Not by Nature But by Grace: Forming Families Through AdoptionWorking from within the contours of Christian faith, this book examines the relation between two ways of forming families through nature (by procreation) and through history (by adoption). Christians honor the biological tie between parents and children, for it is the work of God in creation. Yet Christians cannot forget that it is adoption, and not simply natural descent, that is at the center of the New Testament's depiction of God's grace. Gilbert