Logo

 

Banner Image:   Baptist-Times-banner-2000x370-
Template Mode:   Baptist Times
Icon
    Post     Tweet


The Bible and Disability: A Commentary 
 

Interesting, important and challenging collection of essays that encourage us to read the Bible through the lens of a disability hermeneutic

 



The Bible and Disability300The Bible and Disability: A Commentary 
Edited by Sarah Melcher, Mikeal C. Parsons and Amos Young 
SCM press 
ISBN: 978-0-334-05686-7 
Reviewed by: Rosa Hunt 



This is a one-volume commentary on the Bible with a difference: it encourages us to read the Bible through the lens of a disability hermeneutic. This challenges our assumptions that we need to fix what is “broken” and to normalise the “different”. It thus provides a different view of the nature and role of healing and redemption. It also challenges our idea of who God is and what God is like, starting as it does with Nancy Eiesland’s image of the disabled God as a liberating symbol. 

The book consists of 12 chapters: Beginnings (Genesis and Exodus), Law (Leviticus-Deuteronomy), History (Joshua-Second Kings, then 1 and 2 Chronicles and Esther), Wisdom (Job, Proverbs and Ecclesiastes; Psalms, Lamentations and Song of Songs), Prophets (Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel and the twelve minor prophets), Synoptic Gospels and Acts, Johannine Literature, Pauline Letters and Hebrews and the Catholic Letters.  

The essays represent a variety of methodological approaches and a whole spectrum of assumptions on the nature and authority of Scripture. What they have in common is their attempt to foreground disability as a hermeneutic. They start from the assumption that Scripture is redemptive for disability, and that if Scripture is not good news for those with disabilities, then it is not good news for anyone. 

Most of the essays operate with a cultural understanding of disability - for instance, the first essay explores infertility as a disability in the lives of the matriarchs and patriarchs of Genesis. Other essays also explore the links between disability and divine punishment, sin and demonic possession in the Biblical narrative, while yet others tackle the emotive and complex issues such as God’s intent and sovereignty in creating people with disabilities. 

I have never read the Bible through this lens before, and for this reason these essays make a very interesting, important and challenging read for those like myself who have tended to read the Bible from an able-bodied perspective.  
 


Rosa is the minister of Salem Baptist Chapel, Tonteg and is an Associate Tutor at South Wales Baptist College

Baptist Times, 09/01/2019
    Post     Tweet
Mindful Formation by Shaun Lambert
'Blends academic, practical, and devotional content seamlessly - a modern spiritual classic'
Slow Wisdom by Ruth Moriarty
'If taken on board, it should see the church meeting becoming more of what it should be: a dynamic, prayerful, joyful space of listening to God as we listen to one another'
What’s Up, by Joanna Adeyinka-Burford
Recommended devotional book for Key Stage 2 children who have some knowledge of Christianity, created by someone with a strong understanding of the world of the child
Mind Fuel for Young Explorers, by Bear Grylls and Will Van Der Hart
'A brilliant tool to aid our young people as they navigate our changing modern world, non-preachy yet shot through with Christian wisdom'
The Martyr and the Red Kimono by Naoko Abe
'I am personally very grateful to Noako Abe for this outstanding piece of work... Through her assiduous research she has retrieved the whole of Maximilian Kolbe’s life story'
Unforgiveable? by Stephen Cherry
'Explores forgiving and forgivability in the aftermath of serious, traumatic and life-changing harm. An important book, which deserves serious study'
    Posted: 04/10/2024
    Posted: 01/03/2024