The Disabled God

             The Interdenominational Theological Center                                                           

                        A Critique of The Disabled God

                         By Nancy L. Eiesland

            (Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press 1994)

Andre D. Eaton

PSC 685- Introduction to Missiolgoy:

Christian Mission, Evangelism, Ecumenism and

Interfaith Relations

Presented to Dr. Lonnie Taylor & Dr. M. Snulligan Haney

April15th, 2006

Dr. Nancy L. Eiesland is an Associate Professor of Religion at Emory University. Her research focuses on surbanization and religious change in the United States, in gender and religion, world views in religion, and sociological and theological aspects of illness and disability. Some of her works other than The Disabled God includes, Contemporary American Religion: An Ethnographic reader (1994), Human Disability and the Service of God (1998) and A particular Place: Urban Restructuring and Religious Ecology in a Southern Exurb (2000).  She is a graduate of Central Bible College B.A., M.Div., Emory University and Ph.D., Emory University.

            The main point of Eiesland book is to bring attention to the Liberation Theory of the Disabled and to show how the church has been wrong in its treatment of disabled individuals as outcasts rather than seeing the ministry that disabled can bring to the church at large. She also illustrates that the disabled are a minority group that has been discriminated against and considered social outcasts. She clearly illustrates how churches like the Lutheran denomination have spoken one way but has been hypocritical in its action to make room for the disabled in full time ministry. By using the testimonies of two disabled individuals she shows how the mistreatment of the church is what is truly disabled. She stands for the right of all disabled people to have full access and benefits as in society and church similar to all abled bodied members of society. The testimonies of Diane Devries and Nancy Mairs shows that they have accepted their bodies as being intact and whole. However, they suffered differential treatment by people who saw their disabilities as “monstrous.” Finally she closes her book by showing that God is the God of the disabled and that he is concerned about the human experience and human bodies. Otherwise why would the God of the universe decide to become flesh in a particular time and place? The God, in Jesus Christ, is truly Emmanuel- The God who is With Us. Through Jesus Christ suffering on the cross, his nailed scared hands and feet make him tangible to those who have disabilities. It is because of those characteristics, Eiesland, argued should not hinder the disabled from having full access and participation in the church. I concur with her arguments.  Showing the symbols of his suffering and touching the “untouchables” of his time teaches us that he cares about the human experience and their needs.

            This is another awesome work as my thoughts have also been convicted. I too came out of a faith that believed that bring disabled was done because of some sin at work wither by the parents or individual. However, I learned from Eiesland and people like Joni Eareckson Tada that God can use anybody, disabled or abled. Most importantly Eiesland states that we are all disabled in a sense because of the presence of sin in our lives and we need a merciful God who can help us in our weakness. God becomes more real to us when we allow God to use all people, to minister to all people and not leave anyone out. Too often the disabled have a special section in our churches and are not allowed to participate in full time ministry. If the church does not change its way of thinking then how can God truly be no respecter of persons. Unless we transform our minds, the church will simply conform to the ways of society and continue its ongoing discrimination of the disabled.