Brett's review
rating:
recommended for: Parents
Overview:
Shepherding a Child’s Heart is a decent book on raising children. It consciously seeks to break away from the behavioralism that defines most literature on raising children. Tripp seeks to address the heart of the child not just the actions of the child, rightly recognizing early on that the main goal is to raise children that love the Lord.
The book is broken into two main sections – the first on foundations of biblical childrearing and the second on the stages of growth within a child. The books seeks to walk a via media between authoritarian childrearing and a felt-need based childrearing. Throughout the entire book the end goal of what kind of child we are looking for in as they become adults is held before the reader.
Strengths:
Tripp does a wonderful job in giving helpful suggestions. The ideas in the book are very concrete and many are convicting. It is not hard to learn how to do a better job as a parent reading this book.
There is also and admi...more
Overview:
Shepherding a Child’s Heart is a decent book on raising children. It consciously seeks to break away from the behavioralism that defines most literature on raising children. Tripp seeks to address the heart of the child not just the actions of the child, rightly recognizing early on that the main goal is to raise children that love the Lord.
The book is broken into two main sections – the first on foundations of biblical childrearing and the second on the stages of growth within a child. The books seeks to walk a via media between authoritarian childrearing and a felt-need based childrearing. Throughout the entire book the end goal of what kind of child we are looking for in as they become adults is held before the reader.
Strengths:
Tripp does a wonderful job in giving helpful suggestions. The ideas in the book are very concrete and many are convicting. It is not hard to learn how to do a better job as a parent reading this book.
There is also and admirable desire to root the growth in sanctification. Tripp does not promise magic results and he repudiates the errors of covenantal succession. He believes that our children must understand Christ and the cross (and embrace them as their own) if they are to grow to maturity. He also continually seeks to not fall into the Baptist trap of seeing our children as pagans who need to be brought to Christ.
Weaknesses:
For all of Tripp’s good intentions the book often blurs the lines between behavioralism and sanctification. He looks at character as being an issue of the heart. However, his treatment of character still focuses greatly on what our children do. Outside a few mentions of family worship, very little consideration is truly given to the means that God uses to renew the minds of our children. Thus much was lacking in terms of sanctification by grace through faith and the means of grace in the lives of our children.
Especially telling is that the lion’s share of his biblical references come out of the book of Proverbs. This, in and of itself is not wrong, but Proverbs is one of the trickier books to understand in light of Christ. Tripp does not come through in showing us how the book of Proverbs preaches Christ and then shows us to find our lives in Christ. Therefore his attempt to give a ‘biblical’ approach to childrearing is found wanting. He does not present a thoroughly biblical understanding of childrearing as it pertains to grace and sanctification. Rather his approach seems to look for precepts that will bring about godly children.
Tripp, though he says he went to Westminster Seminary, seems to be lacking when it comes to understanding the covenants. His understanding the Law and the purpose of it is never expressed, but he seems to suggest that our children are under. He also seems to argue that early in our children’s lives is a time for Law and later a time for grace (though this is not explicit). A more robust understanding of the biblical doctrine of sanctification would be a helpful antidote to many of the ills of this book. Tripp’s use of Ephesians 6 is very concerning. He argues for a circle of blessing that comes from obeying God’s Law which results in long life. Again this require careful correction with a more biblical covenant theology.
Summary:
This book might be categorized along similar lines of some of Gary Ezzo’s writings. Much of the teaching falls more into common grace wisdom and is, in that regard, very helpful. When it comes to his use of Scripture much of it is contrary to a accurate understanding of genre and covenantal context. Much of his reading of the Scriptures is abstracted from the person and work of Jesus Christ and for that reason becomes the very behavioralism that he is trying to avoid.
Shepherding a Child’s Heart has many helpful things to say, but they must be found amidst some very misleading concepts and theology. It would, therefore, be hard to recommend this book to the non-discerning reader. There is much meat to be kept and many bones to be spit out. Read cautiously.
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Shepherding a Child's Heart