Biblical Educational Values promoted in Family by Catechesis
In biblical Israel, the father was main responsible for the religious education of his son. However, although the religious leaders of biblical Israelite community appreciated the goodwill and the assuming with responsibility of this duty, they didn’t show any trust in voluntary attitude of the father; they imposed an obligation to give his son an intellectual and religious enthusiasm as earlier, on a good path in life. This explains the appearance of a „parental teaching strategy” to „plant” the „Word of God” in the mind of the son, in all times and under any circumstances, „when you sit, when you go, when you sleep, when you wake up”. Therefore, the religious education in the family must start from the age when the child understands the meaning of things; it must be continuous and progressive, and the good organization of teaching must facilitate its rapid accumulation of truths of faith. The most cogent text about religious education in family made pursuant to a catechetical structure (question and answer) is Deuteronomy 6:20-25. This old testamental text, of the reference in the study of education in Jewish antiquity, is considered in the biblical exegesis a „model of catechesis” (die Musterkatechese) in the family.