The most damaging kind of trauma or abuse,

you know, there's physical, sexual, neglect, spiritual, verbal, etc.,

the most damaging is spiritual from all of those years,

because it cuts us off from the most essential

resources that are needed for healing. And that's why I think Satan so strategizes to corrupt

scripture against survivors, because if he can do that that then where do they go?

Hi, this is Lance Ford and we are really excited to have you at this episode of The Roy's Report.

This is a visit that I've been looking forward to for quite a while.

We're going to be visiting today with author Stephen Tracy on his new book,

To heal or to harm, Scripture's use as poison or medicine for abuse survivors.

And I'm going to introduce Steve here in just a minute.

But before we began, I just want to name something plainly that's really around the theme of this book.

For many people, Scripture has been a place of life and clarity and hope,

but for others, especially for survivors of abuse,

it's also been a place of confusion or even fear and harm, not because the Bible itself is cruel,

but because it sometimes has been handed to people in ways that were cruel.

And some of you listening may carry verses that were spoken over you at moments when you needed to be

protected, not corrected. When you just needed presence and not pressure, you were looking

for a place of safety, not a place of silence or to be silence. And when that happens, it doesn't just distort theology.

It wounds the soul.

And today's conversation isn't about winning an argument or defending scripture at all

costs.

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