Creation and Authority
“In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” So begins the creation account in the book of Genesis, which tells how God made the universe and everything in it, material and immaterial. Now, this account is not exhaustive but focuses on the origin of the human race as the pinnacle of God’s creative work. That man is the apex of the created order is evident from the language God used to describe him: “Then God said, ‘Let us make man in our image, according to our likeness.'” (Gen. 1:26a). No other creature is said to be made in the image or likeness of God; man is unique in this regard.
Another piece of evidence is found in the governing responsibility that God assigns to man at the moment of creation. “‘They will rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, the livestock, the whole earth, and the creatures that crawl on the earth'” (Gen. 1:26b). Mankind was given ruling authority or dominion in relationship to every other type of creature on earth, making him master over the animal kingdom.
This authority was extended to his offspring in verses 27 and 28: “So God created man in his own image; he created him in the image of God; he created them male and female. God blessed them, and God said to them, ‘Be fruitful, multiply, fill the earth, and subdue it. Rule the fish of the sea, the birds of the sky, and every creature that crawls on the earth.'” Notice that the “image of God” language is repeated, as are the instructions to subdue and rule over the other living creatures.
Within the framework of a biblical worldview, parental rights and responsibilities are foundational.
Something of the method by which man is to exercise this rule is suggested by the fact that man was created “male and female,” that is, a gendered binary, and blessed with fruitfulness. God told them to multiply and fill the earth with their offspring and, in conjunction with this multiplying, to subdue and rule. This carries a number of significant implications, not the least of which is the assumption that parents exercise authority over their children to instruct them concerning their place in the ongoing responsibility of the human race to take dominion over the rest of creation.
Within the framework of a biblical worldview, then, parental rights and responsibilities are foundational. They come before and therefore supersede the concerns of broader civilization and society. They precede and overrule the concerns of human governments. They even exist prior to the church. In short, parental rights are among the most foundational rights alongside those of individual life and liberty.
Authority Abused
This does not necessarily make parental rights absolute. For example, a parent who neglects to provide basic necessities like food and clothing is guilty, not primarily of violating the laws of civil society but of the even more fundamental rights of the child who is a human person made in the image of God. In such cases it falls to the civil authorities to intervene. This example demonstrates two key principles: divinely-delegated authority is often corrupted by sin and the duty of the strong to protect the weak at times involves deliberate interference in another’s sphere of authority.
With respect to the former, we must admit that systems of authority often break down; the strong fail to protect the weak and in some cases actively abuse those under their control. Like it or not, this is a reality of the world in which we live, and no amount of education or indoctrination will remove the sinful tendencies which manifest in authoritarian abuses.
This is a strength of the biblical worldview, because it is able to explain the origin of sin and assure us of its eventual eradication. Sin entered the world through the rebellion of the first man, Adam, as recorded in Genesis 3, and this sin has spread pervasively through all of their descendants. The apostle Paul explains in Romans 5 that “just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, in this way death spread to all people, because all sinned” (v.12). Sin as a principle is also suggested in v.19, “through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners.” This means we should not be surprised when some parents abuse their authority and must be restrained from doing so.
This same passage reveals that mankind’s corruption is not final or immutable, but is answered by the gracious substitution of Jesus Christ. “For just as through one man’s disobedience the many were made sinners, so also through the one man’s obedience the many will be made righteous. The law came along to multiply the trespass. But where sin multiplied, grace multiplied even more so that, just as sin reigned in death, so also grace will reign through righteousness, resulting in eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (v.19-21). And John’s vision of the new heaven and new earth gives this hope: “Nothing unclean will ever enter it, nor anyone who does what is detestable or false” (Rev. 21:27), “and there will no longer be any curse” (22:3). Abusive authority will not last forever.
But what of the latter principle, that the strong at times must interfere in another sphere of authority on behalf of the weaker who suffers abuse or neglect? This, too, is adequately provided for by a biblical worldview. An example will help to show this. After they had come off the ark by which they escaped the destruction of the world, the Lord spoke to Noah and his sons: “Whoever sheds man’s blood, by man his blood shall be shed” (Gen. 9:6). In other words, God expects mankind to collectively intervene in cases of homicide by exercising capital punishment. Under normal circumstances, a man’s life is held sacred beyond the reach of government, society, or the even the race as a whole. But when one man takes another’s life, the strength of the majority is to be brought down on his head to exact justice. This is implied in Romans 13 which speaks of the civil authority that he “does not carry the sword for no reason,” but is “an avenger that brings wrath on the one who does wrong” (v.4).
In both cases, the authority to restrain evil is rooted, not in the superior claim of the human race over the rights of the individual, but in God himself. And this authority, which would deprive an individual of his rights under God, is exercised only when that individual has abused someone else by taking away their fundamental human right to life.
I believe we can argue that this principle should be applied in a kind of graded way to other offenses of man against his fellow man, including parents who abuse or neglect their children. All of this is necessary to explain the nature and boundaries of parental authority from a biblical worldview. But what about those who reject the Bible or simply have not developed a comprehensive biblical worldview? How can they defend parental rights and authority? We will turn to those questions next.