Letter: It is a clear command of the Lord that the home is to be a place of Scriptural Instruction for children
A letter from Rev Ivan Foster:
A letter from James Hardy was published in your newspaper on 3rd December 2025.
The internet version of that letter had the heading:
It most certainly is a clear command of the Lord that the ‘home’ is to be a place of Scriptural Instruction for children.
‘And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart: And thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house, and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up,’ Deuteronomy 6:6-7. See also Deuteronomy 11:18-21.
There can be no disputing the place given to Biblical instruction of the young within the home in the purpose of God. The same truth is repeated in the New Testament, for example, by Christ and in Paul’s epistles.
‘Jesus said, Suffer little children, and forbid them not, to come unto me: for of such is the kingdom of heaven,’ Matthew 19:13-16.
‘And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord,’ Ephesians 6:4.
‘When I call to remembrance the unfeigned faith that is in thee, which dwelt first in thy grandmother Lois, and thy mother Eunice; and I am persuaded that in thee also,’ 2 Timothy 1:5.
‘But continue thou in the things which thou hast learned and hast been assured of, knowing of whom thou hast learned them; and that from a child thou hast known the holy scriptures, which are able to make thee wise unto salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works,’ 2 Timothy 3:14-17.
However, the problem facing parents who thus seek to obey the Lord, is that the state school then teaches the children under its care, in virtually every subject in the curriculum, including Religious Education, that which is entirely opposite to what the Bible states.
Evolution rather than the Bible’s record of God’s creating all things including man, Genesis Chapters 1 and 2, is what the state school teaches children!
Recently it was highlighted that the Education Authority had issued guidelines to all teachers whereby the moral perversions such as ‘transgenderism’ and ‘sodomy’ are to be considered normal and acceptable lifestyles. ‘Abortion’, the taking of the life of an unborn human being, is likewise to be considered reasonable, tolerable and acceptable.
Such a moral ‘conundrum’ presented by this conflict between the Christian home and the state school is a chief cause for the decline of belief in God amongst the rising generation and all the social ills that such will give rise to.
It can only be remedied by parents and faithful Gospel ministers taking steps to establish schools where the truth of God is the foundation of a true education.
Rev Ivan Foster (Rtd), Kilskeery, Co Tyrone