to Wiley. And I think he is exactly correct.
“The Household and War for the Cosmos” is a very smooth, enjoyable read. Clocking in at 123 pages (not including the excellent foreword and preface by Nancy Pearcey and Anthony Esolen, respectively), it can be read in a few hours. Though it gets into deep concepts, Wiley is good at delivering his ideas without requiring his audience to have advanced knowledge of philosophy and metaphysics. My greatest regret with the book is its brevity. As someone who has been reading a great deal about the subject of the natural family, I would have enjoyed reading Wiley on these matters for another few hundred pages. However, the brevity of the book makes it a perfect introduction to the subject for those who are just beginning to explore it. It would be an ideal starting point for that friend, brother, and (especially) son who needs to become acquainted with piety and a biblical view of the household. Once you have them hooked, you can direct them to Wiley’s previous book “Man of the House” for more concrete application in actually building up their households. For those wishing to explore the topic of the household and natural family in greater historical and sociological detail, you can send them to just about anything by Allan C. Carlson.
I intend to pass “The Household and War for the Cosmos” around as a conversation starter. Highly recommended!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes with no obligation to give it a positive review
The first word to be rescued is ‘piety’. Wiley notes how this word has been displaced by contemporary terms that some might think are synonymous. He is at pains to show that, unlike contemporary terms like ‘devotions’ or ‘spiritual disciplines’, piety as understood by the ancients, the authors of Scripture, and most of the Christian tradition, is an objective, external, and public sort of thing. It is more than mere personal fervor or private exercise; it encompasses our obligations, first to God, but also to our families, communities, and nations.
Wiley traces out the dimensions of piety by looking at the examples of Aeneas and Abraham. By looking at the similarities and differences between their stories he demonstrates how much the ancient pagans and ancient Christians overlapped in their understanding of piety. The upshot of this survey is to show that, while Aeneas (whether he was a real figure or not) and the Romans were ultimately pagans, they had a remarkably similar understanding of the dimensions of piety to that of the Jews and early Christians. Both understood that each man has a responsibility to the god(s), his forefathers, his descendants, and his countrymen. The major difference is at the top of the chain- who is the divine ruler?
Now that gods are in the picture, Wiley takes up the second endangered word- ‘cosmos’. Wiley takes time to argue that this word is not a synonym for ‘universe’. It’s more of a political idea than an astronomical one. There are cosmic powers and rulers beyond and among us on Earth. At the top of them all is God Himself, that great Father and Lord of the cosmic household. And that is the third word Wiley is out to save.
Again, Wiley feels it important to show that ‘household’ is not just a synonym for a more familiar word. It is not another term for family, though of course they are closely intertwined. The household is also a legal and political thing. It is the structure and rule of a family and its properties. The household is also a microcosm- a miniature cosmos. Like the larger reality it images, a properly functioning household is based on that system moderns dread- hierarchy. Oh, and not just any hierarchy- a *gasps* patriarchy! Wiley examines the household codes of the New Testament, which he argues are largely ignored in most churches today. He brings in the Greek philosopher Xenophon, who living centuries before Christ, wrote about management of households extensively. Once again we see that there are major areas of overlap between Christian and the best pagan teaching on household economy. What is revolutionary about the New Testament is not the obligations and authority structures proposed for the household, but what they represent and the character of the God who stands behind them.
I very much enjoyed the historical, philosophical, and biblical survey of ideas presented in the book up to this point. But Wiley does not say so much about how exactly my household relates to the great war for the cosmos in the title. In the final pages he begins to bring it into focus. I do wish he would have said more here, but the alert reader can put the pieces together.
Wiley reminds us that the fight Abraham’s children are in is a fight to stay true to the Lord Jesus Christ, who rules over all, even as cosmic powers in rebellion against Christ seek to compel us to serve them instead. Wiley shows us that these powers hate the natural, biblical household because of Who it serves and what it represents, even as they rely on its generative power to create the new generations of workers and subjects they need. And in our time we are at a crisis point. Modern society has eroded and weakened the household severely.
And here Wiley lays out why our little households are so important. “You may wonder how your small stake could possibly threaten the powers that be. Just remember, a household ordered by the household code in Ephesians reflects the rule of Christ. Besides that, all things connect. The little tune that your household sings is in harmony with the music of the spheres, and that harmony restores many things that the enemy has perverted.” (page 121)
The household, biblically ordered strikes a blow for the Lord of the Cosmos. You and I, ordering our homes to image the rule of Christ, are helping to push back the enemies of our Lord. This is no small thing. This is why our households matter, according to Wiley. And I think he is exactly correct.
“The Household and War for the Cosmos” is a very smooth, enjoyable read. Clocking in at 123 pages (not including the excellent foreword and preface by Nancy Pearcey and Anthony Esolen, respectively), it can be read in a few hours. Though it gets into deep concepts, Wiley is good at delivering his ideas without requiring his audience to have advanced knowledge of philosophy and metaphysics. My greatest regret with the book is its brevity. As someone who has been reading a great deal about the subject of the natural family, I would have enjoyed reading Wiley on these matters for another few hundred pages. However, the brevity of the book makes it a perfect introduction to the subject for those who are just beginning to explore it. It would be an ideal starting point for that friend, brother, and (especially) son who needs to become acquainted with piety and a biblical view of the household. Once you have them hooked, you can direct them to Wiley’s previous book “Man of the House” for more concrete application in actually building up their households. For those wishing to explore the topic of the household and natural family in greater historical and sociological detail, you can send them to just about anything by Allan C. Carlson.
I intend to pass “The Household and War for the Cosmos” around as a conversation starter. Highly recommended!
Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book for review purposes with no obligation to give it a positive review
September 1, 2021
Uniquely insightful and illuminating of many biblical texts. My only critique is that it left me wanting more, which i suppose is a feature of both great style and substance.
Very enjoyable listen on audible
After listening to the audio, I had to read the hard copy on 8/6/21. So glad I did. So many gems in this book.
Very enjoyable listen on audible
After listening to the audio, I had to read the hard copy on 8/6/21. So glad I did. So many gems in this book.
February 24, 2020
The content of this book is very important, and it was well written, but I felt like the book had only just started by the time it ended. This might be because I expected the philosophical sections to lead up to practical application chapters. If Mr. Wiley had explained what the book is and what it is not at the beginning, instead of in the last chapter, maybe that would have helped direct my expectations.
July 19, 2019
Came for the cover. Stayed for the Abram / Aeneas comparisons. Audiobook is on the way.
October 19, 2023
This is one of those books where the author argues that “X” is the foundation for everything else. In this case, with a few caveats, Wiley is spot on by arguing that it is the family. Some call it the nuclear family, others just call it the normal family, but whatever it is termed the valuation of it is massively underestimated in today’s world. As Wiley shows, the family and the household itself is one in which everything rises and falls. It has been scoped by those who wish to remove Christianity and more importantly Christ Himself from having any sort of impact in culture for the simple reason that he who controls the family (definitionally as well as objectively) controls culture.
May 31, 2021
This was an excellent brief defense of the family, an institution that's got a lot of hate in the last few hundred years. I loved how he drew from literature, history, and God's Word to challenge many of the assumptions we have about the family today.
August 13, 2022
Wiley weaves together ideas from history, philosophy, and culture and clearly compares and contrasts them with biblical standards. His etymological break-downs were very helpful. This book reclaims the ideas of familial responsibility, biblical inheritance, general stewardship, and the nobility of piety in a culture that has all but forgot what the household is and why it exists. Down-to-earth, concise, timely.
August 29, 2022
Wiley's book is a recovery project: reclaiming our understanding of the household as part of a greater ordered cosmos instead of as a recreation center for self-actualizing people. As part of that project, Wiley also seeks to recovery the place of piety (holy duty and obligation to God, family, and community) as the core virtue of the household. The Aeneas/Abram comparison is particularly insightful. Wiley's is a provocative and insightful thesis, which is often persuasive, though the length of the book prevents him from engaging real potential critiques in any depth and leads to some over-generalizations. For example, is Wiley overstating the place of the household vis a vis the church? And while it's undoubtedly true that modernity (and the Industrial Revolution with it) have transformed the household in significantly damaging ways, is it as simple as going back to the "good old days" of the productive household? These lines of critique are touched upon, but not really engaged in ways that might make thesis more persuasive.
May 12, 2022
I’m sure it’s a me thing. I loved the intro and chapter 1, but the book was lost in me after that. I loved his rally cry for the household, but how he got there just didn’t resonate with me. Or I simply didn’t get it. :/
January 17, 2020
Focused treatment of a helpful point
March 19, 2021
Excellent. Wiley brings a new perspective (or rather revives an old one) on how a biblical household should function and what its implications are for the rest of creation.
February 1, 2024
4.5 ⭐️
Just fabulous! It was far more historical, literary, and intellectually stimulating than I was anticipating. I read the 3rd chapter twice because I was so struck by Wiley’s historical and literary analysis of the Iliad in light of the Biblical narrative.
I learned so much in this book, including the real definitions of the terms “household” and “piety”. A short, well-worth while, and timely read for today. I highly recommend.
Just fabulous! It was far more historical, literary, and intellectually stimulating than I was anticipating. I read the 3rd chapter twice because I was so struck by Wiley’s historical and literary analysis of the Iliad in light of the Biblical narrative.
I learned so much in this book, including the real definitions of the terms “household” and “piety”. A short, well-worth while, and timely read for today. I highly recommend.
October 26, 2021
A unique contribution to Understanding the Christian life. Wiley looks at a few words in their biblical and classical setting. He explains Household, piety, and warfare in their NT setting and connects to our present life.
I enjoyed the book. Wiley kept moving his argument forward and keeping practical matters in focus.
I loved that he painted a picture of the importance of family and households to Our world. Great to see a vision for marriage and family based on biblical and classical thought.
I enjoyed the book. Wiley kept moving his argument forward and keeping practical matters in focus.
I loved that he painted a picture of the importance of family and households to Our world. Great to see a vision for marriage and family based on biblical and classical thought.
July 8, 2019
Great little book. *The Household and the War for the Cosmos* isn't so much about the family, as it is about the family's place in the world. It's an extended argument for the importance of the "household," it's relationship to the created order (cosmos), and how God uses it give the world a vision of the future. If *Man of the House* gave the practical advice, this book provides the foundation.
Wiley can meander at times, but the pay-off is great as you see the pieces coming together. He moves from Aeneas to Ephesians to argue (persuasively) for the importance of the household. And he has a knack for the aphorism that makes for a fun read. You can feel him smiling, even when he seems grumpy.
I'd recommend this for anyone who's wondered about the place of the family in modern life.
(I received a free copy of this book for review.)
Wiley can meander at times, but the pay-off is great as you see the pieces coming together. He moves from Aeneas to Ephesians to argue (persuasively) for the importance of the household. And he has a knack for the aphorism that makes for a fun read. You can feel him smiling, even when he seems grumpy.
I'd recommend this for anyone who's wondered about the place of the family in modern life.
(I received a free copy of this book for review.)
June 25, 2023
2023: Listened to the audio version. Was even better going through it a second time.
2019: Wiley has some great insights in this book. He covers the biblical roles of the family in the plan of God and how it truly impacts the culture around us. It really opens your eyes to the concept of “piety” and how the biblical roles of a household brings true peace to the cosmos. In a culture that wants to twist and break down the family and God’s household, this is an excellent read.
2019: Wiley has some great insights in this book. He covers the biblical roles of the family in the plan of God and how it truly impacts the culture around us. It really opens your eyes to the concept of “piety” and how the biblical roles of a household brings true peace to the cosmos. In a culture that wants to twist and break down the family and God’s household, this is an excellent read.
Want to read
November 1, 2023Fits well with his book Man of the House.
Mentioned positively here.
Mentioned positively here.
January 29, 2021
Still a 5.
November 28, 2022
3.4 Stars
"The Household and the War for the Cosmos" by C.R. Wiley is a book about family life and its place in God's cosmic order. Wiley aims to cast a Christian vision for the family and the household that is bigger than what the world offers. It is a vision that views the family as God's place where He reveals His plan and purpose for the world.
A strength of this book is that Wiley wisely critiques many of the false views of the family in modern society today: both Christian and secular. As well, Wiley is an excellent writer and communicator. But the main weakness of this book, and why I gave it a low rating, is that its arguments were either unclear or not very compelling. Many of Wiley's arguments come from the Scriptures but he spends an inordinate amount of time extolling Roman culture and society as well as comparing the story of Aeneas to Abraham. Although these arguments might be true, they don't serve Wiley's central thesis at all and do not shed any new light on family life that is compelling or convincing. Honestly, I think Wiley would have done better simply focusing on the Ephesians text and not diverging on extrabiblical literature.
Thus, I would say that you can pass on this book. Wiley's main point is good and true, family life is important and central to God's ordering and planning of the cosmos. But the arguments supporting his main point aren't helpful or very compelling, making this book, not a necessary read.
"The Household and the War for the Cosmos" by C.R. Wiley is a book about family life and its place in God's cosmic order. Wiley aims to cast a Christian vision for the family and the household that is bigger than what the world offers. It is a vision that views the family as God's place where He reveals His plan and purpose for the world.
A strength of this book is that Wiley wisely critiques many of the false views of the family in modern society today: both Christian and secular. As well, Wiley is an excellent writer and communicator. But the main weakness of this book, and why I gave it a low rating, is that its arguments were either unclear or not very compelling. Many of Wiley's arguments come from the Scriptures but he spends an inordinate amount of time extolling Roman culture and society as well as comparing the story of Aeneas to Abraham. Although these arguments might be true, they don't serve Wiley's central thesis at all and do not shed any new light on family life that is compelling or convincing. Honestly, I think Wiley would have done better simply focusing on the Ephesians text and not diverging on extrabiblical literature.
Thus, I would say that you can pass on this book. Wiley's main point is good and true, family life is important and central to God's ordering and planning of the cosmos. But the arguments supporting his main point aren't helpful or very compelling, making this book, not a necessary read.
January 5, 2024
I had really high hopes for this book so I was severely let down. This book is 119 pages and is about “the household” yet that word doesn’t appear until page 72 (I could be wrong about that).
There were some helpful things like “recovering a Christian vision must have a man and a code to guide him to order his house.” Though this is solid, it was not extrapolated. I feel there were many examples of this.
Wiley also gives equal time to Scripture and other ancient literature which is not Christian to make most of his points. This whole book could have started, stayed and ended in Ephesians and that would have been great.
Maybe there was also too much time spent defining terms and giving multiple illustrations for them. He made it seem as if no one really knows the real definition of any word haha.
Anyway, Canon press is my go to on anything to do with the family, but this was subpar for me.
There were some helpful things like “recovering a Christian vision must have a man and a code to guide him to order his house.” Though this is solid, it was not extrapolated. I feel there were many examples of this.
Wiley also gives equal time to Scripture and other ancient literature which is not Christian to make most of his points. This whole book could have started, stayed and ended in Ephesians and that would have been great.
Maybe there was also too much time spent defining terms and giving multiple illustrations for them. He made it seem as if no one really knows the real definition of any word haha.
Anyway, Canon press is my go to on anything to do with the family, but this was subpar for me.
November 6, 2022
Thinking of compiling a C.R. Wiley bingo card. With such squares as:
"Pious Aeneas"
and
"Economics comes from the greek nomos and oikia, meaning, law of the house."
Which is not to criticize at all. I found the book inspiring, and a good reorientation toward fundamental truths of the universe and such.
He makes an excellent point about the deficiency in the structure of post-industrial society, where ownership is no longer the norm for the everyman, replaced by renting and wage earning. Speaking as a wage earner and renter: Mr. Wiley, I promise, I'm working on it.
One thing I wonder about, having read this as well as Man of the House, is how to reconcile Wiley's ideal of the household-based economy with the industrial world that we live in. So many things that our infrastructure is built upon can't be run out of a house. Answering this question would have been outside the scope of this book, but it's interesting to think about.
"Pious Aeneas"
and
"Economics comes from the greek nomos and oikia, meaning, law of the house."
Which is not to criticize at all. I found the book inspiring, and a good reorientation toward fundamental truths of the universe and such.
He makes an excellent point about the deficiency in the structure of post-industrial society, where ownership is no longer the norm for the everyman, replaced by renting and wage earning. Speaking as a wage earner and renter: Mr. Wiley, I promise, I'm working on it.
One thing I wonder about, having read this as well as Man of the House, is how to reconcile Wiley's ideal of the household-based economy with the industrial world that we live in. So many things that our infrastructure is built upon can't be run out of a house. Answering this question would have been outside the scope of this book, but it's interesting to think about.
November 23, 2021
I really enjoyed reading Wiley's, "The Household and the War for the Cosmos", but it felt somewhat incomplete. That could be because I didn't read his prequel, "Man of the House." I think that would have helped round out the practical implications I was looking for in this book. None the less, I appreciated the attention he brought to the original connotations of several ancient words. I don't think I'll ever look at piety ("doing one's duty") the same way again. The mental picture of Aeneas carrying his father on his back out of burning Troy is etched in my mind. Definitely worth the read, and it's a fairly quick read too.
October 16, 2022
I love how Wiley highlights both the importance and the beauty of a Godly household in this book. The Christian faith shouldn’t be shaped by the world we live in, otherwise it might as well be dead. But rather, it should reflect God and His character, even in a world that denies it. This is true also for the Christian family - the roles given to a husband and wife are a duty and calling given by the One who created, and ordered, the Universe. And this is a wonderful and powerful calling.
July 23, 2019
Excellent. Provides the backbone on which Wiley’s previous book “Man of the house” is fleshed out. There is a lot of great stuff packed in here, a recovery of the concept of piety, comparison of Aenas, cosmology, and a discussion of the importance of the biblical household codes.
My only complaint is that it could have been longer, with some things could have been fleshed out more.
My only complaint is that it could have been longer, with some things could have been fleshed out more.
December 7, 2021
This is one of those simple, yet foundational, books that needed to be written a long time ago. I would say that the title is a little deceptive in that it is not your typical "developing a better family life" sort of work. It is more concerned with re-capturing the vision of what "cosmos" really is and how that recovery sets a completely different stage for the Household (family) to understand itself and, frankly, do battle with the powers that suddenly come into focus. Great, great book, especially if you've wondered what C.S. Lewis's That Hideous Strength is all about.
March 23, 2021
Quick book, but a big message: the family really does mean everything...the whole cosmos in fact. He touches on scripture, classics, and tradition and gives a big picture for what marriage and family actually accomplish. I will definitely be having my kids read this when they are older.
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