Biblical Issues

For Christians it is critical to understand how the biblical text handles the issue of abuse. The biblical text has been used to support survivors of abuse and it has also been used to revictimize people. It will become obvious very quickly in the pages which follow that there are lots of very complicated interpretive issues that we will not have time to explore in depth. I hope that we can at least hint at the range of issues that are involved. My main purpose, however, is to help you begin to think about ways to hear the healing themes which abound in the biblical text.

If you are relatively unfamiliar with the Bible, you might want to consider working through the Bible studies by Dale and Juanita Ryan on recovery from abuse which can be downloaded here. There are several other other Bible studies in the Library at the National Association for Christian Recovery that might provide you with a general introduction to biblical perspectives on abuse.

You might also be interested to read Rooted in God’s Love: Meditations on Biblical Texts for People in Recovery by Dale and Juanita Ryan. You can receive one meditation a day by email by signing up here or you can buy a copy here

• Old Testament Overview
• New Testament Overview:Gospels
• Texts Abusers Abuse
• Potentially helpful texts