Becoming the Baptized Body

Sarah Jean Barton is a theologian and an occupational therapist, and her volume Becoming the Baptized Body: Disability and the Practice of Christian Community addresses the woundedness people experience when churches deny baptism to participants with intellectual disabilities. She argues that such denials result from problems in much of the church’s theological anthropology—influenced by the modern West’s emphases on human (productive) capacities and rationality—and ecclesial practices that fail to embrace the witness of the disabled. In response, her work aims to transform ecclesial imaginations and practices in ways that will lead to greater inclusivity.

Barton discusses baptismal practices in diverse Christian traditions with an “integrated” or “coalitional” framework, in which “communities marked by disability” function as “spaces of coalition.” In such spaces, “through shared action,” people can “creatively resist, reimagine, and reconstruct the social and political landscapes that perpetuate discrimination against disabled people” (7). Methodologically, Barton blends ethnography with multidisciplinary scholarship: she integrates comments from her research partners with Scripture and baptismal liturgies, as well as the writings of theologians and Bible scholars. She does so to argue “that baptismal theologies and practices, sites of radical affirmation of the profound interdependence of human persons on Jesus Christ and the community of Jesus’ body, as well as a deeply embodied and Spirit-enabled participation in discipleship, are critical for the renarration of Christian identity in contemporary churches” (13).

In the first part of her study, Barton summarizes the current terrain of disability theology alongside findings from her research participants. She asserts that most contemporary theologies of disability feature forms of abstraction that sever theological reflections from lived experiences. Hence her use of ethnography: it allows the perspectives, experiences, stories, and witnesses of people with disabilities to guide the research. This “theology done in partnership” (44) involves discussions with thirty-three participants (all adults). She concludes from her qualitative research that participants value three major foci concerning baptism: its Jesus-centered nature, its power to draw people into community, and the senses of participation it evokes.

Barton then discusses baptism in the Bible, as found in the Gospel accounts of Jesus’ baptism and Paul’s discussions of the practice in his letters. She argues that readings informed by disability, alongside the witness of her research participants, contribute to a theological framework for baptism that is more inclusive for the disabled. On the whole, she provides thoughtful readings, informed by biblical scholarship. It is here, however, that I offer my only criticisms—comments that undoubtedly reflect my inclinations as a Bible scholar.

In Barton’s discussion of Jesus’ baptism, she refers generally to details in the “Gospel stories” (90) and stresses God’s calling Jesus the beloved son. Yet, the Gospel accounts contain subtle but important differences. For example, only in Matthew and Mark does God identify Jesus as God’s son at his baptism. In the former, God announces “This is my Son” (Matt 3:17); the latter reads “You are my son” (Mark 1:11). The announcement in Luke matches Mark’s, but it seems to occur after the baptism, while Jesus prays (3:21–22). John does not include a baptismal account; at most, it alludes to Jesus’ baptism (John 1:29–34). Although Barton uses aspects of Matthew and Mark’s Gospels to support her arguments, some added attention to such textual details could have strengthened her efforts.

Barton’s use of Paul, however, is solid and sufficiently detailed for her objectives. She focuses on the baptismal discussion in Romans 6:1–14, but she also examines Paul’s language of “new creation” in 2 Corinthians 5. Her discussion is clear and concise. She makes good use of well-chosen works by Susan Eastman and Grant Macaskill and effectively establishes two vital features of Paul’s baptismal references: baptism is Christ-focused and community-oriented, with community characterized by interdependence and commitments to discipleship. After concluding, with Eastman, that Paul’s view of the body and the human person is not individualistic but relational and communal, Barton makes claims that, in my view, capture the essence of her work:

A baptismal identity characterized by a life of dependency on the risen Christ pushes conversations about selfhood away from capacity and individualization, opening up a space to consider all baptized believers, both disabled and nondisabled, as those who are radically dependent upon the Triune God for their new life, constituted in Christian community. This is good news, perhaps especially for those who experience intellectual disability in contemporary Western contexts, including the church, that too often hold fast to a competing vision of identity that pushes disabled people to the periphery (107).

Barton then turns to baptismal liturgies, beginning with the 1979 Book of Common Prayer (BCP). That edition adds the “The Baptismal Covenant,” which accentuates the communal nature of baptism and identity for Christians. Her discussion includes analysis and critique. In terms of analysis, she argues that the themes of renunciation and transformation in the BCP’s baptismal rite support the church’s acceptance and inclusion of the disabled in baptism. As for criticisms, she de-centers the emphases that churches often place on individual agency and capacities. She argues instead that divine agency, God’s transforming power, and communal participation should receive primary focus. In the book’s final section, Barton analyzes three baptismal practices—preparation, testimony, and affirmation—all of which serve to establish believers’ identities in Christ and locate them in communities of discipleship.

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. Thus, her attention to the issue is itself a significant contribution. Moreover, Barton avoids reifying existing disciplinary siloes by almost seamlessly interweaving works of scholarship from multiple fields with comments from research participants to construct her arguments. Put simply, the volume’s interdisciplinarity is a major strength. 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 is an assistant professor of biblical studies at Northeastern Seminary at Roberts Wesleyan University.

Frederick David Carr

Date Of Review:

January 25, 2024