The Bible and Disability: A Commentary

by Sarah J. Melcher (Editor), Mikeal C. Parsons (Editor), Amos Yong (Editor)

Overview

The Bible and Disability: A Commentary (BDC) is the first comprehensive commentary on the Bible from the perspective of disability. The BDC examines how the Bible constructs or reflects human wholeness, impairment, and disability in all their expressions. Biblical texts do envision the ideal body, but they also present visions of the body that deviate from this ideal, whether physically or through cognitive impairments or mental illness. The BDC engages the full range of these depictions of body and mind, exploring their meaning through close readings and comparative analysis.
 
The BDC enshrines the distinctive interpretive imagination required to span the worlds of biblical studies and disability studies. Each of the fourteen contributors has worked at this intersection; and through their combined expertise, the very best of both biblical studies and disability studies culminates in detailed textual work of description, interpretation, and application to provide a synthetic and synoptic whole. The result is a close reading of the Bible that gives long-overdue attention to the fullness of human identity narrated in the Scriptures.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781481307291
Publisher:	Baylor University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2017
Series:	Studies in Religion, Theology, and Disability
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	511
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Sarah J. Melcher is Professor Emeritus of Hebrew Scriptures at Xavier University.

Mikeal C. Parsons is Professor and Macon Chair of Religion at Baylor University.

Amos Yong is Professor of Theology&Mission at Fuller Theological Seminary.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction, by Sarah J. Melcher

BEGINNINGS
1. Genesis and Exodus, by Sarah J. Melcher

LAW
2. Leviticus–Deuteronomy, by David Tabb Stewart

HISTORY
3. Joshua–Second Kings, by Jeremy Schipper
4. First and Second Chronicles–Esther, by Kerry H. Wynn

WISDOM
5. Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes, by Sarah J. Melcher
6. Psalms, Lamentations, and Song of Songs, by Jennifer L. Koosed

PROPHETS
7. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and the Twelve, by J. Blake Couey

SYNOPTIC GOSPELS AND ACTS
8. Mark and Matthew, by Candida R. Moss
9. Luke–Acts, by David F. Watson

JOHANNINE LITERATURE
10 John, First–Third John, and Revelation, by Jaime Clark-Soles

PAULINE LETTERS
11. Paul, by Arthur J. Dewey and Anna C. Miller

THE GENERAL LETTERS
12. Hebrews and the Catholic Letters, by Martin C. Albl

What People are Saying About This

Scholarship that employs a disability studies lens to interpret the Bible is vigorous and increasingly important today. The editors of The Bible and Disability—Sarah Melcher, Mikeal Parsons, and Amos Yong—have themselves been important contributors to recent research on embodiment and disability in Scripture and theology. For this project, they have gathered an impressive team of scholars to join them in probing a wide range of biblical texts from the perspective of disability. This commentary consolidates much of the wisdom on offer in recent disability studies approaches to the Bible. It will offer an especially helpful resource for readers—whether temporarily able-bodied or not—who are not yet familiar with this way of engaging Scripture. This is a welcome addition to my library.

Kathryn Greene-McCreight

The Bible and Disability: A Commentary offers groundbreaking work in linking two distinct areas of scholarship: biblical studies and disability studies. The authors read the Bible's narratives, oracles, and letters while asking how the categories of 'temporarily abled,' 'ill,' 'possessed,' and others are framed in Scripture. Their overriding question is: what counts for 'normal' human experience in the Bible? Anyone interested in the fields of biblical studies and disability studies will need to engage with this volume.

Walter Brueggemann

Our society has been slow to acknowledge and take up responsibility for the wellbeing of disabled persons among us. We have been slower still in grasping the urgent theological dimensions of the issue of disability. For these reasons this book is a most welcome one. This impressive roster of contributors breaks new ground in exploring the interface of biblical testimony and the reality of disability and in seeing in the biblical text the inescapable reality of disability. For many readers, this collection of fine essays will constitute a steep learning curve for seeing what we had not seen in the text, and thinking what we had not thought as a result of new seeing. The writers and editors are to be congratulated on this impressive and instructive study.

John Carroll

Scholarship that employs a disability studies lens to interpret the Bible is vigorous and increasingly important today. The editors of The Bible and Disability—Sarah Melcher, Mikeal Parsons, and Amos Yong—have themselves been important contributors to recent research on embodiment and disability in Scripture and theology. For this project, they have gathered an impressive team of scholars to join them in probing a wide range of biblical texts from the perspective of disability. This commentary consolidates much of the wisdom on offer in recent disability studies approaches to the Bible. It will offer an especially helpful resource for readers—whether temporarily able-bodied or not—who are not yet familiar with this way of engaging Scripture. This is a welcome addition to my library.

Editorial Reviews

The combined enthusiasm and insights of its contributors provide an encouraging starting point for additional scholarship of this kind, especially as future interpreters explore other subject positions and methodologies relevant to disability perspectives. I strongly recommend this text as both required reading in religious studies courses and a personal resource for research and homiletics.

Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology - David N. Scott

…A valuable teaching and research resource for years to come.

Reading Religion - Susannah Cornwall

This groundbreaking volume brings the perspectives of disability studies to the interpretation of the Bible. Conceived and written by a team of scholars, the essays in this work scan the entirety of the Bible, zeroing in on key passages and motifs with special relevance for the topic.

The Bible Today - John R. Barker

A stimulating collection of diverse essays, which are suggestive and engaging for anyone who is fairly new to this field.

Journal for the Study of the New Testament - Jane Heath

An exceedingly valuable collection.

H-NET Reviews - Tim Vermande

The Bible and Disability: A Commentary will be an invaluable resource for biblical scholars, who cannot afford to remain ignorant of disability in the Bible, as well as for disability scholars who seek insight about disability in the ancient world, and for students and lay readers of the Bible.

Kirsty Jones

Thus, The Bible and Disability is not only a useful handbook for biblical scholars, but for any disability scholar interested in the history of disability and the continued impact of the Bible on notions of disability.

Journal of Disability & Religion - Anna Rebecca Solevåg