Bad parents
"I cannot suppose that you are such a stranger in England as to be ignorant of the general complaint concerning the decay in the power of godliness, and especially of the great corruption of youth. Wherever you go, you will hear men crying out about how bad youth are. But indeed the source of the problem must be sought a little higher: it is bad parents that make bad children! We cannot blame children so much for their unruliness, for the greater weight of the blame lies in our own negligence in their education." (Thomas Manton, Epistle to the Reader of the Westminster Confessions of Faith and Larger and Shorter Catechisms, reprinted in The Family Worship Book p109)It appears from Manton's comments (circa 1647), that the problem of parenting is not a new one, and that then, as now, society was slow to locate responsibility with parents for the education and formation of their children. So his statement is very bold: "it is bad parents that make bad children!" I dare say it is more bold now than then to make such a claim, but no less true. Further, I think that his approach is right not to point the finger at others, but to frame it as confession: "the greater blame lies in our own negligence in their education."
Nor did Manton stop with confession and wallowing in the bad condition of parenting. The Epistle was bound with the Westminster Confession and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms, because he was convinced that the application and use of these by parents was the remedy for their situation. I think we would do well to learn from him on all three levels: acknowledging the failure of parenting, confessing our sin, and repenting by taking hold of the resources provided for the instruction of our children.
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4 comments:
Would you say that "bad parents = bad children" is a generalization? Are there not exceptions? Kari
It is a generalization which holds as a general rule, but certainly is not absolute. There are both happy and sad instances to the contrary.
However, I think his point is that part of the responsibility for bad children lies with their parents.
I would say this is true, but would like to take it one step further to apply to our culture.
bad father = bad children
I ran across something that i didn't notice before during a Sunday School class. Exodus 20:5 "punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me.." It was not the sins of the mother, aunt, or child but the sin's of the fathers (father & grandfathers).
I have often thought that one of the most evil designs of the devil is to destroy fathers, because in doing so he distorts the image that we are to reflect to our children, of our heavenly Father.
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