Jesus And Disability

2019 IVP Readers' Choice Award What does healing mean for people with disabilities? The Gospels are filled with accounts of Jesus offering physical healing. But even as churches today seek to follow the way of Jesus, people with disabilities all too often experience the very opposite of healing and life-giving community: exclusion, judgment, barriers. Misinterpretation and misapplication of biblical healing narratives can do great damage, yet those who take the Bible seriously mustn't avoid these passages either. Bethany McKinney Fox believes that Christian communities are better off when people with disabilities are an integral part of our common life. In Disability and the Way of Jesus, she considers how the stories of Jesus' healings can guide us toward mutual thriving. How did Jesus' original audience understand his works of healing, and how should we relate to these texts today? After examining the healing narratives in their biblical and cultural contexts, Fox considers perspectives from medical doctors, disability scholars, and pastors to more fully understand what Jesus does as he heals and how he points the way for relationships with people with disabilities. Personal reflections from Christians with disabilities are featured throughout the book, which concludes with suggestions for concrete practices adaptable to a variety of church settings. Bridging biblical studies, ethics, and disability studies with the work of practitioners, Fox provides a unique resource that is both theologically grounded and winsomely practical. Disability and the Way of Jesus provides new lenses on holistic healing for scholars, laypeople, and ministry leaders who care about welcoming all people as Jesus would.

"The question of why God would allow pain and suffering in the world has vexed believers and nonbelievers forever. In Walking with God through Pain and Suffering, Timothy Keller takes on this enduring issue and shows that there is meaning and reason behind pain and suffering, making a forceful and groundbreaking case that this essential part of the human experience can be overcome only by understanding our relationship with God. Using biblical wisdom and personal stories of overcoming adversity, Keller brings a much-needed, fresh viewpoint to this important issue."--Back cover

Drawing from his personal, pastoral, and academic interests, Chris Hulshof offers biblical wisdom and comfort to those seeking to understand the topic of disability in the church. He explores how Jesus’s involvement with the disabled can be instrumental in laying a foundation for disability-inclusive church leadership and practice. Ultimately, this book provides a blueprint for how pastors and congregations can become disability friendly in the church and in the broader community.

Michael Beates's concern with disability issues began nearly 30 years ago when his eldest child was born with multiple profound disabilities. Now, as more families like Michael's are affected by a growing number of difficulties ranging from down syndrome to autism to food allergies, the need for church programs and personal paradigm shifts is greater than ever. Working through key Bible passages on brokenness and disability while answering hard questions, Michael offers here helpful principles for believers and their churches. He shows us how to embrace our own brokenness and then to embrace those who are more physically and visibly broken, bringing hope and vision to those of us who need it most.

Have you ever wondered whether God knows what it is like to have a disability? Can God know this? The answer to these questions matters to the estimated one billion people with a disability worldwide. Jesus the Disabled God offers an affirmative answer. Jesus' ministry was itself a positive affirmation of those who experience disability, but Jesus went beyond ministry to people with disabilities and actually experienced disability himself on the cross. The amazing thing about this experience is that it was freely chosen, even planned from all eternity. As a consequence, the God-man Jesus now knows what it is like to have a disability. Furthermore, because of his glorious resurrection from the dead, Jesus is no longer disabled and can offer hope to those who are.

Have you ever wondered whether God knows what it is like to have a disability? Can God know this? The answer to these questions matters to the estimated one billion people with a disability worldwide. Jesus the Disabled God offers an affirmative answer. Jesus' ministry was itself a positive affirmation of those who experience disability, but Jesus went beyond ministry to people with disabilities and actually experienced disability himself on the cross. The amazing thing about this experience is that it was freely chosen, even planned from all eternity. As a consequence, the God-man Jesus now knows what it is like to have a disability. Furthermore, because of his glorious resurrection from the dead, Jesus is no longer disabled and can offer hope to those who are.

Leading ethicist and pastoral theologian Brian Brock reflects on the challenge of disability, refuting widely held misconceptions and helping readers respond well to the pastoral implications of disability. Brock, the father of a child with special needs, weaves together theological commentary with narrative reflection, offering rich theological wisdom for shepherding people with disabilities. He shows pastors and ministers-in-training that thinking more closely and theologically about disability is a doorway into a more vibrant and welcoming church life for all Christians.

IVP Readers' Choice Award Lamar Hardwick was thirty-six years old when he found out he was on the autism spectrum. While this revelation helped him understand and process his own experience, it also prompted a difficult re-evaluation of who he was as a person. And as a pastor, it started him on a new path of considering the way disabled people are treated in the church. Disability and the Church is a practical and theological reconsideration of the church's responsibilities to the disabled community. Too often disabled persons are pushed away from the church or made to feel unwelcome in any number of ways. As Hardwick writes, "This should not be." He insists that the good news of Jesus affirms God's image in all people, and he offers practical steps and strategies to build stronger, truly inclusive communities of faith.