Redefining child abuse: Why the Bible calls for stronger laws against child abuse

Many parents think that the ancients in the Bible had no concept of childhood, let alone child abuse. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents support today's child abuse definitions. However, the Bible has its own definition of child abuse - whatever the child victim perceives as abuse.

The Greek root word denoting parental entitlement is πλεονέκτης (Latin: pleonektés) and is defined as, officially speaking, wanting things from children, to the point of imposition. Unofficially speaking, parental entitlement consists of a parent who is sorely disappointed when they don't get what they feel that they deserve from children. Parents are deserving of absolutely nothing from children just for existing. Even any parent anger directed towards children is parental entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. Whenever this sense of entitlement was perceived by a child as offensive or damaging, it was deemed child abuse. See also Colossians 3:21 KJV:

Fathers, provoke not your children to anger, lest they be discouraged.

The Greek root word translated "provoke...to anger" is ερεθιζο (Latin: erethizo) and refers here to offenses or damages, 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, with this entitlement including any parent anger directed towards a child. Child abuse in the Bible, as a legal concept, consists of entitlement in parenting, leading to offense in children. The key to not abusing your child is to avoid offense in children. Avoiding offense in children is the same as avoiding offense in other adults. Just as in relations between adults, hurt feelings in children are inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to properly avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology whenever you hurt your child's feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent coming from parents when a child cannot accept a limit not set out of anger, such as "I'm sorry, but I had to set X limit for Y reasons". However, if you ever lose your cool with your child as a parent, including while setting limits, you definitely need to give a formal apology whenever you hurt your children's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for losing my temper with you", and then commit never to lose your cool with your child ever again, as losing your cool with your child in and of itself is entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. This commandment cross-references the Eighth and the Tenth Commandments, with the Apostle Paul here convicting a group of Greek Christian parents who brought into the church their pagan custom of patrias potestas, which is a Latin phrase roughly translating to "power to the parent", namely the power to impose punitive sanctions on children such as spanking or other forms of punishment of children. Paul, contrary to popular legend, was anti-spanking, and opposed any and all punitive parenting in his secular writings. Attachment parenting was banned under Roman law, but the Early Christians did it anyway, obeying God over men. 

The Greek root word translated "they be discouraged" is αθυμέω (Latin: athumeo) and refers here to long-term damages, namely childhood trauma. The ancients in the Bible had a basic understanding of childhood trauma. Whenever a child grew up to be atheist, shame fell on the parents of the child for being too strict with their child. An atheist in biblical times was seen as a victim of religious child abuse, not a "lost soul" to be "won over". 

The ancients in the Bible even had a concept of child sexual abuse. The Greek root word translated "fornication" is πορνεία (Latin: porneia) and refers, in sum, to any sexual relations outside of marriage, including any sexual relations with a child whatsoever. The only sexual outlets allowed for a man in the Early Church was sex with his wife, or else masturbation without pornography. Fathers in the Early Church in particular masturbated to sexual thoughts of his daughter in particular, with fathers having parent attraction to his child, usually with this parent attraction being with his daughter. The sexual abuse of a child was a rare event in biblical times, meaning it pretty much never happened. Whenever a child was sexually abused in the Early Church, the perpetrator was excommunicated and shunned. 

Child abuse was investigated in the Early Church by way of internal church investigation. This investigation usually started when a child confided into a clergyperson about their home life. From there, the parents were called to testify before the council, where a council of 3 elders decided the fate of the parents. If the parents were at all defensive in their testimony, they were excommunicated from the Early Christian Churches of God. 

The Bible is an anti-spanking document. All 88 books of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation - were written by Jews, with no Jew worth mentioning ever endorsing punitive measures in parenting. Each biblical writer also wrote parenting manuals that advocated attachment parenting. Even King Solomon wrote in favor of attachment parenting in the parenting manual that he wrote, with the rod of correction in Proverbs referring to the 40 minus 1 lashes as a sentence for a crime. 

America is a Christian nation, founded on Judeo-Christian values. We as a society glean from the Bible and its context as to how to live and treat each other with respect. It just so happens that the parenting manuals from the biblical context were not translated into English until the 1960s. Before then, we didn't know much about the biblical context on 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 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 torrents, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!