Introduction

This introduction presents an overview of the key concepts discussed in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book discusses what Augustine, Albert the Great, and Thomas Aquinas say about the causes of congenital disabilities. It examines different accounts of the image of God in relation to moral status and equality. The book offers a close reading of the medieval texts, the understandings of the medieval texts are for the sake of comparative evaluation. The book is concerned with medieval pastoral care for deaf individuals, theological views of deafness, and deaf people’s ability to participate in religious life. It presents several topics that pertain to those who are resurrected: impassibility, sensation, agility, and mobility. The book also discusses Aquinas’s account of the beatific vision and shows that for Aquinas, human beings are naturally disabled with regard to it. It utilizes a “disability-theoretic perspective” to describe and evaluate specific claims.