Held in the Love of God

In Held in the Love of God, Phil Letizia joins a growing field of disability theologians integrating qualitative research methods into their theology to explore the spiritual lives of people with intellectual disabilities. In this important and novel study, Letizia helps to broaden the theology of discipleship by carefully interweaving pastoral and caretaker narratives as well as field observations into a practical theology for the evangelical church. All too often people with profound intellectual disabilities are valued as objects of care for nondisabled Christians. In a tradition that values words, intellect, and reason, it can be difficult to understand intellectually disabled people as followers of Christ. By broadening the evangelical understandings of discipleship to include people with profound intellectual disabilities, Letizia puts forth a theology that allows all people to become followers of Christ. The result is an expansive vision of discipleship that includes people with disabilities that enriches the entire body of Christ.

~Devan Stahl, Associate Professor of Bioethics and Religion, Baylor University

With an evangelical commitment to renewal, Phil Letizia convincingly argues for a theology of discipleship rooted in the trustful love of God and robustly inclusive of those with profound disabilities. Letizia’s work, creatively drawing on theological qualitative research with clergy and lay partners, expands a faithful vision of discipleship for all God’s people. Letizia’s text offers a pathway on which we might more fully recognize disciples of Jesus, stirring up hope for disabled disciples, their loved ones, and indeed, all those seeking to follow Jesus.

~Sarah Jean Barton, Assistant Professor of Occupational Therapy and Theological Ethics, Duke University

Held in the Love of God explores discipleship in evangelical church contexts not just from a generic disability set of perspectives but foregrounding the familial and ecclesial experiences with people with profound intellectual and related impairments. Letizia's practical theological method resounds the voices of parents, caregivers, siblings, other family members, and pastors of people with profound disabilities and their families, all of whose reflections illuminate the depth, richness, and expansiveness of divine love that holds individuals, their families, and their church communities together in lives of faithfulness to and enabled by God. Evangelical pastors, leaders, and theologians ought to attend to this volume, both for what it has to say about its focused topic and also because of the broader theological implications for discipleship and Christian beliefs embedded therein.

~Amos Yong, Professor of Theology & Mission, Fuller Seminary

Letizia’s work is relevant for pastoral leaders and denominational heads, as it can inform inclusive disability theologies and thus, position papers. Christian health practitioners who incorporate spirituality into their practices may also find value in recognizing the spirituality of individuals with PID. Additionally, child theologians may appreciate the insights Letizia provides, as both pastors and parents of intellectually impaired individuals are drawn to child theology to understand the authentic faith of individuals with PID (Chapter 2). Child theologies propose that the Kingdom of God is for the childlike and that the child is a symbol of entrance into a kingdom not dependant on status or ability.Letizia’s book serves as a profound conversation starter to rethink the Lordship of Jesus as transcendent of human dis/ability.

~Charmaine Manuel, Journal of Disability & Religion

I wholeheartedly recommend this book for those seeking to garner a deeper understanding of how to effectively minister to those who have profound intellectual disabilities, their caregivers, and the church family. This book will challenge the ministry of church leaders and open the eyes of church members of an ignored group of potential followers of Christ Jesus.

~Eric Hammen, Christian Education Journal