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My wife is currently in nursing school, and she is getting ready to finish a class in Lifespan Psychology. One time, she read me some of her notes concerning different forms of parenting, including authoritarian, permissive, authoritative (the best and most common form), and uninvolved parenting. This last one is the worst, in which parents have no interest in supporting or even disciplining their children. Kids are often left to fend for themselves and often turn emotionally detached, physically and perhaps cognitively underdeveloped, and even at times hostile. In its most extreme form this turns into neglect, a form of child abuse.
Looking at God as the Father of the children of Israel, one could almost argue that God was an uninvolved parent. Their society divided and eventually collapsed, leading to exile, servitude, and life as second-class citizens. In Romans, Paul even elaborates on how God was turning to the Gentiles to bring them into full relationship with him. So then Paul asks the big question: "I ask, then, has God rejected his people [the Jews]?" His answer? "By no means!" (v. 1). For God has allowed his people to experience certain things, both Jew and Gentile alike, so that "he may have mercy on all" (v. 32).
Looking at God as the Father of the children of Israel, one could almost argue that God was an uninvolved parent. Their society divided and eventually collapsed, leading to exile, servitude, and life as second-class citizens. In Romans, Paul even elaborates on how God was turning to the Gentiles to bring them into full relationship with him. So then Paul asks the big question: "I ask, then, has God rejected his people [the Jews]?" His answer? "By no means!" (v. 1). For God has allowed his people to experience certain things, both Jew and Gentile alike, so that "he may have mercy on all" (v. 32).
