Abstract
This article is interested in entering the conversation at the intersection of Biblical studies of suffering and the experiences of those living with disabilities. It will begin by focusing on the suffering portrayed in the Book of Job, and more specifically his discourse with God in Job 7:17-20. In the story of Job, we find perhaps the central question of the human condition, the question of suffering. And, more profoundly, the question of unmerited suffering of the innocent, the good, the faithful. The scholarship around the Book of Job, and readers of Job throughout time, have reflected on this problem of theodicy: how can a good and loving God permit, even ordain, human suffering? This article is interested in a slightly different question, arising from engagement with Job 7:17-20. It will explore the question of divine attention in the form of disability, and how this attention is experienced first by Job and, in the latter part of the article, by individuals living with disabilities today. This article, through the voices of individuals living with disabilities, will evince that the presence of God is experienced by many not as divine surveillance or oppression, as we read in Job’s lament, but is instead a source of grace, healing and connection.
Published Version
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