Bloggin the 28: Domestic Violence and Spirit-Body Unity
Aug 30th, 2007 | By admin | Category: Teaching, state of dead
The Sabbath Pulpit is proud to be invovled in the Camp Meeting 2.0 series. Here is our submission to the community on Seventh-day Adventist Fundamental Belief #7
Man and woman were made in the image of God with individuality, the power and freedom to think and to do. Though created free beings, each is an indivisible unity of body, mind, and spirit, dependent upon God for life and breath and all else. When our first parents disobeyed God, they denied their dependence upon Him and fell from their high position under God. The image of God in them was marred and they became subject to death. Their descendants share this fallen nature and its consequences. They are born with weaknesses and tendencies to evil. But God in Christ reconciled the world to Himself and by His Spirit restores in penitent mortals the image of their Maker. Created for the glory of God, they are called to love Him and one another, and to care for their environment.
Introduction
Juanita Bynum is shown on the news. We see a prominent, strong, black woman beaten by her husband in public no less. I have known about domestic violence, I knew it was a problem, but before doing this research, I did not know how big of a problem. Approximately 1/3 of American women report that a close partner has physically or sexually abused them during their lives.1 It is estimated that 503,485 women are stalked by an intimate partner each year in the US.2 Family violence costs between 5 billion and 10 billion dollars annually in medical expenses, police and court costs, shelters and foster care, sick leave, absenteeism, an non-productivity.3 These numbers particularly become ominous when we take into account that domestic violence is often unreported.4 This is certainly an epidemic. Because of the relative silence in this society, it is a quiet epidemic.
What is the Pastor’s Counsel?
And what do the preacher’s counsel? J. Lee Grady quotes a study of 5700 protestant pastors on issues dealing with domestic violence.5 The first startling statistic was that 71% of pastors who returned the survey never counsel a woman to leave or separate based on domestic violence.6 92% never counsel the woman to get a divorce because of domestic violence.7 26% of pastors told women to go back to an abusive situation and submit.8 They said that God would bless the decision. In addition, 25% told the woman that her lack of submission was the cause of the abuse.9 These statistics show that too often the pastor is on the side of the abuser against the abused.
I do not have any illusions, while I do not have any research, I would suspect that many Pastors in our own Adventist church is just as guilty as preachers in other churches, but I believe that Adventism has within its theological system a core teaching that can help us attack this travesty. In this presentation, I will look at how an understanding of the Adventist view of humanity can help to confront this climate. This important component of Adventist theology is that the Bible teaches that there is a body and a spirit that we can separate.
Spirit and Body in Christianity
In much of western Christianity, a human being is essentially a spirit that inhabits a body. The spirit is more important than the body so we care more about the spirit than the body. This view seeks to minimize the importance of our physicality. Thus, an abused woman is in a problematic state, but her ultimate goal is to keep her spiritual connection to God intact. There are a couple of problems with this mindset. First, the Bible teaches that humanity is an indivisible unity of body and spirit.10 Another problem is that we cannot psychologically separate body and spiritual needs. As can be noted, physical abuse against women affects them physically, spiritually, and psychologically. What affects our spirit affects our body and vice versa.
Embodiment and Dualism
Perhaps one of the biggest problems with this dualistic understanding is that it means that I am never really my body. But, in contrast to dualism, we promote an embodiment.11 This principle recognizes that [t]he body is the means by which I can know objects, persons, and events.12 Nelson goes so far as to say that, If I do not realize the profound sense in which I am a body, if in a false spiritualization of my selfhood I deny my embodiedness, I will also tend to minimize the personal significance of activities which I carry through my body.13 Thus, everything I experience in my body is less important. However to fully recognize my embodiment shows that we are a unity not two independent parts. It also pushes us to respect individuals and their bodyright.14 It also forces us to respect our own bodyright and work against any infringements whether from others of from even our theological tradition. This will allow women to stand up for herself even if one seeks to use the tradition against her. She can say, This is wrong because God made us in God’s image and this defiles that image.
Being True to the Best of Our Selves
Body and Spirit being one means that Adventists can not simply worry about the spiritual without worrying about the physical. Our history shows that at our best we have attempted to do just that. At our best we talked about the importance of health and how it affects even our spirituality. At our best we shuttled slaves in underground railroads because God cares about our physicality and you can’t separate the physical from the spiritual. At our best, ADRA today continues working to bring clean water to various locations because physicality and spirituality are inseparable.
And today, I hope that we will continue to push this. For at our best we can not look aside while Corporations destroy the environment when what affects our physicality affects our spirituality. We can not look the other way when it is time to decide where the city dump will be located. We cannot go ahead and just eat anything that strikes our fancy for our spirituality affects our physicality. And yes we cannot ignore those who have been abused.
I praise God for the doctrine, Lord help me to be true to it and its implications.
- What is Domestic Violence (Http://www.ndvh.org/dvInfo.html). [↩]
- What is Domestic Violence. [↩]
- What is Domestic Violence. [↩]
- Becky Mabry, Domestic Violence Common, but Underreported, Inside Illinois, http://www.news.uiuc.edu/ii/00/1116violence.html; Mabry, Domestic Violence Common, but Underreported. [↩]
- J. Lee Grady, 10 Lies the Church Tells Women: How the Bible Has Been Misused to Keep Women in Spiritual Bondage. (Florida: Charisma House, 2000), 173. [↩]
- Grady, 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 174. [↩]
- Grady, 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 174. [↩]
- Grady, 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 174. [↩]
- Grady, 10 Lies the Church Tells Women, 174. [↩]
- For example, see James 2:26 For just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is also dead. This states that without the spirit, the body is dead and thus you need both to have life. Also Gen 2:7 in the KJV And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul. Here humans do not have a soul, but each one is a soul. [↩]
- See James B. Nelson, Embodiment: An Approach to Sexuality and Christian Theology (1978: Augsburg Publishing House, 1978), Chapter 1. [↩]
- Nelson, Embodiment, 20. [↩]
- Nelson, Embodiment, 20. [↩]
- For a discussion of bodyright see Gudorf, Body, Sex, and Pleasure, Chapter 6. [↩]
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Anonymous…
Men being abused is a problem. And it is another very underreported problem as well. My question to you is please provide where you got that 30% statistic.
As far as children…I don’t know what feminists you are listening to, but they do speak of the abuse of children.
A fair question Admin. It is a statistic reported some time ago and, frankly, I did not record it so cannot point you to it. Here are a couple sites for your consideration — http://www.deltabravo.net/news/10-10-2000.php
Here is one that seems reliable — http://tinyurl.com/dje6j
What boggles the mind is that rarely in this conversation do we view the statistics that around 30 per cent of men report abuse from the female. Admittedly the abuse toard women may often be more violent should we not consider any abuse at all as reprehensible?
And the abuse of children is horrendous. The feminists obviously are pushing this issue to the exclusion of other abuses of God’s children
[...] Link: Domestic Violence and Spirit-Body Unity [...]
Elaine…
Forgive me…sometimes you read what you “meant” to write and not what you actually “wrote”…Ryan is right…that is my typo….it took away the force of what I was trying to say…
Deb and Pastor Thicklin, Thank you for your responses that provide depth to our comments…I will post links to both of your resources in the next couple of days….
God Bless…
Elaine,
I’m guessing, based on the context, that it’s a typo. It should read: “This important component of Adventist theology is that the Bible teaches that there is a body and a spirit that we can’t separate.”
I am a survivor of domestic violence. The only thing that gave me hope to ever escape the terrible violent situation is that it was hard for me to believe the brainwashing that goes with the abuse. I could not believe that I was worthless because I knew that God loved me. There was a faint voice that kept telling me not to believe that I was worthy of nothing but being abused. I remembered that God loved me.
Yes, there are women sitting in the pews in churches that are abused in their homes. These are couples that never quit get involved in what is going on in church because they are always on guard to protect the dirty secret of the abuse that goes on in their homes.
We are in covenant with Jesus and with our partner in marriage that is supposed to mirror the covenant with Christ. A covenant partner is supposed to protect you. So if you are married and your partner beats you, hasnt that partner violated and broken the covenant. God does not intend for anyone to be beaten by their spouse. It is OK to seek shelter from the beatings and it is alright for brothers and sisters in Christ to show their love for the victim and the abuser.
The existing shelters hide the victims away as if they have something to be ashamed of. The victims have nothing to be ashamed of and this violence should not be hidden in the dark. The wrong doing needs to be in the light so that changes can be addressed. We have been hiding the victim and sheltering the abuser from suffering the consequences of their actions. This does not match scripture. No wonder there is a silent epidemic as Satan has helped us to keep this a secret instead of really dealing with the problem.
These victims of violence both the spouse and the children need to feel God’s loving arms around them at this time. The current shelter situation does not allow religion to be discussed as they are receiving Government money to operate. Christians need to start dealing with this issue themselves so that these victims might know the comfort that God has for them and the saving grace of Jesus Christ. These children need to know that there is hope and there is justice in the world. You see 80% of the people who are currently incarcerated come from abusive homes. It is no wonder because these children have no respect for the laws that never protected them from the abuse. It will take a couple generations to ever get this changed but we must start.
I have written a book on the subject titled “FAMILY TERROR” that was just published in the last 30 days. This book is also available at my website of http://www.familyterror.com.
With God’s help . . .
DEB
“First, the Bible teaches that humanity is an indivisible unity of body and spirit.” and
“This important component of Adventist theology is that the Bible teaches that there is a body and a spirit that we can separate.”
Those are two contradictory statements if it is agreed that the Bible teaches indivisibility of body and spirit and the Adventist’s teach they are inseparable.
Please explain which of two are to be believed, as they both cannot. Either we are a unity, or we are separate: body and spirit. Which is it?
Thank you for attempting to bring light to the mayhem that have come to the forefront as a result of the Juanita Bynum’s domestic violence tragedy of last week.
I have been on the front lines addressing the issue of domestic violence for over 15 years, I have spoken to nearly 28,000 middle and high school students; I have conducted seminars and trainings at colleges and universities as well as have spoken in conferences, seminars and symposiums for coalitions, faith, governmental and children organizations.
I have blogged and replied to similar stories concerning this most recent incident of domestic violence and have received an array of responses including a few that felt as if I was being crast because you see I am also a Pastor, a male pastor at that. I want to state upfront that I believe that we must get more pastors and more men to stand up and speakout against domestic violence. This issue is larger than Juanita Bynum and Bishop Weeks. My concern for many years is about Jane & Mary Q. Member that sits in church pews suffering in silence and no one hears their cry. My concern is about the perpetrators that are never held accountable and therefore can never began to be reformed.
I regret that anyone would feel as if my statements are crast. I assure you that it is not my intention. I hope that my statements would do some real good in the midst of this painful situation. I have received many calls from all over the country from those that are now seeking to find out more about this silent issue in the church. I have had one or two calls from women that were initially upset because I didn’t condemn Bishop Weeks neither did I overly state my support of Juanita Bynum; but after speaking to me they too realize that I was actually being there for the many that have suffered in silence. Let me reiterate what I said before; this issue of Domestic Violence is greater than Juanita Bynum and Bishop Weeks. My concern is for the thousands of women that are being abused and have been abused that is sitting in congregations all over this country and yet there cry goes unheard. I have been involved in this work for over 15 years and have interviewed many women that have suffered in silence in the church because (1) the pastor never addressed domestic violence (2) the Pastor re-victimized the victim by not believing them (3) the pastor simply was unequipped to deal with it (4) Pastor co-counseled her and the husband and she was ostracized by the church (5) the pastor gave a prescription for a romantic night as if lack of romance was the cause of the abuse (6) Pastor told her to be more submissive to her husband (7) Pastor stood with the perpetrator. There are many more reasons that I have encountered as well as the few Spirit Filled Pastors or Counselors that have worked in this field.
I have been part of many symposiums and conferences and I have seen the sponsors mail out 1500 letters to Pastors and Clergy to attend Domestic Violence Workshops and Symposiums and yet the sponsors only received response from 25 pastors or churches and only 7 of those attended the workshop. What I am simply saying is that the Church has pretended that this issue did not exist but the reality it exists across denominational and ethnic lines.
I am taking the time to thoroughly explain my comments because I want you to know my heart here in this matter. Nine years ago, I had a first cousin who murdered his wife on her 27th birthday in front of their 3 1/2 year old son by stabbing her in the back with a Fishing Knife as shed fled from him. They were both members of a Gospel Singing Group and they attended the same church. I was in deep pain after that incident for many reasons. I agonized because I wish that I had been closer to him or her so that they could have contacted me and I could have possibly walked them through some of their issues. I have a niece, whose mother was ran over and killed by her boyfriend when my niece was only 10 years of age; that niece graduated from high school in Alabama this year.
I am simply stating to you that there are hundreds of cases that I have dealt with including several First Ladies suffering in silence because they feel trapped and the church at large has failed to deal with the issue as a whole.
In closing , I want you to know that I did reach out to Prophetess Bynum after this event. I called her office on last Friday morning and spoke to one of her staff members. I conveyed my prayers, empathy and offered my ministry and expertise to them; I only hope that they will contact me or someone that is anointed to address this issue because she needs Godly support from people who isn’t interested in riding the wave of her name. She also needs someone that would be candid with her and speak the truth in love. Her response to this tragedy will impact many women; it is important that she doesn’t come across angry and vengeful but sober with her words seasoned with grace.
I want you to also know that I also called Bishop Weeks office and left a message on Tuesday, August 28th and I offered the same to him because they both need ministering too (separately). I plan to send them both a copy of my 2 part Cd entitled “Domestic Violence and the Silent Church” it can be a great start of dialogue , introspection and healing for them and for the Body of Christ.
I hope you have heard my heart on this matter; I welcome your response. If you have any further questions please feel free to contact me on my urgent line at (561) 516-0069. Please feel free to visit my website at http://www.destinybychoice.org.
I travel and do symposiums, trainings and seminars across the country. I hope that I can be of assistance to those that have no voice or those that would like to partner in the efforts of addressing domestic violence.
In His Service!
Pastor J.R. Thicklin
_________________
Pastor J.R. Thicklin
Man of Purpose
Sherman,
Thanks for this. I especially appreciated how you connected our Adventist view of soul, rather, spirited bodies, with the problem of domestic abuse. It really is something we cannot afford to ignore.
Thanks!