Instructing a Child’s Heart
Tedd and Margy Tripp
Shepherd Press, 2008, 188 pp., $13.95 (Audio Book: $35.00)
shepherdpress.com
“The Christian’s endeavor in child rearing is to pass on a culture of value rather than to facilitate independent cultural choices.” Your gut reaction to this statement likely will determine the usefulness of this book for you.
On some levels, the Tripps’ follow-up to Shepherding a Child’s Heart serves as a welcome critique of pure behaviorist and secular humanist models of raising kids; but their commitment to communicating the awe-filled fear of the Lord strays often into a paranoiac fear of youth culture, which they view as incomprehensible to parents, altogether malevolent and depraved and best avoided. The Tripps advocate teaching children submission to authority and that they reap what they sow; but by stopping there, they hold children responsible for their own decisions while refusing to equip them to make those decisions.
Not every parent will buy into the Tripps’ trip. But those who do may also like the audio book and DVD series ($125.95) based on this book. You can also see a promotional video at YouTube.
