Punishment of children: Why punishing a child is sin

Many parents punish their children and subject them to controlling demeanor. This is a common way for parents to try to control their children. Most parents in America find excuses in the Bible "allowing" for punishment of children.

The centerpiece of a Christian parenting relationship is Christian love, as denoted by the Greek root word αγαπαο (Latin: agapao) and refers to prioritizing children first, and yourself as a parent last, in a convicted way leading to dutiful and selfless submission to children and their every vulnerable need, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in parents. 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 parents. This form of respect for parents does not come from fearful compliance, but from restful trust in parents, with children being able to tell parents anything and everything that is on their mind, including admissions of wrongdoing, expecting absolutely no punishment or reprisal in return. Attachment parenting was the norm in Ancient Israel and the Early Church. Think a Christian mother holding pales of water, with a young child being held next to her bosom, and an older child strapped to her back in a papoose bag. Boil over, then safe. That was the parenting then.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers to damages or abuse, namely child abuse in this context. Child abuse is defined under biblical law, at minimum, as the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child, including the slightest of offensive touch or speech, coming from entitlement. In this commandment, the Apostle Paul was lifting up the Law against punishment and controlling demeanor towards children, rebuking Greek Christian parents for bringing their pagan custom of spanking children into the church, with Greek Christian parents misusing the book of Proverbs to justify their punishment habits even then. Paul here was warning these parents that Proverbs was wisdom literature, not a book on parenting. Paul himself was anti-spanking, and opposed any punishment of a child.

Punishment of ALL children is prohibited under biblical law, for any reason, in any form that it comes in. It comes from an entitled want to control a child, namely parental entitlement, or want concerning a child to the point of imposition. All entitlement is sin under biblical law, including parental entitlement (Exod. 20:17; 1 Cor. 6:9-10). Punishment, particularly spanking, does not come from the Bible, but from European pagan traditions absorbed into the Roman Catholic Church. The absorption of Anglo-Saxon brutality towards children into the Roman Catholic Church in England allowed for the spread of spanking and corporal punishment to the New World. The Anglo-Saxons were very harsh with children to begin with, and the coming of Christianity allowed them to misuse Proverbs as an excuse for child abuse.

What should a parent do instead when their child is having a fit? Mothers, hold your child to your bosom, holding them close, reassuring them that they are being listened to. This parenting strategy stops the crying right away, and opens up trust and communication. Fathers can also comfort their children by holding them over the shoulder, reassuring them "I'm here" and "I'm here to listen". Children in biblical times never left the side of their mother for the first 6 years of life. Come bedtime, instead of battling about sleeping in their own room, a 4 or 5 year old was seen as too young to sleep on their own, and slept next to parents. This was to deter predators, both human and non-human in terms of species. Sexual predators existed in biblical times, and mothers slept next to children in order to guard them from sexual abuse from the children's father, who often had a parent attraction. 

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke children to anger will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be cast 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 forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!