Prior to having a child of our own, we always assumed we would spank our children. After all, isn’t that the Biblical way? I was secretly horrified at the thought of any Christian parent who did not spank their children. My children would be well-controlled, well disciplined. They would know how to behave and behave perfectly or else.
Shortly before our daughter Helena was born I was introduced to the concept of “gentle Christian parenting”. I was at first horrified as I said above. No “greasy grace” for me, thank you! Yet, as the time of her birth grew near, I just couldn’t stand the thought of inflicting physical pain on this baby who I had worked so hard to nourish for the last 9 months. But didn’t I have to? That’s when I began to really study out what the Bible had to say. Even with a BA in Theology and numerous Biblical exegisis (interpretation) classes under my belt I could not believe that what I was finding out was true. It was so different from what I had always been taught.
Most anyone Christian or not believes that the Bible says “spare the rod spoil the child” and that the Bible is the foundation for corporal punishment. However, this phrase comes not from the Bible, but rather from an old Victorian poem in which it was said tongue in cheek
Check out the next post to see the “rod” verses used to support corporal punishment.
0 comments:
Post a Comment