CHILD OF GOD. The terms "child," "chO. dren," '*babe," etc., are used in the N.T. in the fol- lowing senses :
I. PiychobgicaU^ these terms are used to denote a state of ignorance and of intellectual narrowness or darkness (Matt, xi, 16; Luke vii, 82; 1 Cor. xiii, 11 " When I was a child, I spake as a child, I understood as a child, I thought as a child ;" xiv, 20 : " Brethren, be not children m understanding;" Eph. iv, 14: "That we hmceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro," etc. ; Heb. v, 18: **For every one that nseth milk, is unskilful in the word of righteousness : for he is a babe").
II. In the st&icoZ sense, they are used, in the abstract, to designate a state of hinocenoe, and, in the concrete, to signify the totality of children, towards whom holy duties are to be fulfilled by the community, and par- ticularly by parents. We see even that tiie appella- tion " children" is used by the Lord as an expression of his greatest love (Mark x, 24). Children are then distinguished by moral preference; yet fit>tt this it does not follow that they are holy, but merely that they are yet uncontaminated by actual contact with the world. They are, therefore, partly to be imitated, partly to be restrained, and in all cases to be the ob- jects of the greatest moral solicitude. As dudies of
'parents towards children, the N. T. names the provid- ing for their wants, giving them good examples, and bringing them up in the fear and knowledge of the Lord. Children, on the other hand, are to be obedi- ent to their parents. That the N. T. does not give a more systematic view of the relative moral duties of parents and children is to be accounted for on the ground that where fidth and love are found, all the rest follows naturally (Matt vii, 9-11; Luke xi, 11 : " What man is* there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent ? If ye, then, behig evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more
shall your Father which is in heaven gfve good ttiags to them that ask him?" xviii, 1-6 ; Mark ix, 34 ; LbIb ix, 47^ 48 : "At the same time came the disci{des unto Jesus, saying, Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child onto Inm, and set him in the nudst of them, and said, Verily I say unto you. Except ye be converted, and becooM a» little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom cf heaven. Wheeoever, therefore, shall humUe hims^ as this little child, the same is greatest in tiie kini^doa of heaven ; and whoso shal} receive one audi IxCde child in my name, receiveth me**). See also VmA x. 18-16; Matt xix, lS-15; Luke xviii, 16-17; 2 Qm. xii, 14; Eph. vi, 1-4; CoL iii, 20, 21.
III. In the spiritual sense, the expression "ddl- dren" designates thoee who have become diUdren d God through Christ To be a chihl of God throngk Christ is to have attained the highest (moral) perfiec- tiod, and the- greatest degree of holiness of which bo- man nature is susceptible. This consdousnosa of it? holy purity is one of the characteristics of Chziatian&T (Matt xi, 19 ; Luke vii, 83-86 : "The Son of man coo^ eating and drinking, and they say. Behold, a man glut- tonous, and a wine-bibber, a friend of pubUcans and sinners. But Wisdom is justified of her childreB :" L e. those whom Christ recognises as his pxore bj words and deeds that they are the children of wiadom. See also Matt v, 9; xv, 26; John i, 12; Bom. vm. 14-17 : "For as many as are led by the Spirit of God. they are the sons of God. For ye have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear ; but ye have re- ceived the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father. The Spirit itself beareth witness with cm spirit that we are the children of God. And if elal- dren, then heirs ; heirs of God, and joint h&n witli Christ, if so be that we suffer with him, that we mj be also glorified together;" Rom. ix, 8; GaL iii, 26: iv, 6, 6; Eph. i, 6; PhU. ii, 15; 1 John iii, 1, 2, 9, 10: T,l,2; Eph. iii, 16; Lukexx,86; Rom. viii, 28, etc.). — Krehl, Handwdrierh, d. N, 7. s. v. See Ai>optio3c.
Childbirth (rcrvoyovfa, "child-bearing"). The throes of accouchement appear in Gen. iii, 16, to be part of the doom incurred by woman for her agency in the fiill in Eden. Her passive lot in thus continuing the race is aptly expressed in that primeval sentence : *' Unto the woman he said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception ; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children ; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee." See Cohabitatxox. The language of the apostle in 1 Tim. ii, 15, impBes that a patient endurance of this penalty shall contrib- ute to woman's spiritual benefit The Prayer-book of the Church of England prescribes a form of public thanksgiving to be offered for women after safe deliv- ery in childbed. See Bibth ; Chubchiko.