How reading the Bible alongside survivors of sexual abuse can transform our understanding of Scripture, the church, and the mission of Jesus. Mike Erre sits down with theologian, pastor, and former Duke Divinity School dean Dr. Elaine Heath to discuss her powerful new book, Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse: Reading the Bible with Survivors. Digging into themes of trauma, patriarchal theology, the misuse of scripture, and the redemptive potential of re-reading scripture through a different lens, this episode invites listeners into a conversation that is both deeply challenging and profoundly hopeful.
Dr. Heath shares her personal experience as a survivor and her journey into ministry—a path shaped by hardship, passion for Christ, and the call to reimagine theological education through the Neighborhood Seminary. Together, she and Mike explore how survivors offer wisdom the church desperately needs and how honest conversations around abuse, power, redemption, and scripture can lead to individual and communal healing.
Key Takeaways: • Reading Scripture with the Marginalized – How engaging the Bible through the lens of abuse survivors—particularly women—uncovers new depths and meanings in familiar texts. • The Cost of Patriarchy in the Church – How patriarchal theology and the idolization of male authority have fostered environments of silence, shame, and abuse. • God’s Nearness to the Vulnerable – Dr. Heath’s profound insight into Matthew 25 and her personal encounter with Jesus’s presence during her own experiences of abuse. • A Call to Action for Churches – Practical and theological ways faith communities can become refuges for victims and centers for education, justice, and healing. • Fatherhood, Femininity & Representation – Why parents and churches must counter cultural pressures with a holistic, gender-inclusive theology of personhood and giftings.
Guest Highlights: Dr. Elaine Heath – Author, theologian, and founder of the Neighborhood Seminary. As a professor and ordained United Methodist pastor, Dr. Heath's work uniquely bridges academic theology, pastoral care, and deep healing. In her book and this conversation, she powerfully argues that survivors offer critical theological insights the church must heed.
Resources Mentioned: • Healing the Wounds of Sexual Abuse: Reading the Bible with Survivors by Elaine Heath • Neighborhood Seminary – neighborhoodseminary.org • FaithTrust Institute – faithtrustinstitute.org • Christians for Biblical Equality International – cbeinternational.org • Reviving Ophelia by Mary Pipher • Future Church by Wes Granberg-Michaelson • Tim Gombis – Faith Improvised Podcast • Shameless by Nadia Bolz-Weber
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