New Book on Bible and Disability

Candida R. Moss and Jeremy Schipper are the editors of a new volume called Disability Studies and Biblical Literature (Palgrave Macmillan), 2011. This one is a bit hefty in price (it lists for $90 on the Macmillan website), but it looks like it may well be worth a trip to the library. The fields of Disability Studies and Biblical Studies are coming together in some remarkable ways in contemporary scholarship, and this volume looks to provide several more examples of that fruitful convergence.

The book comprises twelve chapters which are as follows:

1. Joel S. Baden, "The Nature of Barrenness in the Hebrew Bible"

2. Susan Ackerman, "The Blind, the Lame, and the Barren Shall not Come into the House"

3. T. M. Lemos, "'Like the eunuch who does not beget': Gender, Mutilation, and Negotiated Status in the Ancient Near East"

4. David Tabb Stewart, "Sexual Disabilities in the Hebrew Bible"

5. Saul M. Olyan, "The Ascription of Physical Disability as a Stigmatizing Strategy in Biblical Iconic Polemics"

6. Rebecca Raphael, "Whoring after Cripples: On the Intersection of Gender and Disability Imagery in Jeremiah"

7. Sarah J. Melcher, "A Tale of Two Eunuchs: Isaiah 56:1-8 and Acts 8:26-40"

8. Warren Carter, "'The blind, lame and paralyzed' (John 5:3): John's Gospel, Disability Studies, and Postcolonial Perspective"

9. Mikeal C. Parsons, "His Feet and Ankles Were Made Strong: Signs of Character in the Man Lame from Birth"

10. Adela Yarbro Collins, "Paul's Disability: The Thorn in His Flesh"

11. Meghan Henning, "In Sickness and in Health: Ancient 'Rituals of Truth' in the Greco-Roman World and 1 Peter"

12. Nicole Kelley, "'The punishment of the devil was apparent in the torment of the human body': Epilepsy in Ancient Christianity"

As you can see, this is heavy stuff, but the topic is a serious one and deserves serious attention. There are a number of outstanding scholars in this volume.

More to come after I've finished reading it....