If you’re looking for practical hints for Christian parents, Henry Clay Trumbull offers a refreshing, Scripture-minded approach to child-training—one that made me rethink areas of parenting I hadn’t considered as deeply before. After republishing two of his other works (one on prayer and one on assurance of salvation), I was eager to bring his parenting counsel back into print, and I found it both searching and helpful.
Trumbull presses a question many Christian parents need to face: are we helping our children form their own biblical convictions, or are we unintentionally training them to borrow ours without understanding? He urges parents to guide children to test things by the Scriptures—so that, if they differ from us in some areas, they can explain their reasons from the Bible rather than merely saying, “Dad said…”
You’ll find chapters that spark thoughtful, practical application—such as Honoring a Child’s Individuality and Training a Child as a Questioner. And while you may not agree with every emphasis (as with any parenting book), Trumbull models a careful pursuit of balance. For example, Will-Training, Rather Than Will-Breaking may strike some readers as too gentle—yet it’s followed by The Place of “Must” in Training, showing he is not avoiding firmness, but aiming for wisdom.
In an age of parenting advice that often drifts from Scripture, these practical hints for Christian parents offer biblical perspective and usable counsel—especially on issues you may not have thought through before.
What precious souls the Lord has entrusted to us in our children. May God give us grace to love them well.
