Original sin: Why ALL adults are guilty merely for existing

The teaching of original sin is the most misunderstood, and also the most misused of Christian teachings. Yet, it is the backbone of Christianity - without original sin, we wouldn't need a Savior to give His earthly life for our sins. Original sin is a valid teaching, but doesn't mean children are deserving of punishment. We adults are the ones deserving of punishment for how we treat children.

The Greek root word denoting entitlement in the New Testament, and cross-referencing the Tenth Commandment, is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and refers here to parental entitlement. Parental entitlement, officially speaking, is the wanting of things from or of children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, parental entitlement refers to any wanting of things from children. Want, in and of itself, is the core of our depraved and entitled nature, including wanting things from children. It is not good to want anything in life, but we all do. It is not good to want anything from a child, period, yet we all do as the entitled adults that we are. Ask, and you shall receive from children, if they are ready developmentally. Demand, and you get nothing but resentment.

The centerpiece of an attached Christian parenting relationship is Christian Agape love, as denoted by the Greek root word αγαπαο (Latin: agapao), and refers to prioritizing children first, and yourself as an adult last, in a fearful and convicted way leading to dutiful and selfless submission to children and their every vulnerable need, expecting absolutely nothing in return from children or others, with children resting in the good works of parents, without a worry in the world. 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 parents. This usually means rest in the bosom of mothers, or else in the embrace of mothers. Parents toil in good works for their children, and children rest in the good works of parents. Children were seen as next to God, meaning His extension, and parents were seen as servants of God. Mothers in particular provided nourishment and sustenance, namely breastmilk (until age 3) and skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy (especially during co-sleeping). By day, children ranged next to mothers, sometimes clinging to her in skin-to-skin fashion. By night, children slept next to mothers. Children went naked everywhere they went. Women also went naked in the family home, in order to serve their husbands and their children, separately. Mothers served their children by snuggling in skin-to-skin closeness and intimacy, with children soaking up the rays from contact to mother's bare skin. Attachment parenting was the established norm in Ancient Jewish society, including Early Christian society, with such parenting being mandated by customary law in the Old Testament, and also church ordinance in the New Testament. This commandment lifts up that attachment parenting custom for timeless relevance.

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, as defined under biblical law, is the slightest of personal offense perceived by the child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch and speech perceived by the child, coming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul to prohibit all forms of punitive parenting, including any punishment or controlling demeanor towards a child. Paul was lifting up the Law to rebuke a group of Greek Christian parents who defended their pagan custom of spanking children. Paul explained the big picture to them, utilizing the Jewish commandment of "love your neighbor, and do not provoke your neighbor to anger", and applied it to a Christian parenting context, asserting that children are the neighbor of parents, and are to be loved as a neighbor. The rod verses in Proverbs do not refer to raising children, but instead are repealed verses, as they were only written to the legal context in which it was given. The verses, in context, refer to a dated, archaic form of judicial corporal punishment for ADULT children - 40 minus 1 lashes with the rod of correction after being convicted of a capital offense, as one last chance at life before being executed.

Every single adult is guilty in relation to children, and is deserving of DEATH and PUNISHMENT merely for existing in relation to children. All adults are capable of child abuse under the right/wrong conditions, with those conditions being different for each adult. Adults, as an individual collective, have abused children since time immemorial, from peacekeeping to colonialism.

I myself am a depraved and decadent adult who struggles with adult sexual self-interest, and am a pedophile. I am grateful for all the trust and respect I receive from children, as I deserve none of it for being the wicked wretch that I am. I am entitled to nothing from a child, and grateful for all that they give me, not expecting or demanding any more.

Do children have a sin nature? Children want like a sinful adult wants, so they do, technically legally, have a sin nature, but that is for them to work on, not for us to beat out of them. What we can do as adults is encourage them in their religious studies, and answer all their religious questions, being well-read on the faith yourself. Children are flawed, in a way that deserves excusing, as children don't know God's Law, and if you aren't of the age of majority, you can't be expected to heed the Law like an adult believer does. It is okay for a child to want things, and for parents to give, and parents giving leads to children liking parents, and thus wanting to follow the disciplined example of parents. Sin in a child is never an excuse to punish a child. Sin simply means imperfection, and children are imperfect people. Some imperfection is worth overlooking, at least until later, trusting that your child will work on the sin nature on their own, in your footsteps. Be sure to work on all of your entitlement issues yourself, as children are watching. A good place to start is parental entitlement, as parental entitlement is the root of all the other forms of entitlement. Wants to control a child from above or beneath should be stifled, with parents doing the opposite of that want. Children will eventually catch up, and work on their entitlement right beside you, wanting you to be proud of them - so encourage the chastening of the Lord taken up by your child, as this is pleasing to the Lord (see Eph. 6:4).

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their 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!