Redefining child abuse: Why the Bible calls for tougher laws on the books protecting children from 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 definitions of child abuse 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 who is 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 in parents then was perceived by the 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. If you hurt someone else's feelings, you need to apologize. It works the same way when dealing with children. Thus, in order to avoid offense in children, you need to apologize to children for hurting their 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 children'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 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 alone 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 Christians 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 concept of childhood trauma. If a child grew up to be atheist, shame fell onto the parents, meaning not the child. An atheist was seen in the Early Church as an abused child, 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" in the New Testament is πορνεία (Latin: porneia) and refers here to any sexual relations outside of the context of a Christian marriage between one adult man and one adult woman, with this marriage needing to be equal in nature. A groom was only allowed a bride his age or up to 4 years older than him. All sexual relations with a child, including in the context of an intergenerational marriage, was banned in the Early Church. Most child sexual abuse in the biblical context happened as a form of father-child incest,, with daughters being the usual victims. Most men then masturbated righteously to thoughts of his daughter or son, with pornography of anyone - including a child - being banned in the Early Church at all when intended as pornography. Child sexual abuse in the biblical context, was rare, meaning next to non-existent. Whenever child sexual abuse happened then, it was seen as a huge moral outrage. Attraction to children existed then on the surface, with children who were being sexually abused knowing exactly what is happening to them, and then self-reported the abuse that they suffered. 

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 in the 1st Century were allowed their own culture, and even their own court system. The Christian courts were binding until the end of the 1st Century.

Child abuse was prosecuted in the Early Church by way of internal church investigation. In most cases, this investigation started with a child confiding into a clergyperson about their home life. From there, parents were summoned to appear before a council of 3 elders, who would preside over the investigation. If the parents were defensive at all, instead of answering to the court directly, they were swiftly excommunicated from the Early Christian Churches of God, alongside all witnesses that testified on behalf of the parents. Parents were prohibited from identifying as "parents" in first-person, lest they be seen as entitled.

The Bible is an anti-spanking document, All 88 books of the Bible were written by anti-spanking Jews, with punitive parenting of any kind being banned under Jewish law. All of the biblical writers also wrote parenting manuals that advocated attachment parenting. Even King Solomon wrote an attachment parenting manual for bringing up minor children, with the rod in Proverbs simply being repealed verses referring to the 40 minus 1 lashes in an adult child as a sentence for a crime. It just so happens that these attachment manuals were not translated into English until the 1960s. Before then, this context was only known to the Jewish world.

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, including under the English common law, are based off of biblical teachings. However, the criminal defense of "reasonable chastisement" is based on a dated understanding of the Bible. It is about time we repeal the "reasonable chastisement" defenses in all 50 states, and amend the child abuse definitions under state and federal law as anything that 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 torment, suffering God's Wrath day and night forever and ever! Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand!