Bli hel. Teologisk reflektion kring erfarenheter av förbön för helande hos personer med funktionsnedsättningar

Abstract

The aim of this thesis is to contribute to constructive theology regarding disability and healing, based on experiences of prayer for healing among persons with disabilities. Methodologically, emphasis proceeds from qualitative interviews, carried out with seven persons with disabilities in Sweden. The research is associated with disability theology, but its theoretical background concerns a number of fields. Prayer for healing, disability/impairment, models of disability and healing/curing are examined. In disability theology the social model, associated with healing, is often preferred while the medical model, coupled with curing, is criticized. In this thesis, this division is challenged. A linguistic complication is found as English Bible translations prefer ”heal”, whereas Swedish translations use the equivalent to ”cure”. These are suggested to intersect in Christ and from a christological perspective an embodied model of disability is proposed, the individual body being intertwined with the body of Christ. The importance of balance of power during prayer for healing is emphasized. Furthermore a reversed mercy is identified, describing accounts of persons letting themselves be prayed for, for the sake of the intercessor. The interviewees also show a widespread serene trust in God, often as an outcome of despair or sorrow alongside accounts of experiences of healings. Finally, a notion of a diverse desire is articulated, making room for the co-existence of desires to be accepted the way people are, alongside desires of being healed from disability.