I RESPOND to Terry Banfield’s comments in the Argus (9.1.2013) referring to child punishment and the Bible.

Why does Mr Banfield compose the negative side of what the Bible says about child punishment? Yes, Proverbs 13 verse 24 says ‘Spare the rod and spoil the child’, as do other scriptures in the Old Testament, but that does not mean you harm them to the point of ‘abuse’. As far as a child talking back to their parent should be killed, and He quotes Exodus, Leviticus, Deuteronomy, Mark and Matthew, I cannot find any proof that that actually happened!

What about the positive side of the scriptures found in the Bible? I cannot find putting a child to death in either Matthew or Mark, Mr Banfield. The Old Testament and its laws were thankfully changed in the New Testament, which is built upon a better covenant with better promises. Under the old covenant there were too many different sacrifices to be made for our sin/s.

Malcolm Stafford Gwaun Coed Bridgend