physical abuse | To Love, Honor and Vacuum

On an Unbiblical View of Suffering, Wife Abuse, and Created To Be His Helpmeet

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Jul 28, 2020 | Abuse, Theology of Marriage and Sex

One of the most damaging and unbiblical “Christian” books on marriage is Debi Pearl’s Created to Be His Helpmeet. Debi Pearl’s view of submission teaches women to allow themselves to be abused, rather than teaches women to seek God’s...

Is It Okay if Christian Marriage Books are Just a Little Bit Harmful?

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Jan 14, 2020 | Theology of Marriage and Sex

Christian marriage books should not harm people. That seems to me to be a no-brainer, but often in discussions about books that I believe spread a toxic teaching, people will say something like: Well, I got a lot of out of it. I didn’t agree with all of it, and...

How to Reconnect with Your Body if You’re an Abuse Survivor (or Trauma Survivor)

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Oct 4, 2019 | Abuse

When you’re abused, a common defense mechanism is dissociation–when you mentally “flee” your body and try to be anywhere but here. That helps you live through trauma. But it also creates a whole heap of problems down the road when you’re...

And…This is Why Abuse Flourishes. Can We Provoke Someone to Abuse?

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Aug 2, 2018 | Abuse, Resolving Conflict

When there’s abuse in marriage, are both parties to blame? Or is just the abuser to blame?I honestly wish I didn’t have to ask that question, but last week a commenter left this comment on my post about emotionally destructive marriages: I believe almost...

Homeschoolers: We Need to Police Our Own

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | Jun 2, 2017 | Abuse

There is a dark side of homeschooling where abuse can flourish, and I want to talk about that today. But first, a bit of background: I homeschooled both of my daughters right through, up to university (Rebecca completed first year university online before she went to...

A Letter to the Woman with a Controlling Husband

by Sheila Wray Gregoire | May 5, 2016 | Abuse, Theology of Marriage and Sex

Are you married to a controlling husband? I wrote a big post recently about how too often our Christian culture promotes a version of church and marriage that makes women powerless–and that this inevitably leads to abuse. Not that EVERY woman will be...