From CBE’s 2024 Conference “Tell Her Story: Women in Scripture and History” in Denver, Colorado.
Many denominations have been affected by sexual abuse by their leaders in the past several years and the cover-ups that sought to hide it. Victims caught in such abuse are again victimized by institutions that were willing participants or entrapped by the leadership. Referred to as “victim-blaming”, this occurs when the leadership seeks to absolve itself by deflecting personal accountability onto the victim. This is also related to toxic masculinity in churches, where submission of females to males is emphasized. Often women are kept subordinate because they are seen as weak and are responsible for controlling men’s sexual desires. These situations set up opportunities for males to dominate the females, which leads to abuse. The David and Bathsheba narrative of 1 Samuel 11 provides an example of such abuse. While the biblical text does not accuse Bathsheba of any wrongdoing in the narrative, various interpretations of the text seek to place Bathsheba as the temptress leading David astray. This session looks at these interpretations that blame Bathsheba for David’s fall and the implications for preaching and church leaders today.