Premium
Voices and Visions from the Margins on Mission and Unity: A disability‐informed reading of the Pauline metaphor of the church as the body of Christ
Author(s) -
George Samuel
Publication year - 2011
Publication title -
international review of mission
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.118
H-Index - 11
eISSN - 1758-6631
pISSN - 0020-8582
DOI - 10.1111/j.1758-6631.2011.00060.x
Subject(s) - body of christ , metaphor , inclusion (mineral) , sociology , vision , reading (process) , context (archaeology) , theology , perspective (graphical) , law , philosophy , gender studies , political science , history , art , visual arts , archaeology
Disability studies from a missional perspective in the Indian context are rare. Mission and unity cannot be “talked” about without the active inclusion of those in the margins; rather, they are the subject of mission and unity of the church which, in Pauline language, is the body of Christ. With the help of a disability‐informed reading of the Pauline metaphor of church as the body of Christ, an attempt is made to understand the integral constituent of this “body” and its mission and unity. Our deliberations on the metaphor of body make it amply clear that “weaker” members are indispensable for the mission and unity of the church. They are the paradigm for the manifestation of God. Mission and unity of the church depend on the inclusion and equal participation of the margins—the disabled.