Christian attachment parenting: Understanding Christian attachment parenting

Many parents support authoritative parenting as a way of dealing with children. The most common punishment in the United States is time-out, sometimes accompanied by a disciplinary spanking. Most American parents punish their children in some way, in some form. Most parents use the Bible as parenting guidance. The Bible is an excellent source for parenting wisdom, but one must take into account the Hebraic context of the Bible.

Christian attachment parenting is based on the Christian doctrine of mutual submission. See Ephesians 6:1-4 KJV:

Children, obey your parents in the Lord: for this is right. Honour thy father and mother; which is the first commandment with promise; That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long upon the earth. And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.

The Greek root word translated "obey" is υπακουο (Latin: hupakouo) and refers to secure, vulnerable rest in the love and grace of parents. Children are to rest securely in the sacrifice of parents, just as parent believers rest securely in the Sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Parents are to be extensions of Christ in the family home, dutifully and selflessly submitting to children as they would to God, expecting absolutely nothing in return, with children resting safely and securely in the submission of parents. Parents are to submit to children as their enemy, from beneath yet from above, revering and fearing children as vulnerable extensions of God. 

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to wrath" is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and refers to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but not limited to, the slightest of offensive touch or speech perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. This commandment was intended by the Apostle Paul, and understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including any punishments or controlling demeanor towards a child. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. Parents who punished their children were charged with kidnapping, with "kidnapping" being defined under the Law as the slightest of damages or offenses stemming from hostage-taking - child punishment was seen in biblical times as holding your child hostage merely for things that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave.

The Greek root word translated "nurture" is παιδεία (Latin: paideia) and refers to, in the Hebraic context here, to modeling Christian discipline to children. The standard of Christian discipline is deserving of absolutely nothing, therefore grateful for everything, with this leading to a chastened up example for children to follow. Parents worked on their entitlement in biblical times, and children followed suit. When children were caught emulating the disciplined example of their parents, they were lavishly praised and encouraged to "continue down the right path". Christian parents in the 1st Century caught children being good, not being bad. Usually, ordinary childhood misdeeds were let go because parents in the Early Church knew intuitively that most childish and immature behaviors in children were developmentally appropriate. Every once and a while, a child received a righteous warning from their parents, denoted by the Greek root word for "admonition", which is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia). Parents could not issue lawful and binding orders to minor children, and so they, on occasion, made requests to their children from the bottom of their heart, hoping the child would trust them enough to follow their instructions, forming the bond necessary for children to follow those instructions. 

Children are in the providing custody of their parents, primarily that of their mothers, and secondarily that of their fathers. Mothers formed a secure attachment with their children, and did so by way of providing for them nourishment and sustenance, namely attachment parenting items such as breastfeeding or skin-on-skin comfort. During the first 6 years of a child's life, children were in constant closeness with mothers, never leaving her side, being wrapped up in swaddling blankets next to her bosom when out and about, perhaps offering the child a chance to suckle her teat if milk-hungry. Around age 6, children started to shake off the closeness of their mothers, exploring the terrain, venturing farther and farther away from home, playing outside with neighborhood friends, then retreating to the sustaining warmth of mothers once more come nighttime, through skin-on-skin co-sleeping. Both mothers and children were naked in the family home, and children were naked everywhere they went until adulthood.

Christian attachment parenting is attachment parenting based off of the Early Christian context of the Bible, and how Christian parents in the 1st Century raised their children. You may find that most Christians in the 1st Centuty were attachment parents. The Apostle Paul himself was a vociferous child advocate of his time, writing on children's issues more than any other biblical writer, including in his secular writings. The Ancient Jews were all attachment parents, but the Early Christians took attachment parenting further, following the loving and forgiving example and teachings of Christ in their parenting.

The depraved and entitled parents who provoke their children to anger through punitive parenting will not inherit the Kingdom of God! Let them be forever 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!