Dem Bones Dialogue Series: Marriage and Domestic Violence

This is the series premiere of the Dem Bones Dialogue Series (background here).

As I have spent most of my divinity education studying the intersection of religion and violence and was an Assistant Director of a local domestic violence shelter, this article deeply affected me. The article gives several theological viewpoints on domestic violence in a marital relationship: condoning divorce in an abusive relationship, separation without divorce, and the submittance to the husband and the abuse, among others. So, I asked a couple of loyal Dem Bones readers and budding ministers, educators, and theologians to provide their viewpoints on this matter. Can one seek divorce if s/he is in an abusive relationship?

I asked readers Kent H and Tripp to kick off this series, both Christians seeking higher ministerial education. Kent H is a conservative evangelical and biblical literalist. He has a M.A. in Religion and is currently completing his M.Div degree at Liberty University. Tripp is a progressive evangelical and just started his Ph.D. in Systematic Theology at Claremont. Importantly, both are ordained ministers.

In order for easier reading, I will be posting their responses to this article over the next couple of days; to post it singularly would overwhelm almost every reader. So tomorrow at noon, I will post Kent H's response to the article, and thursday noon, I will post Tripp's response to the article. Friday noon, I will post Kent and Tripp's responses to each other.

I hope you enjoy this series. Please read the linked article and stay tuned!