Berger (2014) presents Baumrind’s three styles of parenting that differ in their “expressions of warmth, strategies for discipline, communication, and expectations for maturity” (p. 287-288).

A recent 20/20 special on the Independent Fundamental Baptist Church showed an investigation into what was believe to be church sanctioned child abuse. During this segment, clips are shown of pastors advocating an authoritarian style of parenting that encourages spanking to begin with infants that are crying “too much”. This report has sparked much discussion about what the Bible has to say about raising children and has spurred questions about the interpretation of scripture referring to disciplining children in light of psychological research on this topic.

Using the information from your text, a minimum of (2) two scholarly sources, and at least two passages of scripture from the Bible, write a critique of the three parenting styles and their differing approaches to the above mentioned factors that is informed by scripture. In other words, this paper should seek to communicate a Biblical understanding of how we are to raise children.

Your critique should be 3-5 pages long (in addition to cover and reference pages), should be done in APA format, and should meet the expectations outlined in the grading rubric.