by Thomas Risley
in ePub, .mobi & .pdf formats
In an age of domestic distraction and spiritual neglect, Thomas Risley’s The Cursed Family emerges as both a solemn trumpet blast and a pastoral plea. First published in 1700, and now newly formatted by Crowdedship Publishing, this short tract delivers a fierce and tender call to heads of households, urging them to restore the long-forgotten glory of family religion. With the urgency of a watchman on the walls, Risley lays bare the spiritual danger and divine judgment that hangs over “wicked, prayerless houses”—homes where God is not worshiped, His Word not read, and prayer is forsaken.
The treatise opens with a preface by the venerable John Howe, who commends Risley’s humble scholarship and sincere piety. What follows is not the rambling of a moralist but the sober counsel of a pastor concerned for the souls of families and the future of the church and nation. Risley argues with piercing clarity that the moral and spiritual condition of homes directly impacts the health of the broader church and state. His thesis is hauntingly simple: homes that are devoid of prayer, Scripture, and reverence become “seedplots of impiety,” breeding rebellion against God and multiplying sorrow across generations.
Yet this is no mere diatribe. Risley writes with the heart of a shepherd. He exhorts fathers and mothers to remember their baptismal vows, to see their children as eternal souls entrusted to their care, and to consider what a fearful thing it is to raise up a house that God may curse. Drawing richly from Scripture, he shows how even in times of outward peace, a home may be inwardly abandoned by God—void of blessing and vulnerable to judgment.
One of the tract’s most compelling features is its prophetic relevance. In a time when family worship is nearly a lost practice and the spiritual formation of children is outsourced or altogether neglected, Risley’s words thunder with conviction: “If you are not Christians in your own houses, your Christianity is unsound.” He paints the godly household not merely as a private refuge, but as a vital member of the visible church—a nursery of faith, a sanctuary of prayer, and a temple for the Holy Spirit’s indwelling.
For pastors, this book is a rebuke and a resource. For fathers and mothers, it is a summons to courage and devotion. For the church, it is a call to recover the foundational discipline of household worship. And for all readers, it offers a stirring reminder of God’s covenantal dealings with families—both in blessing and in judgment.
The Cursed Family is a brief but blazing tract that pierces the conscience and stirs the soul. Read it prayerfully. Share it freely. Let it drive you to your knees, and then to your family altar. For in reviving the neglected duty of family worship, we may yet see revival in our churches and mercy in our land.
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