📖 Biblical Definition
The family altar is the practice of a household gathering together for worship, prayer, and the reading of God's Word under the spiritual leadership of the father. The pattern is established in the patriarchs: Abraham built altars to the Lord wherever he went (Genesis 12:7), and Joshua declared, "As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord" (Joshua 24:15). God commanded Israel to teach His words diligently to their children, talking of them at home and abroad (Deuteronomy 6:6-7). The family altar is the father's primary means of fulfilling the command to bring up his children "in the discipline and instruction of the Lord" (Ephesians 6:4).
📜 Webster 1828 Definition
Altar: a raised structure on which sacrifices and offerings are made to God.
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AL'TAR, n. [L. altare.] 1. A mount; a table or elevated place on which gifts and sacrifices are offered to God. 2. In modern churches, the communion table. The family altar refers to the practice of household worship -- the place (metaphorical or literal) where a family gathers to pray, read Scripture, and worship God together.
📖 Key Scripture
• Deuteronomy 6:6-7 — "These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children."
• Joshua 24:15 — "As for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
• Ephesians 6:4 — "Fathers, bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord."
• Psalm 78:5-6 — "He commanded our fathers to teach to their children, that the next generation might know them."
⚠️ Modern Corruption
The family altar has been replaced by outsourced spirituality and entertainment.
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The family altar has nearly disappeared from Christian homes. Fathers have abdicated their role as the spiritual heads of their households, outsourcing the spiritual formation of their children to Sunday School teachers, youth pastors, and Christian schools. The average Christian family spends hours daily consuming entertainment but cannot find fifteen minutes for family worship. The loss of the family altar is not a minor cultural shift -- it is the collapse of the primary mechanism God designed for transmitting faith from one generation to the next. When fathers do not lead worship at home, children learn that God is a Sunday-only concern and that the faith is something to be managed by professionals rather than lived as a household.
Usage
• "The family altar is not optional for the Christian household -- it is the father's primary calling to lead His wife and children in daily worship before the Lord."
• "A church that grows while family altars crumble is building on sand -- the home is the first and most important place of worship."