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

by Bethany McKinney Fox; John Swinton

Publisher:

IVP Academic

, 2019

Overview

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.

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Key Features

• Examines the healing narratives in their biblical and cultural contexts
• Considers perspectives from medical doctors, disability scholars, and pastors
• Provides a unique resource that is both theologically grounded and winsomely practical

Contents

• Foreword by John Swinton
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction
• Bridging the Gap
• The First Century Context of Jesus the Healer
• Physicians Interpret the Gospels’ Healing Narratives
• Honoring the Lived Experience of Disability in the Gospel Healing Narratives
• Pastors Discuss Their Churches’ Healing Practices and the Healing Activity of Jesus
• The Seven Marks of Healing in the Way of Jesus
• The Seven Marks of Healing in Action

Praise for the Print Edition

Disability comes not in one but many forms, so it should not be surprising that the message of Jesus as healer is good news to people with disabilities in more ways than just that they might be cured (what temporarily able-bodied people, those not disabled, usually presume). Disability and the Way of Jesus shows how different first century and contemporary readings of the Gospels envision holistic healing and empowers the church to live more fully into such good news so it can be a more welcoming space for all people.

—Amos Yong, professor of theology and mission, Fuller Theological Seminary

Reading Bethany McKinney Fox's work is like taking a long, transformative walk, a walk that anyone committed to practicing the gospel will want to take with her—churches and small groups included. On page after page, she demonstrates insight and care in her approach to the testimonies of disabled persons, Western physicians, pastors and theologians, and the New Testament evangelists. Fox carries us along so that we see better than we did before (as we begin to see through her eyes) how our study of Scripture and our patterns of discipleship and ecclesial life can better reflect the way of Jesus.

—Joel B. Green, professor of New Testament interpretation, Fuller Theological Seminary

Bethany McKinney Fox’s book is a joy to read. She uses research, exegesis, multidisciplinary perspectives, and her own experience of living with and listening to people with disabilities to produce a book that honestly and boldly looks straight at the healing stories of Jesus in the Gospels. This is a book for any pastor or lay group, not just those committed to inclusive ministries. Her writing is both clear and engaging while creatively stretching our vision, disrupting some of our assumptions, and deepening our understanding of healing. I cannot imagine preaching or writing about these healing stories without pulling this back off my shelf and reminding myself of what Dr. Fox has to say.

—Bill Gaventa, director, Summer Institute on Theology and Disability

Product Details

• Title: Disability and the Way of Jesus: Holistic Healing in the Gospels and the Church
• Authors: Bethany McKinney Fox, John Swinton
• Publisher: IVP Academic
• Print Publication Date: 2019
• Logos Release Date: 2019
• Pages: 224
• Language: English
• Resources: 1
• Format: Digital › Logos Reader Edition
• Subjects: Bible. N.T. Gospels › Criticism, interpretation, etc; Disabilities › Biblical teaching; Disabilities › Religious aspects--Christianity; Healing in the Bible; Healing › Biblical teaching; Healing › Religious aspects--Christianity
• ISBNs: 9780830872381, 0830872388
• Resource ID: LLS:9780830872381
• Resource Type: Monograph
• Metadata Last Updated: 2024-03-06T20:53:09Z

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