This page points the way to resources which stimulate further reflection on the historical, theological, and philosophical aspects of disabilities and mental illness.  You are invited to add your comments below.  Particularly helpful comments will be reflected in updates to this page. 

See also the following:
A Church of All and for All.  World Council of Churches statement on disabilities.

Papers by Christine Guth, ADNet Associate.

A Theological-Philosophical Understanding of Mental Illness and Disabilities
This annotated bibliography is by Benjamin M. Lamb, a student at Messiah College, Grantham, Pennsylvania.  Also available in a PDF version.

Eisland, Nancy L. The Disabled God: Toward a Liberatory Theology of Disability. Paperback ed. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 1994.
Eiesland discusses the social stigma experienced by people with disabilities. Discrimination can be found in our language and even in our supposed forms of charity. Using contemporary social theory, and some profound autobiographies, Eiesland articulates a new language of advocacy revolving around the call to accessibility in all structures of life.

Hauerwas, Stanley. Suffering Presence: Theological Reflections on Medicine, the Mentally Handicapped, and the Church. South Bend, Indiana: University of Notre Dame Press, 1986.
Tragic situations should not be denied by therapy or technology. Hauerwas discerns contemporary theologies of medicine, situating the profession within a community of virtues. The Church is the agent delivering God's grace to people with mental handicaps.


Swinton, John. Resurrecting the Person: Friendship and the Care of People with Mental Health Problems. Nashville, Tennessee: Abingdon Press, 2000.
Swinton follows Hauerwas' theoretical insights, combining them with his lifelong vocation as a chaplain at a hospital for people with mental handicaps and/or disabilities. Swinton emphasizes the value of friendship, sustaining genuine relationships between different people, to foster the empowerment of all friends, while creating a surprising space of redemption. Care is respectful dialogue with people, rather than attempting to cure "patients."


Foucault, Michel. Madness and Civilization: a History of Insanity in the Age of Reason. New York: Vintage, 1988.
Recent contemporary Continental philosopher, Foucault analyzes the history of the label "mental illness." When reading his genealogy of how modern psycho-therapy developed, one has to wonder why some people are called normal and some "mad." Foucault conceptually breakdowns the interconnections between language, institutions, and power in regards to the disenfranchisement of a whole people.

Many files on ADNet Online require the use of the Adobe Reader. This is available free of charge for all operating systems from Adobe. Click on the icon below to download the latest version.