Copyright © 2020 Benjamin Wallace Marshall All rights reserved. The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary has permission to reproduce and disseminate this document in any form by any means for purposes chosen by the Seminary, including, without limitation, preservation or instruction. THE CHRISTIAN AND PEDOPHILIA: APPLYING BIBLICAL COUNSELING TO CHRISTIANS STRUGGLING WITH PEDOPHILIA __________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary __________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Educational Ministry __________________ by Benjamin Wallace Marshall December 2020 APPROVAL SHEET THE CHRISTIAN AND PEDOPHILIA: APPLYING BIBLICAL COUNSELING TO CHRISTIANS STRUGGLING WITH PEDOPHILIA Benjamin Wallace Marshall Read and Approved by: __________________________________________ Robert K. Cheong (Faculty Supervisor) __________________________________________ Robert D. Jones Date______________________________ For the glory of God. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES . vi PREFACE . vii Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION . 1 Familiarity with the Literature . 4 Void in the Literature . 20 Thesis . 22 Outline of Chapters . 23 2. SECULAR PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACH TOWARD PEDOPHILIA . 26 Understanding Pedophilia . 26 Theories Regarding Pedophilia . 52 Assessment of Pedophilia. 66 Treatment of Pedophilia . 79 Summary of Secular Approach . 88 3. HISTORICAL CHRISTIAN APPROACH TOWARD PEDOPHILIA . 90 Roman Culture regarding Pederasty . 90 Early Church Fathers regarding Pederasty . 96 Christian Psychology and Pedophilia . 107 4. BIBLICAL COUNSELING APPROACH TOWARD PEDOPHILIA . 137 Definition of Biblical Counseling . 137 Pedophilic Origins . 150 iv Chapter Page Power of the Gospel . 165 Product of Gospel Regeneration . 172 5. IMPLICATIONS FOR THE CHURCH: FOUR COMMITMENTS AND ONE CONSIDERATION . 176 Commitment to the Ordinary Means of Grace . 176 Commitment to Holiness . 180 Commitment to Community . 181 Commitment to Biblical Counseling . 182 Consideration and Care for Those Who Oppose . 183 Appendix 1. GUIDELINES FOR CONVICTED SEX OFFENDER AT CANYON HILLS COMMUNITY CHURCH . 189 2. SEX OFFENDER INTERVIEW QUESTIONS . 191 3. MULTIPHASIC SEX INVENTORY . 193 BIBLIOGRAPHY . 194 v LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Table Page 1. DSM comparisons . 45 Figure 1. Inclusivity of the church . 149 2. Responses to suffering and sin . 151 3. Progressive sanctification . 169 vi PREFACE First and foremost, I would like to give praise and honor to Jesus Christ and for the gospel of Good News that is the absolute foundation for all of life and godliness. Without the sacrificial life, death, and resurrection of our Lord and Savior, there would be absolutely no point to this thesis and no hope for the lost. Additionally, my highest praise and deepest gratitude goes to my wife, Cory, for watching our seven kids, maintaining our home, and supporting me regardless of the cost to her throughout my time at The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary and the writing of this thesis. Without her commitment to me throughout this process, all of my efforts would have been in vain. I would also like to thank my supervisor, Dr. Robert Cheong, for his wisdom and guidance as I navigated not only the material for this thesis but the overall doctoral process. Without his help, the thinking and writing required for this project would have not achieved the breadth and depth of biblical thought represented in the final copy. Additionally, I would like to give thanks and praise for The Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and its faculty and staff for the combined influence and efforts that have been used by God for my further sanctification. My time at Southern is time I would not trade for the world. I would also like to thank a lifelong friend and mentor, Dr. Stuart Scott for his influence in my life and my ministry. Dr. Scott’s intentional, thoughtful, and gentle exegetical and practical ministry of Scripture has been a strong influencing factor which God has used to shape and mold me into the husband, father, and pastor I am today. I will forever be grateful for his influence, wisdom, and friendship as I have navigated the twists and turns of life, ministry, and my doctoral career. Because of his direct influence vii in my life, hundreds if not thousands of people have been counseled in a more Christlike manner. Ben Marshall Bothell, Washington December 2020 viii CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION I had been ordained all of two weeks. Three months prior, I had received my Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. At that moment, I stood at a crossroads as the father of a teenage girl in my youth group confessed to me that he had been molesting his daughter for the past seven years and he wanted help. My secular education and my commitment to the authority of God’s Word came crashing together in that moment in a way I will never forget. My secular education taught me well that I had all of 48 hours to report what this man had confessed to me. Upon my report, Child Protective Services would take over. He would be interviewed, arrested, and sentenced. He might be eligible for the SOSA (Special Sex Offender Sentencing Alternative) program, which would allow for him to spend minimal time in prison, but require him to undergo intense psychotherapy for a lengthy amount of time. This SOSA program would not only cost him a large amount of money, but it would also expose him to some forms of therapy that would be at odds with Scripture. The other alternative would be to serve the amount of prison time that the judge would impose with the hopes of getting time off for good behavior. For this particular man, who was a member of the Armed Forces, his punishment was dual- factored. He was going to have to face a civilian court, as well as a military court. Not only would jail time be a given, but he would lose his military retirement after 24 years of faithfully serving the United States. My mind protested, “But this is what he gets for doing what he did. You have an obligation to report him.” At the same time, my heart and mind were drawn to the gospel and the power of the gospel to not only forgive but also bring about change in someone. The promise of the gospel was not for some sinners who did small things, but it was a promise for the 1 worst of sinners who committed the greatest of sins. After all, if the apostle Peter could be forgiven for denying the Son of God on the cross, then there was hope for anyone. My strong desire was to start to minister the gospel to this man who had found me, trusted me, and asked for help. My inner dialogue sought to persuade me by arguing, “You know what will happen to this man if you turn him over to the state authorities. He will be immediately incarcerated which will make ministry very hard, if not impossible. Most likely you will not be able to help him change.” And yet, I thought that if I chose not to report him,1 there was a very real chance that I could be charged with a crime myself that would require a punishment of my own.2 The crossroads of that moment were one of the worst moral dilemmas I had faced in the twenty-four years of my life. While this was my initial experience with a pedophile, statistics say that pedophilic experiences are more common than one might expect, especially in instances in which a pedophile acts on his or her desires. Current statistics suggest one in four girls and one in twenty boys are sexually abused by the time that they reach adulthood.3 The most current statistics4 on those who struggle with pedophilia indicate that approximately one in five adults admit that they struggle with pedophilia.5 These statistics are admittedly skewed due to the nature of pedophilia. In most countries, pedophilia is not 1 Washington State is one of the few states that allows for client clergy confidentiality. RCW 5.60.060 states, “A member of the clergy or priest, shall not, without the consent of the person making the confession, be examined as to any confession made to him or her in his or her professional character, in the course of discipline enjoined by the church to which he or she belongs.” Due to this law, information confessed to clergy is not permissible in court. 2 It was unclear to me as to the nature of my role and the subsequent legal requirements I was obligated to obey. I was an ordained minister, therefore, client clergy confidentiality applied. At the same time, I was being asked to counsel someone struggling with criminal sexual sin. 3 David Finkelhor et al., “The Lifetime Prevalence of Child Sexual Abuse and Sexual Assault Assessed in Late Adolescence,” Journal of Adolescent Health 55, no. 3 (September 2014): 329-33. 4 While there are many modern scientific reports regarding pedophilia, the research cited in these modern reports is six to seven years old. 5 Sarah D. Goode, Understanding and Addressing Adult Sexual Attraction to Children: A Study of Paedophiles in Contemporary Society (London: Routledge, 2009), 20. 2 only taboo, it is criminal. Therefore, those who admit to having pedophilic desires are taking a risk in their admission. Sarah Goode, regarding skewed statistics, writes, Remember, these survey rates were found by relying only on what the volunteers decided to disclose to the researchers. It’s probably that, even when anonymity and confidentiality are absolutely guaranteed, a proportion of people who are asked questions such as this on a written questionnaire will still feel uncomfortable and will chose not to disclose any information on their sexual attraction to children, so the rates of around one in five men is likely to be a minimum figure.6 Applying this statistic to the United States of America would indicate that over 65 million adult men and women are sexually attracted to children eighteen years of age or younger.