the bible's unaddressed precedent of sexual scandal

TW: sexual assault, rape, abuse

Last week confirmed reports of extended sexual predation by a world-renowned Christian apologist, speaker, and writer, a name and face I respected growing up. He used his revered reputation to keep women quiet about what they were experiencing. He used his religious devotion and biblical knowledge to justify his actions to women he raped. I am saddened and deeply angered. I wish I could say I am surprised.

As a researcher on the silencing of biblical women, I see this kind of far-too-common news through an ancient, textual lens. I see patterns laid out in the Bible being re-enacted by powerful men today. 

I think of Abram and Sarai going down to Egypt, a story in which Abram passes off his wife Sarai to Pharaoh in order to protect himself, resulting in her exploitation with no consequences for him (Genesis 12). I think of how Sarai is given no voice in the story, and how Abram is the honored father for the rest of history. 

I think of Lot, who offers his two daughters to be raped by a crowd of men, and who is still rescued as the "righteous" remnant of the city (Genesis 19). 

I think of David and Bathsheba, the story in which the "man after God's own heart" manipulates a married woman with no power to resist him, and who remains a celebrated king (2 Samuel 11). 

I think of David's son Amnon and who raped his sister, Tamar. Tamar is told to "be quiet" about this, and David does not punish Amnon because he loves him (2 Samuel 13). 

I think of the two Israelite elders who attempted to rape Susanna and then accused her in court, where her testimony was not believed (Daniel 13). 

I think of a modern Bible full of language like "he gave his daughter" or "he took her as a wife" in which one person is clearly the active subject while the other is the will-less object. 

So when I hear that Lori Anne Thompson's allegations toward this man in 2017 were rebuffed and disbelieved, I am not surprised. 

When I hear of Christian men finding ways to justify and cover their objectification and exploitation of women, I think of the examples they have read from these sacred texts. 

Does the Bible condemn rape and sexual exploitation? Yes. Mostly. In a patriarchal, ancient kind of way. 

Does the Bible portray an equal value for women in its language, themes, characters, and speech? No. In many places its laws and approach to women are an improvement upon the surrounding cultures of the time, but equality was hardly a concept in the ancient mind. My point is not that the Bible should be held to modern standards - it is an ancient text and it should be seen that way. My point is that when we hold ourselves to the standards of the Bible and aim to be shaped by those ancient texts alone, we may be contributing to the continuation of views toward women that can result in scandals like this.

The longer we cover up the abuse within the Bible, the longer we perpetuate the very cycles we saw unfold last week. This apologist may have been a 99% "good man," and the Bible may be a 99% "Good Book." But I believe the 1% matters, and we should not say that justice is done until that 1% is identified, rejected, repented, and restituted. 

So I am working to amplify the voices of women, the other half of the story that was never written. 

In that vein, I hope we remember the victimization and the boldness of Lori Anne Thompson longer than we remember the perpetrator. You can read her statement here. 

What do we do about the Bible? Yes, we can keep reading it. But perhaps we read it with the knowledge that it is not an unadulterated fount of truth and wisdom. Some of it has harmed and continues to harm women sexually, psychologically, and socially. Some of it is historical information that should no longer be called authoritative. 

As we hold abusers accountable, let us hold abusive texts, theology, and doctrine accountable. 

And let us begin to shift the focus to the voices too long unheard and unbelieved. Perhaps that will begin to balance power and decrease the ease of exploitation. Perhaps that will be the way forward into a world where women are valued and where all of us are full of integrity.