Roots by the River

There are means of teaching information to the head that are very effective and probably should be used for all secular information. One of them is Classical Education, grammar, logic, and rhetoric. The difficulty with these methods, all of them, is that they can be used to teach misinformation, falsehood. The methods are so effective that the person taught cannot discern any falsehood. It is fairly harmless in secular education. If false, the next generation will discover it but not the generation that was taught. In Christian teaching, this method is more deadly. A catechism is a use of the grammar method. In young children this repetition is used. Most of the questions are good questions and good answers. There may be a bad question and a bad answer. It is memorized along with all of the true ones. To check this out, look at the different catechisms you know and compare them with the Bible you know. Catechisms are not limited to one generation. If there is a falsehood in the c...

“Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming.” (Ephesians 4:14) “Rather, we have renounced secret and shameful ways ; we do not use deception , nor do we distort the word of God . On the contrary, by setting forth the truth plainly we commend ourselves to everyone’s conscience in the sight of God.” (II Corinthians 4:2) “For the appeal we make does not spring from error or impure motives , nor are we trying to trick you . On the contrary, we speak as those approved by God to be entrusted with the gospel. We are not trying to please people but God, who tests our hearts. You know we never used flattery , nor did we put on a mask to cover up greed —God is our witness. We were not looking for praise from people, not from you or anyone else, even though as apostles of Christ we could have asserted our authority.” (I Thessalonians 2:3-6) “...

“And the Lord’s servant must not be quarrelsome but must be kind to everyone, able to teach, not resentful. Opponents must be gently instructed , in the hope that God will grant them repentance leading them to a knowledge of the truth.” (II Timothy 2:24-25) “For what we preach is not ourselves, but Jesus Christ as Lord, and ourselves as your servants for Jesus’ sake.” (II Corinthians 4:5)