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Questioning the Biblical support for Spanking
Rev. Thomas E. Sagendorf, January 27, 2000
--Some Christians use the Bible to support the practice of
spanking. Especially the "spare the rod" passage from Proverbs.
However,
this is an illegitimate use of scripture. Unless these folks are willing to
use the same kind of selective prooftexting to support THE BUYING AND SELLING
OF HUMAN BEINGS (Genesis 17:13), SLAVERY (Ephesians 6:5), THE BEATING OF
FOOLS (Proverbs 10:13, 26:3), THE SUPPRESSION OF WOMEN (I Corinthians 14:34,
Ephesians 5:22), SANCTIONS AGAINST MARRIAGE (I Corinthians 7:25-38), INCEST
(Genesis 19:30-36), and INFANTICIDE (Psalm 137:9), they'll have a hard time
explaining why they single out a passage from Proverbs in support of corporal
punishment.
It's hard to conceive of Jesus ever hitting a child. For any
reason! The very suggestion is contradictory both to what he taught and the
way he lived. When anxious adults wanted to shoo the children away, Jesus
rebuked the adults and welcomed the children. "Of such," he said, "is the
kingdom of heaven." A popular slogan these days is, "What would Jesus do?"
This becomes the most reliable biblical authority for Christians when it
comes to hitting children. Jesus just wouldn't do it. Why, then, should
we?
Rev. Thomas E. Sagendorf is a Senior Pastor at Bexley United Methodist Church, Columbus, OH
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