So much Christian teaching is dedicated to keeping men in power over women. I don't think that's of Christ. I know it bears bad fruit (we've measured it!). And I believe that it is pushing women out of the church and making marriages worse. And so I'm always ecstatic...
Pastors should not be writing books until they've dealt with their trauma. And even then, they shouldn't write the book based on how they dealt with their trauma. They should write it based on peer reviewed research, because one person's experience may be the...
How did we get to the point where Scripture is so easily weaponized? Thank you to Zondervan for sponsoring this post. I mean, I suppose it always has been. That's one of the things Jesus railed against the religious leaders for, and that the prophets railed against...
For years, we've been showing how the vast majority of Christian marriage books contain toxic teachings. It started with us reading Love & Respect, and seeing how terrible the sex advice was. When the powers that be ignored us when we tried to bring up concerns...
Vashti is an often-forgotten woman from the Old Testament. I love the Bible because it’s filled with stories–heroes and villains; kings and peasants; rulers and prophets. And often the Bible leaves us with stories without giving any commentary on them. We’re supposed...
She wanted to follow God and be a good complementarian wife. But after a few years it all fell apart! Before I jump into our story, a few definitions. Complementarianism is the belief that God created men to be in authority over women, in the church and the home (some...
Let's celebrate being a woman who loves God! I've been following the Her Cherch account on Instagram for a while, and she has awesome cartoons that cut to the heart of so much of what we talk about here on Bare Marriage! The artist is Marcia Takasaki, and we've been...
What happens when a charismatic man with no qualifications starts a marriage ministry? You end up with a book that sounds like he wants the best for people--but gives completely unhelpful, and often very harmful, advice. Today Keith and I are taking a deep dive into...
One of the things we’re passionate about on this blog is making sure the self-help and relationship advice in the evangelical world is healthy. Over the last few years, our team has surveyed over 32,000 people, measuring how certain teachings common in the evangelical...
We've figured out our biggest problem. Recently I was talking with a young couple who got married after having done everything "right." They thought marriage would be easy; instead, sex was the hardest part of their lives. She felt objectified; he felt rejected; and...
So many people want a Bible that reflects God’s heart for honouring and respecting women. But with so many Bibles offering biased translation work that elevates men over women, it can be hard to decide on which Bible is the best one to learn from. With Christmas...
There's been a horrible meme circulating about how God used David--so we should rejoice when God uses evil men. I've seen it myself; it's been shared and debated in our Patreon group; and so many of you have sent it to me. While it does have immediate American...
Is Divorce and Remarriage Permitted in Cases of Abuse? So many people ask for a robust Biblical investigation into whether divorce is allowed in cases of abuse, and considering how so much of the evangelical church treats divorce as an almost unforgivable sin, it’s a...
We don't have to accept pastors demonizing little girls. Recently, I was sent a clip by someone who attends Lake Pointe church and was concerned–I don’t go looking for these. Josh Howerton, you may remember, is the same megachurch pastor who told women to “stand where...
Jesus didn’t call out the Romans. Instead, he spent his life calling out the religious leaders of His day. He left the Romans pretty much alone. But what do we do? I have seen far too many pastors, and too many best-selling authors, making their main talking point...