Jump to content
  • Welcome Guest

    For an ad free experience on Online Baptist, Please login or register for free

Pastor Charged With Felony For Spanking Son


Recommended Posts

  • Replies 84
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

  • Members


I don't recall reading nothing that a Dr. Sears wrote in the Bible. What does he have to do with the life of a Child of God, I would think God would know much more about this topic than a mere Dr. Sears.


I agree, but he did say that in his website. I'll send a link, but alot of people follow his advices.

edited: seem his site is down. If it come back up, you can search up spanking. askdrsears.com
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members


I don't dispute any of the Scriptures you have cited. But to take them 100% literally is not right. Proverbs is a book of wisdom, and there are underlying principals that the author is trying to convey. We are not to literally use a rod on our children. I need to research this a bit, but I imagine that my results will be that the rod was used in some sort of way to train livestock. The author is not saying we should train our children like livestock. Rather, the principal is that we need to use steady and constant discipline in a gentle, loving way to rear our children. Just like a horse trainer today would break a horse. You don't beat a horse silly to get him to comply. You use steady, firm, but gentle methods to discipline and train him. The same goes for children. I don't see anywhere where it says spanking is the only form of discipline. The form is not important. The important thing is that we use discipline in a steady, consistant and firm way to train our children in the way they should go.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

So do you believe that taking a rebellious child outside in the OT was also figurative language?

Not saying we do that today obviously, we are in the age of grace....but I'm saying that you can't just explain away things you don't like in Scripture by saying its figurative.

I don't like spanking my kids, and we don't use that for everything...but it is definitely the Biblical way and so we do have to follow the Bible. I find it generally more effective than "time out".

Anyway...what does one do when a child refuses to sit in a time out? LOL....

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

Kindofblue,

I am a rather "liberal" person in these parts, and I agree with your view of Proverbs (as written to show general rules of thumb), however, I think your hermenutic study will find otherwise. Proverbs is plain. Beat them with a rod, they will not die, beat them and save their soul from hell. Seriously, that's what it says. The hermeneutic we use for proverbs is not that its literal (in the sense that much of it is figures of speech) but that the principles are general principles, not hard and fast rules. I.e. Train up your child still means train up your child, but its a generalization that the children WILL turn out right. However, the scriptures surrounding physical discipline are very plain, and I do not know of any fair hermeneutic that would come to the conclusion that beating and rods are just figures of speech.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

You cannot train a child unless there is punishment when they do wrong.

The point in the Bible is punishment that they understand for wrong their doing. Of course you would not beat them, no one is saying to go out and beat children. But a good whipping in in order many times when children misbehave.

5 And ye have forgotten the exhortation which speaketh unto you as unto children, My son, despise not thou the chastening of the Lord, nor faint when thou art rebuked of him:
6 For whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.
7 If ye endure chastening, God dealeth with you as with sons; for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?
8 But if ye be without chastisement, whereof all are partakers, then are ye bastards, and not sons.
9 Furthermore we have had fathers of our flesh which corrected us, and we gave them reverence: shall we not much rather be in subjection unto the Father of spirits, and live?
10 For they verily for a few days chastened us after their own pleasure; but he for our profit, that we might be partakers of his holiness.
11 Now no chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.
Heb 12:5-11 (KJV)

Even God punishes us when we do wrong, that is if we don't repent. This can come in many different ways and degrees, even death.

16 If any man see his brother sin a sin which is not unto death, he shall ask, and he shall give him life for them that sin not unto death. There is a sin unto death: I do not say that he shall pray for it.
1 John 5:16 (KJV)

30 For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep.
1 Cor 11:30 (KJV)

Yes, some are called home early because they disobey God, some are sickly, and some sleep, or that is they are dead because of sins they have done.


Quite Frankly I don't care about Dr. Sears. God's Word is the only authority for the child of God. The old son is true. 'The only way to be happy in Jesus is to trust and obey," you can do this by following the advise of worldly people, only by following Jesus. There are ways that seem right unto man, but God's way is the only way that is right. After all God creates us, so he knows us better than man does.

25 There is a way that seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.
Prov 16:25 (KJV)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members
So do you believe that taking a rebellious child outside in the OT was also figurative language?

Not saying we do that today obviously, we are in the age of grace....but I'm saying that you can't just explain away things you don't like in Scripture by saying its figurative.

I don't like spanking my kids, and we don't use that for everything...but it is definitely the Biblical way and so we do have to follow the Bible. I find it generally more effective than "time out".

Anyway...what does one do when a child refuses to sit in a time out? LOL....


I have never said I believe spaking is wrong. I don't think anyone here is saying it is ok to beat a child silly. I do find it odd that people are defending spanking that causes bruising. All I am saying is I do not know the facts of the case being discussed here, and to come to one's defense without knowing the extent of bruising, etc. is foolish. It may be this man did nothing wrong, but it is hard for me to believe there is no evidence of abuse when he is being charged with a felony. It leads me to believe the author of the article has an agenda.

All I am saying is that there are many forms of effective discipline. Each parent should apply whatever method works best for their children in a consistent, fair, and firm way. The biblical principal being taught is clearly that it is foolish not to discipline your child and if you do not discipline your child, you are harming your child.

I don't think spanking is the only form of discipline, it is one of many things that can be used. I've seen many forms of discipline be used effectively to teach a child. I'm not sure why I am having to defend my point here, since it seems we are all mostly in agreement.

I'm not explaining away things is Scripture I don't like. I am reading Scripture and getting to the core meaning of the text. All verses cited indicate to me that it is important to discipline a child. It does not say that spanking is the only form of discipline. Every child is different and responds differently to different forms of discipline.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

I'll repeat myself... I agree with your view of scripture. I honestly believe that we share the same view of how to interpret scripture. And I am saying that I believe any fair hermeneutic applied to those verses will lead to physical discipline being called for, not just discipline in any form.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The effective punishment, corporal punishment, is what ought to be used from the beginning with a child. Them when the child gets older the need of corporal punishment will be very frequent.

Like one of my best friends father, he would be very mean to his younger brother when I was at their home, his father would take him out of our site and instill corporal punishment with a belt and send him back out to play, he was not a repeat offender.

Corporal punishment worked, time out would never have been effective, but besides that time out is not called for in our "Instruction Book," but corporal punishment is called for in our "Instruction Book," I might add, corporal punishment did not hurt his self esteem, but it did prevent him from being a repeate offender, or even worse things, just as it did me.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

The man is not a repeat offender. Please understand people that the first time that the parents were questioned by Social Services they were NOT suspected of abuse. It is the school systems policy that if anyone spanks with an instrument they are called into CPS. The authorities told them (the school, social worker and police worker) told the Barnetts that is was "illegal to use a instrument in the State of Wisconsin". This was a lie to the Barnetts. The child in question was adopted and was only spanked by Mr. Barnett after a year of trying to get him to quit lying. It was done as a last resort and not a first. He was only swatted 2 times and that was it. Thank you for your prayers and concern.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Administrators
The man is not a repeat offender. Please understand people that the first time that the parents were questioned by Social Services they were NOT suspected of abuse. It is the school systems policy that if anyone spanks with an instrument they are called into CPS. The authorities told them (the school' date=' social worker and police worker) told the Barnetts that is was "illegal to use a instrument in the State of Wisconsin". This was a lie to the Barnetts. The child in question was adopted and was only spanked by Mr. Barnett after a year of trying to get him to quit lying. It was done as a last resort and not a first. He was only swatted 2 times and that was it. Thank you for your prayers and concern.[/quote']
Thanks, madgranny. Hope things turn out okay. Once the government gets its teeth into this kind of bone, they hate to let go!!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Members

[quote="madgranny"]The man is not a repeat offender. Please understand people that the first time that the parents were questioned by Social Services they were NOT suspected of abuse. It is the school systems policy that if anyone spanks with an instrument they are called into CPS. The authorities told them (the school, social worker and police worker) told the Barnetts that is was "illegal to use a instrument in the State of Wisconsin". This was a lie to the Barnetts. The child in question was adopted and was only spanked by Mr. Barnett after a year of trying to get him to quit lying. It was done as a last resort and not a first. He was only swatted 2 times and that was it. Thank you for your prayers and concern.[/quote]

He is in a tough situation. For often adopted children, especially if they're 7 to 8 years or older have never had no training from their parents and have been exposed to much they should not have. Often their parents were dope heads, that seems not to help matter either.

Best wishes to this man and prayers that all will turn out well.

Silly law, to have a law that one cannot use an instrument, paddle or belt to whip a disobedient child. Law makers need to stay out of the parents life in most situations.

Seems to me the problem is they get to wanting to make a name for their self and go after cases that should be thrown out.

I just read in our paper where a man's trial is starting, he raped his very own 8 month old daughter. There are situation where they need to get involved, but I fear cases such as this topic here will make it hard for them to get involved in any cases that need to be checked into. For there is no doubt, there are some very evil parents in this world.

This is not the article I read but it tell a bit of the arrest.

http://www.ksla.com/Global/story.asp?S= ... v=menu50_2

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You are posting as a guest. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.



×
×
  • Create New...