Overview

In this groundbreaking book, Jill Harshaw explores the spiritual experiences of people with profound intellectual disabilities with regard to their capacity to enjoy life-giving spiritual experiences in their own right. The author expertly argues that our thinking of spiritual life needs to start not with our assumptions about people who are unable to speak for themselves, but with what we can know about God. Stimulating a much-needed discussion, this book explains why we need to respect individuals with profound intellectual disabilities as spiritual persons, and stop seeing them simply as care-receivers or uncomfortable reminders of human vulnerability. Calling for a more critical approach in practical theology, this book invites a deeper, genuinely inter-disciplinary dialogue between new and traditional theological fields, and asks why, after more than 30 years of intellectual disability theology, the impact on church life remains minimal so that debates around the right to basic inclusion continue to dominate. The questions raised in this book not only move the discussion forward, but will spark a change on how the Church approaches inclusiveness.

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9781785920448

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Reviews

God Without Words probes deeply into the methodological and theological obstacles to understanding the spiritual experience of people with profound intellectual disability to discover we have to ask even more primordial questions about how God reveals Godself at all. The result is a wide-ranging scriptural, philosophical, and theological inquiry into the God who would be perceived by human flesh despite the limitations of cognition. What was intended as an intervention in the arena of intellectual disability has ripple effects in Christian theology as a whole. -- Amos Yong, professor of theology & mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Theology & Down Syndrome: Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity (2007)

This challenging and potentially life-changing book is both a tribute to what Harshaw's daughter has taught her, and testimony to the power of theology to illumine the lives and lighten the load for those whose duty of care can also be, by God's grace, a positive joy. -- The Rt Revd Dr John Saxbee, former Bishop of Lincoln * Church Times * Jill Harshaw offers a stimulating book which will interest all people who accompany others in their experience of faith as growth in trust, as well as emergent belief. It will appeal beyond those already familiar with disability theology among Christians and others. -- Anthony Kramers * Health and Social Care Chaplaincy * God Beyond Words has significance for and beyond studies in theology and various experiences of disability. Jill Harshaw provides new insights into the spiritual lives of people with intellectual disabilities and she challenges us more broadly to rethink how diverse spiritualities can be researched. This is a very important book that should be read as widely as possible. -- Dr Wayne Morris, Associate Dean, Faculty of Humanities, Head of Theology and Religious Studies, University of Chester, author, Theology without Words, co-author, Making a World of Difference God Without Words probes deeply into the methodological and theological obstacles to understanding the spiritual experience of people with profound intellectual disability to discover we have to ask even more primordial questions about how God reveals Godself at all. The result is a wide-ranging scriptural, philosophical, and theological inquiry into the God who would be perceived by human flesh despite the limitations of cognition. What was intended as an intervention in the arena of intellectual disability has ripple effects in Christian theology as a whole. -- Amos Yong, professor of theology & mission, Fuller Theological Seminary, and author of Theology & Down Syndrome: Reimagining Disability in Late Modernity (2007)

Author Information

Dr Jill Harshaw teaches Practical Theology in the Institute of Theology, Queen's University Belfast. She is a key contributor to the Centre for Intellectual Disability Theology and Ministry based at Belfast Bible College which offers opportunities for graduate research, training for faith groups around the inclusion of persons with intellectual disabilities and their families, and advocacy on relevant ethical and ecclesiological issues. Jill's passion for disability theology is stimulated by her daughter, Rebecca, who has profound and complex intellectual disabilities.

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