Arms Open Wide

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 May 2023, by Emily A. Ibrahim

To Access:

https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/horizons/article/imago-dei-in-eastern-orthodox-statements-and-implications-for-inclusion-of-people-with-disabilities-in-the-church-a-dissonant-relationship/6EBA4515C2D749A00074703A5C6421ED#access-block

Ms. Ibrahim notes that most General Orthodox Church Statements concerning persons with disabilities do so on a secular basis, reflecting the philosophies of the society rather than a theological basis.  She found one exception: the document “Disability and Communion” from the Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America:

https://www.assemblyofbishops.org/news/scoba/disability-and-communion

But also Ms. Ibrahim also considers “The Russian Orthodox Church’s Basic Teaching on Human Dignity, Freedom and Rights” another official Church statement worth evaluating in terms of how persons with disabilities fare in it’s presentation of the “Imago Dei,” which is her theological focus.

http://orthodoxrights.org/documents/russian-church-freedom-and-rights

She admits that there are other, unofficial resources, but these are her focus: 

Though there are a variety of resources from the Eastern Orthodox tradition that address the inclusion of people with disabilities, this article examines only those formal statements given by official Eastern Orthodox entities, not those that have been written by laypeople or church ministers in an unofficial capacity. Due to the hierarchical structure of the Eastern Orthodox Church, official statements hold more weight than those in a decentralized denomination that has no centralized authority and are used to guide local churches

In regards to an Orthodox Christian theological basis for our communion with those of us with disabilities, she evaluates the two official documents on their presentations of the Imago Dei: God’s creating human beings in His own Image. She also cites the Fourth Century Cappadocian Fathers, Sts. Basil the Great, Gregory the Theologian, and Gregory of Nyssa, as well as the statements of current Orthodox and non-Orthodox Christian theologians in regard to the Imago Dei.

A very brief summary of her view of The Russian Orthodox Church’s Basic Teaching on Human Dignity, Freedom and Rights is that their correlation of the Imago Dei and human dignity creates a problem for many people with disabilities, who lack the personal resources to live up to the way they describe a life of human dignity. She feels people with disabilities would be excluded rather than included.

The Assembly of Canonical Orthodox Bishops of the United States of America’s “Disability and Communion” presents a different picture, she feels. There is a focus on the image of God in human beings in terms of their place in the Church community, the Body of Christ.  But she asks, what of the individual? She feels the focus of this Statement inadequately addresses the individual needs of people with disabilities. 

But St. Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians presents at least a partial answer to this question, from St. Paul’s presentation of the dynamics of communion:

¹⁴ For in fact the body is not one member but many. ¹⁵ If the foot should say, “Because I am not a hand, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁶ And if the ear should say, “Because I am not an eye, I am not of the body,” is it therefore not of the body? ¹⁷ If the whole body were an eye, where would be the hearing? If the whole were hearing, where would be the smelling? ¹⁸ But now God has set the members, each one of them, in the body just as He pleased. ¹⁹ And if they were all one member, where would the body be? ²⁰ But now indeed there are many members, yet one body. ²¹ And the eye cannot say to the hand, “I have no need of you”; nor again the head to the feet, “I have no need of you.” ²² No, much rather, those members of the body which seem to be weaker are necessary. ²³ And those members of the body which we think to be less honorable, on these we bestow greater honor; and our unpresentable parts have greater modesty, ²⁴ but our presentable parts have no need. But God composed the body, having given greater honor to that part which lacks it, ²⁵ that there should be no ^[h]schism in the body, but that the members should have the same care for one another. ²⁶ And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; or if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. ²⁷ Now you are the body of Christ, and members individually. 

from biblegateway.com/NKJV/1 Corinthians 12

This article is on an academic level and is not short. I am afraid I have oversimplified what Ms. Ibrahim has written, and may possibly have even distorted her meaning to some degree. So I urge those who are interested in the topic of this essay to read it in full.