Abstract
This paper examines violence against women in the domestic sphere and its relationship to conservative Protestant ideology. The purpose of this study is twofold. First, it seeks to ascertain why the conservative, fundamentalist Protestant church has been singled out in sociological analyses as the denomination most likely to have higher rates of spousal abuse. In particular, it examines the premise that social scientific analyses of religion and wife battering target conservative Protestantism largely due to the denomination's profile as an institution that firmly and steadfastly clings to patriarchal modes of thought and being. Second, this study seeks to analyze why the theories don't match up with the data. Namely, this paper will offer explanations to account for why-despite carefully articulated and highly logical theories-the prevalence of domestic violence in conservative, Protestant churches is not higher than in other denominations. Throughout, feminist theoretical formulations concerning the reality of patriarchy in our culture and the prevalence of violence against women in our society are illuminated.