Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and HospitalityAs parents of a son with disabilities, Thomas E. Reynolds and his wife know what it's like to be misunderstood by a church community. In Vulnerable Communion, Reynolds draws upon that personal experience and a diverse body of literature to empower churches and individuals to foster deeper hospitality toward persons with disabilities. Reynolds argues that the Christian story is one of strength coming from weakness, of wholeness emerging from brokenness, and of power in vulnerability. He offers valuable biblical, theological, and pastoral tools to understand and welcome those with disabilities. Vulnerable Communion will be a useful resource for any student, theologian, church leader, or lay person seeking to discover the power of God revealed through weakness. |
Contents
Acknowledgments | 9 |
Perils and Promises | 23 |
Dwelling Together and the Cult | 46 |
Able Bodies? The Illusion of Control and Denial of Vulnerability | 73 |
The Strange Power of Weakness | 102 |
Vulnerability Creation and God | 136 |
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Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality Thomas E. Reynolds Limited preview - 2008 |
Common terms and phrases
ability according affirmation Alasdair MacIntyre another’s autism autonomy availability become biblical bodily body capital calls capacity chap chapter Chris Chris’s Christian church community’s conventions created creation creatures cult of normalcy dependence desire Dietrich Bonhoeffer divine economy of exchange economy of grace Eiesland embodied empowering existence faith finite Fortress Press framework freedom Fretheim fundamental gift God’s creative God’s love gratitude and hope healing Hebrew Bible hospitality human vulnerability Ibid ideal imago impairments inclusive insofar Jean Vanier Jesus Jesus’s Jonathan Sacks Jürgen Moltmann kingdom Kittay lack living McCloughry and Morris means Minneapolis Moltmann moral non-disabled persons normal one’s other’s ourselves participate Paul Ricoeur persons with disabilities possible presence productive rational redemption relation relationships Richard Niebuhr Ricoeur seek sense shared social society solidarity Stanley Hauerwas stranger suffering theodicy Theology of Disability things tragedy tragic trans transcendence transformed Vanier Walter Brueggemann Wayne Morris weakness welcoming wholeness York