"Man was created to be a moral being, and moral choices are inescapable for him. They do not disappear when he denies them. God’s test of men is in terms of their choices: if they are of Christ, they reveal it in their works, their fruits.
The commandment therefore is plain-spoken: “And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day” (Deuteronomy 11:32). The statement is not an appeal, saying, Think about it, and make God happy by doing what He suggests! It is a blunt command: do it. Man is not asked to reflect on what God says, nor to understand it, but to obey it.
"Contemporary education stresses the participation of the child, who is urged to comment on the teaching, express opinions, and to treat the body of knowledge as something to be judged, to be taken only at will. The result is ignorance, because the self-importance of the child is cultivated rather than his self-discipline. Education for ignorance and arrogance is the result.
"The antinomianism of the churches has been a major force in this evil development. We have had a child-centered education, and not only God but subject content has lost its rightful place. Life is neither child-centered nor man-centered, and it is an illusion to think so. Life is God-centered. It serves His purposes or incurs His judgment. Curses and blessings, rewards and punishments, are therefore inseparable from life. The disaster of "public" education has been its abandonment of rewards and punishments. In the 1950s, a woman was called to the school for consultation about her son, described on the telephone as a "social deviate." She hurried to the school in shock and alarm. She found that her son's problem was that he read books during recess instead of playing. We can see why education has been going downhill since then. Such rewards and punishments as do exist are not in terms of any valid standard."
The commandment therefore is plain-spoken: “And ye shall observe to do all the statutes and judgments which I set before you this day” (Deuteronomy 11:32). The statement is not an appeal, saying, Think about it, and make God happy by doing what He suggests! It is a blunt command: do it. Man is not asked to reflect on what God says, nor to understand it, but to obey it.
"Contemporary education stresses the participation of the child, who is urged to comment on the teaching, express opinions, and to treat the body of knowledge as something to be judged, to be taken only at will. The result is ignorance, because the self-importance of the child is cultivated rather than his self-discipline. Education for ignorance and arrogance is the result.
"The antinomianism of the churches has been a major force in this evil development. We have had a child-centered education, and not only God but subject content has lost its rightful place. Life is neither child-centered nor man-centered, and it is an illusion to think so. Life is God-centered. It serves His purposes or incurs His judgment. Curses and blessings, rewards and punishments, are therefore inseparable from life. The disaster of "public" education has been its abandonment of rewards and punishments. In the 1950s, a woman was called to the school for consultation about her son, described on the telephone as a "social deviate." She hurried to the school in shock and alarm. She found that her son's problem was that he read books during recess instead of playing. We can see why education has been going downhill since then. Such rewards and punishments as do exist are not in terms of any valid standard."
~ R.J. Rushdoony, Deuteronomy p. 183-184.
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