Bible and Violence Project – The Shiloh Project

Announcing a day of events on Religion and Violence – 8 October 2025

by Johanna Stiebert on April 9, 2025

[Updated/edited on 31 July 2025]

On Wednesday 8 October 2025, on the Leeds University campus (West Yorkshire, UK), we are organising a series of events centred on themes of Religion and Violence.

This day of activities will include presentations, panels, displays, mentoring sessions, and a campus walk, and the participation of activists, practitioners, academics, artists and students.

We have sought participation from the Emmanuel Chaplaincy Centre, Leeds Church Institute, Iqbal Centre, Centre for Religion and Public Life, and Centre for Jewish Studies. Most events will take place in the Emmanuel Chaplaincy Centre on the campus of the University of Leeds.

The events will lead up to the imminent publication (scheduled for Spring 2026) of our massive Bible and Violence Project (with Bloomsbury).

(Above – the editors of the Bible and Violence project: Johnathan Jodamus, Chris Greenough, Johanna Stiebert and Mmapula Kebaneilwe)

We have some fantastic participants who have confirmed attendance and many more are hoping and planning to attend. These include numerous participants well familiar to the Shiloh Project.

We also hope to organise other, community-centred, events in proximity to the day, to make the most of such a fabulous group being here.

On Thursday 9 October there will be a Centre for Religion and Public Life seminar at the University of Leeds, with Rabbi Dr. Barbara Thiede: 11.30-13.00, Botany House 1.03. On the afternoon of the same day there will be a workshop run by Professor David Tombs. This will be held in Otley and numbers are limited.

Rabbi Dr Barbara Thiede

The events are organised by Gregorio Alonso (History, University of Leeds) and Shiloh’s Johanna Stiebert (Theology and Religious Studies, University of Leeds), and precipitated by the coincident proposed visits to Leeds of Dr. Chauncey Diego Francisco Handy (Reed College, OR, USA) and Rabbi Dr. Barbara Thiede (University of North Carolina, Charlotte, NC, USA). Since then, the following fabulous people have also confirmed attendance: Rabbi Professor Deborah Kahn-Harris (Leo Baeck College, London), Saima Afzal (MBE, founder of Community Interest Company S.A.S. Rights), Professor David Tombs (Otago University, Aotearoa New Zealand), Dr. Sherry Ashworth (novelist), Ms Victoria Mildenhall, Rosie Dawson (broadcaster), Dr Sam Lewis (Criminology, University of Leeds, founder of FRIVA the Feminist Research Into Violence and Abuse Network), Dr. Katie Edwards (journalist, broadcaster and writer), Dr. Meredith Warren (University of Sheffield), Professor Daniel Smith-Christopher (Loyola Marymount University), Dr. Jessie Fubara-Manuel (University of Edinburgh), Dr. M. I. Rey (Babson College), Professor Joachim Kuegler (Bamberg University, Germany), Professor Sarojini Nadar (University of the Western Cape, South Africa), Dr. Johnathan Jodamus (University of the Western Cape, South Africa), Emeritus Professor Hugh Pyper, Dr. Eric Vanden Eykel (Ferrum College, VA, USA). Dr. Sarah Nicholson (University of Glasgow), and Katheryne Howe (artist and PhD candidate).

(Above: Dr. Chauncey Diego Francisco Handy)

There will be:

– displays of images and artworks…

– a mentoring session (with Barbara Thiede and Johanna Stiebert) for scholars working in an area of rape culture, religion and/or the Bible who might be interested in publishing in our Routledge Focus series …

– opportunity to see a new book on Judeophobia and the New Testament and to talk to two of the book’s editors (with Meredith Warren and Eric Vanden Eykel)…

– panel discussions…

– presentations…

– a campus walk taking in points of interest with regard to religion and violence…

– opportunity for informal networking and idea-spinning…

– engagement on how to join our energies and sense of purpose to support one another and work towards more peace, more community, and healing from religious violence and trauma.

In the evening there will be a dinner in honour and memory of Professor J. Cheryl Exum whose scholarly integrity and groundbreaking feminist scholarship, including on violence against women, has been significant for many of us. The dinner is by invitation only. (Please contact Johanna.) We are planning an edited volume with Sheffield Phoenix Press centred on Cheryl Exum’s legacy. Cheryl was director of Sheffield Phoenix from its foundation until 2016. If you would like to contribute to the volume, please contact Johanna.

For more information on the events, and planned volume, please contact Johanna: [email protected]

It’s 2025!

by Johanna Stiebert on January 1, 2025

All of us at the Shiloh Project want to wish our followers and contributors and supporters a safe, happy, fulfilling new year 2025. It is bound to present massive challenges but let’s not desist from rising to them when and where we can.

Here are a few updates and some good news to start the year:

Long-time Shiloh supporter Alexiana Fry is one of a select cohort of Sacred Writes. This impressive cohort of scholars of religion is funded by the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation to hold intensive public scholarship trainings focused on religion, gender, and sexuality. Other Shiloh Project followers may be interested in applying for subsequent rounds.

The massive Bible & Violence project, comprising over 100 chapters by an array of talented scholars from all over the world, has been sent in to Bloomsbury! There is more work to be done but we hope to share the full contents page and a sneak preview of the cover with you soon. The expected publication date is Spring 2026. We will keep you posted!

Also, just before the 2024 year’s end, our own Emily Colgan was promoted to Associate Professor of Biblical Studies! Promoted alongside her were Nasili Vaka’uta, and George Zachariah. Congratulations all around!

More soon.

Johanna

Spotlight! Mmapula Diana Kebaneilwe

by Johanna Stiebert on May 24, 2024

Routledge Focus Series: Rape Culture, Religion and the Bible

Mmapula Diana Kebaneilwe’s book in the series is The Bible and Gender-Based Violence in Botswana. It was published in early 2024 and discusses the harm and healing to which the Bible contributes in Mmapula’s Christian-dominant homeland of Botswana.

How do you reflect back on writing your book?

Writing my book, The Bible and Gender-Based Violence in Botswana, was both a fun and a traumatic experience for me. It was fun because I enjoy writing and because I am passionate about issues surrounding the well-being of women and girls, as well as about the many Batswana who are doing inspiring work in this area; it was traumatic due to the overwhelming evidence of heinous acts of violence and brutality, particularly against women and girls in Botswana, which have such far-reaching and deeply damaging consequence. Conducting my research was hard-going.

What has been the response to your book?

The response to my book has been a good one. Many who have seen it have been excited and are looking forward to reading it and engaging and collaborating with me. I look forward to the same, especially to engaging with my readers. I am still waiting to receive my first hard copies and to launch the book as part of the dissemination of the research.

How and where are you now, and what are you doing or working on at present?

I am based at the University of Botswana. My current research is on the Bible and Violence project, for which I am co-editing chapters on topics of violence in biblical texts and on their violent uses – this is together with three colleagues: Christopher Greenough of Edge Hill University (UK), Johnathan Jodamus of the University of the Western Cape (South Africa), and Johanna Stiebert of the University of Leeds (UK). I have just completed my chapter on Violence in the Book of Job for the project. It is a massive project.

Do you have any advice for authors of future publications in this series?

My advice to those aspiring to write and contribute to the series Rape Culture, Religion and the Bible is: “You must be passionate about your work”. It can be emotionally and psychologically taxing to write on such a difficult topic, and the passion for it will carry you through.

What topics in the area of rape culture, religion and/or the Bible would you like to see a book on?

It would be great to see topics that cover a wide range of contexts where rape culture and religion intersect. The ideas I would love to see explored would be how to debunk rape cultures embedded in different religious traditions and contexts, with the aim of empowering readers and practitioners of the different religions on how best to deal with religious texts in ways that affirm life rather than diminish it. I like research to make a difference – so I’d love to see books that take a step towards this.

Do you have a shout-out to anyone working in this general area? Please shout about them!

My shout out to Johanna Stiebert. Your love and passion for what you do inspire me!!!

Postscript (by Johanna)

Thank you, Mmapula. I’ve just come across another book that makes for great reading alongside Mmapula’s powerful book: Stephanie S. Starling’s Navigating Womanhood in Contemporary Botswana (Bloomsbury, 2023). Shout out to Stephanie Starling! There is a great deal of important work on gender-based violence, religion and/or the Bible by Batswana scholars – so shout-outs also to Musa W. Dube, Rosinah Gabaitse, and Elizabeth (‘Lizzie’) Pulane Motswapong.

Lizzie, formerly a colleague of Mmapula’s and mine, died suddenly and unexpectedly earlier this month (May 2024). She was a dear friend. We grieve our loss and miss her deeply. Two of her chapters are due to be published in forthcoming volumes in this series (a two-part publication on abuse in world religions). The first of these will be dedicated to her memory.

The Bible and Violence: Online Conference

by Chris Greenough on February 1, 2024

An painting of a violence scene from the Bible

It’s just over a year since we launched our Bible and Violence project. With a list of over 120 stellar chapters, The Bible and Violence will be an inclusive reference work that explores the complex dynamics between the Bible, its interpretation, reception, and outworkings, with particular emphasis on violence in its multifarious forms.

We’re so excited to share the good news with you. The Bible and Violence project will be holding an online conference from Monday 25^th – Wednesday 27^th March 2024. The aim of this short conference is to share some of the work already submitted by contributors – to give you a sneak preview of the varieties of violence in biblical books and their uses.

Our fabulous line up of speakers and topics is below. Please note all times are GMT (UK), so please check for your local time equivalent.

The event is free, but please follow this link to sign up. Places are limited, so don’t miss out.

For any queries, please contact: [email protected]

Monday 25th March
9:15-9:30		Welcome
9:30-10:15	Erin Hutton, Australian College of Theology, Australia	Striking like the Morning Star: How can Song of Songs 6:4–10 prevent domestic abuse?
10:15-11:00	Grace Smith, University of Divinity, Australia	Rape Culture and the Bible: the efficiency of rape and rape propaganda
11:00-11:15		Break
11:15-12:00	Robert Kuloba, Kyambogo University, Uganda	The Ideological Dilemma of Suicide in Uganda: African Bible Hermeneutical Perspectives
12:00-12:45	Deborah Kahn-Harris, Leo Baeck College, UK	Violence in the Book of Lamentations
12:45-13:00		Close
Tuesday 26th March
14:00-14:15		Welcome
14:15-15:00	Stephen Moore, The Theological School, Drew University, USA	Violence Visible and Invisible in the Synoptic Gospels
15:00-15:45	Juliana Claassens, Stellenbosch University, South Africa	Exploring Literary Representations of Violence in Bible in/and Literature
15:45-16:00		Break
16:00-16:45	Barbara Thiede, UNC-Charlotte, USA	Violence in the David Narrative: A Divine Order
16:45-17:30	Alex Clare-Young, Westminster College, Cambridge Theological Federation, UK	The Bible and Transphobia: The Violence of Binarism
17:30-17:45		Close
Wednesday 27th March
14:00-14:15		Welcome
14:15-15:00	Alexiana Fry, University of Copenhagen, Denmark	Violence, Trauma, and the Bible
15:00-15:45	Susannah Cornwall, University of Exeter, UK	The Bible, Intersex Being and (Biomedical) Violence
15:45-16:00		Break
16:00-16:45	Lena-Sofia Tiemeyer, ALT School of Theology, Sweden	Violence and Lack of Violence in the Reception of David
16:45-17:30	Luis Quiñones-Román, University of Edinburgh, UK	Divine Violence in The General Letters
17:30-17:45		Close

The Bible and Violence Project: Meet Joseph N. Goh

by Chris Greenough on September 19, 2023

Picture of Joseph N. Goh credited to Puah Sze Ning

Joseph N. Goh (he/they/any) hails from Sarawak, Malaysia, and joined the School of Arts and Social Sciences, Monash University Malaysia in January 2016. Currently a Senior Lecturer in Gender Studies, Goh’s first single-authored monograph entitled Living Out Sexuality and Faith: Body Admissions of Malaysian Gay and Bisexual Men (Routledge 2018) was based on his doctoral project. It analyses and theorises the self-understandings of gay and bisexual men of various ethnicities, classes, ages and faiths on their gender and sexual identities and practices, and their performances of religiosity and spirituality. His second book, Becoming a Malaysian Trans Man: Gender, Society, Body and Faith (Palgrave Macmillan 2020), was the first dedicated academic volume on Malaysian transgender men, and won the ‘Ground-Breaking Subject Matter Accolade’ in the IBP 2021 Accolades in the Social Sciences category of the ICAS Book Prize 2021 competition. His third sole-authored volume, Doing Church at the Amplify Open and Affirming Conferences: Queer Ecclesiologies in Asia (Palgrave Macmillan 2021), was the first in-depth theological study of a series of Christian conferences in Asia by and for LGBTIQ-affirming churches, communities, organisations and individuals. Goh has also co-edited several anthologies with Robert E. Shore-Goss, Hugo Córdova Quero, Michael Sepidoza Campos, Sharon A. Bong and Thaatchaayini Kananatu. He is a member of the Emerging Queer Asian Pacific Islander Religion Scholars international group (EQARS), and sits on the advisory board of the Queer Asia Book Series (Hong Kong University Press), as well as the editorial boards of the Queer and Trans Intersections Series (University of Wales Press) and QTR: A Journal of Queer and Transgender Studies in Religion (Duke University Press).

Goh, along with his collaborators, was awarded the Vice-Chancellor’s Diversity and Inclusion Award (2018) and Pro-Vice Chancellor’s Excellence in Diversity & Inclusion Award (2022) for the development of the Understanding Gender Inclusivity in Malaysia training module at Monash University Malaysia, which serves to create greater awareness of the issues, needs and concerns of LGBTIQ people in the interest of equity, diversity and inclusion. With research interests in LGBTIQ studies, human rights, sexual health, theology, spirituality, religion, and qualitative research, Goh’s two present projects focus on the complex and controversial operations of SEED Malaysia, the first transgender-led community-based organisation in Malaysia, and the manifold spiritualities of Malaysian Christian transgender women.

Goh’s contribution to The Bible and Violence Project is a book chapter entitled ‘A Triptych of Biblical Violence Towards Gay and Transgender Christians: The Case of Malaysia’. Cognisant of the multifarious ways in which the Bible continues to be weaponised against people of diverse genders and sexualities in his home country, Goh argues that there are three parallel and mutually interactive dynamics in the production of Christian violence against LGBTQ Malaysians: (i) official Bible-based ecclesiastical pronouncements against gender and sexual diversities; (ii) scriptural de-legitimisations of gay and transgender people as personally experienced in churches and faith communities; and (iii) insidious practices of conversion therapy. He demonstrates how non-affirming Malaysian Christianity galvanises and preserves the vulnerability of LGBTQ Malaysians, branded as ‘sexually broken’, with far-reaching consequences beyond the immediate use of the Bible as ‘sacred’ arsenal.

Goh owns a personal website at https://www.josephgoh.org/

The Bible and Violence Project – and Manipur: An Update

by Johanna Stiebert on September 8, 2023

The Bible and Violence Project is humming along, and chapters have started to trickle in as the first deadline (in early October) approaches. It has been cheering to hear of our contributors forming support and writing groups, sharing ideas and sources.

We editors have always felt passionate about this project, and we recognized from the outset that this is work that matters and will have impact. Sometimes, this feeling and knowledge is brought home to us with poignancy and intensity.

Today we want to highlight the dreadful events that continue to unfold in Manipur, India. Since May this year the long-standing conflict in Manipur between the mostly Hindu Meitei and the mostly Christian Kuki scheduled tribes peoples has escalated markedly and erupted in multiple acts of brutality and in human rights violations that have claimed (mostly Kuki) lives and displaced tens of thousands of people, among other harms. (For more background, see here.)

The situation in Manipur is one where religion and rape culture clash with tragic and fatal force. And yet, it receives little in the way of outrage or attention in either the international media or wider international community.

One of our Bible and Violence contributors is Chingboi Guite Phaipi; she is writing the chapter “The Bible and Violence with Perspectives of Tribal Communities of India.” Understandably, turning to this subject matter is overwhelmingly painful at present, when members of Chingboi’s community are uprooted, frightened, distressed, and grieving.

Rape culture, as many articles on our blog make clear, covers a wide spectrum of harmful acts, from verbal microaggressions and online abuse, to physical and fatal violence. One distressing and strategically vicious expression of rape culture in Manipur is the stripping and parading of Kuki women, which has been filmed and disseminated to spread fear and intimidation. There are also very many reports of rapes of women, including gang rapes. (There is an article on sexual violence in Manipur, here.)

India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been criticized for being slow to act and stands accused of fanning Hindu nationalist ideologies that benefit and please the electoral base of the party he leads, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). These same ideologies, it is argued, exacerbate abuse, and take a toll on several religious minorities in India, including the Kuki. The Kuki are demanding justice and pushing for a separate administration, to defend and protect their lives and lands from incursion and violence (see here).

The Bible and Violence Project brings together many voices from all over the world, to reflect the dispersion of the Bible’s influence. It examines a myriad of ways in which the Bible depicts, justifies, suppresses, promotes, or resists multiple forms of violence. For some of our contributors this is primarily an exercise in research and scholarship; for others, it represents something visceral, even matters of life and death. Biblical interpretation is political, sometimes intensely so.

We are excited to see how the project will come together. Along the way, we are often affected by the circumstances and experiences of our contributors. We have already learned a great deal and look forward to seeing the project grow and find a diverse and far-flung readership. Please look out for future posts and for the publication of multiple volumes, including, we hope, in online and – eventually – in open access formats.

We encourage everyone to follow and stay informed about events in Manipur. Alongside some articles such as the ones linked above, you can find out more from ITLF (Indigenous Tribal Leaders Forum), or (especially if you are based in the USA or Canada), NAMTA (North American Manipur Tribal Association). The latter was formed this year and raises consciousness, support, and funds for the tribal people of Manipur.

Here are the websites for both: https://www.itlfmediacell.com/ and https://namta.us/

The Bible and Violence Project: Meet Alex Clare-Young

by Chris Greenough on August 31, 2023

I’m Alex Clare-Young and I am a creator, a writer, a member of the Iona Community, an ordained minister in the United Reformed Church and a transmasculine non-binary person. That last bit means that I was labeled as female at birth and have transitioned towards male, and that I now identify outside of the binary genders of male and female. I use the pronouns they/them or just my name. I am currently in ministry in Cambridge City Centre, where I particularly work with those who have experienced exclusion and isolation, including those who have suffered church-related trauma. I am also an associate tutor at Westminster College, Cambridge. As well as this chapter on transphobia, violence and the Bible, I am also currently working on a chapter about trans pregnancy for a volume on pregnancy and theology and on a book, Trans Forming, which arises out of my PhD thesis on trans identities and theology and will be published by SCM Press in early 2024.

For me, there is an inextricable link between biblical interpretation and transphobic violence. I do not only mean transphobic violence perpetrated by Christians. I mean all transphobic violence. That claim rests on the words “You are either a man, or a woman”. Those words, or words like them, are heard regularly by trans people just before a verbal, psychological, physical, spiritual or sexual attack. They can also be found littering our media – print, audio, screen, and social – daily. I was asked yesterday how it feels to be trans when, at the moment, people are debating our existence very publicly all of the time. The reality is that it feels like violence. Those words – man on the one hand, and woman on the other, are not scientifically or historically founded. Rather, they are found in interpretations of scripture. They are not found in scripture itself but in interpretations thereof. That is why I believe strongly in this chapter. It is essential that people of good will continue to challenge the narrow interpretation of scripture that grounds daily violence against trans and non-binary people.

As a trans person, I would rather stay as far away from the topic as possible. It would be safer. As a human being, and particularly as a human being who claims to be a part of the Body of Christ, I cannot ignore this violence or the voices of those who are suffering. That is why I write.

If you are involved in the Bible and Violence Project and want to be featured on this blog, please contact Johanna ([email protected])

Update on the Bible & Violence Project

by Johanna Stiebert on June 14, 2023

The Bible and Violence Project is up and running!

We now have over 120 contributors signed up. Many of them are busy forming and working together in writing groups; others are receiving or providing mentoring. If you are a contributor and find yourself in need of support or motivation, please be in touch if we can help.

The publication emerging from this project aims to be the most comprehensive and inclusive on the topic of the Bible and violence to date. Alongside chapters on every text of the Hebrew Bible and Christian Greek Bible, there will also be chapters on the Bible and…:

Its role and impact in diverse geographical settings

Incel cultures and the manosphere

The ethics of citing violent scholars

HIV/AIDS

Liberative readings in violent settings

Environmental violence

Colonialism

Trafficking

Intimate partner violence

Genocide

Gender-based violence

Rape and rape culture

Violence aimed at children, at animals, and at the deceased

Violence in the family

Divine violence

Supersessionism

Antisemitism, as well as Islamophobia

Martyrdom

War

Crime fiction

Abortion activism

Transphobia

Zionism

Fat shaming…

… and that is not all. Alongside yet more exciting topics, there will also be some chapters on select rabbinical texts and Dead Sea Scrolls, gnostic and deuterocanonical texts.

We have already received contributions ahead of the first deadline of 2 October 2023 by Katherine Southwood, Sébastien Doane, Alison Jack, Barbara Thiede and Alexiana Fry, with more in the pipeline.

Two of the editors – Chris and Johanna – recently visited Manchester to present at the United Reformed Church research conference on both The Shiloh Project and Bible and Violence Project. While there, we enjoyed hearing Megan Warner’s paper on her topic for the project.

The Bible and Violence Project: Meet Sébastien Doane

by Johanna Stiebert on May 2, 2023

Sébastien Doane is a tenured professor at Université Laval in Québec, Canada. His thesis (Analyse de la réponse du lecteur aux origines de Jésus en Mt 1-2, Peeters 2019) was on the first two chapters of Matthew’s Gospel applying a reader-response methodology. His research focuses on the relation between biblical texts and real readers with regards to gender, affect, and trauma. To find out more, see his recent articles: « Affective Resistance to Sirach’s Androcentric Presentation of a Daughter’s Body » (Journal for Interdisciplinary Biblical Studies), « Echoes of Rachel’s Weeping: Intertextuality and Trauma in Jer. 31:15 » (Biblical Interpretation), « Masculinities of the Husbands in the Genealogy of Jesus (Matt. 1:2–16)» (Biblical Interpretation), and « An Ass in a Lion’s Skin: The Subversion of Judah’s Hegemonic Masculinity in Gen 38 » (Postscripts). He is a member of the SBL Hermeneutics of Trauma unit.

I became a feminist in my mid thirties and was invited to speak at a National Women Studies Association Annual Meeting. I met great people and realised that as a man, I have a role to play to strive for gender equality. And as a biblical scholar, I must work towards meaningful work, such as this Bible and Violence project. It was only a year ago, in my mid forties, that I truly became aware that I am a descendant of French and English colonisers. My ancestors have lived in North America for the last 300 years. The first American Doane was a deacon in the first New England colony. He came to America Bible in hand and the good book was used to legitimise a violent enterprise. In my chapter, I will focus on Matthew’s version of Jesus’ genealogy. This biblical text does not seem to be violent. However, its interpretations have engendered violence against women and members of first nations. It is important for religious and academic biblical commentators to become aware of the ethical implications of our work.

If you are involved in the Bible and Violence Project and want to be featured on this blog, please contact Johanna ([email protected])

If you have questions about the project, or suggestions for our next workshop, please be in touch.

Introducing Contributors to The Bible & Violence: Rosie Clare Shorter and Kirsi Cobb

by Johanna Stiebert on February 17, 2023

Rosie Clare Shorter is a feminist researcher interested in sociology of religion and genders and sexualities studies. She completed her PhD at Western Sydney University in Australia. Her doctoral thesis explores Sydney Anglicanism as a lived religion, focusing on the social consequences of complementarianism. She is currently a sessional academic and you might catch her teaching or doing research assistant work at The University of Melbourne, Deakin University, or Western Sydney University (the latter online only, the commute is too far!). She is the executive officer for the Australian Association for the Study of Religion. Rosie is writing on the violent consequence of complementarian language.

To read more about Rosie and her work, see:
https://rosieclareshorter.com/ and https://supporttosurvive.com/

Shorter, R. 2021. ‘Rethinking Complementarianism: Sydney Anglicans, Orthodoxy and Gendered Inequality’, Religion and Gender 11/2 (doi: 10.1163/18785417-bja10005).

Shorter, R., E. Sessions & E. Hamence. 2021. ‘Taking Women At Their Word: How to Respond Well’, Eternity New (see here).

My chapter will look at how the language of complementarianism, which is derived from the Bible, maintains gendered hierarchies and inequalities that scaffold gendered violence in evangelical Anglican communities. My focus is on the Anglican church in Sydney, Australia. We know that Anglicans experience gendered violence at rates which are at least equal to, if not higher than, their non-Anglican counterparts (Powell and Pepper, 2021). Aspects of church teaching, particularly complementarian ideas to do with headship and submission, as well as misuse of Scripture, contribute to this. It is important to look closely at the language of complementarianism. Changing our language is key to changing cultures of gendered inequality and violence. My chapter will emphasise this.

Kirsi Cobb is a lecturer in biblical studies at Cliff College in Derbyshire, UK. She wrote her PhD dissertation on the biblical figure of Miriam and the multiple ways her story can be read when using different methods of hermeneutics. Her current research focuses on women in the Hebrew Bible with a special interest in biblical interpretation, including feminist, deconstructive and trauma studies. Her recent projects include two papers (one open access with De Gruyter and one with JSOT) which focus on the story of Lot’s daughters in Genesis 19 in the light of trauma theory. Her forthcoming publications include a book chapter on Woman Wisdom and Dame Folly in Proverbs (for The Oxford Handbook of the Hebrew Bible, Gender, and Sexuality) and a study on gender and sexual violence in Hosea (for The Oxford Handbook of the Book of Hosea). Kirsi is co-founder of the Bible, Gender and Church Research Centre, with Dr Holly Morse (University of Manchester). Together they work on an AHRC (Arts and Humanities Research Council) funded research network around the topic Abusing God: Reading the Bible in the #MeToo Age. To date they have hosted one colloquium focused on coercive control, with another on hypermasculinity due to take place in April 2023. Kirsi is writing the chapter on Spiritual Abuse.

Several years ago, I was visiting friends on holiday with my then-boyfriend. We were supposed to stay for a few weeks but after about five days my boyfriend wanted to leave. I wanted to stay but he informed me that complying with his wish would be good practice for marriage where he would be my head and I would need to submit to his wishes. As an obedient Christian (and to the great upset of my friends) I left with him. A couple of decades later I was marking a student essay. She was evaluating her recent experience in a church, where the pastor had used the Bible to brow-beat his congregants into submission. Not touching the ‘Lord’s anointed’ was held up as an ideal that shut down any questioning over decisions made. Both this student and I had experienced something for which at the time we had no name: spiritual abuse.

Spiritual abuse is a relatively new and a contested term, and some see research into the topic as threatening religious freedom. As Lisa Oakley and Justin Humphreys (2019: 18-20) have noted, however, these qualms should not prevent us from acknowledging people’s experiences of spiritual abuse or listening to survivors’ voices. In their monograph, they use the term ‘spiritual abuse’ to describe a range of experiences. Darby Strickland (2020: 346) has defined spiritual abuse as ‘[a]buse that occurs when an oppressor establishes control and domination by using Scripture, doctrine, or their “leadership role” as weapons. Spiritual abuse may mask itself as religious practice and may be used to shame or punish. For example,

using Bible verses to shame or control
demanding unconditional obedience
using biblical texts or beliefs to minimize or rationalize abusive behaviors.’

In the experiences mentioned, some of these behaviours can be clearly seen. In my case, my boyfriend took a passage about male headship and wifely submission in Ephesians 5:22-23 and with some creative interpreting turned it into a manifesto about girlfriends, boyfriends, and unquestioned female obedience to male dominance. In the experience of the student, the pastor used his position of power and a misreading of Scripture (Psalm 105:15; 1 Samuel 24:6, see Helen Paynter 2020:90-92) to enforce his authority. Scripture, doctrine, and leadership roles can all be forces for the good in the world, but they can also be used to harm fellow believers. This demands our attention and requires a response. In my chapter I will explore the different forms of spiritual abuse and what the Church can do to become a safe space for survivors.