The attachment parenting traditions of the Bible

Many parents think the Bible commands spanking and punishment of children. This is a common myth about the Bible and what God wants from us. Attachment parenting was the norm in ancient Israel and adjoining churches.

Every single parent and adult is guilty in relation to children, and is deserving of DEATH and DESTRUCTION merely for existing in relation to children, being meek and shamefaced in relation to children. Parents especially are to prioritize their children first, and themselves last, to the point of dutiful and selfless submission to children and their every need, expecting absolutely nothing in return. leading to rest in the love and grace of parents. See Colossians 3:20-21 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in all things: for this is well pleasing unto the Lord. Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of children. Attachment parenting was the norm in biblical times. Think a mother holding pales of water, with a young child wrapped up next to the bosom of mothers in swaddling blankets. The deepest of secure attachments is policing attachment, where children order parents around and demand their needs/wants from them, with parents giving in and giving up. Surrender to parents is surrender into the loving arms of parents, feeling safe and secure in their embrace.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to the slightest of offense perceived by the child. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul to uplift the Law, and prohibit all forms of punishment or control of children in the Early Christian church communities. Punishment of a child was considered a grand provocation to anger, meaning kidnapping. Paul here was simply pointing out what the Law actually said to Greek Christians. Spanking does not come from the Hebraic context of the Bible, as the verses in Proverbs that refer to the rod of correction are repealed verses that refer to a dated legal punishment relevant only to the Old Testament - the 40 minus 1 lashes with the rod of correction. Spanking children was a Greco-Roman pagan tradition, with each Roman nation-state in Europe having its own customary punishment for children. Judaea did not, and never did, as Judaea was an attachment parenting society.

Attachment parenting (AP) was the norm in ancient Jewish and Christian cultures. Parents in biblical times held their children close, breastfeeding them up to age 3 or perhaps even older. Children in ancient Christian culture were in a constant state of closeness to parents. Children afterwards were intermittently in a state of closeness to parents, then playing freely or studying at homeschool - homeschools then were play-based in nature. Many of the games children played had sexual undertones, but did not have fornication-intent, such as childish games of "marriage". Parents were careful to preserve the chastity of boys and the virginity of girls, and so overt sex acts led to separation of the siblings, in a supervisory way. Children then played mostly with siblings, as otherwise, children were isolated in a sheltered way. Children then were very different then than children today, meaning children then were aware of their immature sexuality. Some of these ways of relating to your child are dated, but much of it isn't. 

Christians in ancient Greece and Rome were under orders from the church to raise their children by example, namely the Living Example of Christ, which is one of charity and discipline. Children didn't get the message right away, demanding things from their parents and parents righteously giving in, but eventually they got the message, and became like Christ. This started with attachment parenting strategies such as co-sleeping and co-mingling. In biblical times, both women and children were nude in the house, and children slept next to mother in the nude, in skin-to-skin closeness. Older children snuggled in as well, and were carried on the back of the mother when she went to the city to buy groceries, or gathered water at a nearby stream. Again, think pales of water. True biblical parenting is very primitive in nature, in a way that can be practiced by any parent who chooses to today. This primitive closeness to children motivated them to follow the example and instructions of parents as they got older in biblical times.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them burn in the lake of fire and burning sulfur, which is the second death prepared for Satan and his accomplices. There is a grand investigation going on, and all who support child abuse support Satan, and all that support Satan go "down". Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!