Scriptures:
Proverbs 13:24 – He that spares the rod hates his son: but he that loves him chastens him diligently.
Proverbs 22:15 – Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child; but the rod of correction shall drive it far from him.
Proverbs 23:13-14 – Withhold not correction from the child: for if you beat him with the rod, he shall not die. You shall beat him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from hell.
Proverbs 29:15 – The rod and reproof give wisdom: but a child left to himself brings his mother to shame.
Sirach 30:1-13 – He who loves his son will whip him often, in order that he may rejoice at the way he turns out. 2 He who disciplines his son will profit by him, and will boast of him among acquaintances. 3 He who teaches his son will make his enemies envious, and will glory in him in the presence of friends. 4 The father may die, and yet he is not dead, for he has left behind him one like himself; 5 while alive he saw and rejoiced, and when he died he was not grieved; 6 he has left behind him an avenger against his enemies, and one to repay the kindness of his friends.
7 He who spoils his son will bind up his wounds, and his feelings will be troubled at every cry. 8 A horse that is untamed turns out to be stubborn, and a son unrestrained turns out to be wilful. 9 Pamper a child, and he will frighten you; play with him, and he will give you grief. 10 Do not laugh with him, lest you have sorrow with him, and in the end you will gnash your teeth. 11 Give him no authority in his youth, and do not ignore his errors. 12 Bow down his neck in his youth, and beat his sides while he is young, lest he become stubborn and disobey you, and you have sorrow of soul from him. 13 Discipline your son and take pains with him, that you may not be offended by his shamelessness.
Hebrews 12:4-11 – You have not yet resisted to the point of shedding blood in your striving against sin; and you have forgotten the exhortation which is addressed to you as sons,
“My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, Nor faint when you are reproved by Him; For those whom the Lord loves He disciplines, And He scourges every son whom He receives.”
It is for discipline that you endure; God deals with you as with sons; for what son is there whom his father does not discipline? But if you are without discipline, of which all have become partakers, then you are illegitimate children and not sons. Furthermore, we had earthly fathers to discipline us, and we respected them; shall we not much rather be subject to the Father of spirits, and live? For they disciplined us for a short time as seemed best to them, but He disciplines us for our good, so that we may share His holiness. All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the peaceful fruit of righteousness. Ephesians 6:14: And you fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but rear them in the discipline and admonition of the Lord.
Church Fathers:
Didache:
You shall not remove your hand from your son or from your daughter, but from their youth shall teach them the fear of God.
Barnabas:
You shall not withdraw your hand from your son, or from your daughter, but from their infancy you shall teach them the fear of the Lord. – Epistle of Barnabas, Chapter 19
Apostolic Constitutions:
You fathers, educate your children in the Lord, bringing them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord; and teach them such trades as are agreeable and suitable to the word, lest they by such opportunity become extravagant, and continue without punishment from their parents, and so get relaxation before their time, and go astray from that which is good. Wherefore be not afraid to reprove them, and to teach them wisdom with severity. For your corrections will not kill them, but rather preserve them. As Solomon says somewhere in the book of Wisdom: Chasten your son, and he will refresh you; so will you have good hope of him. You verily shall smite him with the rod, and shall deliver his soul from death. And again, says the same Solomon thus, He that spares his rod, hates his son; and afterwards, Beat his sides while he is an infant, lest he be hardened and disobey you. He, therefore, that neglects to admonish and instruct his own son, hates his own child. You should therefore teach your children the word of the Lord. Bring them under with cutting stripes, and make them subject from their infancy, teaching them the Holy Scriptures, which are Christian and divine, and delivering to them every sacred writing, not giving them such liberty that they get the mastery, and act against your opinion, not permitting them to club together for a treat with their equals. For so they will be turned to disorderly courses, and will fall into fornication; and if this happen by the carelessness of their parents, those that begot them will be guilty of their souls. For if the offending children get into the company of debauched persons by the negligence of those that begot them, they will not be punished alone by themselves; but their parents also will be condemned on their account. For this cause endeavour, at the time when they are of an age fit for marriage, to join them in wedlock, and settle them together, lest in the heat and fervour of their age their course of life become dissolute, and you be required to give an account by the Lord God in the day of judgment. – Apostolic Constitutions, book 4, section 2, chapter 11
Lactantius
We should always have our hands over the young; that is, that when they err, we should correct them with continual stripes, lest by useless love and excessive indulgence they should be trained to evil and nourished to vices. – Divine Institutes, book 6, chapter 19
He allows his anger some time to cool, so that the agitation of his mind might cool with the passage of time. But it is an error not to restrain the fault of slaves and children. – Lactantius, Ante-Nicene Fathers, volume 7, page 275
Ambrose: