COLUMN: Viewpoint – Susanna and the Elders

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 16/11/2021 (1275 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The current scandal involving someone who held a position of power in a hockey organization and abused that power to take sexual advantage of a young player, has me thinking of a somewhat similar Biblical narrative.

Many people don’t know the story of Susanna and the Elders found in the book of Daniel. Although a chapter about Susanna is included in ancient Greek translations of the Old Testament some denominations have chosen not to recognize her story as part of their Biblical canon.

Susanna was a young wife, mother, and daughter, well thought of in her community. She had a secluded garden in her back yard where she took a bath each day with her maids in attendance. Two powerful church elders began to spy on her regularly. One day when her maids went into the house on an errand, the elders came out of hiding and confronted Susanna. They told her she had to have sex with them, or they would publicly accuse her of having done so.

The elders thought they had Susanna backed into a corner, but she didn’t give in to their demands and refused to have sex with them. The powerful religious men carried through on their threat and publicly accused her of infidelity. Susanna was brought to court. She insisted on telling the truth about what had happened. No one believed her and she was led away to be stoned to death for committing adultery.

Then Daniel, a young lawyer at the time, came forward to defend her and by questioning the elders exposed the inconsistencies in their individual versions of events. Susanna was set free, and her accusers were brought to justice for misusing the power of their position.

I first discovered Susanna’s story while doing a film study of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie Psycho with my high school literature students. A painting depicting the Susanna story plays an important role in the film.

Since learning of Susanna, I have discovered artwork illustrating her story all over the world in places I’ve traveled, like Florence, Rome, Madrid, Barcelona, The Vatican, Lisbon and even in Rotorua, New Zealand. You can search online for the Susanna and the Elders story and find literally hundreds of artists from almost every country of the world who have depicted it beginning in the 1500s. A myriad of modern artists are continually creating new versions of her story in thought provoking and very unique ways. It goes to show how Susanna’s story has left an indelible impression. Her willingness to tell the truth brought justice, just the way a hockey player’s decision to tell the truth seems to be doing.

Sadly, what happened to Susanna is still happening in church settings. We routinely hear new stories about church leaders misusing their position of power to take sexual advantage of those in more vulnerable positions. More and more church denominations are putting systems in place to deal with sexual abuse situations in as fair and honest a way as possible.

The National Hockey League as well as individual teams have pledged to put such systems in place as well, and to more stringently follow the protocols that were already there but ignored when the current scandal occurred.

Susanna’s story was not one I ever heard as a child growing up in the church, but disturbing as it is, it needs to be told to encourage people to stand up to those in power who try to take advantage of them, and to let people in power know that they will be held accountable for their actions when they harm others.