OTHER WORDS FOR ABUSE
It is for good reasons that injustice, slavery and oppression are poorly understood Biblical concepts. The main reason for misunderstanding is that we default to interpreting these terms according to their conventional definitions which always exist within a context of social or political power that one person or group has over another person or group. Common examples we see in everyday life and in the news include the following:

Perhaps the best English word that represents injustice, slavery and oppression in everyday language is abuse. Two Hebrew words (Qalown and `alal) are commonly translated as “abuse” in contemporary Bible versions but rarely in the King James Version (KJV) or the New American Standard (NASB). These words correlate strongly with the Hebrew word Kalam which is most often translated as shame, dishonor and humiliation in the NASB and as ashamed, confounded and shame in the KJV

We conclude from these word definitions and translations that abuse originates from from the mouths of enemies who use words like swords and arrows to do harm by speaking lies and deceit. This symbolism agrees with other scriptures in which God’s word is equated with a sharp sword that speaks truth and produces life.

It has been well documented that the effects of abuse (verbal, sexual, emotional or physical) always lasts longer than the traumatic event. These effects may be summarized as guilt and shame which induce wrong beliefs about ourselves and others which, unless arrested, control how we think about ourselves and how we present ourselves to others. More importantly, the lasting, toxic effects of religious abuse controls how we present ourselves to God.

Religion enslaves people to beliefs about God that compels them to engage in continuous religious activity to please him. When this is the way people think and function, they are never at rest in terms of their relationship with God. They are always doing something with their bodies according to doctrines created by men but their hearts are far from God.

In God’s language, religion uses abusive social and psychological control to compel them to engage in religious activities based on literal interpretations of the Bible. This control denies to people the God-given freedom and God-given right to worship him in spirit and truth without a human mediator (i.e. religious leader), outside a religious building, and without physical religious activity. In God’s view, religion that imposes religious leaders, religious buildings and religious activity as conditions for  for worship is unjust slavery. It is unjust because it places idols (i.e. religious leaders) ahead of God and teaches people to listen to religious leaders (i.e. false prophets) instead of listening to God’s voice. It is slavery because the truth is that God’s ideal for true worship is that it will be done internally (i.e. in the heart) in spirit and truth — not in the flesh (i.e. external, physical activity), and not in a Tabernacles, Temples, Altars, or High Places.

That the benefits of religious activity do not last should not be surprising because God says clearly that rituals done in certain places at certain times, according to human regulations are Old/First Covenant religious sacrifices. These rituals are not able to cleanse the conscience, and are not part of the new order (i.e. of the New Covenant and the priesthood of Melchizedek.) That rituals do not have the power to cleanse the conscience should not be surprising given the fact that learned rituals having the appearance of wisdom are nothing more than traditions created by religious leaders for others to follow.

God calls this devotion to religious activity injustice and slavery. It is an unjust system that uses social power to control people to do things that God has not commanded them to do. because religious leaders enslave people to religious beliefs and practices that actually separate them from God because they are too busy being religious and too busy listening to the teachings of religious leaders to listen to God.

Because the wounds caused by people who perpetrate guilt and shame on us are internal, they are not as easy to identify, diagnose or heal as external, physical wounds. This is as true for religious abuse as it is for wounds we experience from any other verbal abuse which causes us to believe lies about ourselves or others. Thus it can be said that injustice, slavery and oppression is essentially spiritual abuse.

The nature of spiritual abuse becomes clearer in the New Testament where the Greek word blasphemo, is translated as abuse, reviling and blasphemy in the NASB and as blasphemy and speaking evil in the KJV.

In the New Testament we see Jesus accusing religious leaders of blasphemy and the religious leaders accusing Jesus of blasphemy. We conclude from this that the perception of blasphemy depends on who is speaking and who is listening. In other words, the one who speaks the truth (i.e. Jesus) is regarded as a blasphemer by those who do not know the truth (i.e. religious leaders). And those who do not know the truth will malign and revile (i.e. blaspheme) those who do know the truth. Thus it can be said that the abuse which Jesus and Paul experienced at the hands of religious leaders is spiritual abuse.

This conflict between those who do know the truth and those who do not know the truth is a useful summary of the basic conflict of the Bible between good and evil. These opposing forces are represented in many different ways, including the following: