Zephaniah we read that the people of Israel were warned that because of their sins they like the blind”2. In Isaiah we discover that grope like blind men along a wall, would “walk “We feeling our way like those whose sight has gone3.” Neither does it improve when we approach the New Testament. In the Acts of the Apostles, we find Elymas, who opposed the gospel, is punished with blindness4 and the question and can the blind lead the blind? They would both fall into a ditch!” that we find answer, “How quoted in Particularly distressing though is Matthew 23 where Jesus St Matthew’s Gospel5. is reported to have used expressions such as blind guides, blind Pharisees and blind fools6. The final example is particularly pertinent. It leads me to wonder if we should not translate the text as or or ‘stupid fools’ ‘ridiculous fools’ ‘silly rather than to have Jesus use the term which turns a particular impairment fools’ ‘blind fools’ into a term of abuse. The Theology of Disability came into being as a response against the alignment of disability with sin, unbelief and lack of faith. It is a liberation theology to be placed alongside the feminist and black liberation theologies of the second half of the 20th century and truly found its voice in response to the demand by many in society that those who returned home mentally and physically shattered by the ravages of two world wars were not hidden from view in institutions, but fully integrated and welcomed back totally into society. Thus over the intervening seventy years or so the hermeneutical approaches of Western theologians, rooted in an economically and socially dominant culture, have come to be challenged by feminist theologians, black theologians and disability theologians regarding the engagement with scripture from a primarily Western patriarchal affluent West’s viewpoint. The concern being that through this dominant viewpoint disabled people have come to be viewed as less valued, less important and less worthy in the eyes of the church than those who are viewed as able; something we also see emphasised in the poorly thought through theologies of healing that result, where churches and evangelists desire to cure disabled people in the often misguided understanding that disabled people are less than perfect in eyes. This particular God’s Zephaniah 1:17 2 Isaiah 59:10 3 Acts 13:6-11 4 Matthew 15:14 5 Matthew 23: 16, 17, 24 and 26 6
Zephaniah we read that the people of Israel were warned that because of their sins they would “walk like the blind”2. In Isaiah we discover that “We grope like blind men along a wall, feeling our way like those whose sight has gone3.” Neither does it improve when we approach the New Testament. In the Acts of the Apostles, we find Elymas, who opposed the gospel, is punished with blindness4 and the question and answer, “How can the blind lead the blind? They would both fall into a ditch!” that we find quoted in St Matthew’s Gospel5. Particularly distressing though is Matthew 23 where Jesus is reported to have used expressions such as blind guides, blind Pharisees and blind fools6. The final example is particularly pertinent. It leads me to wonder if we should not translate the text as ‘stupid fools’ or ‘ridiculous fools’ or ‘silly fools’ rather than to have Jesus use the term ‘blind fools’ which turns a particular impairment into a term of abuse. The Theology of Disability came into being as a response against the alignment of disability with sin, unbelief and lack of faith. It is a liberation theology to be placed alongside the feminist and black liberation theologies of the second half of the 20th century and truly found its voice in response to the demand by many in society that those who returned home mentally and physically shattered by the ravages of two world wars were not hidden from view in institutions, but fully integrated and welcomed back totally into society. Thus over the intervening seventy years or so the hermeneutical approaches of Western theologians, rooted in an economically and socially dominant culture, have come to be challenged by feminist theologians, black theologians and disability theologians regarding the West’s engagement with scripture from a primarily Western patriarchal affluent viewpoint. The concern being that through this dominant viewpoint disabled people have come to be viewed as less valued, less important and less worthy in the eyes of the church than those who are viewed as able; something we also see emphasised in the poorly thought through theologies of healing that result, where churches and evangelists desire to cure disabled people in the often misguided understanding that disabled people are less than perfect in God’s eyes. This particular 2 Zephaniah 1:17 3 Isaiah 59:10 4 Acts 13:6-11 5 Matthew 15:14 6 Matthew 23: 16, 17, 24 and 26
Hermeneutics-in-a-disabled-world.docx