Human Disability and the Service of God: Reassessing Religious Practice

Eiesland, Nancy L., and Don E. Saliers, eds

ISBN 10: 0687273161 / ISBN 13: 9780687273164

Published by Abingdon Press, 1998

About this Item

Paperback. Handsome copy! Very good condition 319 pp.

Seller Inventory # 750627

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Human Disability and the Service of God: Reassessing Religious Practice
• Publisher: Abingdon Press
• Publication Date: 1998
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0687273161
• ISBN 13: 9780687273164
• Binding: Soft cover

About this title

Synopsis

A living religious tradition continually reassesses its practices. In our contemporary situation, the task of reassessment must attend to the presence of persons with disabilities who are increasingly taking part in public life and therefore in the worship and work of the churches. What questions, insights, and perspectives should be advanced if people with disabilities, in all their diversity, were placed at the center of religious life and education?

The fourteen contributors to this volume address this multi-faceted question. Drawing upon various disciplines and diverse experiences, the authors explore how human disability bears upon the service of God. In turn, the chapters examine how the participation of people with disabilities relates to interpretation of biblical and other sacred texts that speak of sin, disability, and healing; what theological vision is necessary to integrate the disabled into Christian life and worship; what the socio-cultural context is within which people with disabilities press for full inclusion; and how worship, as a theological act, can form communities in a more relevant spirituality of inclusiveness.

Congregations are challenged by these writers to re-envision their actual practices of communal life and worship. This collaborative work shows that the "service of God" as liturgy and as communal accountability can deepen and mature only as the diversity of human capabilities is honored.

About the Authors

Nancy L. Eiesland is Assistant Professor of Sociology of Religion at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia. Her recent publications include The Disabled God (Abingdon Press, 1994) and Contemporary American Religion (1997, with Penny Becker).

Don E. Saliers is William R. Cannon Distinguished Professor of Theology and Worship at Candler School of Theology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia.