Expanding child abuse definitions: Why the Bible calls for stronger laws combatting child abuse

Many parents think that the Bible has no concept of child abuse apart from obeying the law of the land. 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 being parents. 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 then was perceived by a child as offensive or damaging, it was deemed child abuse. See 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. If you hurt someone else's feelings, you need to apologize. It works the same way when dealing with children. Avoiding offense in children, just like in relations between adults, calls for apologizing for hurt feelings. In many cases, 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 for hurting your child'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 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, wit 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 term 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. But, this commandment was ultimately received by the parish at Colossae as prohibiting causing offenses in children as perceived by the child, at minimum. 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 for being too harsh on their child. An atheist, in the Early Church, was seen as an abused child, not a "sinner" to be "won over". 

The ancients in the Bible even had a concept of child sexual abuse. The Greek root word translated "fornication" in the New Testament is πορνεία (Latin: porneia) and refers here to any sexual relations or advances outside of the context of a Christian marriage between one adult man and one adult woman, with this marriage being equal in terms of chronological age. A groom was only allowed a bride his age or up to 4 years older. Any intergenerational marriages were banned in the Early Church, as was any sexual relations with a child. All pornography was also banned then, including that which depicted children. Most child sexual abuse then happened in the form of father-child incest, with daughters being the usual target. Fathers who had parent attractions spent away their sexual desires for their child with righteous masturbation, with righteous masturbation referring to masturbation without pornography for health reasons. Child sexual abuse was rare in the Early Church, meaning close to non-existent. Adult attraction to children was on the surface in the Early Church, with adults freely admitting to their sexual advances in abbreviated format. Thus, sexually abused children could easily tell what was happening to them, and then self-reported the abuse that they were suffering. Whenever child sexual abuse was found out, it was a huge moral outrage.

It is a myth that the Early Christians were well-integrated into Rome. Instead, the Early Christians lived in urban enclaves that shunned the broader Greco-Roman world, and the outside world at large. The Early Christians even had their own court system, which was binding up until the end of the 1s Century. The Early Christians were culturally distinct from Rome. 

Child abuse was prosecuted in the Early Church by way of internal church investigation. This investigation usually 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 preside over the investigation into the parents. If the parents at all got defensive in court, they were excommunicated from the Early Christian Churches of God, alongside all who testified on behalf of the parents.

The Bible is an anti-spanking document. All 88 books of the Bible - from Genesis to Revelation - were written by anti-spanking Jews, with Jewish law prohibiting striking a child at all. All of the biblical writers also wrote parenting manuals advocating attachment parenting. Even King Solomon wrote an attachment parenting manual, with the rod of correction referring to the 40 minus 1 lashes as a sentence for crime. It just so happens that these attachment parenting manuals were translated into English in the 1960s. Before then, this level of knowledge was only found in the Jewish world before then. 

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 our legal codes, under the English common law, are based off of the Bible. However, the legal defense of "reasonable chastisement" is based off of dated biblical teaching. It is about time we repeal the "reasonable chastisement" defense in all 50 states, and amend the child abuse definitions under state and federal law, with child abuse being redefined as anything perceived by a child 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!