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Inherited narratives of sacrificial violence have perpetuated harm against survivors of clergy-perpetrated sexual abuse. Through rigorous scholarship and compassionate storytelling, Sacrifice Lost explores how traditional narratives of Jesus’s crucifixion have facilitated and enabled systemic abuse within the Church. Ashley Theuring centers survivors’ voices and stories, reimagining Christ’s death and resurrection through critical theological reflections for our time. This book is a crucial wake-up call and guide for Christians to connect trauma, moral injuries, theology, and healing.
Ashley Theuring is a practical theology scholar, educator, and advocate, with expertise in trauma theology. She earned her PhD from Boston University and currently serves as assistant professor in theology, Xavier University, Cincinnati, OH. She also codirects Xavier’s Graduate Theology Program and the Institute for Spirituality and Social Justice. She combines her theological depth with a commitment to social justice, having served as an advocate and educator for domestic violence prevention. She has made substantial scholarly contributions, especially in the areas of trauma, domestic violence, and moral injury within religious contexts, including her book Fragile Resurrection: Hope after Domestic Violence.
“What would it mean to place survivors of abuse at the theological heart of the church? This book makes that vision much more possible. Ashley Theuring’s Sacrifice Lost is informed by survivor witness, offers a survivor-centered reading of the Christian tradition that will help theology to be more responsive to abuse in any setting. . . . Profound, accessible, and deeply needed.” –John N. Sheveland, editor, Theology in a Post-Traumatic Church
“As theologians, our business is to apply critical thinking to articulate what hopefully better reveals the Good News and what does not. But sometimes, those critiques can ignore realities on the ground. This is not so for Theuring’s Sacrifice Lost. The beauty of this book is that her theological reflection begins, is guided by, and ends with the voices of victim-survivors, without sacrificing the indelible critiques and current research. Well done to Ashley Theuring for presenting an excellent contribution to the necessary conversations we must continue to have in our Church and in the world.” –Cristina Lledo Gomez, author, Church as Woman and Mother
“Theuring provides a clear and compelling account of the psychological, spiritual, moral, and social harm caused by clergy sexual abuse and its concealment by church leaders. This is a significant contribution to better understand the wounds that mark the Body of Christ and what it takes to heal them.” –Marcus Mescher, author, The Ethics of Encounter: Christian Neighbor Love as a Practice of Solidarity
