Redefining child abuse: Why the Bible calls for expanding child abuse definitions

Many parents think that the ancients in the Bible had no concept of childhood, let alone child abuse. Most American parents support the present-day child abuse definitions under the secular law. However, God's Law is above the law of the land. The Bible has its own definition of child abuse - whatever the child victim perceives as abuse. 

The Greek root word denoting parental entitlement is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and is defined as, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, parental entitlement consists of a parent being sorely disappointed when they don't get the well-behaved child that they feel that they deserve. Parents are deserving of absolutely nothing from children just for existing. Even any parent anger directed towards children is parental entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. When this sense of entitlement in parents was perceived by the child as offensive or damaging, it was deemed child abuse. See also Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged. 

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. Child abuse in the Bible, as a legal concept, consists of entitlement in parents, leading to offense in children. The key to not abusing your child is to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just as hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are also inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology whenever you hurt your child's feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent in parents, in the form of a half-apology, whenever you hurt your child's feelings with a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology for hurting your child's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit never to lose your cool with your child ever again, as any parent anger directed towards a child is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin phrase roughly translating to "power to the parent", including the power to impose punitive sanctions onto children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. However, even the slightest of personal offense in children was prohibited under this commandment. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men. 

The Greek root word translated "they be discouraged" is αθυμέω (Latin: athumeo) and refers to long-term damages, namely childhood trauma. The ancients in the Bible had a basic concept of childhood trauma. Whenever a child grew up to be atheist, shame fell onto the parents for being too harsh with their child. An atheist then was seen as an abused child, not a "lost soul" to be "won over". 

The ancients in the Bible also had a concept of child sexual abuse. The Greek root word translated "fornication" is πορνεία (Latin: porneia) and refers to any sexual relations with another person outside of a Christian marriage between one adult man and one adult woman, including, but not limited to, any sexual relations with a child. A man in the Early Church could only have two outlets - sex with a wife, or else masturbation without pornography. All forms of pornography were prohibited to be on a person's possession, including that which depicts children. Most child sexual abuse happened as a form of domestic violence against the child. Most men have a sexual attraction to their daughter in particular, and the only way that fathers could deal with that attraction was to masturbate to fantasies of his daughter. When you masturbate to thoughts of your child, you imprint onto them that way, and then a close bond will flow between father and child, namely father and daughter. Child sexual abuse in the biblical context was rare, meaning next to non-existent. Whenever a child was sexually abused, even in the Old Testament, it was a shock, with the sex offender being seen as deserving of death.

Child abuse in the Early Church was prosecuted by way of internal church investigation. In most cases, the investigation started with a child confiding into a church elder or deacon about their home life. From there, the parents were subpoenaed to appear before the council, and testify on how they treated their children. If the parents were at all defensive of their behavior towards their child, they were excommunicated from the church for their entitlement alone. 

The Bible is an anti-spanking document. All 88 books of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation - were written by anti-spanking Jews, with most Jews being anti-spanking throughout Jewish history. All of the biblical writers also wrote parenting manuals, with these parenting manuals advocating attachment parenting as a means of bringing up children. Even King Solomon wrote one of these attachment parenting manuals, with the rod verses in Proverbs referring to a sentence for a crime, namely the 40 minus 1 lashes. It just so happens that these parenting manuals were not translated into English until the 1960s.

The Bible is America's book. America is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian values. We as a society glean from the Bible and its context for instruction as to how to live and treat each other with respect. Even our legal codes are based off of the Bible. However, the "reasonable chastisement" defense is based off of dated Christian teaching. It is about time that we repeal the "reasonable chastisement" defense and pass more expansive child abuse definitions. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss, which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torrents, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

"Spare the rod, spoil the child": Why the rod verses in Proverbs are repealed verses

Many parents think that it is okay to spank a child. Most parents get their pro-spanking advice from religious sources. These pastors cite 5 verses in Proverbs as their "proof" that spanking is commanded of parents by God. However, these rod verses, in all actuality, do not refer to parenting at all, but instead refer to judicial corporal punishment of adults.

The most commonly cited rod verse is Proverbs 13:24 KJV:

He who spareth his rod hateth his son: but he who loveth him chasteneth him betimes.

The Hebrew word translated "son" is ben and refers here to a mature adult son. The Hebrew word translated "rod" is shebet and refers here to the rod of correction, namely a switch, applied to the bare back, within a courtroom setting, as a sentence for a crime. This passage ultimately refers to the 40 minus 1 lashes. In the Old Testament, striking another Jew was prohibited except in the context of a courtroom. Striking a minor child then was strictly prohibited. The reason for this commandment was that, otherwise, the father would refuse to whip his son. The court deputized fathers to whip their sons when his child ran afoul of the law. 

The harsh legal punishments in the Old Testament are repealed by the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, including judicial whippings. Christ was whipped with 40 minus 1 lashes unjustly before being placed onto the cross. Thus, the Early Christians shunned all corporal punishment done under Roman law, or any corporal punishment for that matter. 

The rod verses in Proverbs do not discuss parenting of any kind, let alone corporal punishment in parenting. There is no such thing as a "biblical spanking" in the Bible. However, the Bible does weigh in on the spanking issue, and then some. See Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. It is one thing to stop spanking your child. However, it is not enough to stop spanking your child, or even stop punishing your child. You need to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just like hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are also inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology to children whenever you hurt their feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent from parents, in the form of a half-apology, whenever children cannot accept a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology for hurting your child's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit never to lose your cool with your child ever again, as losing your cool with your child in and of itself is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin phrase roughly translating to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions on children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting of children in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men.

The 40 minus 1 lashes was a once in a lifetime experience that was recollected as a harrowing experience. The rod verses in Proverbs refer to this legal punishment. The 40 minus 1 lashes was a final warning before an offender was to death for further recidivism. We don't live under the Law of Moses as Christians, as Christ repealed these harsh legal punishments so that we don't have to live under them.

The Bible is an anti-spanking document. All of the biblical writers, including the Apostle Paul, issued parenting manuals to parents. These parenting manuals advocated for attachment parenting, in the most convicting of ways. Even King Solomon wrote one of these attachment parenting manuals. The rod of correction was a punishment reserved for adults who ran afoul of the law.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

Hebrews 12:5-6: Why this passage is not a pro-spanking passage

Many parents use the Bible as a source for parenting advice. However, most American parents believe that the Bible is pro-spanking. A common verse in the New Testament used as "evidence" for the validity of any "biblical spanking" is Hebrews 12:5-6. This case for spanking is posited on shaky ground. The Bible does not refer to earthly parenting in this passage in Hebrews, but rather discusses enduring hardship.

God's Word on enduring hardship is stated in Hebrews 12:5-6 KJV:

And ye have forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.

This passage, when interpreted correctly, is comforting to me. The Greek root word translated "scourgeth" is μαστιγόω (Latin: mastigoó) and can have a figurative meaning to it. This form of metaphorical language in Ancient Greek was known as rod language. Whenever a Christian then got home from a long day at work, you instead said "God whipped me hard today". God does not literally descend from the Heavens and whip His children. However, God does punish His children, like only He can, sending trials and tribulations the way of the children He cherishes the most. But, God only punishes children when it does not harm them, whereas earthly parents only punish their children when it does, in fact, harm them. This passage was intended as comfort for the Hebrew Christians in their persecution from Rome.

Heb. 12:5-6 is not a pro-spanking passage. This verse does not refer to earthly parenting at all, since God does not want His Parenting strategies to be used by earthly parents. However, the Bible does touch on the spanking issue, and then some. See Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. It is one thing to stop spanking your child. However, it is not enough to stop spanking, or even stop punishing children. You need to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just as hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology whenever you hurt your child's feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent, in the form of a half-apology, when children cannot accept a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology for hurting your children's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing your temper with you", and then commit never to lose your cool with your child ever again, as any parent anger directed towards children is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin phrase roughly translating to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions onto children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men.

In the broader Greco-Roman world, the staple punishment was spanking to the bare bottom with an open hand. This was seen by most Christian parents then as pagan parenting. The Early Christians shunned all punitive parenting of children, including any corporal punishment in parenting. Punitive parenting was seen then as of this world, and was shunned as such.

Christian parents in the Early Church were almost never motivated by anger. Parenting in the Early Church instead was motivated by worry or concern. Anger in a parent, when directed towards a child, was seen as akin to a viper striking out against an unsuspecting child. Maybe the child was given warning, but that's about it. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

Righteous respect: Why children should respect their parents out of closeness (not fear)

Many parents want their children to respect them. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents believe in insisting on respect from children. However, respect for parents is a part of the Bible and its context, but involves closeness to parents, not fear of parents. 

The Bible commands a secure bond between parent and child in the family home. See Colossians 3:20 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers here to surrender of a specific type, namely surrender to the loving arms of parents, including especially the loving arms of mothers. Ultimately, this commandment refers to a secure bond between parent and child. The context tells us how to form a secure bond with children.

Respect for parents was a thing in biblical times. However, this respect came in the form of closeness to parents, not fear of parents. For the first 6 years of childhood, children were in constant closeness to mothers, meaning that wherever mom went, so did her child. For the first 2 years of childhood, children were constantly held by mothers, either in her loving arms, or else on mom's back in a papoose bag when her hands were full. Children aged 2-6 ranged next to mothers constantly, seemingly attached at the hip, following mothers from room to room, morbidly fearing that mom would "go away and never come back". Whenever young children cried, mothers cooed before picking up the child, and from there, she diagnosed the need before meeting it. Maybe the child was tired. Maybe the child was hungry. Maybe the child needed mom's milk. Maybe the child needed mom, period. Whatever the child needed, they got it. Whenever mothers and children under age 6 were out and about, mom wrapped up her child next to her bosom in swaddling blankets, in skin-on-skin closeness. Come nightfall, children co-slept next to mothers, with this co-sleeping usually lasting until puberty. Children then went naked wherever they went, with mothers also going naked within the context of the family home, with this birth nudity setup setting the stage for intense skin-on-skin closeness between mother and child. 

Children past age 6 were close to their parents in another way. Parents then did not give lawfully binding orders to children, but instead simply asked things of their children. In return, children asked things of parents. Children usually listened to their parents almost blindly, much akin to goslings to a mother goose. Compliance is an aspect of a secure bond between parent and child. The child worships the ground that mom walks on, and mothers worship the ground that their child walks on.

Respect is earned in life, including in parenting. The key to earn your child's respect is to care for your child during the formative years of their childhood, namely the first 6 years of childhood. From there, children learn to respect parents out of secure trust in parents. When attachment parents grow to be elderly, children care for their aging parents. See Exod. 20:12; Eph. 6:2-3. Honoring parents means caring for your aging parents. 

The depraved and entitled parents who punish their children for perceived disrespect will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them descend into ever-burning Hell-fire, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Repent! 

Original sin: How to teach your child about original sin without punitive measures

Many parents of the conservative Christian sort believe in the doctrine of original sin. Original sin is the backbone of Christianity. Without original sin, there would be no need for a Savior. Most parents teach original sin by way of punitive measures. However, the fact of the matter is that there are better ways to teach a child that they were born in sin.

The proper way to teach your child about original sin is spelled out in Ephesians 6:4 KJV:

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This first stanza of this commandment clarifies for the second that punishment or shaming are no way to teach a child that they are born in sin. The Greek root word translated "provoke...to wrath" is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. It is one thing to stop spanking your child. However, it is not enough to stop spanking, or even stop punishing children. You need to avoid offense in your child. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just like hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology to children for hurting their feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent, in the form of a half-apology, whenever a child cannot accept a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology for your child for hurting their feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit never to losing your cool with your child ever again, as losing your cool with your child alone is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This stanza of this commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the parish at Ephesus their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin phrase roughly translating to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions on children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men. 

Children can come to the conclusion that they are sinners without a parent breathing down their throat in that regard. The Greek root word translated "admonition" is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia) and better translates as "instruction" in more modern versions of the Bible. Paul here was discussing religious instruction of a specific sort. Starting at age 6, fathers left out a Bible for children to discover and explore. From there, when children were caught in the act of studying the Bible, fathers lavishly praised and encouraged children to keep on studying, then saying "you can ask me anything about that book". From there, religious instruction came in question and answer format. Children are bound to ask about original sin when they are ready to handle harsh realities. The main reason it would come up is if they asked "Why did Jesus have to die?". The proper answer is that "we are sinners as human beings, and thus we need a Savior to save us from sin". You don't ever call a child a sinner. Simply point out to them "we are sinners" when speaking about human beings as a collective.

It is not acceptable to see your child as a sinner that seeks to undermine your "authority" as a parent. A child is not a "sinful swat" to hate. A child is a primal human being that parents welcome into their home at the parents' doorstep. Children are born in sin, but that just means they are imperfect in their nature. The opposite of sin is perfection. Maybe some of us as adults have hit perfection, but children surely have not. The idea is to accommodate a child's primal nature, until they are ready to behave maturely.

Human nature is in no way "good". We as a human race have a flawed genome that only makes sense in the context of peacekeeping. God rescued mankind from a sinful past, frought with rape and pillaging in all aspects of life. Anger at children is also a mainstay of peacekeeping in our human genome. We as human beings are depraved and decadent sinners deserving of nothing but punishment just for existing as human beings. It isn't mostly the children that are sinners. It is ALL of us as human beings. Focus on your own sins as a parent. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to wrath through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

Expanding child abuse definitions: Why the Bible calls for stronger laws against child abuse

Many parents think that the ancients in the Bible had no concept of childhood, let alone child abuse. Most American parents support the present-day definitions of child abuse. However, the Bible has its own definition of child abuse - whatever the child victim perceives as abuse. We are a Judeo-Christian nation, and thus the Bible helps us understand how to frame legislation, including child abuse laws.

 

The Greek root word denoting parental entitlement is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and is defined as, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, parental entitlement consists of a parent that is sorely disappointed when they don't get what they feel that they deserve from children. Parents are deserving of absolutely nothing from children just for existing. However, even any parent anger directed towards children is parental entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. Whenever this sense of entitlement in parents was perceived by a child as offensive or damaging, it was seen as child abuse. See also Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. Child abuse in the Bible, as a legal concept, consists of entitlement in parents, leading to offense in children. The key to not abusing your child is to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just like hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are also inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology whenever you hurt your child's feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent from parents, in the form of a half-apology, when children cannot accept a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology to your child for hurting their feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit never to losing your cool with your child ever again, as parent anger directed towards children is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin phrase roughly translating to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions on children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men.

The Greek root word translating "they be discouraged" is αθυμέω (Latin: athumeo) and refers to long-term damages, namely childhood trauma. The ancients in the Bible had a basic understanding of childhood trauma. Whenever a child grew up to be atheist, shame fell onto parents, not the child becoming atheist. An atheist in the Early Church was seen as an abused child, not a "lost soul" in need of "winning over". 

The ancients in the Bible even had an understanding of child sexual abuse. The Greek root word translated "fornication" is πορνεία (Latin: porneia) and refers to, in short, any sexual relations outside of a Christian marriage between one adult man and one adult woman, with the marriage needing to be equitable in nature. Most child sexual abuse then happened in the family home, and even in the Old Testament, sexually abusing a child was seen as a capital offense. Most men then had a sexual crush on their daughters, in which case they masturbated to sexual thoughts of their daughters. It is a myth that men raped their daughters in the Early Church. Nothing usually happened apart from sexual fantasy about children in the form of righteous masturbation, or masturbation without pornography for health reasons. All pornography then was seen as contraband, including pornography then that depicted children. Pornography was defined as any depiction with intent to sexually arouse others. Child sexual abuse then was rare, meaning next to non-existent.

Child abuse in the Early Church was prosecuted by way of internal church investigation. The investigation usually started with a child confiding into a clergyperson about their home life. From there, a council of three elders subpoenaed the parents to testify before them. If the parents were defensive at all when being cross-examined, they were excommunicated from the Early Christian Churches of God. 

The Bible is an anti-spanking document. All 88 books of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation - were written by Jews, with no Jew worth mentioning ever endorsing anything punitive towards a child. All of the biblical writers then wrote parenting manuals that advocated for attachment parenting. Even King Solomon wrote a parenting manual advocating attachment parenting for minor children, with the rod in Proverbs referring to a sentence for a crime, namely the 40 minus 1 lashes. It just so happens that these parenting manuals were not translated into English until the 1960s.

The Bible is America's book. America is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian values. Even our legal codes are based off of biblical teaching. However, our biblical understanding of childhood has advanced, and thus so should our legal understanding of childhood, including child abuse. It is about time we repeal the "reasonable chastisement" defense and pass stronger child abuse definitions. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torrents, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!

Passing down the faith: How to instruct children in the Lord without punitive measures

Many parents want children to have values. This is a common goal for parents to have for their children. Most American parents want their children to embrace a values system of some sort. However, many American parents believe in "breaking their will" in regard to children. The fact of the matter is that there are better ways to impart Judeo-Christian values onto children. 

God's Law on proper discipline, including religious instruction, is spelled out in Ephesians 6:4 KJV:

And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

This stanza of this commandment clarifies for the second that religious instruction should not hurt. The Greek root word translated "provoke...to wrath" is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. The key here in proper parenting is to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just as hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology whenever you hurt your child's feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent from parents, in the form of a half-apology, whenever a child cannot accept a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology whenever you hurt your child's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit to never losing your cool with your child ever again, as parent anger directed towards children alone is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This stanza of this commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents in the parish at Ephesus who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin phrase translating roughly to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions on children, such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men.

There is no need to "break the will" of children. Religion is a human need for children and adults alike. The Greek root word translated "admonition" is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia) and is better translated as "instruction" in more modern versions of the Bible. The Apostle Paul was referring here to religious instruction. Starting at age 6, fathers left out a Bible for children to discover and explore. When children were caught in the act of studying the Bible, they were given lavish praise and encouragement to keep up the Bible study. Then, fathers said to their children "you can ask me anything about that book". From there, religious instruction came in question and answer format. Children were curious about Scripture, and fathers were quick to give pointers on the context.

Many parents seek to hasten religious development in children. For example, children are often forced into grateful postures in order to "make them grateful". Instead, children find grateful postures on their own, once they hit a certain level of perfection. I tie my hands behind my back to show gratitude, and nobody taught me to do so. It just feels comfy to be in that position all of the time.

A common form of religious instruction is to "break the will" of children. The idea is to keep punishing children until they submit to Christ. The problem with that is that a child does not have a will to be broken. A will is something a narcissist has, not an innocent child. A child instead wants things, usually in a benign way, meaning children don't ask for much. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast forever into the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices! Let them descend into the abyss which is the ever-burning Hell of fire and torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!