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A. Fritzson and S. Kabue. Interpreting Disability. A Church of All and for All. Geneva: WCC Publications. 2004. x + 90 pp. US$12.95.
This brief publication from the WCC's Risk Book Series has four main sections that deal with perspectives on disability. The first, an essay by Fritzson, seeks to develop a hermeneutical framework for the issue of disability (3). The second essay, by Kabue, provides a personal insight into aspects of living with disability, while the third (also by Kabue) outlines a history of the disability movement, with particular reference to various initiatives by the United Nations and the WCC. The final section of the book contains the Interim Statement on disability prepared for the WCC in 2003 by EDAN (the Ecumenical Disability Advocates Network), which is situated within the Justice, Peace and Creation team, a recognition that disability concerns involve issues of justice. This statement deals with theological issues with which the authors of the essays interact. The sub-headings of the Statement are: "Persons with disabilities - commonalities and differences", "Hermeneutical issues", "Imago Dei", "Disabilities and healing", "Each human being a gift", "Challenges to theology", "Struggling with disabled people for their full realization", "Church for all: community" and "A church of all and for all".
The fact that it is an interim statement highlights the fact that there is still, and always will be, a great need for thinking theologically about disability. There are no claims to definitive answers in this book. Its aim is to raise issues and to promote dialogue.
Both authors...