Tenet 19: Delegating parts of the education process

Their Conversion

19. Since the educational mandate belongs to parents and they are commanded personally to walk beside and train their children, they ought not to transfer responsibility for the educational process to others. However, they have the liberty to delegate components of that process. While they should exercise great caution and reserve in doing this, and the more so the less mature the child, it is prudent to take advantage of the diversity of gifts within the body of Christ and enjoy the help and support that comes with being part of a larger community with a common purpose. (1 Cor. 12:14ff.; Gal. 4:1,2; 6:2; Eph. 4:16)

1Cor. 12:14 – For in fact the body is not one member but many.

This touches on using the gifts of others in the body of Christ to help.

Gal. 4:1,2 – Now I say that the heir, as long as he is a child, does not differ at all from a slave, though he is master of all, but is under guardians and stewards until the time appointed by the father.

This passage is about the relationship between the law and Christianity, and uses the example of an underage heir and the child's guardians to explain why there was a law. A child having guardians and stewards (tutors, child-minders) would relate to delegating things to others, but it would seem to be an example against home-schooling and even against mothers looking after their own children too.

Gal. 6:2 – Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.

Eph. 4:16 – from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by what every joint supplies, according to the effective working by which every part does its share, causes growth of the body for the edifying of itself in love.

It is good if the body works together.

19a) Their conversion

Since the educational mandate belongs to parents

Is this educational mandate a mandate for the child's total education - academic, physical, moral, spiritual, social, emotional and practical? When TBP talks of the educational mandate, it tries to convince people that all aspects of teaching were mandated to parents. The verses provided, however, speak of spiritual education, of teaching children about God. There is nothing in these verses to say the mandate for an intellectual education - reading and mathematics and the rest - belongs to parents.

b) and they are commanded personally to walk beside and train their children,

Only from Eph. 6:4 can that reasonably be concluded - if the verse refers to both parents. You can keep this point by dropping "the father’s authority to lead" (Tenet 5, 6, 7, 11, etc.), which depend on a different interpretation of that verse. I believe it refers to both parents, and thus find the points on paternal authority half-truths. (Fathers and mothers have authority to lead their children, in my view.)

Even then, it needs a qualifier: Parents are commanded to train their children in the ways of the Lord, not to train their children in all practical ways in which a child may need training. The rest could probably be taught by someone else, who do not walk beside them in that manner.

c) they ought not to transfer responsibility for the educational process to others.

As no biblical support were given that the educational mandate belonging to parents (beyond religious education) they could probably transfer responsibility for other forms of education.

d) However, they have the liberty to delegate components of that process.

As no verse stops them from delegating the responsibility, I would agree. However, this was not directly defended from the Bible.

e) While they should exercise great caution and reserve in doing this, and the more so the less mature the child,

It makes sense, but no verses were given for this either.

f) it is prudent to take advantage of the diversity of gifts within the body of Christ and enjoy the help and support that comes with being part of a larger community with a common purpose.

As this passage start with "It is prudent", I could forgive the lack of a specific verse that states we should enjoy the gifts for this particular purpose. God gave us gifts to help each other. That would probably include helping with each other's children, for instance teaching them about God. This is adequately defended from the Bible.

Other ways Christians understand this:

Many Christian parents believe they and the church should teach their children about God, but believe they could leave the intellectual part of education to others.

Summing it up

How reliable is this tenet? I will use a color code:

      The color code:

      This is adequately biblically defended

      This is defended biblically, but another view could also be defended biblically

      This is a partial truth. (The other part of the truth, that together make it Biblical, will be added in brackets.)

      This is not biblically defended

      This was not defended from the Bible, but I’ll concede it for rational reasons.

19. Since the educational mandate belongs to parents and they are commanded personally to walk beside and train their children (in Christianity), they ought not to transfer responsibility for the educational process to others. However, they have the liberty to delegate components of that process. While they should exercise great caution and reserve in doing this, and the more so the less mature the child, it is prudent to take advantage of the diversity of gifts within the body of Christ and enjoy the help and support that comes with being part of a larger community with a common purpose.