Human disability raises the hardest questions of human existence and leads directly to the problem of causality-the underlying intuition that someone, divine or human, must have been at fault.Christian theology has responded with almost singular attention to Providence, the expression of divine will in the world as the cause of all things. This preoccupation holds captive the Christian imagination, leaving the Church ill equipped to engage the human reality of disability. Theological reflection, argues Hans Reinders, can arise only as a second-order activity that follows after real attention to the experience of disability. Disability, Providence, and Ethics offers a more excellent way to address this difficult subject. Reinders guides readers away from an identification of disability with tragedy-via lament-to the possibility of theological hope and its expression of God's presence. In particular, Reinders reconsiders two of the main traditional sources in Christian thought about Providence, the biblical text of Job and the theological work of John Calvin. Throughout the book, first-person accounts of disability open up biblical texts and Christian theology-rather than the other way around. In the end, a theology of Providence begins with the presence of the Spirit, not with the problem of causality.
Hans S. Reinders is Bernard Lievegoed Professor of Ethics at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.
Foreword by Stanley Hauerwas 1. Disability and Divine Providence 2. Cosmic Fairness? 3. Providence: Intervention and transformation 4. Does the Cosmos Contain Keys? 5. A Man Named Job 6. Fons Omnium Bonorum (The Fountain of All That Is Good) 7. Providence in Christ 8. Stories We Live By
The Dutch theologian Hans Reinders, one of the most interesting thinkers working at the intersections of theology, philosophy, and disability studies, discusses in this well-written and engaging book the theology of providence in relation to the experience of disability." - Arne Rasmusson, University of Gothenburg, First Things "This book impressively embodies the spirit of interdisciplinary scholarship prevalent within the field of Christian ethics today. In the course of the book Reinders engages literatures from disability studies, first-hand non-fiction writings, biblical studies and systematic theology-all without losing his own constructive agenda...this is ultimately not just a book about disability, but about what it means for contingent, finite creatures to trust in the providential care of God while living in a world in which they are not in control of their lives." - Matthew R. Jantzen, Studies in Christian Ethics "Reinders' text authentically responds to the potency of risky deep waters with deep multi-vocal care, consistently supporting his premise that community, through Christ's Holy Spirit, transforms new ways to see and live." - Debra Paxton-Buursma, Christian Scholars Review "The practical methodology, perceptive questions, and community-based wisdom found here will benefit all readers-with or without disabilities-who are seeking to adapt and create meaning in a complicated and ruptured world." - Debbie Creamer, Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology "This well-written and accessible book poses the question 'what must a theology of providence look like if it is to sustain people existentially and spiritually in their experience of living with a disability?'" - Joanna Collicutt, Scottish Journal of Theology
