Reading what the Bible says about disability is a complex and challenging task for several reasons. First, the language of ‘disability’ is a modern one, and the terminology is very recent. The word itself only became the dominant agreed term in the 1970s and 80s. Secondly, when we read scripture, we are going on a cross-cultural journey, into a culture where understandings of disability are quite different from our own. There are four main objections to what scripture is thought to say in relation to disability.
Imperfection
A strong element of the biblical narrative is that God made the world and humanity perfect, and that imperfection has entered the world because something has gone wrong – what the Bible calls ‘sin’. Parts of this narrative imply that physical or mental disabilities are part of ‘what has gone wrong’; the most striking example is the prohibition in Leviticus 21:16-23 of anyone with a physical defect from entering the sanctuary.
But it is clear that this prohibition has symbolic significance, pointing to the holiness and perfection of God. In his vision of the restored temple, Ezekiel is told that the priests shall wear cool linen garments, so that they do not sweat [Ezekiel 44:17]. There is no suggestion that sweat is sinful!
The idea that disability is a form of imperfection aligns closely with the ‘medical’ model of disability; those who are disabled are not able to do things which the human body would usually be expected to do – hence the very term ‘dis-abled’.
Yet Jesus rejects the idea that we should associate disabilities with personal sin. In John 9, this question is raised by his disciples, ‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?’ and Jesus explicitly denies the premise, ‘Neither this man nor his parents’. Disability is an opportunity for grace, not a reason for blame.
