A few months ago I praised Michael Pearl’s article on “Cloistered Homeschool Syndrome” as a step in the right direction by someone who’s otherwise been associated with a very legalistic branch of the homeschooling community. Though he still remains a dispensationalist and a Pelagian, his statements criticizing the failure of the patriarchal movement were very much welcome.

Bill Gothard, another name associated with the legalistic branch of the homeschooling community, responded to the article — which has been posted here on Michael Pearl’s website. His response, unfortunately, seems to do damage to the steps in the right direction by Michael Pearl, as Gothard re-emphasizes some of the most legalistic and reprehensible aspects of this theology and worldview.

My time this evening is limited so a detailed critique of the flaws in Gothard’s hermeneutic is beyond the scope of this post, but I will highlight a few things in passing. All of the bulleted items are direct quotations from Gothard’s response.

  • we explain that a man is to leave his father and mother when he gets married and is no longer under their authority.
I take issue with this for a number of reasons, with the primary being that the notion that a “child” must live at home, under authority, until marriage is unscriptural. Second that I am single and living alone also means that under Gothard’s system, I am living in sin.
  • We have found that by helping dads transform these painful memories by applying the commands of Christ, they are able to experience…
Perhaps instead of trying to live by a new law, a better way would be to cast one’s cares upon Christ and receive grace… looking to Christ and not to one’s own ability.
  • Under the Mosaic law, the nation of Israel was not to have social interaction with other nations, and everything in their society was built around the family.
Seriously?
  • This is not to take away from the need for sons and daughters to honor and obey their parents, especially in regard to standards and choice of a marriage partner…
I AGREE that honor of one’s parents is something grossly lacking in modern culture. But this notion of following lifestyle standards, or participating in courtship a.k.a. arranged marriage, is not a sound interpretation of Scripture. Such recommendations may be healthy, but are opinion and preference, not requirements.
  • Why are young people who have been trained up in a Godly home and kept from the corrupting influences of the world suddenly deciding to reject their upbringing and adopt the standards and ways of the world?
An excellent question because I agree this is a problem. But, within the Gothardite camp, what is defined as “corrupting influences of the world” goes far beyond Biblical law to also include man-made laws. Thus, with regard to this statement, perhaps it’s because the “young people” saw the shallowness of law-keeping without grace, or trying to earn the blessing of God under our own ability by doing everything right and hoping it’s good enough?

I have seen cases of young adults throwing out everything pertaining to Christianity due to the negative association of Christianity with Gothardism. This is certainly a wrong response, and an immature response, but at the same time I can understand why it does happen if the only “Christianity” someone gets is shallow law-keeping and not the rich, deep love and grace of God.
  • There is a great need for fathers to protect their daughters, especially from going out of the home for education or jobs that would influence them to reject what they have learned from Scripture.
In other words, within Gothardism it’s “Scriptural” that daughters not go to college or get a job. Doing so is seen as a rejection of Scripture. Hmm, I guess even some women in the Bible are condemned by this?? This could just as easily be a statement made within Sharia law, replacing “Scripture” with “the Quran”.
  • Bill Gothard, PhD
For years Gothard himself spoke out against “worldly credentials” — lecturing parents to not permit their children to attend college due to such credentials being unprofitable. Guess if you make the rules, you’re not obligated to keep them yourself.
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As I alluded to above, I actually agree with some of Gothard’s diagnoses of the problems in our culture and families, but disagree strongly with his prescription. The Gospel is the only cure… trying to do better under our power is not. Baptized humanism is still humanism. Pelagianism is still Pelagianism. A pile of skubala is still a pile of skubala.
I really do agree with some of the statements that there are some things gravely wrong with our culture, even within so-called Christian culture. Apathy and license run rampant, divorce rates are basically the same within and outside the church, Christian teens are growing into adulthood lacking a foundational Biblical worldview… I agree these are real concerns. But the solution Gothard and others in the legalistic homeschool community advocate are not the real solutions. I’d like to spend some time in the near future looking at what some possible solutions may be, but for now, I stand by the statement that this isn’t the solution but rather another harm.
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