“OUR CHILDREN
will not grow up to love God with
all their hearts outside of them
receiving diligent teaching.”
“The education of all children, from the moment that they
can get along without a mother’s care, shall be in state institu-
tions.” Karl Marx
“Give me four years to teach the children and the seed that I
have sown will never be uprooted.” Vladimir Lenin
“We who are engaged in the sacred cause of education are
entitled to look upon all parents as having given hostages
[their children] to our cause.” Horace Mann
“The youth of today is ever the people of tomorrow. For this
reason, we have set before ourselves the task of inoculating our
youth with the spirit of this community of the people at a very
early age, at an age when human beings are still unperverted
and therefore unspoiled. This Reich stands, and it is building
itself up for the future, upon its youth. And this new Reich will
give its youth to no one, but will itself take youth and give to
youth its own education and its own upbringing.” Adolf Hitler
“Secular professors in the universities ought to arrange
things so that students who enter as bigoted, homophobic, reli-
gious fundamentalists will leave college with views more like
our own. Students are fortunate to … have escaped the grip
of their frightening, vicious, dangerous parents. We are going
to go right on trying to discredit you [parents] in the eyes of
your children, trying to strip your fundamentalist religious
community of dignity, trying to make your views seem silly
rather than discussable.” Dr. Richard Rorty, professor at the
University of Virginia
“Let me control the textbooks, and I will control the state.”
Adolf Hitler
Dr. Irwin Lutzer in his book, When a Nation Forgets God,
explains how Hitler saw the youth of his day as belonging
to the state. Because of this belief, he took total control of
the education that children received. The first thing Hitler
did was to declare public education compulsory in 1938.
Then, he held the parents responsible for the raising of the
child’s body. What a child ate was the parents’ responsibility.
Finally, he took the steps to make sure that the Reich would
educate the child’s soul. What the child believed and felt
was the responsibility of the Reich. This is in direct conflict
with what God’s Word says about the family, children, and
education.
Some questions that we must consider:
1. Have you started to think the government should deter-
mine what your children are taught?
2. Have you relinquished the education of your children
to society?
3. Do you realize how you answer these questions indicate
whether you believe children belong to the “village” or
to the family?
What Does God Say?
To have a proper perspective on children and their educa-
tion, we must turn to God’s Word: “Behold, children are a
heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward. Like
arrows in the hand of a warrior, So are the children of one’s
youth. Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them; They
shall not be ashamed, But shall speak with their enemies in
the gate” (Ps 127:3-5).
From this verse and others, it becomes clear that children
are a gift from God, and this gift is given to parents. If this is
true, then parents don’t own their children but are responsible
for their children. Parents have a stewardship responsibility
to God for what He has given them in their children. This
is seen in the phrase, “Children are a heritage from the Lord.”
Children: God’s Homework Assignment To Parents
Everyone understands what a homework assignment means.
Whoever has been given an assignment, is responsible for
its completion. Whoever gives the assignment will eventu-
ally be the one who grades the assignment. In this context,
God gives children to parents as an assignment for them to
complete. How the parents complete the assignment will
determine the grade they will ultimately receive from God.
It is important to keep in mind that God did not give
this assignment (raising children) to the church, school or
state. He gave it to parents. This is why the very first biblical
principle that I wrote in my book, Kingdom Education, was
as follows: The education of children and youth is the primary
responsibility of parents.
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