Alt txt: Image of our guest, Prof. Grant Macaskill, with several of our co-hosts, including: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Stanley Ng, Dr. Madison Pierce, Dr. Kris Song, and Dr. Sydney Tooth.
In this episode we’re talking about Autism and the Church with Professor Grant Macaskill, who is Kirby Laing Chair of New Testament Exegesis and co-director of the Centre for Autism and Theology at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and he is the author of several books, including: Autism and the Church: Bible, Theology, and Community (published by Baylor University Press). In this episode Prof. Macaskill talks about his own experience with Autism and how the book is to provide an approach to Autism that avoids deficiency accounts that assume Autism is a negative thing. Towards that end he aims to explore how the Bible can constructively resource theologies of Autism, and he challenges inappropriate uses of the Bible in relation to Autism. In particular, Prof. Macaskill stresses how neurodiversity challenges the notion of a “neutral” way of reading the Bible, which is really an ableist form of reading. In addition to hermeneutical issues, we also address practical ecclesial matters regarding the environment of the church gathered as it pertains to people with Autism.
Team members on the episode from The Two Cities include: Dr. John Anthony Dunne, Stanley Ng, Dr. Madison Pierce, Dr. Kris Song, and Dr. Sydney Tooth.
Series Disclaimer: We know that this space is fraught, and we don’t speak for every PWD. We may inevitably get some things wrong in this series, but we ask for your patience in advance since we think it’s more important to have the conversation than shy away from it out of fear of saying the wrong thing. At the same time, this is a learning process for all of us, and we want to maintain a posture of learning throughout the series and beyond. Thanks for listening!
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