Take the proverb: "Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it." (Prov. 22:6)
Wooden literalism takes that statement as a fact, or actually an absolute promise. A LOT of parents of wayward offspring have suffered a tremendous amount of guilt from such an interpretation...thinking that if their child as an adult has chosen to walk away from the Lord, this verse is stating unequivocally it is THEIR fault.
I have heard such rationalized UnBiblical tripe all my adult life. First from many Pastors and then from many psychologist colleagues and professors.
In 63 years of watching parenting closely and the results closely, I have
AN EXCEPTION to that Scripture.
Never have.
In every case of the dozen or so cases where Pastors or professors or others asserted a given family was an exception, it only took me 3-5 minutes or less to ask a handful of questions sufficient to find out where the parenting was lacking.
Usually, in some key ways at some critical times to critical intensities, the parents had over emphasized "spare the rod and spoil the child" and
UTTERLY IGNORED "Provoke not your children to wrath."
And in many cases, the public personna of the parents was presumed to be the family personna which usually was quite different in harsh, hypocritical or worse ways.
I have NEVER found Scripture to prove untrue. Certainly not in this case either.
Interpreting Scriptrue literally where at all remotely possible is good horse sense and Holy Spirit fostered wisdom.
NOT doing so is ignorance and idiocy--usually combined horribly to the point where they stinketh.
Wooden literalism takes that statement as a fact, or actually an absolute promise. A LOT of parents of wayward offspring have suffered a tremendous amount of guilt from such an interpretation...thinking that if their child as an adult has chosen to walk away from the Lord, this verse is stating unequivocally it is THEIR fault.
I know that Quix was quoting another in their objection to "wooden literalism."
Consistency in child-rearing for the cause of Christ's glory, and teaching children that God has FIRST CALL AND FIRST CHOICE on their futures (friendships, worship, marriage, career, service, and life & death themselves), is what makes Proverbs 22:6 operate in the children's lives when they become adults.
This is the standard of God (reading the entire book of Proverbs), and when children go wayward it is because that standard was not determined to be kept consistently. I speak as a father of seven.
When Christian parents, from the outset and from the heart and will, say, "That verse is absolute, true, and the standard of God," and then seek God to fulfill it in the lives of their children . . . I can testify in the rearing of seven children . . . that verse WORKS LITERALLY, not "wooden"ly, but more like an IRON RAIL.
And that truth inverted could be taken as, hey, did I do it right or not? With the answer obtained through observation of the kids and where they’re at in knowing, serving, and LOVING the Lord ... at least it would be something an honest parent would consider doing.
Wooden literalism takes that statement as a fact, or actually an absolute promise. A LOT of parents of wayward offspring have suffered a tremendous amount of guilt from such an interpretation...thinking that if their child as an adult has chosen to walk away from the Lord, this verse is stating unequivocally it is THEIR fault.
I have heard such rationalized UnBiblical tripe all my adult life. First from many Pastors and then from many psychologist colleagues and professors.
In 63 years of watching parenting closely and the results closely, I have
NEVER
SEEN
AN EXCEPTION to that Scripture.
I'm very sorry, dear Quix, that you must believe that God the Father Himself screwed up in raising (and actually creating) His son Adam, who though given everything, quickly sinned on his own, bringing us all down.
How disappointing it must be to you to realize that even God messes up....because, after all, that proverb is MORE than a proverb, and is an absolute truth (even though, of course, Solomon, and the Holy Spirit never intended it to be understood that way...since it is, after all, a proverb, in the book of PROVERBS.)