Self flagellation is the disciplinary and the devotional parctice of flogging oneself with whips and chains or other instruments that inflict pain, such as self mutilation, and cutting.
in Christianity, self flagellation is practiced in the doctrine of the mortification of the flesh and is seen as spiritual discipline. Self flagellation is used as a form of penance and is intended to allow the one engaging in self flagellation to share the suffering of Jesus, brining their focus to God.
Self Flagellation is seen as a form of purification, purifying the soul as repentance for worldly indulgences. Self Flagellation is also used as punishment on earth in order to avoid punishment in the next life. Self flagellation was seen as a way to control the body in order to focus only on God. By whipping oneself, one would be able to fully focus on Worshiping God.
Christians have engaged in various forms of mortification of the flesh, ranging from self denial, wearing sack cloths, chains, fasting, and self flagellation(using a whip for discipline). Christians will often use excerpts from the Bible to justify this ritual. i.e. 1 Corinthians 9:27. I chastise my body," which refers to self inflicted, self mutilation.
Christians also give other various reasons for choosing self flagellation. One of the main reasons is to emulate the suffering of Christ during his Passion. Just as Jesus was whipped before his crucifixion, many saw whipping themselves as a way to be closer to God, Jesus, and to remind them of the whipping Jesus endured.
Early Christians believed that in order to be closer to God, one needed to literally suffer through the pain of Christ. Paul the Apostle said that inflicting bodily harm made him feel closer to God in his letters to the Romans and the Colossians.
Self Flagellation was done to thank God for responding to a prayer or to drive out evil spirits from the body(Exorcism). The popularity of self flagellation has dwindled, but most Christians today still practice mortification of the flesh by acts by fasting or abstaining from a pleasure.
SELF FLAGELLATION IN CHURCH HISTORY:
Martin Luther, a prominent Protestant Reformer, engaged in Self Flagellation. He used the practice as a way to reminded him of his continued sin, depravity, and vileness in God's eyes.
In the 11th Century, Peter Damion, a Benedictine Monk in the Roman Catholic Church, taught that spirituality should manifest itself in physical discipline. He taught to practice Self Flagellation for the time it took to recite 40 Psalms, increasing the number of flagellations on holy days of the Christian calendar.
He taught only those who shared in the sufferings of Christ could be saved. Self Flagellation was practiced by members of the Clergy, Monasteries, and convents. It was imposed as a form of punishment for disobedient Clergy and Laity.
In the 13th Century, a group of Roman Catholics, known as the Flagellants, took this practice to the extremes. During the Black Plague, self flagellation was thought of as a way to combat the plague by cleansing one's sins. The Flagellants were later condemned by the Roman Catholic Church as a cult in the 14th Century and its members were persecuted and hunted down.
Another form of Self Flagellation is cutting. Those who engage in it use it as a coping mechanism for dealing with unwanted emotional, mental, and physical turmoil. Some see it as a form of self punishment; others see it as a way to reenact their abuse; worshiping, cleansing, protection, distorted self image, and control. Because the reasons come from psychological reasons and from the brain being hard wired, there is no cure for this problem.
There are ways to cope with the urges to cut oneself, to stop the need for self flagellation(cutting):
Using a red felt tip marker where you might want to hurt yourself.
Hitting a punching bag to vent anger and frustration.
Rubbing ice across skin where you might want to cut.
Getting outdoors and walking
Scribbling on a large paper with a red crayon or pen.
Putting elastic bands on wrist, arms, or legs, and flick them instead of cutting or self flagellation.
