Disability and the Way of Jesus : Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church

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 intheir 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.

Bethany McKinney Fox (PhD, Fuller Theological Seminary) is the director of student success and adjunct professor of Christian ethics at Fuller Theological Seminary. She has worked previously at San Francisco Theological Seminary, First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, and L'Arche Wavecrest. Fox lives in Los Angeles, where she is a founding pastor at Beloved Everybody Church.

John Swinton, PhD, FBA, FRSE, is professor of practical theology and pastoral care at the University of Aberdeen, where he holds the Chair in Divinity and Religious Studies. An ordained minister of the Church of Scotland, he founded the university’s Centre for Spirituality, Health and Disability and the Centre for Ministry Studies. His research explores the theological dimensions of health, disability, mental illness, and dementia. His book Dementia: Living in the Memories of God received the 2016 Michael Ramsey Prize for outstanding theological writing. In 2018, he was awarded the Oskar Pfister Award by the American Psychiatric Association for his contribution to the dialogue between theology and psychiatry.