Images of God: Through the Lens of Disability (Project)
IMAGES OF GOD SITE – CROSS-TRAINING SITE
Keith leads the Images of God research project as part of the Psychology Cross-Training for Theologians fellowship. This project is an ambitious one-year small grant to explore the God and Self Representation of people with intellectual/developmental disabilities.
Images of God Media Releases:
Formed Together: Mystery, Narrative, and Virtue in Christian Caregiving
Baylor University Press – Learn more
Keith’s book explores how our experiences of caregiving reveal the mystery of our shared human limits and the divine image in one another. Drawing from theology, philosophy, and personal stories, Dr. Dow challenges professional and cultural assumptions about ability, virtue, and transparency. He invites readers to encounter caregiving not as a set of skills to master, but as a formative practice of love, humility, and courageous belonging, shaped by the mystery of God’s love already given. Rooted in lived experiences with people with intellectual disabilities, Formed Together offers a reflective yet accessible vision of Christian caregiving as mutual transformation, not mere service.
“Against Living Saints” in The Betrayal of Witness: Reflections on the Downfall of Jean Vanier
VIEW BOOK, FIND ON AMAZON, 2024. Wipf and Stock. FAITH TODAY REVIEW
This chapter is a contribution to a book edited by Stanley Hauerwas and Hans Reinders: Theologians reckoning with the downfall of L’Arche founder Jean Vanier in the wake of his serial sexual abuse of non-disabled women. “Against Living Saints” takes an unflinching look at several of the factors that set Vanier up to perpetuate the harm that he did, and considers what kinds of steps must be taken to prevent or mitigate the possibility of similar religious abuses taking place in and around communities of people with disabilities and their families and care providers.
Hosted Podcasts
Disability and the Canadian Church
LISTEN TO THE PODCAST Spring 2023.
Welcome to Disability and the Canadian Church, a podcast where we talk about the intersections of disability and the Christian faith in Canada and beyond. Join hosts Keith Dow and Jasmine Duckworth as we welcome a couple of guests each week to share their insights and expertise on aspects of disability and faith.
Renew Course: Caring for you as you care for others
WATCH INTRO VIDEO (YouTube).
Join us as we explore what it looks like to practice resilient care in difficult times. A three-hour course broken into nine podcast sessions, unpacking practices of self-care to combat compassion fatigue in caregiving.
LISTEN: SOUNDCLOUD – APPLE – SPOTIFY
Podcast Appearances
Limits, Personhood, Formation & Ministry. The Personalist Manifesto Podcast (February, 2025).
Virtue, Agency, & Christian Caregiving. The Two Cities Podcast (April, 2023).
Toward Accessible Faith and Flourishing. Faith Today Podcast with Karen Stiller (March, 2022).
Christian Wholeness. The Healthy Spirituality Podcast (2020).
At the Intersection of Theology and Disability. A Podcast of Discipleship (2018).
Peer-Reviewed Articles
Book Review: Disciples and Friends
READ ARTICLE (Limited Access) August 2024. Studies in Christian Ethics.
In my review of Disciples and Friends: Investigations in Disability, Dementia, and Mental Health, I explore how this festschrift honors John Swinton’s profound impact on practical theology. The volume, edited by Brian R. Brock and Armand Léon van Ommen, assembles essays that delve into themes central to Swinton’s work—friendship, vulnerability, and belonging—highlighting his commitment to theological reflection grounded in lived experience. I commend the collection for its rich tapestry of scholarly and personal narratives that not only pay tribute to Swinton but also advance critical conversations in disability theology.
Thousands of Glittering Shards: Spirituality as Resonance in the Lives of People with Intellectual Disabilities
READ ARTICLE (Open Access). July 2023. Religions.
In Thousands of Glittering Shards, Keith Dow explores how spirituality manifests in the lives of people with intellectual disabilities. Drawing from the Kabbalistic myth of divine light scattered through shattered vessels, Dow proposes that the sacred is encountered in everyday moments and relationships. He advocates for a broader, more inclusive understanding of spiritual expression—one that embraces artistic, non-verbal, and embodied forms often overlooked in traditional therapeutic and religious settings. The article introduces “resonance” as a framework for recognizing and supporting these diverse spiritual experiences.
“Marked” Bodies, Medical Intervention, and Courageous Humility: Spiritual Identity Formation in Nathaniel Hawthorne’s The Birthmark
READ ARTICLE (Limited Access). November 2022. Journal on Medicine & Philosophy.
The Birthmark, a short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne, provides a fascinating fictional account of one man’s obsession with “fixing” a perceived flaw in his partner. This paper explores stigma, identity, and spirituality from the perspective of attempting to change or “fix” others. It is shown that it is only as professional fields adopt a posture marked by courageous humility that healing practices promote the flourishing of all people, including those with disabilities.
Toward Accessible Faith & Flourishing: Reconsidering Greek Intellectualism in Western Christian Theology
READ ARTICLE (Open Access). 2021. Journal of Disability and Religion.
Summary in T. Boehm, Faith and Disability: Engaging Theologically.
Much of what we believe about the “good life” can be traced to Ancient Greek philosophy. In Western Christian theology, who is seen as living a life of human flourishing is significantly shaped by Greek intellectualism. In our churches and communities, we must resist the forces that undermine the lives of witness and contribution of people with disabilities. Written as part of the Faith and Disability Symposium at Wheaton College.
Simplicity, Purity of Heart, and the Gift of Limits
READ ARTICLE (Open Access). 2020. Conrad Grebel Review.
Drawing on Anabaptist history and core values and “Purity of Heart is to Will One Thing” by Søren Kierkegaard, this paper highlights the unique virtue and contribution of people with intellectual disabilities in our communities and encourages churches to learn from the witness of people it has tended to marginalize.
Suspending the Ethical: Autonomy, Disability, and Shalom
READ ARTICLE (Open Access). 2013. Peace Studies Journal Vol 6: Issue 4.
Keith Dow argues that “modern Western culture teleologically suspends the ethical in its death-making treatment of persons with disabilities”. He employs the term death-making coined by Wolf Wolfensberger and asks what response peacemaking has to give to a society blind to its own death-making practices.
Other Writing
Disability and Faith Forum AUTHOR PAGE
Convivium Magazine AUTHOR PAGE
Tamarack Institute AUTHOR PAGE
Video Presentations
Letting Go & Learning Anew. From Presence to Participation Webinar (March, 2022).
Mutual Book Interview: Brian Brock and Keith Dow, Institute on Theology and Disability (September 2021).
Overview of PhD work, “TED Talk”. Institute on Theology and Disability (2019).
Every Church Can be Incarnational. Inclusion Fusion Conference (2018).
Dissertation & Thesis
Call, Encounter, and Response: Loving my neighbour with intellectual disabilities (2019). PhD Dissertation, Vrije Universiteit, Amsterdam.
Kierkegaard’s Ethic: The Other by Faith (2009). Thesis completed toward the fulfillment of MA Phil, Dominican University College Ottawa.