[Epieikeia]

He does believe in the breaking down of children---take for example his wife who found out via others that her son was a liar (she did not catch him red handed).

The punishment to "rid" a little one from the sin of lying was to have her 6-year-old go out and get his own switch. The child would spend the whole morning picking out his switch. Promptly at noon (because if he was not prompt he would get additional "licks"), he would come to his mother and she would say this:

“You are a liar, and lying is an ugly, hateful thing. In order that your soul shall be spared, I’m going to whip you.”

He would then bend over and receive his 10 "licks." She states she "grieved over it"....yet continued with her plan for 7 days. Since he was so young, he lost track of the days. On the 8th day she allowed him to pick out his own switch and come to her (even though she knew the 7 days was over). At that point he handed her the switch and she finally declared the 7 days were over after he stated he hated lying and would never lie again.

Now, Debi admits that this might now work for everyone and states that she wishes that she had started younger so that her son would never have been a "liar" (which is a joke as none of us is immune from lying or any other kind of sin...which is exactly why Jesus came!)

Now, I would expect most would say that the 70 lickings total he received over the 7 days was the worst part of this form of discipline.

While I agree that 70 lickings is excessive and very much abusive, that is not what bothers me the most.

What bothers me the most is two-fold:

1) There was no mention of Jesus and how He paid for all our sins...even lying. The boy was told he was dirty, filthy...a liar----but he was cleansed by physical punishment and not the Gospel. Debi Pearl in this instanced failed to proclaim the love of Christ to her child. The lickings produced a good external outcome, but it did nothing for the heart. And that is the thing that should be foremost in our minds as God sees/cares about the heart.

I think so much of our parenting is on the external--we judge how "good" our children are by how "good" they act. But, it is the heart that needs our foremost attention and that can only be changed and built up by the Gospel---through love. The law has it's place, but it can't stand alone---our little ones need to hear about Jesus--their souls need the comfort that comes from Christ alone.

2) My second concern flows from the first concern. I am uncomfortable with the idea that we can "save" our children from sin by "beating" it out of them. No amount of whipping or punishment will cleanse anyone's heart. By doing so a parent takes the place of Christ and that is blasphemy.

I used the above example because it is a good display of what the Pearl's believe over all imo. While they talk about God and good morals, etc. they place themselves in the role of God. This is not uncommon with false teachers.

I don't believe in demonizing anyone---however, one can't ignore false teaching. Every book in the NT warns against false teaching except Philemon.

In the case of the Pearls, they hold to a lot false teaching that influences many Christians and puts undue burden on the hearts of many.

I agree with you that relationship is important and the relationships we have with our family members will flow much better when they are built on love in Christ and not on the harshness of the law.

ETA: http://www. nogreaterjoy.org/index.php?id=51&tx_ttnews [swords]=lying&tx_ttnews[tt_news] =212&tx_ttnews[backPid]=118&tx_ttnews[sViewPointer]=1&cHash=6e1d0e7775

I added the link so that one could read the story I described for themselves.