4MKfam
03-16-2007, 09:02 AM
:dance
I finally figured out through a comment by dh last night why I haven't ever really felt spanking was Biblically mandated, even when I've practiced it myself. Proverbs aren't commandments. They're wise advice and reflections given by a wise man in certain situations. That's all. Not a parenting manual, not a "do this no matter what" manual... Just good advice. Read like that, it seems ludicrous to me to assume that you can get a mandate to spank your child into righteousness from Proverbs. It just isn't there. :grin
The other thing I suddenly realized was --was "spanking" done in the times of Proverbs? I mean paddle-or-hand-on-the-butt-or-legs spanking? Most likely not. The word given in one section is actually translated "beat" in the NKJV. :scratch I'm still trying to figure that one out. The verse I'm referring to in NKJV is Prov. 23:14 --"You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell." How on earth would that translate to spanking as we know it today? ...Or maybe I should say --that's not the way I experienced spanking as a child. I wouldn't call it even "beating." Maybe "hitting" would be a better term, but now we're getting into semantics... The other obvious problem as it fits in to the way I understand theology --God does the saving from hell, not anything I do to or for my child. GOD does that. Anyway, I'm starting to see that while I've used spanking in my "parenting toolbox" before, I no longer see it as a Biblically mandated thing to spank in order to raise kids according to God's instructions. What a relief! :phew
Now I think I need to get Crystal's book to complete the thought... I'd really like to read a well-done exegesis of the "rod verses."
I'm getting it, finally, people!!!!! :grin
I finally figured out through a comment by dh last night why I haven't ever really felt spanking was Biblically mandated, even when I've practiced it myself. Proverbs aren't commandments. They're wise advice and reflections given by a wise man in certain situations. That's all. Not a parenting manual, not a "do this no matter what" manual... Just good advice. Read like that, it seems ludicrous to me to assume that you can get a mandate to spank your child into righteousness from Proverbs. It just isn't there. :grin
The other thing I suddenly realized was --was "spanking" done in the times of Proverbs? I mean paddle-or-hand-on-the-butt-or-legs spanking? Most likely not. The word given in one section is actually translated "beat" in the NKJV. :scratch I'm still trying to figure that one out. The verse I'm referring to in NKJV is Prov. 23:14 --"You shall beat him with a rod, and deliver his soul from hell." How on earth would that translate to spanking as we know it today? ...Or maybe I should say --that's not the way I experienced spanking as a child. I wouldn't call it even "beating." Maybe "hitting" would be a better term, but now we're getting into semantics... The other obvious problem as it fits in to the way I understand theology --God does the saving from hell, not anything I do to or for my child. GOD does that. Anyway, I'm starting to see that while I've used spanking in my "parenting toolbox" before, I no longer see it as a Biblically mandated thing to spank in order to raise kids according to God's instructions. What a relief! :phew
Now I think I need to get Crystal's book to complete the thought... I'd really like to read a well-done exegesis of the "rod verses."
I'm getting it, finally, people!!!!! :grin