Divorcing an Abusive Spouse Is Not a Sin
“If you’re a minister, you can almost guarantee that someone in your pews or in your immediate community is experiencing domestic violence,” wrote Russell Moore in 2022.
“Sometimes the victim will have internalized the abusive rhetoric of the abuser and blame herself for bringing on the abuse to her or her children. Sometimes the one being abused will believe that there is no other option but to stay, feeling trapped in the marriage.
In the case of domestic violence, the church has a responsibility not only to alert the relevant civil authorities but also to bear the abuse sufferer’s burdens by arranging a safe place of refuge and meeting other needs.
The very least that one can expect from one’s church is not to be condemned as a sinner for escaping danger.
Divorce for domestic violence is not a sin,” Moore continued. “It’s about sin all right—but it’s the sin of the abuser, not the sin of the abused who decides to divorce. The abused in our churches and in our communities need to see us applying the Bible the right way, and they need to see us embodying the Jesus Christ who protects the vulnerable.
What God hath joined together, let no man put asunder. Yes and amen. But sometimes Jesus also would have us recognize that man should not force together what God has put asunder.
Sometimes the path to divorce court is not a way to destruction but a road to Jericho. We should look to see who is beaten on the roadside and be for them who Jesus told us to be.”