Domestic Violence, Theology, and the Church

1 credits · Divinity School

This course examines theological engagement with domestic violence and explores how churches can either challenge or reinforce the attitudes that feed gender-based violence. The class discusses blessed brutality, fragile dignity, and relates Christian ethics to practices of individual and communal discipleship. Within this course, Christian moral reflection is situated within broader social, political, and economic dynamics and it investigates ethical, biblical, theological, liturgical, and ecclesial resources that inform our engagement (and lack thereof) with domestic violence. This class surveys Christian moral formation within a broader praxis where our interpretation of norms regarding violence are ambivalent. Additionally, it explores how violence is normalized in popular culture and how an overarching culture of violence informs both Church and society.