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Faith Teachings and Abuse
Since this web site has been created in response to requests from Christian pastors seeking more skills training in abuse response and prevention, we are focusing on Christian faith teachings and what we've witnessed from experiences of abuse within congregations.
Scriptures that are hopeful for those victimized by abuse
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Genesis 1:27
So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
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1 Corinthians 3:16-17
Do you not know that you are God's temple and that God's Spirit dwells in you? If any one destroys God's temple, God will destroy him. For God's temple is holy, and that temple you are.
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Psalm 139
For it was you who formed my inward parts; you knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; that I know very well.
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John 10:10
"…the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.
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Isaiah 32:18
My people will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.
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Galatians 3:28
There is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
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1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.
One woman experiencing abuse told us in a support group that she always read this verse as prescriptive to only her, not her husband. It was only years after she had removed herself from the abuse that she realized this verse also describes the types of behaviours she would experience from a partner who was loving to her.
Scriptures that may be misused to harm those victimized by abuse
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Malachi 2:16
—For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel...
or, sometimes this verse is misquoted as "God hates divorce".
This phrase is sometimes used to scare people, even when the reason for a marriage break up is the lack of safety and other harm caused by abusive behaviours of a spouse. The verse actually continues- -and I hate a man's covering himself with violence..." and is written in the context of admonishing church leaders to behave with more morality and justice. In the cultural context of that time, a man could divorce his wife at will, without giving a just reason, whereas women had no ability to divorce their husbands, even when they were experiencing abuse. Read in its entirety, this verse actually speaks out against abusive, unjust behaviours. Verse 15 speaks of God admonishing men not to be unfaithful to "the wife of your youth."
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Ephesians 5:21-32
Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ. Wives, be subject to your husbands as you are to the Lord. For the husband is the head of the wife just as Christ is the head of the church, the body of which he is the Saviour.... (this is an excerpt of the 11 verses)
Too often this text is used against women in various ways. It may be helpful to note that if the above text is read in its entirety, there are 9 verses in this passage that are instructive to men and only 3 that are instructive to women. The emphasis of this text is its instruction for husbands to care for and respect their wives as Christ did the church, to the point of absolute self-sacrificial love. This text leaves no room for a husband's abusive behaviours towards his wife. Neither does it obligate women to stay and tolerate abuse; no teachings in Scripture say this.
This text draws a parallel between the "headship" of a husband in relationship with his wife and the relationship between Christ and the church. Often this concept of headship is used to argue superiority and a controlling authority over women. However, the Greek word used for "head" is Kephale, a word which is also used to describe the life source of a river. In Scripture Christ models relationships which are life giving and empowering to the church and with all whom he interacted. Christ loved selflessly and this is the type of love relationship this passage teaches for marriage partners.
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