Christian Authors and Psychologists Now Say Emotional Abuse is Grounds for Divorce

Some Christian Marriage Authors and Counselors are Starting to Change their Minds about Physical and Emotional Abuse

Some Christian authors and speakers now accept physical and emotional abuse as biblical grounds for divorce. We need to honor their willingness to publicly change their view.

David E. Clarke Ph.D. Retracts His Prior View of No Divorce for Abuse

On March 30, 2021, Dr. David E. Clarke posted a new podcast and video explaining that he has changed his mind about abuse. He now says physical and emotional abuse ARE valid grounds for divorce. He also states it in writing, and talks about his earlier view that divorce was only for unrepentant adultery and abandonment. Listen to minutes: 1:20-3:00.

I truly applaud Clarke’s change and this public declaration. Clarke says he'll get criticism, but he doesn't care. That's courage, and I honor that. It may affect his income, he probably won't get as many speaking gigs (although, frankly, maybe he will get more!). His books may not be recommended anymore. He may not be featured as a broadcast guest anymore. So he's putting his money where his mouth is. He's earned my respect.

I hope we see this change of mind for many other Christian leaders. I'm proud that he is one of the first to do this. There are other Christian pastors and theologians who also believe that physical AND emotional abuse are biblical grounds for divorce. LINK

Now for the next step:
David E. Clark Ph.D. needs to remove his earlier destructive messages

David E. Clarke's earlier statements, just in the past 3 years, were the opposite. He needs to renounce and retract these:

—Clarke should demand that Focus on the Family remove his 2018 article, "Do You Really Want a Divorce?" 

His article "Do You Really Want a Divorce?" suggests Jesus is against all divorce, never mentions that Jesus condoned it in Matt. 19:9 or that the apostle Paul condoned it in 1 Corinthians 7:15, or any other verse allowing divorce. #focusonthefamily

And he suggests that divorce is universally destructive to kids, which is incorrect. Major family researchers found that divorce is likely the better option when the home is highly toxic. Those who hold this view include Dr. Judith Wallerstein, Dr. Paul Amato, Dr. Andrew Cherlin, Dr. Sara McLanahan, Dr. E. Mavis Hetherington, and Dr. Linda Waite. These are all top researchers quoted by Focus on the Family in their online articles.

—Clarke should remove his September 2020 YouTube Video Calling Abuse Victims Who Divorce “Stupid.”

In this video Clarke says that an abuse victims who claim to want a divorce to protect their children are believing a “Lie, Lie, Lie.” (00:15)

He also says, “…my response? A bad marriage is better than no marriage at all.”  (00:24).

If he truly believes that divorce is worse than abuse for children, then he’s ignoring decades of research. And to make it worse, he has been misleading many abused spouses/parents. Family sociologists have known for 30 years that being brought up in an abusive high-conflict home is worse for children’s wellbeing on average than divorce. Here’s a blog post with quotes from the top researchers. And here is my summary of the Dr. Paul Amato study that shows that abusive high-conflict homes are worse for kids than divorce.

If you want to praise David E. Clark Ph.D., for his change of heart (and I think we all should), go to his public Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/dave.clarke.16568  Or to his public website’s contact page: https://www.davideclarkephd.com/contact  His comment are also open on the video version: https://youtu.be/Wclvy6uSXc0