Find reviews from Issue 56 for Prophetic Disability and Word Made Digital
Prophetic Disability: Divine Sovereignty and Human Bodies in the Hebrew Bible by Sarah J. Melcher
Review by Nathaniel Tooke
Sarah J. Melcher adds a thorough and challenging exploration of disability in the biblical prophetic books with her recent book, Prophetic Disability: Divine Sovereignty and Human Bodies in the Hebrew Bible (Baylor University, 2022). Journeying through this section-by-section commentary on the prophetic books of Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the Book of the Twelve (Hosea to Malachi), you will find your understanding of disabilities in the Old Testament and Christian history shaken.
The book looks at every appearance of a disability in the prophetic texts, exploring them based on the social, cultural, and historical settings the prophets were writing in. Melcher calls out the problems with the treatment of disabilities in these prophetic texts, like using blindness as a metaphor for sinfulness.
She also shows how these texts have been misused in history to harm and oppress people with disabilities and explores how our interpretations of these ancient writings affect our treatment of people with disabilities today. Finally, she considers the challenging topic of God’s sovereignty in a world with disabilities.
Prophetic Disability draws you into a richer reading of the prophets. It also highlights how someone with a disability might be hurt by or feel disconnected from the Bible because of the way disabilities are described and used. Your understanding of the world that the prophets wrote their texts in and what they mean will grow through reading this book.
Understanding what the Bible says about disabilities is important for loving our neighbours with disabilities and helping each of us feel welcomed in the Church. This book is a helpful teacher for anyone looking to grow in this area. The book does require some skill in biblical studies to understand, so it isn’t an easy read. But, for pastors, teachers, Bible college students, and longtime students of Scripture, this is a challenging and terrific book to have on your shelf.
Word Made Digital Podcast
Review by Ruth Marie Paterson
Word Made Digital, hosted by Joanna La Fleur, offers weekly episodes featuring interviews with Christian creatives or communicators, with the goal to “help embody the Gospel in the Digital Age.”
La Fleur is a gifted podcaster. She asks amazing questions and knows how to direct her conversations with guests. One beef I often have with podcasts is the tendency to go on rabbit trails that aren’t necessarily valuable to the listener, but that rarely happens here. La Fleur is skilled at directing the interviews so the content is deep and meaningful. She keeps the conversation targeted, insightful, and beneficial to the listener.
I love to get a good Canadian perspective on church and culture, and La Fleur interviews many Canadians on her podcast, such as author and speaker Danielle Strickland and Paul Burns, former managing director of Twitter Canada. She has also interviewed U.S. author John Mark Comer, songwriters Shane & Shane, and many, many others.
La Fleur gives a voice to a range of authors and content makers who might not fit into more mainstream Christian circles, such as Bridget Eileen Rivera, author of Heavy Burdens: Seven Ways LGBTQ Christians Experience Harm in the Church, and Seventh-day Adventist YouTuber Justin Khoe.
The podcast provides a space for thoughtful, faith-based discussions on a broad range of topics related to media and technology and how our world is changing. I highly recommend!
