Cindy of Under Much Grace explains more about Bill Gothard and his erroneous definition of grace in Merging Justification and Sanctification: More About Gothard’s Thanksgiving Letter and Concerns About Grace
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RedditA Closer Look At The Pearls’ Teachings and Adoption
October 8, 2011 6 Comments
Christine Minich takes a look at The Pearls’ Teachings in:
The Disturbing World of The Pearls in which she looks at Doublespeak and Definitions as well as some examples of his abusive teachings.
and The Disturbing World of The Pearls Part 2 in which she takes a look at their heretical Theology.
Also, TulipGirl tries to shed some light on the underlying philosophy of the Pearls’ Teachings with On The Pearls And Parenting, Once Again.
The Toronto Sun has an article about the Pearls’ Teachings in Was child abused to death due to advice from book?
Missizzy posted a Recipe For Disaster on the Websleuths.com message board which explains that happened to Lydia and Hanna. You might be interested in the rest of the conversation, it is really quite interesting. I hope it is ok for me to link to this. If anyone objects, please email me at hermanalinda@whynottrainachild.com and I will remove this entire paragraph.
I also thought I’d mention this post from Civil Thoughts about Adoption Education because that is so important.
Michael Pearl: Heretic?
April 28, 2011 Leave a Comment
Becky, from Created To Be His, shares how she changed her mind about Michael Pearl’s teachings after 10 years of following them in Michael Pearl: Heretic?
Spanking to Remove Guilt?
February 18, 2011 4 Comments
Back in October of 2010, Michael Pearl published an article where he claimed that he had never taught that spanking absolves a child of guilt. He does, however, teach in that same article that they need the spanking in order to absolve themselves of guilt.
It is clear in all my writing that the forgiveness of which I speak is the parent forgiving the child. The two-year-old does not feel guilt before God. When he has willfully transgressed against his parents’ rules and he hides his misdeeds in shame, he has a psychological need to be cleansed of his guilt and restored to fellowship. This the parent can do through the proper application of the rod and reproof.
I guess we’ll have to agree to disagree on that point. However, in his latest article of Feb 2011, he says that spanking can heal a child’s very soul. I don’t believe that anything or anyone but Jesus can heal our souls.
What a joy to possess the ability to instantly gain compliance and instill discipline in our children. However, the most mysterious, almost miraculous, fruit of the properly applied spanking is its ability to heal the child’s soul and create a sweetness of spirit.
I have here some other quotes which show the same doctrine being taught these days about spanking:
Harry Bethel says that spanking is necessary to relieve children of their guilt feelings. I say that we should be teaching our children what the Bible teaches; that Jesus paid for their sins and that they cannot pay for their own sins.
It is very important for parents to understand that children do not have an adequate concept of God and the consequences of their sins. They do, however, have a concept of right and wrong based on the things they have been taught (and they have a conscience). The God-ordained way for children to deal with the guilt feelings that come with disobeying parents is to spank them adequately for their disobedience. By proper punishment with the rod (or belt) the children are relieved of their guilt feelings because justice has been done. If children are not punished for their disobedience then they must carry around the guilt feelings that are associated with wrongdoing. Children who are not punished by spanking carry a great burden of guilt and oftentimes they began to hate their parents and rebel even more in their teenage years. Parents are doing their children an awful disservice when they do not properly mete out corporal punishment for disobedience as clearly set forth in the Word of God.
Daniel Dessinger teaches pretty much the same thing, that spanking relieves the child of guilt and shame and allows the child to pay for her mistake and start over. How much better to teach her that Jesus paid for her mistakes and allows her to start over!
Spanking is guarding your child’s heart from permanent guilt and shame. Without proper punishment, a child knows she has gotten away with wrongdoing. It eats at her little heart. If unchecked over time, a child will learn to believe that she is a bad person and that there are no consequences. She wants in her heart to be a good person, but doesn’t know how on her own to achieve this. Her heart is actually relieved by receiving a punishment that stings but allows her to start over, having paid for her mistake.
Whether you read the Bible or not, there is a reason why it says, “He that spareth the rod hateth his son.” Your choices as the parent make declarative statements over who your child will be. Don’t spare your child the ability to reset his or her conscience. Don’t rob your child of a clean conscience. Offer your child the opportunity to live free from guilt and shame. Only without a lifetime of suppressed guilt and shame will your precious child ever live to be a well-balanced, fully functioning adult. “
Nicole Munoz also teaches that spanking takes away guilt and gives then a clean slate. She then goes on to say that we get our guilt taken away by Jesus. Why is it that we adults get our sins paid for by Jesus, but children have to pay for their own sins?
Spanking is punishment for a crime, payment for a debt. In other words, once paid, they have a clean slate. Spanking takes away the guilt, because the crime has been paid for. Now isn’t that great! One of the common problems in children today is depression. Now I don’t care much for psychologists, but psychologists tell us that depression is really hate turned inward. Why do you think so many children feel hate towards themselves? Guilt. They feel guilty for their actions. They know that they have done wrong and that they deserve a consequence for their actions. Spanking takes away the guilt and gives them a clean slate. It is the same way for us and our salvation. Christ paid the penalty for my sin. Should I wander around the rest of my life burdened with guilt? No. I am now free from the penalty of my sin, Christ having died for me, and now I can live a life that please God. II Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
Now does that sound like a clean slate to you? To me it does! It is the same with our children.
Thank you to Purple Kangaroo for her help in compiling these quotes.
I would also like to add that these teachers are insinuating that to not use corporal punishment is to disobey the Word of God. I have many link and articles disproving that claim in my links bar on the right under “Anti Spanking Resources.”
The Burden of Legalism
February 16, 2011 Leave a Comment
Rach at the Incorrigible Gingers posts about the Burdens legalistic teachers are placing on the Believers’ backs.
Speaking of Legalism, there is an interesting article at NLQ about Why the Quiverfull Movement is called Legalistic?
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Spanking is NOT God’s Will Part 8
February 7, 2011 6 Comments
( part 1 ) ( part 2 ) ( part 3 ) ( part 4 ) ( part 5 ) ( Part 6 ) ( Part 7 )
What is grace? This is the question running through my head as I wrestle with a bit of discouragement as children continue to be harmed by well-meaning people who want so badly to obey God in their parenting. As I continue to hear the same comments from pro-spankers who seem almost desperate to defend themselves for fear of being wrong. As I hear on the morning news that two teenagers were shot and killed by their own mother because they were being “mouthy.” As a book that advocates spanking infants may be being used by people that I know. What is grace? Who deserves grace? Is the Bible Truth or something that can be used however we want in order to support our own beliefs? What does it mean to be Spirit led and to take up our crosses and follow Jesus? Why do some Christians proclaim, “God hates fags?” Why is there so much division in the Body of Christ when God commands us to be “like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind” Philippians 2:2?
Another thing that keeps popping up in my mind and during my Bible study is the following verse:
“So he said to me, ‘This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty” Zechariah 4:6.
This verse is in context with an angel showing Zechariah a vision seemingly related to the coming of a future Messiah to rescue the people. Yesterday in church, the pastor discussed the uneventful way that Jesus quietly came on the scene amidst the crowds that were waiting by the Jordan River in order to be baptized by a relative, John The Baptist (Matthew 3:13-17). Everyone thought that the Messiah would come and mightily restore Israel with a mighty sword. But instead, Jesus came as an infant and lived in humble settings. He didn’t even look like a powerful king that everyone expected Him to be. Look how Isaiah the prophet described Jesus:
“He grew up before him like a tender shoot,
and like a root out of dry ground.
He had no beauty or majesty to attract us to him,
nothing in his appearance that we should desire him.
3 He was despised and rejected by mankind,
a man of suffering, and familiar with pain.
Like one from whom people hide their faces
he was despised, and we held him in low esteem” Isaiah 53:1-3.
Is this what God meant in Zechariah 4:6b? “Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit.” Possibly. Especially since Christ didn’t come on Earth by might nor power. But what about grace? We actually can see the first act of grace given to man by God in Genesis 3 after Adam and Eve were tempted by the devil and ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. In the midst of telling Adam and Eve about the consequences that are to come to them and all of mankind because of their sin, God allows them to live until their natural lives ran out, and God allowed them to multiply—having children! In all reality, Adam and Eve did not deserve to go on living after sinning against God—NONE OF US DO! But God let them live and allowed them to multiply. God is huge. He is bigger than any of us can imagine. He is the most powerful Being of the entire universe. He could have easily wiped Adam and Eve off the face of the Earth and started over, creating new people who would constantly obey and worship Him like robots, but He didn’t! Then in Genesis 4 we see Cain murder Abel. Again, grace shows up when God puts a seal of protection on Cain before allowing him to wander out from His Presence and marry and have his own children (Genesis 4:13-18). This continues throughout the entire Bible with its climax being Jesus healing, forgiving, loving, extending grace and mercy to people who did not deserve it. He bared our punishment for us that we might live! “Whoever believes in the Son has eternal life, but whoever rejects the Son will not see life, for God’s wrath remains on them” John 3:36.
“I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand” John 10:28.
“Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6.
But again, what is grace and who deserves it? I think about the Samaritan women at the well. Jews did not associate with Samaritans. Yet in John 4:1-42, we see Jesus, a Jew, ask a Samaritan woman for a drink of water. Then we see Jesus engage the woman in conversation. Again, this was unheard of for that time period. When Jesus’ disciples come back and find Jesus talking to the Samaritan woman, they quite surprised (John 4:27). In the midst of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman, her sinful life gets revealed. Yet, how does Jesus handle her? Let’s look:
“Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
11 “Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? 12 Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
13 Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.”
15 The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water so that I won’t get thirsty and have to keep coming here to draw water.”
16 He told her, “Go, call your husband and come back.”
17 “I have no husband,” she replied.
Jesus said to her, “You are right when you say you have no husband. 18 The fact is, you have had five husbands, and the man you now have is not your husband. What you have just said is quite true.”
19 “Sir,” the woman said, “I can see that you are a prophet. 20 Our ancestors worshiped on this mountain, but you Jews claim that the place where we must worship is in Jerusalem.”
21 “Woman,” Jesus replied, “believe me, a time is coming when you will worship the Father neither on this mountain nor in Jerusalem. 22 You Samaritans worship what you do not know; we worship what we do know, for salvation is from the Jews. 23 Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in the Spirit and in truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. 24 God is spirit, and his worshipers must worship in the Spirit and in truth.”
25 The woman said, “I know that Messiah” (called Christ) “is coming. When he comes, he will explain everything to us.”
26 Then Jesus declared, “I, the one speaking to you—I am he” John 4:10-26.
Jesus reveals Himself as the Messiah to her! He did not condemn her because she was a Samaritan or because of the sinful life that she was living. He gracefully offered Himself to her and she not only believed, but went and told other Samaritans about Him. They came to see Jesus as well and they too believed (John 4:39-42). He offered forgiveness to all of them despite Him being a Jew and God Himself! Is this grace? I believe so.
But, again, I must ask what is grace? Who deserves grace?
I think of the woman who wiped Jesus’ feet with her tears and hair, and then anointed Him with sweet perfume in Luke 7:36-38. The woman was a sinner, and the Pharisee who had invited Jesus to dine with him was appalled that Christ didn’t seem to know who this sinful woman was that was touching Him. “If this man were a prophet, he would know who is touching him and what kind of woman she is—that she is a sinner” Luke 7:39. Religious teachers of the Law did not associate with “sinners” like this particular woman who may have been a prostitute. And yet, we see that Jesus didn’t shrink away or become angry with her for wiping His feet with her hair. How does He respond knowing exactly who she was, and knowing the Pharisee’s thoughts about what was happening? Let’s look: “Jesus answered him, “Simon, I have something to tell you.”
“Tell me, teacher,” he said.
41 “Two people owed money to a certain moneylender. One owed him five hundred denarii, and the other fifty. 42 Neither of them had the money to pay him back, so he forgave the debts of both. Now which of them will love him more?”
43 Simon replied, “I suppose the one who had the bigger debt forgiven.”
“You have judged correctly,” Jesus said.
44 Then he turned toward the woman and said to Simon, “Do you see this woman? I came into your house. You did not give me any water for my feet, but she wet my feet with her tears and wiped them with her hair. 45 You did not give me a kiss, but this woman, from the time I entered, has not stopped kissing my feet. 46 You did not put oil on my head, but she has poured perfume on my feet. 47 Therefore, I tell you, her many sins have been forgiven—as her great love has shown. But whoever has been forgiven little loves little.”
48 Then Jesus said to her, “Your sins are forgiven.”
49 The other guests began to say among themselves, “Who is this who even forgives sins?”
50 Jesus said to the woman, “Your faith has saved you; go in peace.” Luke 7:40-50.
Allow me to point out that people’s feet during New Testament times were quite dirty from walking barefoot with sandals on dirt roads. So the fact that this woman was washing Jesus’ feet with her hair and tears shows that she more than likely knew that Jesus was more than just a “teacher.” But, Jesus, being God, knew exactly who this woman was and what she had done. Again, instead of condemning her as the Pharisee did, He FORGAVE her and rebuked the Pharisee for his lack of hospitality. He also used this moment to try and teach the Pharisee about forgiveness instead of punishing either the Pharisee or woman. Grace!
I think of the 3-year-old who doesn’t pick up when Mommy says to. Mommy asks, “Are you going to obey or do you want a spank?” For whatever reason, the child does not obey even though the child knows what’s about to happen. Mommy says, “Ok, let’s go to your room.” The child begins to cry and plead, “Please don’t spank me, Mommy!” The child’s heart is racing as he cries, struggles to get away. Mommy calmly holds him and says, “You didn’t obey me when I asked you to pick up your toys. Jesus wants me to discipline you.” Then she calmly slaps the child’s bare bottom a few times as the child cries out in pain. Then she holds him and tells him how much she and Jesus love him, but that he must obey Mommy. As the child tries to calm down, his bottom still stinging, he mutters, “I’m sorry.” Though the child doesn’t truly feel sorry. He has learned that this makes Mommy happy. As they pray and hug again, he’s relieved it’s over even though deep down pain is gnawing at him. He happily runs out and plays—until the next time he misbehaves or doesn’t obey…
Grace?
I think of a 2-year-old in a similar situation. Mommy says, ”It’s time to pick your toys. Please put them in the bucket.” “No!”says the child. Mommy says, “I know you were having fun playing with your toys, but it’s time to clean up. Please help me.” Mommy puts a toy in the bucket as the child watches with somewhat of a defiant look on his face. Mommy asks, “Are you going to pick up your toys or do you need me to help you?” The child says, “No!” and starts to run off. Mommy stops him and says, “I see you need help.” She picks him up as he struggles and cries. She holds him firmly and says, “I’m sorry this makes you angry. I will hold you for a minute while you calm down, then we will pick up your toys.” The child cries then begins to melt into Mommy’s body knowing that he’s safe and that she isn’t allowing him to spin out of control. She gently puts a toy in his hand while slowly scooting to the bucket. He looks at the toy and then at the bucket, still feeling Mommy’s gentle but firm hold on him as he sits in her lap. He slowly drops the toy into the bucket and looks up at Mommy. Mommy smiles and says, “Thank you!” This continues until all his toys are picked up, only laughter becomes louder and louder as they take turns putting toys in the bucket! Then the child proudly gets off Mommy’s lap, picks up the bucket and puts it on the shelf. Then he runs back to Mommy where once again he’s embraced in her firm, loving arms. She says, “Thank you for picking up your toys! I love you sooo much and so does Jesus!” Then she begins singing “Jesus Loves Me” with him as he snuggles deeper into her arms.
Grace?
“32 Two other men, both criminals, were also led out with him to be executed. 33 When they came to the place called the Skull, they crucified him there, along with the criminals—one on his right, the other on his left. 34 Jesus said, “Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.” And they divided up his clothes by casting lots” Luke 23:32-34.
“But the gift is not like the trespass. For if the many died by the trespass of the one man, how much more did God’s grace and the gift that came by the grace of the one man, Jesus Christ, overflow to the many” Romans 5:15.
“In him we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace” Ephesians 1:7.
“Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need” Hebrews 4:16.
We are free from sin and the death and pain that comes through sin because of God’s amazing grace. Grace that we don’t deserve one bit. Shouldn’t we pass that on to our children as they learn to obey us?
“I do not set aside the grace of God, for if righteousness could be gained through the law, Christ died for nothing!” Galatians 2:21.
Grace is for everyone!
“Amazing grace,
How sweet the sound,
That save a wretch like me,
I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see!”
Spanking is NOT God’s Will by Steph is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.whynottrainachild.com.
Spanking is NOT God’s Will Part 3
January 7, 2011 2 Comments
I finished Samuel Martin’s book, Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me today. Here’s more of what I have learned about God’s Word.
Many Christian advocates of spanking children quote the following Proverb in order to support their philosophy that spanking children will save their souls from Hell. It says: “Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die. 14Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell” Proverbs 23:13-14 (KJV). Now, the Hebrew word for Hell is Sh’ol. However, throughout the Hebrew Bible sh’ol doesn’t always mean the eternal, fiery Hell that we immediately conjure up in our minds. Look at Jonah 2:1-2 where Jonah is talking about being stuck in the whale’s belly:
“From inside the fish Jonah prayed to the LORD his God. 2 He said:
“In my distress I called to the LORD,
and he answered me.
From deep in the realm of the dead I called for help,
and you listened to my cry” (NIV).
Obviously, Jonah wasn’t in eternal Hell or permanently dead. In Job 17:13-16, Job speaks of his only hope in following his family to the grave, sh’ol is translated as grave and corruption. Sh’ol is also translated as pit as in falling into a pit. It is clear that the Hebrew word sh’ol does not always mean the eternal Hell and it’s not used in this way any place in the book of Proverbs. The new NIV translation shows a bit more accurate translation of Proverbs 23:13-14:
“Do not withhold discipline from a child;
if you punish them with the rod, they will not die.
14 Punish them with the rod
and save them from death.”
It is clear given the historical and context in which the book Proverbs was written that we have discussed that the more accurate meaning of the word sh’ol in this verse is death as in dying a premature death from getting involved in a life of crime as an adult. Young children are not capable of purposely committing sin like young adults and adults can. They do not know what sin is. Even though it may feel to a parent or teacher that they purposely disobey, they in fact are not. Young children cannot control their impulses. A 5 year old does have better impulse control than a 2 year old, but they still are developing it and can’t be expected to always be in control. Therefore, young children who believe in Jesus wholeheartedly do not go to Hell if they die.
“The wolf will live with the lamb,
the leopard will lie down with the goat,
the calf and the lion and the yearling together;
and a little child will lead them.
7 The cow will feed with the bear,
their young will lie down together,
and the lion will eat straw like the ox.
8 The infant will play near the cobra’s den,
the young child will put its hand into the viper’s nest.
9 They will neither harm nor destroy
on all my holy mountain,
for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the LORD
as the waters cover the sea” Isaiah 11:6-9.
And Jesus says, “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven” Matthew 18:3. Only after a child is able to truly understand sin and purposely reject Jesus Christ as Savior will they go to Hell if they die.
Some prospankers point to the fact that Paul and other apostles receive beatings for crimes they committed. “Paul looked straight at the Sanhedrin and said, “My brothers, I have fulfilled my duty to God in all good conscience to this day.” 2 At this the high priest Ananias ordered those standing near Paul to strike him on the mouth. 3 Then Paul said to him, “God will strike you, you whitewashed wall! You sit there to judge me according to the law, yet you yourself violate the law by commanding that I be struck!” 4 Those who were standing near Paul said, “How dare you insult God’s high priest!” 5 Paul replied, “Brothers, I did not realize that he was the high priest; for it is written: ‘Do not speak evil about the ruler of your people.’” 6 Then Paul, knowing that some of them were Sadducees and the others Pharisees, called out in the Sanhedrin, “My brothers, I am a Pharisee, descended from Pharisees. I stand on trial because of the hope of the resurrection of the dead.” 7 When he said this, a dispute broke out between the Pharisees and the Sadducees, and the assembly was divided. 8 (The Sadducees say that there is no resurrection, and that there are neither angels nor spirits, but the Pharisees believe all these things.)
9 There was a great uproar, and some of the teachers of the law who were Pharisees stood up and argued vigorously. “We find nothing wrong with this man,” they said. “What if a spirit or an angel has spoken to him?” 10 The dispute became so violent that the commander was afraid Paul would be torn to pieces by them. He ordered the troops to go down and take him away from them by force and bring him into the barracks.
11 The following night the Lord stood near Paul and said, “Take courage! As you have testified about me in Jerusalem, so you must also testify in Rome” Acts 23:1-11. “The crowd joined in the attack against Paul and Silas, and the magistrates ordered them to be stripped and beaten with rods. 23 After they had been severely flogged, they were thrown into prison, and the jailer was commanded to guard them carefully” Act 16:22-23.
And of course, Jesus Himself was beaten. What we need to remember is at that time in history society was still under the Law of Moses, and beatings and prison time were the punishments called for when adults broke one of the laws. Notice that Paul was an adult at the time of his beating for bringing a non-Jew into the Temple. Children were never spanked for breaking the Law; only adults.
Therefore, when a parent spanks a child, he/she is parenting under the Law and acts as a judge. The child commits an offense, the parent tries the child and decides a spanking is necessary, the parent doles out the punishment, then the child is free to go on since he/she paid the price. Only, as Christians, the Law is no longer binding. If we want children to learn the grace, peace, love, and mercy of the Law of Christ, why do we parent under the Law of Moses?
In conclusion, I leave you with the words of John:
“ For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ” John 1:17.
The Truth will set us free!
Spanking is NOT God’s Will by Steph is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.whynottrainachild.com.
Spanking is NOT God’s Will Part 2
January 6, 2011 6 Comments
After reading and studying more today in this wonderful book by Samuel Martin and doing my own Bible study, here are some things that God has revealed to me.
First, the book of Proverbs is the oldest book in the Holy Bible. While King Solomon and King Hezekiah wrote most of Proverbs, according to Martin’s book, some of it was also written by authors of ancient Egypt hundreds of years prior to King Solomon and King Hezekiah. In the Hebrew Bible, The Wisdom Literature which are Job, Psalms, and Proverbs are arranged in a different order than they appear in our modern day Bibles. Instead of Job, Psalms, Proverbs; it’s Psalms, Proverbs, Job. These Holy books were inspired by God to be written primarily for young men.
The Hebrew language breaks up each stage of childhood in the Bible into specific names from birth to adulthood. I will not list them here at the moment, but what is key to point out here is the Book of Proverbs was written for young men (Hebrew: Na’ar). Na’ar is the teenage years, 12 years to roughly 19. During this stage of life during biblical times, young men were considered ready to learn the Law, looking to marry, and able to understand abstract concepts. This makes sense as reknown psychologist Jean Piaget recognized that people 12 and up were in the Formal Operational stage of cognitive development. Young children cannot think abstractly. That is why a young child will run to the window if you say it’s raining cats and dogs. The young child truly expects to see cats and dogs falling from the sky. The young takes everything at it’s literal meaning. For infants and toddlers, everything they learn is through senses. Therefore, if you slap their hands, despite what pro-spanking Christian advocates may say, they do not, can not understand exactly why they’re being hit. Life is all trial and error for young children. As I mentioned before in Part one, Jewish scholars and leaders recognize this fact and absolutely forbid the use of harshness and physical punishment for young children, especially those UNDER 6 years of age.
Secondly, the writers of the New Testament were well versed in the Book of Proverbs. And yet, Proverbs is quoted only in a few books of the New Testament. None of the quotes deal with the harsh punishment of children! Jesus doesn’t even mention the punishment of children in His Sermon on the Mount where He changed and added to the Law (Matthew 5 & 6). Instead, He held children up in high esteem for that day. Look at this passage:
“13 People were bringing little children to Jesus for him to place his hands on them, but the disciples rebuked them. 14 When Jesus saw this, he was indignant. He said to them, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. 15 Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.” 16 And he took the children in his arms, placed his hands on them and blessed them” Mark 10:13-16.
Notice that Jesus was indignant when His disciples rebuked parents for bringing their children to Him. Nowhere does it say Jesus hit children or taught people to spank children. Other New Testament writers didn’t either. Paul and Timothy gave many instructions regarding families and children, and yet, they do not quote any of the Proverbs that seem to advocate spanking. Instead, Paul writes:
“Fathers, do not embitter your children, or they will become discouraged” Colossians 3:21. The word “fathers” is also translated into parents. The one passages in the New Testament that Christian pro-spankers often point to in order to claim that we are to spank is Hebrews 12:5-6 which states:
“And have you completely forgotten this word of encouragement that addresses you as a father addresses his son? It says,
“My son, do not make light of the Lord’s discipline,
and do not lose heart when he rebukes you,
6 because the Lord disciplines the one he loves,
and he chastens everyone he accepts as his son.” Notice that the author quotes Proverbs 3:11-12 in this verse. Proverbs 3:11-12 states:
“My son, do not despise the LORD’s discipline,
and do not resent his rebuke,
12 because the LORD disciplines those he loves,
as a father the son he delights in.”
If this verse was really talking about the use of physical punishment, why didn’t the author quote one of the many verses dealing with the rod? And if we look at the whole chapter of Hebrews 12, it doesn’t seem to be even discussing actual children, but adults who are God’s children. Now let’s look at the definition of the word chastise. Does it automatically mean physical punishment? No! Here’s what Merriam-Webster’s Dictionary says:
“1: to inflict punishment on (as by whipping)
2: to censure severely : castigate
3archaic : chasten 2″
Now before we go and say, see, it does mean physical punishment, look at how it’s used in these two sentences from this dictionary:
“The waiter was chastised for forgetting the customer’s order. The coach is always chastising the players for minor mistakes.” Obviously, chastise is being use as a verbal correction in these sentences! Now look at some of the synonyms of chastise: Rebuke, Lecture, Scold, Reprimand, Bawl Out, Dress Down, and Lecture. Yes, it can mean physical punishment, but it also means many other things! Given the Biblical context in which chastise is being used here in Hebrews, we are walking very shaking ground if we choose to interpret it as a command to spank our children. God rebukes us all the time. No, it’s not pleseant, but it’s not in a harsh tone and He immediately forgives us when we repent. And yes, if we choose to do our own thing against His Will, He will ALLOW, NOT INFLICT, pain into our lives. But even when we do His Will, He still allows pain into our lives. Look at these verses:
“The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.” Acts 5:41.
“Not only so, but we [Or let us] also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance” Romans 5:3.
“Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory” Romans 8:17.
“All this is evidence that God’s judgment is right, and as a result you will be counted worthy of the kingdom of God, for which you are suffering” 2 Thessalonians 1:5.
“Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, 3 because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. 4 Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything” James 1:2-4.
To conclude this part of my series, let me reiterate that the Holy Bible is all divinely inspired by God. The Law of Moses is still Holy. But to accurately interpret Scripture, we must look at it in context of the whole; Old and New Testaments. Jesus fulfilled, and thus freed us from, the Law! As the apostle Paul states:
“For when we were in the realm of the flesh, the sinful passions aroused by the law were at work in us, so that we bore fruit for death. 6 But now, by dying to what once bound us, we have been released from the law so that we serve in the new way of the Spirit, and not in the old way of the written code.
7 What shall we say, then? Is the law sinful? Certainly not! Nevertheless, I would not have known what sin was had it not been for the law” Romans 7:5-7a.
Open the eyes of our hearts that we may see Your Truth, Lord! Thank You, Jesus!
Spanking is NOT God’s Will by Steph is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Based on a work at www.whynottrainachild.com.
Spanking is NOT God’s Will
January 4, 2011 3 Comments
I am reading a wonderful book by theologian, Samuel Martin, Thy Rod and Thy Staff They Comfort Me. It’s clear from historic, contextual, Hebrew info on the book of Proverbs that we are NOT to spank (hit) children. The book of Proverbs was not meant for verses to be taken out of context. Even Jewish scholars believe that spankings are for boys 12 years & up and only as an absolute LAST resort. Proverbs was written under the Law of Moses. Christians are under the Law of Christ. What is the Law of Christ? Grace, peace, mercy and love. “ But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law” Galatians 5:22-23.
Jesus freed us from the Law. “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” Galatians 5:18. When we spank, we are parenting under the Law. We are not accepting the grace, mercy and forgiveness of Jesus. Jesus died for us. He was beaten to a bloody pulp for us. Why do we feel we must beat, spank, and hit our young children who do not understand sin nor physical punishment. “In regard to evil be infants” 1 Corinthians 14:20b.
Even Jewish scholars forbid the use of physical punishment for children under 6. The very age Christian advocates of spanking say it’s best for. Every time you hit a child, even “lovingly,” you create confusion, anger, fear, and resentment which breed sin later on.
Jesus says, “At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?”
2 He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. 3 And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me. 6 “If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come” Matthew 18:1-6.
May our hearts and eyes be open to your Truth Lord Jesus!
Spanking is NOT God’s Will by Steph is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. Based on a work at www.whynottrainachild.com.
Good and Evil
December 21, 2010 1 Comment
Glenn E. Chatfield from Watchman’s Bagpipes reviews Michael Pearl’s Comic Book Version of the Bible, Good and Evil. He lists everything he considers to be unscriptural and/or extra-biblical. His main concern is the inclusion of the “Gap Theory.”
What Does Mr. Pearl Really Believe?
November 6, 2010 4 Comments
Michael Pearl has a very interesting article on his website where he responds to Pastor Raley‘s warning against his teachings in his church bulletin. Now, in this article, Mr. Pearl says that he did not say what Pastor Raley says that he said. I found that very interesting and so I decided to go through the articles and get to the bottom of this.
I clicked on the links where Pastor Raley cites his quotes and used CTRL F to search for them. Here are the quotes Mr. Pearl claims that he did not write and my findings.
“When a descendant of Adam reaches a level of moral understanding (sometime in his youth) he becomes fully, personally accountable to God and has sin imputed to him, resulting in the peril of eternal damnation.”
“When man reaches his state of moral accountability, and, by virtue of his personal transgression, becomes blameworthy, his only hope is a work of grace by God alone.”
These quotes are found in Mr. Pearl’s article, What We Believe.
“If you put yourselves under my authority, you can learn the secret to getting rid of your sins.”
This was a generalization which I don’t believe that Pastor Raley meant to attribute to Mr. Pearl.
“…age of accountability.”
I do not believe that this was meant to be a quote from Mr. Pearl either. I think Pastor Raley meant these as “scare quotes.”
“…a work of grace by God alone”
This was found in Mr. Pearl’s article, What We Believe.
In the next 4 paragraphs are quibbling about whether or not he used certain words which he certainly did use in the article, In Defense of Biblical Chastisement. Michael Pearl says,
The next paragraph attributed to me contains 118 words. The first 50 words are entirely false and certainly do not represent anything I have ever written or said. It contains words I have never employed and concepts I have never endorsed, like “To the child, a righteous parent is a surrogate god.”
It is especially interesting to me how he protests that he never used the words, “Eternal God,” when he certainly did. He says in the article,
I wrote “the higher powers” with “powers” in plural and in all lower case letters. If I had wanted to say “The Eternal God” I would have done so. I ask, why does my critic want me to say something different from what I said? Why did he find it necessary to change my words in order to find fault? His quote is a lie, his criticism slander. Why? To what end?
The quotes are there, exactly as Pastor Raley quoted them, in In Defense of Biblical Chastisement. I think that Mr. Pearl owes Pastor Raley an apology for accusing him of lying and slander.
He also claims to have not used the word, “give,” although he uses it 8 times in that same article.
Apparently there was some confusion as Mr. Pearl thought that his book were being referenced and in actually it was his website. It seems a bit odd to me that he forgot to check the website, especially as it will pop up in a Google search of the first quote, but maybe I’m missing something.
In the rest of the article, Pearl argues that what he said is not really what he meant and that he fails to see how anyone could possibly think that he could have meant what we accuse him of meaning. He further insists that to even suggest that he means such things makes it obvious that we have evil intent. Ok, he did not actually say those words, I am paraphrasing. Of course, I’m probably misunderstanding him, so I’d better stop putting words in his mouth and quit while I’m ahead. I have proven that did write the quotes which he claims to have not written. I’ll leave the rest of the article for someone else to answer.
Update: On Dec 10, 2010 Michael added a retraction to the bottom of this article to explain that he did, indeed, write one of those quotes. He still maintains that he did not write the rest, especially the one which was meant to be a paraphrase.
Enduring Sound Doctrine
October 14, 2010 Leave a Comment
The pastor of Calvary Baptist Church of Temecula says in a post called, Enduring Sound Doctrine:
One writer who started out with some fairly sound material on raising children but has moved subtly away from sound doctrine is Michael Pearl. I have recently removed all of his material from my personal library and from the church library because of the misguided nature of what he’s lately been teaching. After some research, I found a number of serious errors in his teachings.
Personally, I do not believe that Mr. Pearl’s doctrine has changed much over the years. It’s just that the more he writes, the more his doctrine is exposed.
Here are two quotes from his first book, To Train Up A Child, which I feel show some rather questionable doctrine:
The guilt burdened soul cries out for the lashes and nails of justice. Your child cannot yet understand that the Creator has been lashed and nailed in his place. Only the rod of correction can preserve his soul until the day of moral dawning.
The parent holds in his hand (in the form of a little switch) the power to absolve the child of guilt, cleanse his soul, instruct his spirit, strengthen his resolve, and give him a fresh start through a confidence that all indebtedness is paid.
Of course, there are many other quotes from that book which show some very questionable child raising advice. For more analysis of the Pearls’ doctrine, please see these posts as well as the Parenting in the Name of God series.
Unstringing the Pearls: A Critical Pastoral Assessment
October 5, 2010 2 Comments
Unstringing the Pearls: A Critical Pastoral Assessment is a warning from a pastor to his church, updated from a 2006 email. Since this pastor recommends Tripp, this is obviously another argument from someone who promotes spanking and will be tagged appropriately.
Fundamental Baptist Warns Against NGJ
August 26, 2010 Leave a Comment
David Cloud of Fundamental Baptist Information Service has updated his Warning Against No Great Joy Ministries. While he agrees with a lot of what the Pearls teach, he has some serious reservations:
1 ) Exalting the family over the church.
2 ) Sinless Perfection
3 ) Michael Pearl’s duplicitous dealings with the author
4 ) The teaching that Jesus became a sinner (!)
He then includes some testimonies of people who have written to him in response to his previous writings. That is where you will find some discussion of Rebekah Pearl and her dreams.
Addressing Parenting Techniques
July 14, 2010 Leave a Comment
Scita Scienda has a new post Addressing Parenting Techniques. It looks like it could become part of the introduction to their Parenting in the Name of God series.
total depravity theology
June 9, 2010 Leave a Comment
Elizabeth Esther looks at How the “I am a worm”/total depravity theology hurts children. She links this belief with abuse and makes some good points.
Parenting In The Name of God part 9
May 18, 2010 Leave a Comment
Parenting in the Name of God, Part 9 is up. To pique your interest, here is an excerpt:
At this time, we want to review the anecdotes offered by No Greater Joy’s articles and books of newsletter reprints. If anything, the theology of conditioned morality and holiness is fully connected in the object lessons and examples offered by the Pearls. We’ll see if we can trace the doctrinal threads of:
–revision of the moral nature of man
–revamping the nature of God
–restructuring the work of the Cross
–redefining human holiness
Rebellion
May 15, 2010 Leave a Comment
Matthew Raley’s series about rebellion and the Christian continues. In this entry, he mentions how Michael Pearl’s teachings are designed to break, not soften, a child’s will and why we don’t want that.
Parenting in The Name of God Series
May 11, 2010 Leave a Comment
If you haven’t read the Parenting in The Name of God series lately, you are totally missing out. Do not miss part 7 and part 8.
Update: June 25, 2011: The ebook, “Parenting In The Name of God” has been released.
Parenting In The Name of God Part 4
April 13, 2010 Leave a Comment
Parenting In The Name of God Part 4 is up at Scita Scienda. If you have missed any part of this series, there is a link to it in my sidebar under Anti Pearl Resources.
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