“The Foot is Gangrenous but Always Able to Run to God:” Diseased, Disabled, and yet Deified 
Lindsey Johnson Edwards, BA, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, TX

Does disability have soteriological connotations? For Patristic theologians, the manifestation of a disease or disability is not merely categorized as an anthropological concern; but rather, it is bound to hamartiology and soteriology. Writing on the resurrection of the body, Gregory of Nyssa, for example, elucidates that the return to our “original state” in Paradise means that we shall no longer bear “the sufferings caused by the many kinds of disease, nor any other type of bodily misery.” For Gregory of Nyssa, as well as Irenaeus and Augustine, the healing of the disabled or diseased body is not merely an analog for the healing of soul in the resurrection, but this physical healing itself is a crucial part of the exchange from corruption to incorruption in the heavenly City. As a female theologian with a genetic, disabling disease, I must confess that this vision of the resurrected, “healed” body sounds more like an ableist abyss than the inclusive heaven I desire to inhabit. If I must be healed from my disease and disability in order to receive the culmination of salvation, then I fear that I would no longer remain the same person, seeing that I must undergo changes at the genetic, vascular, tissue, orthopedic, and both personal and communal identification levels. I would bear flesh and bones that no longer resemble the gift of this body that has been crucial to my teleological identity and salvific journey. To borrow from Beth Felker Jones, if it is true that “our psychophysical unities in which we come to know God in this life will be the material vehicles of our (eschatological) enjoyment of God,” then I must wonder if it plausible that those with genetic disabilities and diseases, such as myself, may be spiritually “healed” yet still physically disabled in the resurrected body? This paper will argue that Augustine’s theology of divine witness presents a way to envision the marks of genetic disability as a radiant continuation in the resurrected body. This paper will unfold in two parts. First, I will explicate the general Patristic view of disease, disability, and the need for physical healing, identifying the origins of the Christian view that the resurrected body must be non-disabled. I will briefly comment on the ways in which this theological commitment continues to shape beliefs and practices around disability. Second, I will interpret and explicate strands of Augustine’s theological anthropology, particularly his theology of beauty and the divine witness of triumphant wounds. Utilizing Augustine's theology, I will seek to develop a vision of the resurrected body that allows for the possibility of the marks of genetic disease and disability in the resurrected body. I will propose an embodiment theology of the deified yet disabled body that offers hope to those who have been taught that their disabled body is a manifestation or symbol of sin that must be physically healed. Seeking to be a balm for the wounds caused by ableist rhetoric on healing in both Christian and healthcare institutions, I aim to underscore the beauty, power, and gift of the disabled yet deified body.