A LIBRARIAN’S ORIENTATION
What this book explores
Theologian Amos Yong develops a Christian theology of disability by bringing biblical interpretation, disability studies, Pentecostal experience, and ecclesiology into conversation. He revisits healing narratives, creation, the image of God, the body of Christ, hospitality, and the Spirit, challenging churches that define normalcy too narrowly or imagine disabled people chiefly as recipients of cure, care, or charitable ministry.
EDITORIAL NOTE
Why it’s in the Library
This book gives travelers a substantial theological bridge between disability critique and Christian Scripture. Yong’s strongest move is ecclesial: disability is not a marginal pastoral topic but a test of how the church understands personhood, gifts, dependence, and its own shared body. It belongs as constructive Christian theology that can unsettle ableist readings and practices. It does not supersede disabled people’s testimony or resolve every tension within biblical healing language.
Good starting place if…
You want a scholarly but usable Christian framework for rethinking disability, healing, the image of God, spiritual gifts, and the church as an interdependent body.
Know before you begin…
Yong writes from Pentecostal and evangelical commitments while engaging academic disability studies; readers may find either the supernatural or theological frame difficult. The book predates some later disability-language and intersectional developments, and no single theological model represents every impairment, culture, or disabled community. Constructive theology cannot substitute for access audits, safeguarding, paid disabled leadership, medical autonomy, or direct consultation. Healing prayer must remain consensual and must never delay care or imply deficient faith.