There have been other Christian books on domestic abuse. This well written one from Christian Focus was prompted by Christians who have suffered abuse. The book begins with the global picture but soon narrows down to individual testimonies, which are quite shocking, although I think I recognised one or two of the cases documented. The final section of the book gives guidelines and suggestions for dealing pastorally with such situations and adds helpful practical chapters on marriage and divorce. It is an obvious book to turn to if anyone is dealing with anything of this sort but I thought it was a good book for all Christians to read especially pastors as it raises awareness of what is clearly a problem, perhaps a growing problem, and is an example of how to think the problem through biblically. One little phrase I appreciated especially, talking about wives submitting was this about when a basic disagreement exists between a man and his wife "Ephesians 5 verse 21 applies either in the husband deciding not to go ahead without mutual consent or the wife submitting to the husband's leadership, though she may be unhappy with the decision." I think that's how we live but it was nice to see in print.
