How to Use Scripture to Heal, Not Harm | Steven Tracy

For many abuse survivors, the Bible has been used as a weapon rather than as a source of healing. Yet Scripture reveals a God who aims to bring shalom and is fiercely concerned for the oppressed. In this episode of Logos Live, Kirk E. Miller sits down with Dr. Steven Tracy to tackle the sobering reality of how Scripture is often misused in contexts of abuse and how we can reclaim it as a source of protection and healing for survivors. Together they explore important hermeneutical principles for using and applying Scripture as a medicine rather than a poison.

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Episode guest: Steven Tracy

Steven Tracy is the President and International Director of Mending the Soul Ministries. Steve and his wife, Celestia, founded Mending the Soul in 2003 to create best-practice Christian resources for understanding and responding to abuse. Steve earned his PhD in biblical studies from the University of Sheffield in England and taught theology and ethics at Phoenix Seminary for 30 years. Before coming on staff with MTS, Steve pastored for 15 years in three different churches.

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Episode synopsis

Christians turn to Scripture as a source of comfort and guidance. Yet, as Steven Tracy observes, the Bible is not always used as intended: as a source of life. For many survivors of abuse, the very Word of God, which God gave for healing and renewal, has been weaponized to excuse, justify, or even afflict abuse.

How do we know what constitutes health or harm?

To make assessments of “harmful” uses of Scripture, are we just imposing an outside standard to determine whether we deem it good or damaging?

To the contrary, Scripture serves as its own standard for understanding its proper use to heal or misuse to harm. The Bible’s grand story is one of restoring shalom (peace, wholeness, flourishing). It is an account of God’s ultimate healing which culminates in the new heavens and the new earth. So we look to God’s design in creation and his work of redemption to define what health and healing look like. It is the world as God intended it to be, where the image of God (imago dei) in every person is respected and nurtured.

Conversely, harm is defined as anything that attacks this original design or hinders a person from becoming who God intended them to be. Abuse is a direct assault on the image of God.

What’s at stake in misusing Scripture in cases of abuse?

Just because one appeals to the Bible does not make that use of the Bible “biblical.” The devil quotes Scripture, too (Matt 4:1–11)! This misuse of God’s Word is as old as the garden of Eden: “Did God really say … ?” (Gen 3:1). So 2 Peter 3:16 speaks of those who twist Scripture. This twisting is not a benign error. As Peter says, it leads to “destruction.”

To misuse Scripture with abuse victims is to poison the very well from which God intends to renew them. When God’s Word is used to harm or justify and excuse harm, abuse survivors can unfortunately associate God’s Word with its abusive misuse, making it hard to engage Scripture as a source of healing and goodness. When the Bible is misused in cases of abuse, this can cause individuals to doubt the goodness of Scripture. Inasmuch as God’s Word represents God himself, Scripture’s misuse misrepresents God’s character to the abused.

Moreover, when someone uses Scripture to defend, excuse, or perpetrate abuse, they are engaging in spiritual abuse, the misuse of God’s authority to do harm. As Steven Tracy helpfully put it,

While any type of abuse can be extremely damaging, we have found that spiritual abuse is often some of the most damaging due to the way it shatters the very resources we need for health and healing.¹

How can we use Scripture well, to heal and not harm?

How can we avoid abusing Scripture when applying it to cases of abuse? Steven highlights two fundamental rules for anyone handling the Word:

1. Attend to Scripture’s context. Perhaps the most common mistake is ignoring the context of a passage. We must recognize and honor the specific setting of a text. When we take words out of their context, we can make the Bible teach just about anything—which is a frightening prospect.
2. Interpret Scripture with Scripture. Be wary of building an entire moral model on a single, isolated passage. We can easily go astray when we treat one verse as if it is all God has to say on a subject.

Kirk E. Miller describes such misuses as reductionistic interpretations. This approach involves taking complex ideas from Scripture and distilling them into overly simplistic, one-dimensional directives that ignore the overall teaching of Scripture and the reality of a survivor’s experience. By stripping Scripture of its required nuance, reductionistic readings can transform Scriptures into a blunt instrument of condemnation and, frankly, bad counsel.

What is God’s heart for the abused?

Perhaps because the ancient text of Scripture does not utilize our modern terminology, we sometimes mistakenly assume the Bible does not say much, if anything, about abuse.

However, the Bible is saturated with accounts of abuse, from the fatal domestic violence of Cain and Abel in Genesis 4 to the widespread violence that grieved God’s heart in Genesis 6. Rather than sanitizing the text, the Bible is brutally honest about human depravity’s tendency toward abuse. Moreover, the fact that Scripture frequently includes these accounts—such as the sexual assault of Tamar (Gen 38) or the horrific atrocities against women at the end of the book of Judges (Judg 19–21)—demonstrates a concern for abuse. God is neither silent nor indifferent. He intentionally highlights the plight of the oppressed against the wickedness of their abusers.

Scripture also testifies directly to God’s heart for the oppressed. For example, in Exodus 3:7–8, the text explicitly states that God saw the affliction of the Israelites, heard their cries, was concerned about their suffering, and came down to deliver them. Likewise, Jesus expresses his fierce intolerance for abuse. For those who cause any of his “little ones” to sin, he declares it would have been far better had they been drowned in the sea with a massive millstone attached to their neck (Matt 18:6). That would have been a better fate than what he has in store for them! This is how seriously Christ takes the abuse of his people.

Jesus: abused for the abused

Many still grapple with the “why” of abuse. Although our attempts at an answer often feel unsatisfying, Steven points us to the person and work of Jesus Christ. The cross is the ultimate evidence of God’s care. Does God truly care for the abused? The cross resounds with a loud, “Yes!”

We may not have a full answer for the problem of evil. But we do know how God has answered evil through the work of Christ.

God took on flesh and allowed himself to be abused in the most horrific manner imaginable. He did this to defeat evil and eventually put an end to all our suffering. We may not have a full answer for the problem of evil. But we do know how God has answered evil through the work of Christ.

Scripture reveals a God who is highly attuned to the cries of the broken and who is actively working a plan of redemption that will one day end all tears (Rev 7:17; 21:4; Isa 25:8).

Share your thoughts

Why is the abuse of the Bible so harmful, especially for the abused? Join us in the Word by Word group to share your thoughts.

Steven Tracy’s suggested resources

Related content

• What Does the Bible Say About Abuse? Probably More Than You Think
• On Spiritual Abuse | Michael Kruger
• Recovering from Spiritual Abuse: A Practical Pathway Toward Healing
• Ministering to Trauma Survivors: 3 Lessons from the Book of Job
• What Does the Bible Say About Church Hurt? 5 Lessons

1. Steve Tracy, email message to author, February 5, 2026.