Faith and Disability: Engaging Theologically

Abstract

One feature that often marks conversations about faith and disability is the wide variety of stakeholders involved. It is not uncommon for theologians and academics, pastors and clergy, special educators and researchers, medical professionals and social service providers, families and individuals with disabilities to interact and converse about disability and specifically how disability relates to flourishing. Each of the various stakeholders, especially the individual with disability, brings something unique and important to the conversation. While this diversity and variety of perspectives can enrich the conversation, it can also complexify it. As conversations at the intersection of faith and disability have increased, so have the variety of faith perspectives brought to bear on thinking critically about disability. Different religions have their own sacred texts and traditions that offer different ideas about the origin and meaning of disability that can uniquely shape and suggest different responses to people with disability and their role in society. I have devoted my professional life to challenging what I call the “disability as tragedy narrative.” This narrative assumes that the experience of having a disability is best described in terms of a tragedy. Thus, when a child is born with a congenital disability, like Down syndrome or cerebral palsy, the assumption that a tragedy has occurred typically overshadows the inclination to rejoice at the miracle of a new life. Similarly, viewing an acquired disability through the lens of tragedy, such as an amputated limb or brain injury, can narrowly frame that experience in ways that can interfere with adaptive coping and healing. On all these fronts, it is clear that faith reshapes how one understands and responds to disability in important ways. This special issue explores disability through a lens of faith, and specifically, faith in the God of the bible. The articles in this issue, therefore, address disability through a biblical lens by engaging this topic theologically. A companion special issue will extend these scripturally oriented reflections by engaging faith and disability empirically and practically. While different faiths may look at disability differently depending on their sacred texts and traditions, the articles in this issue explore the following four core questions with an eye toward biblical and theological reflection about disability from a broad Christian perspective.