How Survivors of Abuse Relate to God The Authentic Spirituality of the Annihilated Soul Explorations in Practical, Pastoral and Empirical Theology Series

Grappling with theological issues raised by abuse, this book argues that the Church should be challenged, and ministered to, by survivors. Paying careful attention to her interviews with Christian women survivors, Shooter finds that through painful experiences of transformation they have surprisingly become potential agents of transformation for others. Shooter brings the survivors' narratives into dialogue with the story of Job and with medieval mystic Marguerite Porete's spirituality of 'annihilation'. Culminating in an engagement with contemporary feminist theology concerning power and powerlessness, there emerges a set of principles for authentic community spirituality which crosses boundaries with God, supports appropriate human boundaries and, crucially, listens attentively. Appealing to Church leaders, students, practitioners and practical theologians, this book offers a creative and ethical theological enquiry as well as some spiritual anchor points for survivors.

Contents: Foreword; Preface; Introduction: what lies beneath; Knocking at the door: presenting issues; Finding the right key: a grounded qualitative design; Opening up: how survivors of abuse relate (to) God; Crossing the threshold: Job the survivor?; At home with God: Marguerite Porete's Mirror; The authentic spirituality of the annihilated soul; What lies ahead: conclusions and implications; Epilogue; Bibliography; Indexes.

Susan Shooter gained her MA in Theological Studies at St John's College Nottingham; her dissertation was entitled ’The Cross as the Tree of Life: symbol of transformation for church and world’. Ordained in 1996 in the Diocese of Rochester, she served two curacies and was Incumbent for nine years, also tutoring on diocesan lay training courses; for two years she was Biblical Strand Leader for the Canterbury Christ Church Cert. in Theology for Ministry. Recently she successfully completed her DMin thesis with King's College London.