Quote:
Originally Posted by Truthseeker
To say the bible doesn't teach spanking is error. It does say use a rod which was a switch like thing that would be flexable causing pain but not injury. I use the belt, left welts a few times, ain't gonna kill em.
Proverbs 23:14 (Whole Chapter)
Thou shalt beat him with the rod, and shalt deliver his soul from hell
Proverbs 23:13 (Whole Chapter)
Withhold not correction from the child: for if thou beatest him with the rod, he shall not die
30The blueness of a wound cleanseth away evil: so do stripes the inward parts of the belly. |
TS, there are several--okay, MANY--practices of punishment and discipline in the Old Testament that we do not participate in. We can take the gist of them as a guideline, but unless you plan on stoning the next fornicator you come across, then save it.
The guts of those verses is that withholding discipline or training will harm a child, and if you do discipline the child, it can save him from destruction. I obviously agree with that. But if you take verse 30 literally, then you are saying it's okay to leave bruises (wounds/blueness), and "stripes." I don't believe that is necessary, fruitful, effective, and it certainly isn't a good WITNESS in a day and age when such acts do not portray gentleness. (a fruit of the spirit)
Maybe I'm an idiot, but I can't see Jesus beating a child, and leaving stripes and bruises. We are living in an age of grace and mercy, and whatever discipline a CHRISTIAN parent offers should be firm, but also reflective of our theology. Children learn about their future relationship with God from their present relationship with their parents--
especially their father.
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