Evangelicals are arguing wether David wooed or raped her.
Evangelicals debating rape and the story of David and Bathsheba.
The biblical story of David and Bathsheba is as dramatic as it is ambiguous: A powerful man sees a beautiful stranger and orders his subordinates to summon her. She becomes pregnant. The man clumsily tries to cover it up, but eventually he has the woman's husband killed, and they later marry.
In recent days, a question about this ancient tale has inspired heated online conversations among evangelicals: Did David have an affair with Bathsheba, or did he rape her? The answer has implications for the way the famous story is taught to children and the reputation of a biblical hero. But the debate itself illuminates—and may even change—the ways that evangelical Christians think about gender, sex, power, consent, and abuse.