Becoming the Baptized Body - (Studies in Religion, Theology, and Disability) by Sarah Jean Barton

About the Book

"Explores how baptismal theologies and practices shape Christian imagination, identity, and community, through privileging the perspectives and stories of Christians with intellectual disabilities"--

Book Synopsis

Baptism offers the distinctive practice of Christian initiation, rooted in Jesus' own baptism, ministry, death, and resurrection. Too often, however, people with intellectual disabilities are excluded from this core Christian practice and so barred from full inclusion in the life of discipleship. How can the work of the Triune God in baptism renew Christian imagination toward an embrace of baptismal identities and vocations among disabled Christians?

In Becoming the Baptized Body Sarah Jean Barton explores how baptismal theologies and practices shape Christian imagination, identity, and community. Privileging perspectives informed by disability experience through theological qualitative research, Becoming the Baptized Body demonstrates how theology done together can expansively enliven imagination around baptismal practices and how they intersect with the human experience of disability. Through a lively tapestry of stories, theological insights, and partnerships with Christians who experience intellectual disability, Barton resists theological abstraction and engages and expands the field of disability theology.

With a methodological commitment to inclusive research and a focus on ecclesial practice, Barton brings theologians of disability, biblical accounts of baptism, baptismal liturgies, and theological voices from across the ecumenical spectrum in conversation with Christians shaped by intellectual disability. Becoming the Baptized Body explores how the real-world experiences of disabled Christians enrich and expand received Christian theological traditions and illustrates avenues for vibrant participation and formation for all believers.

Review Quotes

Academic and erudite yet compulsively readable, Becoming the Baptized Body is an engaging qualitative study that practices inclusion and provides a megaphone to the voices and witness of Christians with intellectual disabilities.

--Josh Olds "Life is Story"

... A welcome addition to a growing literature seeking to close the gap between systematic and practical theology, on one hand, and to center the lives and experiences of Christians with disabilities in the theological and ecclesial enterprise, on the other hand.

--Scott MacDougall "Anglican Theological Review"

Barton provides a theologically rich account of baptism for the intellectually disabled and also envisions ways in which the practice of baptism can enliven the church body as a whole. Including intellectually disabled Christians in baptism expands our community of witness and helps all Christians understand the ongoing, communal nature of baptism in which we are all made into a new creation.

--Devan Stahl, Baylor University "Interpretation: A Journal of Bible and Theology"

Barton's volume is a strong contribution to disability theology, and it offers valuable insights to multiple audiences, including religious practitioners, theologians, and Bible scholars. That the church so often excludes people with intellectual disabilities from baptism was surprising to me.Overall, Becoming the Baptized Body is an important study that deserves a close reading, both for its academic contributions and for its potentially liberative impact for church participants with intellectual disabilities.

--Frederick David Carr, Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University "Reading Religion"

Barton's book models for Christian ethicists an interdisciplinary approach to theological reflection centered in qualitative research and concrete social practices. For Christian ethicists interested in disability, Barton's work issues an important challenge: to resist the abstraction that results when the voices of those experiencing disability are not centered. Barton's book would not only aid anyone studying disability or practical theology, but it would also be a welcome addition to any syllabus on ethical and theological methods.

--Luke Zerra "Journal of the Society of Christian Ethics"

Barton has written a though-provoking book at the intersection of liturgical and disability theology, looking at a core practice of the church and taking seriously the perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities. This is breaking new ground. Anyone working in disability and liturgical theology, whether academically or practically, would do well by letting Barton and her research partners speak into their thinking and praxis.

--Armand Léon van Ommen "Worship"

Barton's exploration of scripture, liturgy, and practice makes this study of baptism truly well rounded. She explores various traditions while managing to be specific and detailed. The nuances of individual traditions are attended to well, which ultimately shows that the argument for participatory baptism carries through no matter the tradition.

--Jaime Konerman-Sease "Reflective Practice"

...the insights into baptismal practices and embodied theology are well worth the read. This research helps expand the field of disability theology into more specific questions on baptism, but given the centrality of this within the life of the Christian this book will offer broader insight to clergy, congregational leaders, and theologians alike.

--Topher Endress "Earth & Altar"

About the Author

Sarah Jean Barton is Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Theological Ethics at Duke University, with a dual appointment in Duke Divinity School and Duke University School of Medicine.