The conception of what constitutes maltreatment of children and in fact the whole concept of what constitutes a designation of being a "child" has changed over time, like many other societal definitions. The designation of a child as a vulnerable member of society that requires special protection by parents and others is in fact a relatively new concept, and this is especially true of the social designation of adolescence. (Kellman, 2005, p. 81) Historically, childhood has been seen as a sort of temporary designation of years where the "child" was expected to act as much like and look as much like an adult as possible and engage in as much work as their physical body could endure to help support the family. "To the Puritans, children were miniature and deficient adults who had to be restrained from wasting time on sinful play." (Kellman, 2005, p. 81) This idea may have been an aspect of the fact that Puritan belief was wholly founded in traditional Christian theology which demonstrated a protectorate position of children, not because they were inculpable, but precisely because from the moment of birth (and some argue conception) they are beings capable of becoming either soldiers for God or agents of the Devil.
             Just as completely as Christianity rejected abortion, infanticide, expositio [unwanted infant abandonment, practiced during the Greco-Roman period] and pederasty, it wholeheartedly embraced the importance of the "upbringing" of children. As Bakke summarizes the thought of John Chrysostom: "The definitive goal [of upbringing] is to equip children for the kingdom of God." Not only were the souls of "morally responsible" children at stake, but parents who failed to equip their children were in jeopardy of losing their salvation as well. Childhood and parenthood were substantively refocused on the family as parents took on the primary task of training, in Chrysostom's imagery, "athletes of Christ." It can even ...