The Evangelical Universalist Forum

Spanking in the Name of Jesus/God

Theology Biblical Theology
#1

Hello,
I have a question:
is it really biblical and godly to spank your children for discipline reasons?
I know that the Proverbs are quoted to justify that.
It is asumed that the Poverbs were written by King Salomon. The wisest man on earth…
But Jesus was greater than Salomon and did not demand violence against those who were given to as an examples
of how we can enter the Kingdom of God.
So why is it preached that it is important to spank children to discipline them?
I can understand that it is hard to rais kids and that spanking can happen.
I just have a problem with backing it up with the bible and that it is demanded by God!

Agape and Shalom

#2

Well, Dani. I wouldn’t touch this topic with a 10 foot pole. I’ll leave it to others to explain, along with this cartoon content: :laughing:

In the meantime, I’m focusing on more pressing concerns - like which expert - if any - has the correct answer to What weighs more: an empty 32GB flash drive or a fully loaded 32GB flash drive?: :laughing:

#3

But Jesus was greater than Salomon and did not demand violence against those who were given to as an examples
of how we can enter the Kingdom of God.
So why is it preached that it is important to spank children to discipline them?
I can understand that it is hard to rais kids and that spanking can happen.
I just have a problem with backing it up with the bible and that it is demanded by God!

Well Jesus believed the OT and never modified this by saying “but I say to you no longer spank your kids.” Obviously it’s a last resort and not in tune with our culture at the moment nor politically correct but sometimes needed IMHO.

#4

Dani,

I rarely spanked my kids (have 4 and 5 grandchildren) but when problems arose, I usually resorted to writing x amount of times what they would not do again or what they should have done etc…

Well, when my oldest daughter was in school (she went to a Christian school at the time) and they must have been discussing spanking. They were going from student to student and all were telling horror stories of mom or dad letting 'em have it. When it came to my daughter, she said “I really don’t remember getting spanked, though I’m sure I did, but I remember writing HUNDREDS of pages of why I need to change my behavior.” :smiley:

Thanks

#5

Well, I am nearly 78, and I spanked my children when they were young in order to train them. But I was careful to gradually let up as they grew older. I thought it unnecessary to spank a child who was 8 years old or over.

However, now I am not at all sure that spanking is EVER necessary. There are other ways to train young children. If I had it to do over again, I’m sure I would never spank my children.

#6

I think some sort of discipline is necessary, but I think there is freedom to decide what may be best for each child and each situation and maturity.
My 12 month old grandson responds very well at the moment to a “No”, but sometimes both a “No” and a slap on the wrist help him to get the message.
Children need to know they are loved, but they also need to know that there are boundaries to what they can do.
Sometimes emotional pain of withholding some privilege, or writing out lines works well. Other times some brief physical pain from a loving, self controlled parent does the trick.
Wisdom from God is needed.
My parents spanked me at times, I spanked my 3 children, and my daughter now spanks my grandson. I have thanked my parents that they disciplined me in love, and all of my children have said to me how they appreciated the way they were disciplined.
I think the main problem with any physical discipline is the danger of uncontrolled anger and abuse. The child is spanked because the parent is angry, not because it is calmly decided as the best form of loving training in the child’s best interest.

#7

My parents NEVER spanked me. And yet I was a compliant child.

#8

NO NO NO!
There way better ways than spanking!
People do not think about it but spanking can cause big , VERY BIG harm in people.
And I do not care if something is IN TUNE WITH OUR CULTURE.
I go with Paidion

And how on earth do you want to make your child feel loved while you spank the child?

Agape and Shalom

#9

Dani, here is an excerpt relevant to spanking from an essay titled, “The Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil”:

PS As to injunctions to spank “from The Word of God,” consider
“DOES THE BIBLE CLAIM TO BE THE WORD OF GOD?”
and
*“THE THREE DANGERS OF DEFINING ‘THE WORD OF GOD’ AS ‘THE BIBLE’” *

(All from Richard Murray, about whom you can find out more here.)

Blessings.

#10

Actually, He did!
Jesus answered him, “You would have no authority over me at all unless it had been given you from above. Therefore he who delivered me over to you has the greater sin.” (John 19:11)

Actually, the tree was neither cursed nor poisoned. God didn’t plant it there just in order to forbid their eating of it. He planted it there because He intended them to eat from it, but not at that time when they were mentally and spiritually immature. So He temporarily forbade them from eating from it. It was a tree that would help them to distinguish good from evil. Is it wrong to be able to distinguish good from evil? No.

The writer to the Hebrews wrote:
But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. Hebrews 5:14)

As I see it, God wanted them first to mature, and to eat from the tree of life, and THEN to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. There is no evidence that they ever ate from the tree of life, even though it was right in front of them, and it wasn’t forbidden to them.

But Satan wanted them to do things in reverse. This seems to be Satan’s way—to tempt people to do “good things” but a twisted good, so that it is in actuality an evil.

#11

Hey Paidion you said that God intended for them to eat of the tree (of good and evil), and I have read where you said that in some other post. Can you elaborate on that more so than the above? Or point me where you did?

Thanks,

Chad

#12

I would elaborate more if I could, MM, but I think the mere fact that God placed the tree of knowledge there, indicates that He had a purpose in doing so. I just don’t see that purpose as merely providing the possibility of disobedience.

#13

Should a child be spanked?

It depends on the child.

There have been tens of billions of children in the world. It is inconceivable to me to suppose that NONE of them ever benefited from a spanking, and it is equally inconceivable to me that ALL of them would have benefited from spanking.

In fact, I know of one little boy who definitely benefited from the occasional spanking. His name, coincidentally, is identical to my own.

#14

Makes sense to me, Geoffrey.

It seems that there are some who are against all physical forms of discipline, and prefer other methods. I think that is fine, as long as there is some form of discipline in training a child in the right way to live and avoiding dangers.

I think most forms of discipline when a child has been disobedient or foolish involve something uncomfortable for the child that they will hopefully learn from and want to avoid next time.

For those who don’t think spanking is appropriate, I was wondering why you think physical discomfort is so much worse for the child than some other discomfort?

#15

I would say that the method of discipline depends up upon the child, the age of the child and the situation. Yes, I think that sometimes a slap or spank might help to get the message across, especially with a young child who hears the word “no” so often, they simply tend to tune it out. For example, I think a slap on the hand is much better if it prevents one from getting burned on a hot stove.
The way I see it, God told Adam and Eve not to eat from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, but they didn’t listen. In doing so, they suffered the consequences of their actions. This is the way it is; we all suffer the consequences of our actions. Some of the consequences are harsher than others, but does this mean that God doesn’t love us?

#16

What about Slaptising them? :mrgreen:

#17

In my day, I would have never dreamed of smarting off to my parents the way some of these kids do today for fear of the flyswatter! :laughing:
I think children’s behavior has changed over the years. You see kids running amok in the stores and restaurants, risking trays of spilled food. Guess who’s fault that will be? Many call it attention deficit disorder. One has to wonder if a lot of it is just due to a lack of a good spanking now and again.

#18

One has to wonder if a lot of it is just due to a lack of a good spanking now and again.
LLC Posts: 198Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2015 9:45 am

There was a great chess champ back in the day (Lasker) who said “the threat is stronger then the execution” which is true of spanking, yet if it were never done the threat would lose it’s impact.

#19

Just don’t spank them in public. Everyone has cameras on cellphones and will use it to report you for child abuse and take your kids away to give to same gendered couples, even though your giving a legitimate short spank on the rear. Times are different now. It just isn’t worth it is in my opinion.

#20

If you don’t use the same form of discipline in public, the kids will think they can get away with anything while in that environment.