The rod

Are you by any chance, familiar with what is referred to as "grace-based parenting"?

 

If I remember correctly, children were not considered adults in Bible times until they reached 30 years of age. Read that somewhere many years ago.

 

Whether the child dies or not is dependant upon which part of the child's body the rod is used on and how hard the rod is used in beating said child. As a child, I was hit across the back and legs with switches. While they left welts, I did not die. I have been hit with sticks. Again, it is obvious my punishment did not kill me.

I see no reason to doubt the reality of the rod Solomon so wisely wrote of. The rod was not figurative as you would imagine.

 

He could die from eating too much chocolate cake.

 

I don't think so

 

I don't see your point. You shouldn't be killed SFIC, and you shouldn't have visual scars from the physical abuse you endured as a child at the hand of the one that should have been protecting you. Children who are beaten like that are usually quite wild and get into much trouble, often legal trouble. The more spankings, the higher the severity of physical abuse, the more likely they are to be in Prison. I'll find the studies and post the link.

What happened to you SFIC is physical abuse. It makes people numb. It prevents them from feeling, and bonding with others. Child abuse should not be promoted on a Christian message board, or any place else for that matter. It is against the law for a reason.

 

I disagree. What happened to me was due punishment set forth by the authority given to parents by God's Holy Word.

The welts I received did not scar me for life. They went away usually within an hour or two.

There have been more and more people convicted of crimes since the authority of God's Word was first questioned in Congress and spanking declared to be abuse.

What is abuse is to spare the rod. Scripture declares that one who spares the rod hates his child... not loves them.

A rod for a fool's back... does that sound like figurative to you? it doesn't to me. Beat him with many stripes... again, not figuratively.

Do you think when the Scripture says that Jesus was struck with a reed, that that was figurative? No, the rod, the reed, the beatings, the stripes, were all real.

Again, I sure was not killed when my mother obeyed the Bible in exercising punishment on me for wrongdoing. I needed every stripe I received and no more than that.

 

I always heard that boys were considered men by age 12 and girls married as young as 14. If that was the case, wouldn't they have been considered adults?

 

They were considered grown up enough to marry but not considered full flegded members of sociaty, or better, not able to be fully active in any and all aspects of their sociaty. The ages were actaully reversed. Girls - 12 and Boys - 13 if memory serves. You might be right however on the ages but I know the girls were considered mature before the boys. (even now )

 

Even if it were figurative as you say and the word "beat" held the context you claim it does it would not work. The excessivness of the word "beat" in the context you impose on it is unrealistic in this passage.

It can be used in a number of contexts. In this one it is clear that it simply means to strike. And there is no reason to take it to the excesses that you have unless you have an agenda.

 

No, the typical pattern would be: great-grandpa beat grandpa beat dad beat me, and then I beat my kids and claim that I don't know any better. However, I am a person who strongly believes in accepting responsibility for my own actions and teaches my kids the same. So, I do not beat them and claim that I can't help it because I was beaten. That would go against one of my core principles. Instead, my kids get a simple spanking that does not hurt for more than about ten minutes, if that. It teaches them to accept responsibility for their actions or face the consequences if they choose not to.

Look, if you don't believe in spanking, that's your prerogative...my argument is not that one has to spank in order to be Christian. It is only that corporal punishment is supported Biblically, so even if you don't agree with it, you can't condemn someone who chooses to use it. As long as the child is not being beaten or injured in any way, there is no problem. If you can not spank your child without losing control and hurting them, then you do not need to spank...period. FYI, I will be the first one to report someone if I have any reason to suspect they are abusing a child. Having experienced abuse myself, I don't play games. If I think you are hurting a child, you better hope I call the law and don't take matters into my own hands. Trust me...you'd rather deal with CPS than me in that situation. :BangHead: Witnessing any form of abuse gives me flashbacks, and if you have never dealt with a person experiencing a flashback, well...let's just say that I injured a 300 pound man in the middle of a flashback one time and put my ex-husband through a closet door during another. I do not condone abuse for any reason!

 

When your children are consistently able to respond favorably to other methods of discipline and correction.
If you don't know when that is for each of your children, pray for wisdom and study your child. It will vary from child to child and a wise and godly parent will be able to discern what methods are appropriate when.

The only means of punishment?
How so?