A book like Leaving Silence is difficult to read because it forces readers to face the harm of sexualized violence—and not just as something perpetrated by “the world” but as a recurring theme in the modern church and the ancient Scriptures. It’s a needed difficulty because the only way of reckoning with our current crisis—consider the current continued cover-up by the Southern Baptist Convention or the far-ranging #MeToo and #ChurchToo movements—is to face it head-on. The way author Susannah Larry chooses to confront it is to contextualize it within Scripture. This sin is not new. Sexualized violence is embedded into our history and our religion. That’s not an excuse to condone it, but rather an opportunity to use the lessons learned in Scripture to apply to a modern solution.

The first account of sexualized violence that Leaving Silence discusses is that of Abraham and Hagar. A normative evangelical reading of Genesis 16 just sort of glosses over that Abraham takes Sarah’s servant as his concubine. Maybe you get a condemnation of polygamy while also conceding that cultural context allowed for it. What you rarely get is an understanding that Hagar had no say in the matter. Surrogacy is forced on her as she loses bodily autonomy as a slave to her masters. Larry also considers how Sarah functions as both victim and enabler and admits that the whole situation and God’s response to it is not something she’s satisfied with. It’s a powerful opening that reframes the “biblical heroes” and asks us to sit in the tension and uncomfortableness of it all. Facing sexualized violence in the church means willingness to face it in Scripture as well. And it’s in wrestling with this Scripture that we find that Hagar—victim of sexualized violence from Israel’s first patriarch—not only speaks to but names Yahweh:

When God sees Hagar, he doesn’t see a cog in the will of his own wants and needs, as did Sarah. He doesn’t see a body that he could use as he wills, as did Abraham. He doesn’t see a slave woman who is abusable and disposable. When God looks at Hagar he…sees a powerful mother of a nation.

I spend so much time on this first encounter because it sets the tone for the scope of the book. While Leaving Silence references modern scandals and contemporary applications, Larry—a Hebrew scholar—spends the majority of her time mining the Old Testament texts, using them to shed light on modern injustices. This is important because she’s not just appropriating Scripture for use in modern issues, but uses it in a real and substantive way. Leaving Silence teaches us how to think theologically about sexualized violence, offering solidarity, justice, lament, and restoration. It doesn’t offer simple answers or facetious fixes. It’s deep treatment of the root of the problem, not just its rotten fruit.

A book that needed to be written! Dr. Larry looks at numerous examples of sexualized violence in the Bible that include men and women. In each example, she describes the scene, characters, and elements that are present in cases of sexualized violence. For example she uses David and Bathsheba in 2 Samuel to describe the various power dynamics that are present in sexualized violence.

The strength of Leaving Silence is the way it confronts and asks hard theological questions. Dr Larry describes deuteronomistic theodicy to help the reader understand how sin and blame were prevalent in the culture of the biblical writers. She describes how displacing blame on ourselves and others helps us to avoid facing the reasons why we suffer. Suffering is complicated. There are many views in every situation and our vision is limited. Scripture is a mixture of these different views and voices.

In each chapter Dr. Larry gives her perspective on how the sexualized violence in scripture and its elements are still relevant today. For every topic she gives concrete suggestions for helping survivors of sexualized violence and how to support them.

Dr Larry is honest and open as she shares her personal experiences. The topic of sexualized violence is often ignored and not addressed. Leaving Silence is a powerful testimony of all the women and men in the Bible whose voices have been ignored. Leaving Silence starts the much needed conversation of sexualized violence in the Bible and in society. Everyone should read it and continue the conversation.

I applaud the author for entering in to a space that many are unwilling to enter in to by writing this book. I appreciate her willingness to have the uncomfortable conversations and share her perspective about sexual abuse and how it appears in the Bible.

To be honest, I struggled with this book. I found that often my own theology did not seem to align with the author's. I believe that we feel quite differently about scripture, the human condition, and possibly biblical manhood and womanhood. Our main difference seemed to be in treatment of scripture & this, of course, caused quite a bit of concern as I read her arguments.

I didn't feel that this book pointed the reader back to the hope of the gospel as much as I had hoped and as much as is absolutely necessary for christians grappling with the reality of sexual abuse in the past, present, and future. I didn't come out of this book feeling equipped and encouraged, but confused and more concerned than before.