The Cursed Family, or the Evil of Neglecting Family Prayer

This work is a biblically helpful and pointed exhortation to church families to examine their household practices in light of Scriptural principles to serve God in the family. The family should operate as a reflection of the church; it is in fact to be a little church. Risley's thesis is that wicked houses are under the curse of God, and are without his gracious keeping and fatherly care. He shows the responsibility of parents in family worship, for, to be without service to God in this way is to mimic a cursed family. As much as parents are natural parents to their children (providing food, shelter, and clothing), those in the church who have professed to be Christian parents have promised in the presence of God that their children should be virtuously brought up to lead a godly, Christian life. Risley also explains that God's curse is on wicked houses. Parents must take heed of being evil examples to their children, of swearing, cursing, sabbath-breaking, cheating, stealing, oppressing, coveting, lest they, by following in their footsteps, suffer eternal judgments. Parents are reminded of what it means to break their baptismal covenant, and by this causing their children to break it, undoing themselves and their children to God's blessings for all eternity unless the mercy of Christ intervenes. Finally, he shows that persistent wicked men and their families are subject to God's curse both in temporal things, and in spiritual things; especially in their wicked use of performing "outward duties" of religion in hypocrisy such as prayer, hearing the word, coming to the sacrament, reading God's word, reading good books, and conversing with others about matters of religion. Such pernicious influences of the sins of wicked families on Christ's church and kingdom, have several consequences which must be remedied. He demonstrates this in seven concluding observations.