The dominant puritan concept of original sin was, apparently, a harsh philosophy that proposed the proper way of rearing of children. In the puritan concept, parents were expected to thoroughly cleanse the child. The idea of helping the child to be cleansed of the original sin was dominant in this concept. The puritan concept did not stress the importance of giving children an education. All infants were sired in a sinful state and were under the original curse and spiritually dead. Unless children were regenerated, they all had to perish. This was not a humane way of bringing children up. However, enlightenment favored a more humane treatment of children. It emphasized decent education for children. As opposed to the puritan concept, the tabula
