Hebrews 12:5-6: Why this passage is not a pro-spanking passage

Many parents believe that the Bible condones or even commands the corporal punishment of children. Most Christian parents cite 5 passages in the book of Proverbs and 1 passage in the book of Hebrews as their "proof" of spanking being "biblical". However, the New Testament evidence cited for the teaching of "biblical spanking" sits on shaky ground. The passage in Hebrews 12:5-6 does not refer to earthly parenting, but instead refers to God sending trials and tribulations the way of the believer.

God's Word on enduring hardship is cited in Hebrews 12:5-6 KJV:

And ye have forgotten the exhortation that speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him: For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth. 

This passage, when understood correctly, is comforting to me. The Greek root word translated "scourgeth" is μαστιγόω (Latin: mastigoó) and can have a figurative meaning to it. This metaphor is known as rod language. When a Christian man then got home from a long day at work, he instead said "God whipped me hard today". God does not literally come down from the Heavens and whip His children. However, God does punish His children, as only He can. sending trials and tribulations the way of His children that He loves the most. However, God only punishes His children when it does not harm them, whereas earthly parents only punish children when it does, in fact, harm them. Paul here was reassuring the Hebrew Christians in their persecution from Rome. 

The teaching of "biblical spanking" is a man-made teaching. The Bible nowhere legitimately supports or commands the use of corporal punishment in parenting, with the rod verses in Proverbs referring to the 40 minus 1 lashes to an adult as a sentence for a crime. God does not want His Parenting methods to be used by earthly parents, lest they get it wrong. However, the Bible does touch on the spanking issue, and then some. 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 as perceived by a child, stemming from entitlement. It is one thing to stop spanking your child. However, it is not enough to simply stop spanking children, or even stop punishing your child altogether for that matter. You need to avoid offense in children. Whenever you hurt someone else's feelings, you need to apologize. It works the same when dealing with children. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to be willing to apologize to children whenever you hurt their feelings. In many cases, all that is necessary is a reassurance of good intent, 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, you definitely need to give a formal apology for hurting your child's feelings with your anger, such as "I apologize for hurting your feelings with my temper", 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 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 ultimately was 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 staple punishment in the broader Greco-Roman world was a spanking to the bare bottom with an open hand. However, most of the Early Christians shunned punitive parenting as of this world. However, some parishes had a clear problem with punitive parenting infiltrators. Paul would have none of it in the churches that he oversaw,  sending anti-spanking commandments to the parishes at Colossae and Ephesus. 

It is a myth that the Early Christians were well-integrated into Rome. Instead, the Early Christians lived in urban enclaves in major Greco-Roman cities, shunning the outside world. The Early Christians even had their own court system that was binding into the end of the 1st Century. 

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!