Job and disability theology

A lens for examining communal blame

Abstract

The book of Job has resulted in much discourse around suffering and disability. Among the many approaches to the investigation of the figure of Job, René Girard proposes that Job functions as a scapegoat for his community, albeit a “failed” one. Yet Girard spends little time examining the role of Job’s physicality in the community’s decision to scapegoat him. I propose that, considering the role of the body in the Ancient Near East, Job’s bodily suffering and disability have been overlooked in the theory of Girard. Greater attention to the role of the body would confirm Job as the ideal scapegoat candidate. This missing component of Girard’s theory not only strengthens his case but also directly connects to the work of scholars who have focused on disability studies and disability theology, such as Nancy Eiesland and Sharon Betcher. Indeed, Girard’s scapegoat mechanism in conversation with disability theorists functions as a lens through which we can recognize the scapegoating of disabled people in contemporary society.