Which Wounds Will be Redeemed? The Role of Disability, Suffering, and the Resurrection in Teresa of Avila's Spirituality

Which Wounds Will be Redeemed? The Role of Disability, Suffering, and the Resurrection in Teresa of Avila's Spirituality

Presenter(s)

Elise Abshire

Comments

Presentation: 9:40-10:00 a.m., Kennedy Union 211

Description

The objective of my presentation, "Which Wounds Will be Redeemed? The Role of Disability, Suffering, and the Resurrection in Teresa of Avila's Spirituality," is to engage in an historical investigation of redemptive suffering and Resurrected woundedness, especially for persons with disabilities. Teresa of Avila, with her embodiment of suffering, provides a first-hand example of the spiritual tension experienced when living with a disability. From the perspective of Teresa, her body was physically limiting her from fully serving God; "que servía mucho más a Dios con la salud" ["I would be able to serve God much better if I were in good health"] (Autobiography VI: 5). Thus, does disability or woundedness hinder one's relationship with God? Teresa reveals that she wishes her body was healed in order to serve God in a greater way. The main aspect of this project is to present the tension between these two approaches to suffering happening within the same person with special consideration of her early modern European social context. After setting a Christological foundation, I will combine the voice of Teresa of Avila with contemporary thinkers, such as Paul Gondreau and Miguel Romero, to arrive at the present conversation in theological disability studies. Through providing Teresa of Avila's first-hand account of embodiment of suffering with a disability while striving to live a spiritual life, this paper can help to fill a lacuna in current research on this historical religious woman and Resurrected bodies, suffering, and woundedness in disability.

Publication Date

4-19-2023

Project Designation

Graduate Research

Primary Advisor

Jana Bennett

Primary Advisor's Department

Religious Studies

Keywords

Stander Symposium, College of Arts and Sciences

Institutional Learning Goals

Scholarship; Faith; Diversity

Which Wounds Will be Redeemed? The Role of Disability, Suffering, and the Resurrection in Teresa of Avila's Spirituality

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