Abstract:
The family is one of the primary forms of human organization. Socially constructed, it is transformed according to cultural, political and historical specificities. Power relations related to categories such as gender, race, class, sexual orientation directly influence both the form and the understandings about what family is. In the history of Brazil, the way the family group was shaped to be built and practiced is directly related to the religiosity brought by the Portuguese and, later, mixed with the other cultures that emigrated to or already existed in Brazil. In this way, we will seek to bring a historical portrait of the family in Brazil together with the vision of the Church. We will also seek to present the idea of family presented in documents of three Christian Churches, namely: Evangelical Church of Lutheran Confession in Brazil, Roman Catholic Apostolic Church and Episcopal Anglican Church in Brazil. Given this context, the objective of this paper is to develop a historical and theoretical review of the family in an attempt to encourage reflection on the way the Church has positioned itself in relation to it. In the historical process of the family, women have always been the most affected within the family group, needing to fight for their place and for their rights that have been denied for centuries. This research is divided into two chapters. The first brings the historical review of the family in Brazil. The second is a historical review of the churches surveyed, in addition to presenting the latest documents made available on the family theme of the aforementioned churches. A maturing process is perceived in the face of the pronouncements proffered by the churches towards the people and in the social responsibility towards their members, in the search for more equality, dignity and justice.
