Father's day: The Christian duties of fathers

It is Father's Day. Most people focus on honoring their fathers on this very day. Hrowever, the fact of the matter is that fatherhood is a job. Being a father should be a thankless job. There exists certain specific duties afforded to fathers, namely disciplining children the right way.

God's Word states 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.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to wrath" is παροργίζο (Latin: parorgizo) and refers here to damages or offenses, namely the slightest of personal offense perceived by a child, including, but 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 was understood in its original context, as a moral statute prohibiting all forms of punitive parenting, including, but not limited to, any punishments, reprimands, or other controlling demeanor towards children. In the Old Testament, punitive parents were put to death by way of bloodletting, after punishing their children one last time. The parents who punished their children were initially 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 as holding your child hostage merely for things that they did wrong, thereby treating your child as a quartered slave. Paul here was lifting up the Law in order to convict a group of Greek Christian parents who brought their pagan custom of spanking and punishing children into the church. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punishment in his secular writings. Paul may not have gotten along with the women of the church, but he sure loved children, and even took in a few orphaned children during his time as deacon. 

The Greek root word translated "nurture" is παιδεία (Latin: paideia) and refers here to nurturing of a specific type, namely catching your child being good. In the Early Church, children were given praise and encouragement from fathers. The idea is to catch your children in the act of being good, and then praise them in order to encourage more of the same behavior. The Greek root word translated "admonition" is νουθεσία (Latin: nouthesia) and refers to religious instruction that was self-directed in nature. Whenever children were caught in the act of reading the Bible, they were praised and encouraged for exploring the Bible. This setup of catching a child being good is a Hebraic tradition found not only in the biblical context, but also in the modern Jewish faith, with all 88 books of the Bible being written by Jews. Even in ancient times, no Jew worth mentioning ever advocated punishing children.

Fathers in biblical times had a sexual attachment towards his daughter especially. However, unlike in other ancient cultures, fathers did not sexually correct their children, or do the "hand-me-down-the-slate" form  of gaslighting. Instead, fathers in the Early Church masturbated to sexual thoughts of their children. The word denoting fornication is πορνεία (Lattin: porneia) and refers to anything outside proper channels, as understood in context. The only sexual behavior acceptable then was sexual relations within the context of a Christian marriage. Masturbation was seen as a purification ritual then, meaning a means to flee fornication through righteous re-channeling. The daughter usually was attracted to her father as well, meaning the attraction was mutually unrequited. When daughters caught the glimpse of her father, she felt good about her body image.

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!