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Battered Into Submission: The Tragedy of Wife Abuse in the Christian Home

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...instead it's out of print.

"Battered into Submission" blows away the myth that spousal abuse doesn't happen in Christian homes, or that it doesn't happen any more. Using statistical and anecdotal data, the authors reveal undeniably how spousal abuse is ubiquitous in the Christian landscape. They map the denominations and doctrinal groups in which a woman is most at risk of abuse.

Although the data relates to the 1970's the book remains relevant. Most importantly, it delineates how the most usual counselling received from Christian counsellers to women who have already suffered abuse, in fact tends to perpetuate the abusive situation. Pastors who believe "things have changed" would do well to measure their own performance against this analysis as a check up on whether they are unconscious contributors to perpetuating spousal abuse.

This book, or some other as unblinkingly willing to face the facts of pastoral complicity in spousal abuse, should be required reading for every Christian worker who purposes to provide pastoral care or counselling.

Read this book for a seminary class. I was really impressed. It looked at domestic abuse and gave responsible Christian answers. I would recommend this book to all pastors, theology students, and Christians alike. Excellent!

Battered into Submission centers upon wife abuse in the Christian home. The Alsdurfs demonstrate that wife abuse doesn't merely occur "out there" in the pagan world, but right within the homes and halls of Christian homes. Ministers, deacons, and active and respected Christian men abuse their wives, both physically and emotionally.

The Alsdurfs blame the church's theology of submission. They disagree with any theology of "headship," but rather emphasize mutual submission. They don't like theology that includes the traditional sex roles, but rather promote a mild feminist theology. They don't believe marriage or family include any "chain-of-command," but that marriage is really simply friendship. They also don't appear even to believe that there are any differences between the sexes. And they specifically name some of the theological and psychological culprits: James Dobson, Minirth and Meier, John MacArthur, Jr., Paul and Richard Meier, Clyde Narramore, and Bill Gothard.

Though the Alsdurfs bring to the Church's attention an important problem and correctly point out that wife abuse, and indeed all abuse, is the result of the abuse of power, their book is extremely shallow in many respects. They give a very limited rationale for their egalitarian view of marriage and family,. Whether through reason or Scripture. Even their statistics are confusing. How much wife abuse goes on? In different places they contend one-half, two-thirds, one-third, and one out of every six. Yet immediately they approvingly quote an author that says "most men would kill" to have great children and wives (p. 28).

The book primarily is a treatise against the church. It offers little solutions to the problem: little theology, little treatment methodology, little advice for church action, and little on forgiveness and healing for both the abuser and abused.

Their view of divorce makes me cringe: marital infidelity is equated with breaking the love commitment, whatever that means to any individual. A ground for divorce can even be when people grow apart. It is no wonder that they can maintain such loose interpretations when the authors contend that we shouldn't take the words of Jesus literally or moralistically (p. 121). Granted there is a good case that wife abuse is a form of abandonment, but the authors barely say this, going far beyond. I'm sure their book wouldn't convince any conservative pastor to change his or her views.

With such shallow arguments to support their case, one might wonder who would read the book. It appears to be directed to people who already believe what the authors believe and need confirmation in their bitterness against the church. Most therapists, pastors, abused and abusers won't find it useful or encouraging.