Does the Biblical shebet, the Hebrew word for rod, mean “a light, flexible instrument” or a “section of ¼ inch plumber’s supply line”, or “a little, ten- to twelve-inch long, willowy branch” or a “one-foot ruler” or a “paddle” or “a belt or larger tree branch”.

All of the above are spanking instruments which Michael Pearl has recommended to his readers. It is very concerning to me that Michael Pearl interprets “rod” in a culturally specific way which does not reflect either the original language nor the context of Proverbs.

Grace and peace,

This way I hope to help my children to avoid the possibility of mindless action so that they will not end up acting upon someone’s authority when that person advocates immoral behaviour.

By being open to the possibility of improving our ideas together, I find that the children most often do take my ideas seriously and we do not need to resort to physical violence in order to have a very satisfactory private life…

I say it over and over…How does a parent teach their child about the minimal use of violence in the situation that the parent whips a child for the least possible infringement? Just does not make sense and simply serves to make the world a much more violent place :(

Corrie, I can sort of see your point about obedience but the Bible tells children to obey their parents but never tells parents to force obedience, free will seems to be key. The Bible *does* tell parents to love their children and not to provoke them. The Pearls’ teaching definately is institutionalized provocation.

db

However, when I started perusing the Pearl’s website, I was struck by one essay written by Michael in which he claims to be without sin. LOL! Wow- he doesn’t need the ransom then, does he? ;)

I totally agree- where is the mercy? Where is Christ in the Pearl’s methods? Christ responded with gentle discipline when his disciples acted like bratty kids and argued about which one was greatest (over and over, lol!).

However, I read through the booklet nonetheless and though I found that I disagreed with much of Michael’s take on the Bible, my wife and I did benefit from the practical points he lays out with regards to teaching your children to listen to your voice. We had read through a whole lot of material previous to having received their book, and none of it, even Tripp’s stuff, ever dealt with practical training techniques that my wife and I have found to work wonders. I talk about this in my post (where TG left a comment).

To Train Up a Child is the only booklet I have read from the Pearl’s. I have never recommend their ministry, but will recommend, with extreme caution to discern, the booklet’s training methods. I believe that is the first two chapters or so.

Since posting my article (linked above), I have received a lot of alarmed emailers telling me they are amazed I would have anything to do with the Pearl’s. Well, I don’t have anything to do with them, just those little sections from that one book. I am by no means a Pearl sycophant. As for the Salon.com article, I would expect worldlings to have a negative reaction to any Christian child rearing, not just the Pearl’s. The idea of depriving a child the freedom to grab a water glass by telling him or her “no” and giving a switch to the hand to re-enforce the “no” is absolutely shocking to a person whose mind is darkened in sin and has no concept of loving, parental discipline.

I am not suprised they picked on the Pearl’s; the family draws attention to themselves because of who they are. I am curious of their thoughts about Tedd Tripp’s material, or any other sound minded reformed parenting ministries, but of course they are not going to them because of the fact they are sound.

Fred

Some of the blogs I read refer to ‘To Train Up a Child’ so nonchalantly that it seems like they take the Pearls as the Biblical authority for child-rearing. It’s a little alarming.

I think you’re right, though, that it appeals to a certain subculture: it seems like the subculture itself may appeal to certain personality types. Authoritarian, rule-based, tradition-is-king, the USA was founded on Christianity alone (and not land-lust, power-mongering, or greed), and so on and so forth. While I think there is value in rules and tradition, it seems like it is dangerously easy to get caught up into the ‘rose-tinted view’ of what was (or is). It really gets my goat. I mean – com’on! Get REAL, people!

Hmmmm…slight tangent.

Thanks for posting!

Kim I also agree on the mercy aspect. The most recent issue of NGJ highlighted Rebekah Pearl saying how she spanks her son for “being careless”. There is no room for grace in a system like that. Both parent and child are expected to be perfect. Despite the fact that a 5 years of age her son has yet to even understand completely “how” to do many of the things he is then disciplined for not knowing.

Even in the book CTBHHM there were “textual errors”. Are we to discipline Rebekah and Debi Pearl for their carelessness? Of course not. But sadly the grace they expect from others, including their own son/grandson they are so very unwilling to extend themselves.