Skip to Content
    MCC Canada        MCC U.S.

Faith Teachings and Abuse

This web site was created in response to Christian pastors seeking more skills training in responding to and preventing abuse.  It is therefore helpful to highlight some Christian faith teachings which provide comfort and hope to abuse survivors, as well as note those which have been misused to justify or condone abuse. 

Scriptures that are hopeful for those victimized by abuse:

  • So God created humankind in his image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.  Genesis 1:27

  • 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.  Psalm 139

  • My people will abide in peaceful habitation, in secure dwellings, and in quiet resting places.  Isaiah 32:18

  • …the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.  John 10:10 

  • There is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus.  Galatians 3:28

  • 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.  1 Corinthians 3:16-17

  • 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.  1 Corinthians 13:4-7     

One woman experiencing abuse told us in a support group that she always read this verse as prescriptive only to 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:

  • Malachi 2:16:   For I hate divorce, says the Lord, the God of Israel...

    Sometimes this verse is quoted as "God hates divorce" and 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..."   This is written in the context of admonishing 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."

  • 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.... (an excerpt of this passage)

    Too often this text is used against women in various ways. It is 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 also 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 everyone he met. Christ loved selflessly and this is the type of love relationship this passage teaches for marriage partners.