Christianity and domestic violence

Christian groups and authorities generally condemn domestic violence as counter to the general Christian duty to love others and to the scriptural relationship between husband and wife. In a statement typical of Christian church officials from many denominations, the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops said in 2002, "As pastors of the Catholic Church in the United States, we state as clearly and strongly as we can that violence against women, inside or outside the home, is never justified." Many denominations have also worked to prevent violence in the home. However, significant numbers of Christian pastors ordinarily would tell a woman being abused that she should continue to submit and to "trust that God would honor her action by either stopping the abuse or giving her the strength to endure it" and would never advise a battered wife to leave her husband or separate because of abuse.

Incidence of domestic violence among Christians
Few empirical studies have examined the relationship between religion and domestic violence. Four major surveys of wife assault found no causal relationship between men raised in a "patriarchal system" and incidence of wife assault,, and faith groups endorsing hierarchical marital structures do not appear to report higher rates of interpersonal violence.

One 2004 study by William Bradford Wilcox examined the relationship between religious affiliation, church attendance, and domestic violence, using data on wives' reports of spousal violence from three national United States surveys conducted between 1992 and 1994. The study found that the lowest reported rates of domestic violence occurred among active conservative Protestants (2.8% of husbands committed domestic violence), followed by those who were religiously unaffiliated (3.2%), nominal mainline Protestants (3.9%), active mainline Protestants (5.4%), and nominal conservative Protestants (7.2%). Overall (including both nominal and active members), the rates among conservative Protestants and mainline Protestants were 4.8% and 4.3%, respectively. Examining Wilcox's study, Van Leewun finds that the parenting style of conservative Protestant fathers is characterized by features which have been linked to positive outcomes among children and adolescents, that there is no evidence that gender-traditionalist ideology of the "soft patriarchal" kind is a strong predictor of domestic physical abuse, and that "gender hierarchialist males" who are frequent and active church members function positively in the domestic environment.

Another 2007 study by Christopher G. Ellison found that "religious involvement, specifically church attendance, protects against domestic violence, and this protective effect is stronger for African American men and women and for Hispanic men, groups that, for a variety of reasons, experience elevated risk for this type of violence."

Theological patriarchy and Christianity
Feminist Christian theologians such as the Rev. Marie Fortune, Mary Pellauer, and others have raised the question of a close connection between patriarchal Christianity and domestic violence and abuse. However, little evidence has been found to support the claim that spousal abuse is fostered by patriarchal environments and cultures such as traditional Christianity. A 1988 study by Donald Dutton found that no single factor explanation for wife assault was sufficient to explain the available data. A study by Dutton and Browning in the same year found that misogyny is correlated with only a minority of abusive male partners. Campbell's study in in 1992 found no evidence of greater violence towards women in more patriarchal cultures. Pearson's study in 1997 observed "Studies of male batterers have failed to confirm that these men are more conservative or sexist about marriage than violent men".

According to theologian Steven Tracy, "The concept of male headship first entered the church through the Apostle Paul (1 Cor. 11:3; Eph. 5:23)." St. Paul also states that the husband is head of the wife as God the Father is head of Christ (1 Cor. 11:3). Tracy interprets New Testament teaching on the subject in a way similar to many other modern Christian theologians in a variety of traditions. He points to John 5:18-24 as repeatedly emphasizing that the relationship between God the Father and God the Son is one of intimate love. "Abusive men often cite male headship/female submissiveness to justify their abuse. Ultimately, this is based on a perverted assumption of male superiority. Based on John's description of the Father and the Son, human male headship, defined as harsh authoritarian domination of an inferior, is destructive heresy."

According to the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops" "Men who abuse often use Ephesians 5:22, taken out of context, to justify their behavior, but the passage (v. 21-33) refers to the mutual submission of husband and wife out of love for Christ. Husbands should love their wives as they love their own body, as Christ loves the Church."

In Responding to Domestic Abuse, a report issued by the Church of England in 2006, suggests that patriarchy should be replaced rather than reinterpreted: "Following the pattern of Christ means that patterns of domination and submission are being transformed in the mutuality of love, faithful care and sharing of burdens. ‘Be subject to one another out of reverence for Christ’(Ephesians 5.21). Although strong patriarchal tendencies have persisted in Christianity, the example of Christ carries the seeds of their displacement by a more symmetrical and respectful model of male–female relations."

Christian theology and counseling abuse victims
Individual Pastors and other Christians are sometimes criticized for counseling victims to passively accept abuse in the way that Jesus and the martyrs accepted suffering. The Church of England's report, Responding to Domestic Abuse states that the two circumstances are different. "First, there is the purpose of such suffering. Jesus and the martyrs accepted avocation to suffer as a consequence of bearing witness to the love, truth and justice of God. ... [I]t is not convincing to find redemptive value in passive acceptance of [domestic] abuse and violence." Second, domestic abuse victims often lack the freedom of Jesus and the martyrs.

Christian pastors or counselors should not advise victims to make forgiving the perpetrator the top priority "when the welfare and safety of the person being abused are at stake", the report advises.

One mid-1980s survey of 5,700 pastors found that 26 percent of pastors ordinarily would tell a woman being abused that she should continue to submit and to "trust that God would honor her action by either stopping the abuse or giving her the strength to endure it" and that 71 percent of pastors would never advise a battered wife to leave her husband or separate because of abuse.

One of the Salvation Army's missions is working with victims of domestic abuse. They offer safe-housing, therapy, and support.