What is it about?
Christians seem to think that persons born with challenges (disabilities) make them less than the so-called "normal" people born in this world, somehow only "normal" people should be considered "made in God's image." Instead, this article argues that all pepole--"normal" and "abnormal"--are created in God's image and all find their inherent worth and dignity by this fact.
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Why is it important?
In a world increasingly divided into "haves" and "have-nots," a world marked by sharp divisions and deep feelings of hatred toward the "other," this article calls for Christians to find in their creation in God's image a place for all to find their place and to learn to accept the "other" as also created in God's image.
Perspectives
As the father of a child (not adult) on the severe side of the autism spectrum, I have had to deal with many Christians dismissal of my son as somehow "flawed" and not quite up to the designation, "made in God's imgage." Indeed, I have had to struggle with my own confused sense of what was/is "normal" and "abnormal." Through painful experience and deep study I came to realize my son and other so-called "abnormal" people really are made in God's image.
Dr. Steven Fettke
Southeastern University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: The Spirit of God Hovered Over the Waters: Creation, the Local Church, and the Mentally and Physically Challenged, A Call to Spirit-led Ministry, Journal of Pentecostal Theology, January 2008, Brill,
DOI: 10.1163/174552508x377475.
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