Expanding child abuse definitions: Why the Bible calls for tougher laws against child abuse

Many parents believe that the ancients in the Bible had no concept of child abuse. This is a common attitude amongst American parents. Most American parents support the present-day child abuse definitions under state and federal law. However, God's Law is above the law of the land. 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 being sorely disappointed when they don't get the well-behaved child that they feel that they deserve. Parents are deserving of absolutely nothing in relation to children just for existing. Even any parent anger directed towards a child is parental entitlement, and was seen as entitlement in the Early Church. Whenever this sense of entitlement in parents 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, stemming from entitlement. Child abuse in the Bible, as a legal concept, consists of entitlement in parents, 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 like hurt feelings are inevitable in relations between adults, hurt feelings are also inevitable in children when dealing with them. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to give a meaningful apology for hurting their feelings. Usually, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent coming from parents, in the form of an informal apology, whenever you hurt your child's feelings with limits 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 to your child for hurting their 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 any parent anger directed towards a child 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. However, this commandment was ultimately received as prohibiting any offenses or damages as perceived by the child. 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 had a basic understanding of childhood trauma. Whenever a child grew up to be atheist, shame fell onto the parents, not the child. An atheist in the Early Church was seen as an abused child, not a "lost soul" to be "won over". Atheism in victims of child abuse was seen as an outcome, not a choice.

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 to, in sum, any sexual relations with another person outside of a Christian marriage between one adult man and one adult woman, with the marriage needing to be equal in terms of the ages of the participants. The groom was only allowed a bride his age or up to 4 years older. Intergenerational marriages were banned in the Early Church. Flirting with children was also banned then. Most child sexual abuse then came in the form of father-child incest, with most fathers instead engaging in masturbatory fantasy about his child that he was attracted to, including his own daughter. Child sexual abuse then was rare, meaning next to non-existent. Whenever a child was sexually abused, the whole family was outraged, and sided with the child.

Child abuse was prosecuted in the Early Church by way of internal church investigation. In most cases, the investigation started with a child confiding into a clergyperson about their home life. From there, the parents were summoned to appear before a council of 3 church elders, who would decide the fate of the parents. If the parents were defensive at all about their parenting, they were swiftly excommunicated from the Early Christian Churches of God, just for their entitlement alone.

The Bible is an anti-spanking document. All 88 books of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation - were written by anti-spanking Jews, with no Jew worth mentioning ever endorsing the punitive treatment of a child. All of the biblical writers also wrote parenting manuals that advocated attachment parenting. Even King Solomon wrote an attachment parenting manual, with the rod of correction in Proverbs referring to the 40 minus 1 lashes, as a sentence for crime. It just so happens that these parenting manuals were not translated into English until the 1960s. 

The Bible is America's book. 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. Even the bulk of our legal codes under the English common law are based off of biblical teaching. However, the "reasonable chastisement" defense is based off of dated biblical teaching. It is about time we repeal the pro-spanking defenses under state law in all 50 states, and expand upon the child abuse definition based off of the proper biblical teaching - meaning anything the child victim perceives as abuse.

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!