Kuyper on 'What is a Christian family?'

Abraham Kuyper on what it is to be a Christian family:

"For a family to be Christian, three things must be present in it through the Spirit of Christ and the result of his work. The first is the restoration of what sin and misery have corrupted. The second is the elevation of original family life to its ideal. And thirdly, in order that this blessing might not be passing but fix its roots in the family and seek to be nourished there, the family must sanctify its communion by establishing a family altar before which the entire family (that is, parents, children, and servants) kneel so as to give to God the honor and worship he is due for what he in his grace has given the family and to ask him to bless its life. Only in this way can Christ exercise his dominion as our King over the family as well. Only in this way will he be honored as King in the family and through the family. The good things that happen will proceed from him through his Spirit. And Christian parents who with their baptized children and Christian staff live together in such a family will know that not only their personal salvation, but also the exalted grace they enjoy in family life, comes to them from their God only for the sake of Christ."

Pro Rege: Living Under Christ’s Kingship

Volume 2: The Kingship of Christ in Its Operation. Lexham Press, 2017.  p. 317