Reimagining Theologies of Marriage in Contexts of Domestic Violence

When Salvation is Survival

Rachel Starr

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2018
• eBook ISBN: 9781317068556
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Christian Theology

Domestic violence is a significant threat to women's survival. But Christian understandings of marriage often prevent women from resisting abusive relationships. Can the Church's teaching on marriage be reshaped so that it helps women to survive, rather than encourage them to submit to their husband, bear their cross, or sacrifice themselves for the sake of their marriage?

Focusing on everyday practices of marriage in two very different contexts: Argentina and England, Reimagining Theologies of Marriage in Contexts of Domestic Violence considers how Christian understandings of marriage as a covenant or sacrament relate to the lived experience of marriage. Drawing on Augustine's notion of the goods of marriage, and on belief in the saving power of marriage, this book suggests that only when the wellbeing of bodies is central to a marriage can it have the power to save.

1 Introduction

Across Europe and Latin America, women are most at risk from the men they know best – fathers, friends, husbands, partners and ex-partners. One in three Argentine women,¹ and one in four women in England and Wales,² experience some form of domestic violence in their lifetimes.³ Domestic violence is an everyday, persistent, and sometimes deadly form of violence, but one which is continually resisted.⁴

This book explores the reality of domestic violence in the different, but historically entwined, contexts of Argentina and England. It notes points of connection and contrast, rejecting the widespread assumption that domestic violence is culturally accepted in Argentina. In Argentina, the visibility of violence against women, and resistance to it, has increased in recent decades. A significant milestone was the passing of a law against violence against women in 2009,⁵ although several years on, it is clear that many aspects of the law have not yet been put into practice. In Argentina, the Ni una menos movement has developed in response to the increasing frequency of femicides. The growing number of young women who have ‘disappeared’ and failure of the state to respond appropriately evokes human rights abuses under the last military dictatorship (1976–1983). As the first Latin American pope, Francis I has renewed interest in Latin American Catholicism. While he has spoken out in defence of migrants and people living in poverty, Francis has not acknowledged the negative impact of Roman Catholic official teachings on women’s sexual and reproductive rights. In England, domestic violence frequently passes unnamed, even if reported on in the media. While public debate over violence against women remains sporadic and muted, a renewed feminist movement is active in campaigning on a range of issues, from street harassment to ensuring access to safe and legal abortion. There has been a mixed response from mainstream churches, who have yet to acknowledge the impact of certain theological beliefs and practices on women’s ability to resist violence.

Drawing on the work of Lori Heise, this investigation uses an integrated theory to understand the causes of domestic violence, identifying risk factors at societal, communal, relational and individual levels. Amongst those risk factors, it is suggested, are dominant Christian teachings and practices around marriage. To describe certain Christian understandings of marriage as factors that increase the risk of domestic violence is to problematize the idealization of marriage within dominant Christian traditions. While Pope Francis recently acknowledged the gap between an ‘almost artificial theological ideal of marriage’ and the lived reality of family life,⁶ Catholic and mainstream Protestant churches have yet to allow their theologies of marriage to be disrupted by the experience of domestic violence.

This text seeks to provoke discussion around the nature and value of marriage within the Christian tradition. What constitutes marriage is a contested and changing matter. In this study, marriage is defined as a commitment by two people to form a socio-economic and sexual relationship that is formally recognised by the wider society.⁷ Under the lasting influence of Augustine,⁸ the dominant church’s teaching on marriage has been relatively consistent, despite the differing sacramental and covenantal models favoured by the Catholic and Protestant traditions. Dominant traditions have favoured a hierarchical, binding model of male-female relationships, overlaid with salvific significance. By attending to the lived realities of marriage, a significant proportion of which involve domestic violence, the dominant models of marriage are revealed to be neither ‘good’ nor ‘salvific’. At a time when religiously legitimated violence against women appears to be increasing in many contexts, and when the nature of marriage itself is under scrutiny within a number of countries, it feels an appropriate moment to seek out alternative accounts of marriage, sin and salvation.

This introductory chapter sets this project within the broader context of work done by Latin American women in challenging domestic violence, before noting aspects of its methodology. It ends by outlining the remaining chapters.

1. Latin American women’s theological responses to domestic violence

This investigation builds on the work of Latin American women theologians, as well as other feminist and womanist theologians.⁹ In this section, the primary focus is on work done from a Latin America context.

Domestic violence has been given specific attention by a number of feminist theologians,¹⁰ including from Latin America.¹¹ Theologians have identified aspects of patriarchal Christian traditions that serve to legitimate domestic violence, including dominant male images of God;¹² idealized, hierarchical models of marriage;¹³ and models of redemption that appear to justify suffering.¹⁴

Latin American women theologians argue that gender inequality is legitimized and enacted by the promotion of exclusively male images of God, which award men status, while denying women’s imago Dei.¹⁵ Moreover, the central metaphor of God the Father endorses male authority over the household, which is problematic for women facing domestic violence. While some theologians, notably Maria Clara Bingemer, have sought to retain the image of God the Father, by proposing, ‘o Pai materno’, for example,¹⁶ others believe that the addition of so-called feminine qualities does not sufficiently disrupt this image.¹⁷ In contrast to the authoritarian models of God, Latin American women theologians emphasise God’s welcome and solidarity,¹⁸ and care for creation.¹⁹ In Elsa Tamez’s work, a focus on God’s justice encourages women to seek justice for themselves and others, acknowledging the risks involved.²⁰ For women living through domestic violence, Ivone Gebara’s vision of God as an ally encourages them to seek their own salvation, confident of God’s solidarity, but not waiting on God to rescue them. Nancy Bedford’s image of God as a friend reminds women of the support offered by friends who are willing to listen, to accompany them to the hospital or police station, and to offer shelter.²¹

A second relevant area of investigation by Latin American women theologians concerns gender identities and relationships. In recent years, the figure of Mary has been revisited, and representations of her within early liberation theologies, as a committed but humble poor woman,²² have been criticised for failing to challenge the discourse of femininity and decency surrounding her.²³ Through attention to the biblical narrative, and the syncretism of European Marys with local and African goddess figures, Latin American women have developed models of womanhood that affirm alternative sexual and spiritual identities beyond male control.²⁴ A number of Latin America male theologians, such as André S. Musskopf,²⁵ Diego Irarrázaval²⁶ and Larry José Madrigal Rajo,²⁷ have begun to reimagine masculinity within the Christian tradition,²⁸ around themes of diversity, mutuality and reciprocity.²⁹

Marga Ströher and Elsa Tamez have examined how dominant Christian endorsement of household hierarchies legitimates violence against women.³⁰ Other Latin American women have observed how certain biblical narratives demonstrate the use of violence to establish household order and punish female disobedience.³¹ A belief in male ownership of female bodies is recognised as placing even obedient wives and daughters at risk from violence.³² Such texts express male desire for control over women’s bodies, but they also witness to women’s resistance.³³ Considering New Testament texts, theologians have worked to make visible egalitarian biblical models of family life,³⁴ and early Christian women’s resistance of patriarchal control.³⁵

While few Latin American women theologians, notably Isabel Corpas de Posada and Andrea Sánchez Ruiz Welch, have written directly about marriage,³⁶ a number have explored the impact of models of marriage on domestic violence. Tânia Mara Vieira Sampaio’s work on Hosea critically assesses the prophet’s use of marriage as a metaphor for the covenant relationship, revealing the violence of these texts and the church’s interpretation of them.³⁷ Karen Bergesch has challenged dominant church teaching which has denied or limited access to divorce, noting how even following domestic violence, women are admonished to remain within the abusive relationship.³⁸

Latin American women theologians have contributed to the significant body of feminist work on atonement theories, identifying how certain theories have been used to sanctify suffering and thus fail to challenge domestic violence.³⁹ A number of Latin American women theologians have developed alternative models of salvation, which prioritize the survival of women and challenge the discourse of redemptive suffering and sacrifice.⁴⁰ While a number of feminist theologians have investigated the impact of certain models of redemption on violence against women, there has been little study of how these models interact with models of marriage within theological debate and pastoral practice, the focus of this book.

2. Notes on methodology

This book is an attempt at dialogue between the contexts of Argentina and England; between Latin American women theologians and other feminist and womanist theologians; and, most significantly, between...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Preface
• 1 Introduction
• 2 Domestic violence and the churches in Argentina and England
• 3 The ‘goods of marriage’ and their impact on domestic violence
• 4 Covenantal models of marriage and their impact on domestic violence
• 5 Sacramental models of marriage and their impact on domestic violence
• 6 Reimagining the saving power of marriage in contexts of domestic violence
• 7 When salvation is survival
• Bibliography
• Index