by Rebecca Prewett
Who is Dr. Oracle?
Dr. Oracle is a name drawn from literature. In the Anne of Green Gables series, Anne intended to follow diligently the advice of a "Sir Oracle" on the care of babies. She probably would have done better to consult her longtime friend Rachel Lynde, who had commented in her typical humor years before about a mistake made by the kind spinster who was raising Anne, "...I can see Marilla doesn't want advice and she thinks she knows more about bringing children up than I do for all she's an old maid. But that's always the way. Folks that has brought up children know that there's no hard and fast method in the world that'll suit every child. But them as never have think it's all as plain and easy as Rule of Three--just set your three terms down so fashion, and the sum'll work out correct. But flesh and blood don't come under the head of arithmetic and that's where Marilla Cuthbert makes her mistake." However, although Anne had "pinned her faith" to "Sir Oracle on the Care and Training of Children", once she had her own child in her arms, she quickly thought differently; later she "laughed Sir Oracle to scorn" and said, "He never had any children of his own...I am sure he hadn't or he wouldn't have written such rubbish."
Years later, Anne's teenage daughter cared for a war baby, raising it "by the book", which was written by a Dr. Morgan who seemed to have a firm, unshakable opinion about everything. There is a precious scene when Rilla's heart is finally softened towards the baby and she violates "the book" by covering the little baby's face with kisses.
I use "Dr. Oracle" to refer to all of those who have achieved "expert" status, be they self-appointed or appointed by legions of faithful followers. Dr. Spock was the Dr. Oracle of his time; today it sometimes seems as if there are too many to count. A Dr. Oracle-type expert tends to have strong opinions and often presents a set method for the "Care and Training of Children" or for family life. He is viewed by his more devoted followers as an almost infallible expert, whether or not he intends to present himself as such.
Division in the Church
"I am of Cephas."
"I am of Paul."
"I am of Dr. Oracle."
"We're training our children the only right way according to Dr. Oracle."
"Maybe if you followed Dr. Oracle, you wouldn't be having this problem."
"We've decided it's best if our children play only with children from other Dr. Oracle families. I'm afraid you can't be part of our group if you don't follow his principles."
"We won't let my mother babysit anymore because she won't do what Dr. Oracle says."
"Following Dr. Oracle has cost us some friendships, but we think it's worth it."
"Going contrary to Dr. Oracle is like going contrary to the Bible. He's that right on."
"The only book worth reading is Dr. Oracle's. I encourage my friends to avoid anyone who disagrees with him."
"How can you say Dr. Expert is a Christian? He disagrees with Dr. Oracle! In fact, Dr. Oracle is the only one who isn't teaching parents humanism."
"I believe Dr. Oracle was literally sent by God."
"I am of Dr. Oracle."
Then there are those who are not of Dr. Oracle.
"I was asked to leave a homeschooling group because I didn't care much for what Dr. Oracle was teaching."
"I've run the church nursery for years and have never had trouble with parents until now. Suddenly it's Dr. Oracle this and Dr. Oracle that, he says this and he says that. Now they want me to take his classes. As if I've never run a nursery before! As if I haven't already raised children of my own!"
"We were told we either had to leave the church or stop voicing our concerns about Dr. Oracle."
"We were told that our son's disability was a direct result of our not following Dr. Oracle and that we had no business even talking to young parents."
"Our friends who are into Dr. Oracle have now dumped us."
"Parents are being told not to take my class because I don't recommend Dr. Oracle."
"We were told that we are in sin and need to repent--all because we don't follow Dr. Oracle."
"They said I was a humanist because I recommended Dr. Expert instead of Dr. Oracle."
"They kept accusing me of following some sort of secular philosophy just because I don't follow Dr. Oracle. I said I was trying to do what the Bible says and I tried to get them to show me from Scripture where I was wrong. But they just kept on quoting Dr. Oracle."
Too frequently, the very nature of Dr. Oracle-style teaching seems to foster divisiveness. Often there is an emphasis on externals, extra-Biblical practices, a narrow interpretation or application of selected Scriptures, a certain type of "mindset", special vocabulary, and a sense of group identity and kinship. More devoted followers often have such a strong sense of identity with their Dr. Oracle that they will refer to their children as "Oracle babies" or themselves as "Oracle-ites". They will refer to their involvement with Dr. Oracle often in an almost "evangelistic" way; for example, they will bring up Dr. Oracle when meeting people for the first time, in their initial introduction to a new church congregation, in Christmas letters, in their computer online service profiles, or on their personal web pages. Some of these practices and attitudes set followers apart from nonfollowers, increasing the sense of exclusiveness. The mix of Scripture and allegedly Biblical "principles" with a prescribed methodology can cause confusion; thus, those who do not embrace the methodology are seen as rejecting Scripture.
One mother shared how her Dr. Oracle advocated, among other things, distinctiveness in dress. "We could spot other Oracle families on sight. It was almost like a uniform. I got to the point where I thought that short-haired women in print dresses or bright colors were expressing their rebellion or ignorance of Scripture."
A certain hand gesture was a big issue for another mother. "Once we were in a group and a child needed to catch his mother's attention. He stood next to her and acted polite, but he didn't use the right hand gesture. Another mother in the group jumped all over his mother for not teaching him Dr. Oracle's hand gesture."
"To us, TV was the dividing line. Our Dr. Oracle got us to throw it out. In our mind, if you had one, you were wrong."
"Our Dr. Oracle got us to change our entire diet. We had a hard time believing that people who brought desserts to church potlucks weren't leading people into sin."
A Dr. Oracle who was a homeschooling advocate decried the use of textbooks. "I started thinking that people who relied on textbooks instead of 'living books' weren't really homeschooling but were simply following the public school model."
Another Dr. Oracle taught that sending children to public school was akin to offering them up to Molech. "This was such a big, major thing that many of us broke fellowship over schooling choices." [I believe that parents are responsible for teaching their children. I also strongly question whether parents should delegate this responsibility to heathens. In my opinion, the Bible strongly discourages such a practice. However, it should not be an issue that divides believers.]
Infant feeding practices have been, unfortunately, a major cause of division. Scripture does not indicate how often we should feed our babies or whether this should be done on a schedule or ad lib. Yet a number of teachers have attempted to incorporate feeding routines within a supposedly Biblical method, implying that this method is the only logical outworking of a Biblical mindset. Differing methods are then seen as less Biblical, unbiblical, or even anti-Biblical.
A Suggestion for Those Caught in the
Middle
An acquaintance of mine was taken to task by a number of "Oracle moms" who objected to her nursing her baby more frequently than Dr. Oracle advocated. This particular situation was especially interesting because the mother in question was nursing her fifth baby and the critical mothers were far less experienced. Ironically, before they had discovered Dr. Oracle, these same mothers had commended her for the polite and obedient behavior of her children and had expressed the hope that they would have babies like hers. Now they were quite vocal in their insistence that she needed to repent of her infant feeding practices.
Finally, feeling a bit harassed, my acquaintance asked her husband for advice as to how to respond. He told her, "Well, Dr. Oracle is right in saying that the husband is in authority over his family. Remind these moms of that and tell them that, as the authority over my household, I have commanded you to nurse our baby exactly the way you do. If they have a problem with that, tell them to ask their husbands to talk to me." The Oracle moms decided not to pursue this and the matter was dropped.
This situation offers some valuable lessons on handling criticism and unwarranted rebukes concerning issues best left to the discretion of individual families. As wives, we must continually acknowledge and respect the leadership of our husbands. When other women approach us with "suggestions" or even criticism and rebuke, I believe it is best to remind them gently that it is our husbands who decide these issues and that we are under our husbands' authority, not under the authority of other women or even Dr. Oracle. (Of course this will carry little weight if the particular Dr. Oracle in question advocates the overthrow of the patriarchal system! In that case, we must appeal to Scripture or simply refuse, politely, to continue the conversation.)
If we continue to listen to such complaints or even enter into debate, we must be very careful to make clear that we will not tolerate any attempts to undermine, criticize, or call into question our husband's authority over his family. In some cases, it is best to say, "My husband is the one who makes those decisions. If your husband believes we are in sin, then he needs to follow the guidelines of Matthew 18." This puts the emphasis back where it belongs, both in terms of family authority structure and in terms of what distinguishes loving Christian concern from busybody meddling. As Christians, it is our responsibility to restore lovingly a brother or sister who has fallen into sin, showing her from Scripture where she has sinned and how she can be free from sin. However, we must avoid criticizing other Believers for following their consciences in matters of freedom.
Unfortunately, for many Dr. Oracle followers, issues such as infant feeding practices, TV watching, bright colors, hairstyles, diet, etc. are not seen as areas of freedom, but rather as essential elements of an entire philosophy and system of practices. The divisions caused by this are unnecessary, deep, painful, and grievous.
Symptoms of Dr. Oracle
Syndrome
How to Avoid Dr. Oracle
Syndrome
The Bible has a simple solution. Simple, but not necessarily easy.
First, we must examine every teaching in light of Scripture. We must not be swayed by celebrity or expert status, nor should we assume that the label of "Biblical" attached to anything necessarily makes it so.
Second, we must identify the true experts: men and women who have gone the distance, who have wisdom to share, whom we know well enough to discern their character and testimony, and who know us well enough to give meaningful and specific advice. For women, this is often referred to as the Titus 2:3-5 relationship. It consists of older, more experienced women within the local church teaching younger women to be keepers at home, to love their husbands, love their children, etc. We must be willing to learn from the meek and lowly, rather than just from the popular and highly esteemed.
Third, we must recognize that God has placed us, as parents, in authority over our families--not Dr. Oracle. While Dr. Oracle may have wisdom worth hearing, he does not know our specific family nor is he ultimately responsible for it. We as parents must be willing to accept the fact that we are the experts in our family; no one knows our children as well as we do. If we do not believe this, perhaps we need to alter our family life to the point that we grow to know our children more intimately.
Fourth, we must pray for discernment. The consequences can be grim indeed for those who are swayed by every wind of teaching.
Fifth, we must be guided by the Holy Spirit.
Sixth, we must not allow anyone to bind our consciences, no matter how authoritative they might sound. We must not allow anyone to place upon us a burden of man's design.
Seventh, we must pursue our own sanctification and spiritual maturity, becoming less vulnerable to the modern siren songs of Dr. Oracle and his many colleagues.
How can we expect our children to learn to think for themselves, establish a Biblical worldview, examine every teaching in light of Scripture, avoid peer pressure and popular movements, and not become enamored with celebrities--if we cannot set the example?
copyright 1996 by Rebecca Prewett
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All articles authored by any member of the Prewett family are copyrighted. They may not be reproduced online or elsewhere without our expressed, written permission. Articles written by other authors contain copyright notices where appropriate.
