Hausvater: /HAUS-fah-ter/
noun (German)
1. Housefather.
2. Spiritually responsible head of household, including the housefather as assisted by the housemother.
>> Example: "As the Hausvater should teach it [Christian doctrine] to the entire family ..."
(Martin Luther, Small Catechism, 1529)
Confessional Lutherans recognize the Bible to be the inspired, infallible, and inerrant Word of God, and the final authority in all matters of doctrine and practice. For more information on the relationship between confessional subscription and the doctrine of sola scriptura ("Scripture alone"), visit our Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs).
The following excepts from Holy Scripture pertain especially to the Mission and Vision of The Hausvater Project.
[3] Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your sons will be like olive shoots around your table.
[4] Thus is the man blessed who fears the LORD. ...
[6a] May you live to see your children's children.
[8] Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
[9] They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.
[20] My son, keep your father's commands and do not forsake your mother's teaching.
[21] Bind them upon your heart forever; fasten them around your neck.
[22] When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; when you awake, they will speak to you.
[23] For these commands are a lamp, this teaching is a light, and the corrections of discipline are the way to life,
[24] keeping you from the immoral woman, from the smooth tongue of the wayward wife.
Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it.
Scripture passages are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved. Available online: www.biblegateway.com.
“The Natural Law of the Family,” by Dr. Ryan C. MacPherson, President of The Hausvater Project, in Natural Law: A Lutheran Reappraisal (CPH, 2011)
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