Concerning Luther’s childhood discipline:
Medically-minded biographers may go a bit too far in saying that Luther’s nervous system was undermined in those days. It is certain, however, that the disciplinary climate of home and school, and the religious climate in community and church, were lumped together in his mind as decidedly more oppressive than inspiring; and that, to him, this seemed a damned and unnecessary shame. He blamed his atmosphere for his special monkishness, his intensity of monastic “scrupulosity,” his obsessional preoccupation with the question of how on earth one may do enough to please the various agencies of judgment teacher, father, superior, and most of all, one’s conscience.
-Erik Erikson, Young Man Luther, p. 78
As a parent, I really want to keep the car on the road with this. It’s really easy to drive off into the ditch of permissiveness and tolerance of sin and rebellion. This largely produces brats with a sense of entitlement. Luther experienced mostly the opposite. The other ditch is repressive submission to authorities (of all types, not just the good kind!) and demanding conformity to the obvious stifling of creative energy and joy.
This is why good parenting is hard work. You have to keep your eye on the road all the time. What do you do when you get sleepy?