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What is the Primitive Baptist position on Sunday schools?
Like missionary societies, there is no biblical precedent for Sunday schools and the church was never instructed to have them. Bible study is expected out of church members and is not limited to a formal church setting. Scriptural example dictates that such activities are conducted in contexts other than formal church worship (Acts 2:46, 17:17, 20:20). There is nothing in scriptures to indicate that worshippers, either in the New Testament or the Old, were ever segregated by knowledge, age, sex, marital status, or any other criterion. Instead, all worshipped in a common assembly. Jesus Himself charged the first preachers to feed the lambs (little ones), as well as the sheep (Jn. 21:15) in the context of the general assembly. We are told that the children's understanding can exceed that of the wise and prudent (Mt. 11:25, 21:15), and that God has ordained praise in the utterances of babes (Mt. 21:16). Accordingly, Jesus rebuked His disciples for denying admittance of children to His presence (Mt. 19:13-15; Mk. 9:36-37, 10:13-15). Hence, it should not be assumed that children are incapable of receiving proper instruction from the general assembly. The modern practice of denying children entrance to church sanctuaries is very much against the spirit of the scriptures. However, Primitive Baptists advocate a better position than Sunday schools, that of parents, whether single-parent homes or otherwise, instructing their children in their homes on a daily basis, which provides much more instruction than one hour per week. The church cannot take the place of the parental responsibility of teaching in the home (Eph. 6:4).
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