Images of God: Through the Lens of Disability

Too often, the perspectives of people with intellectual disabilities are excluded from our churches, our theology, and our research. This Ontario-based project works to change that through creative, arts-based research and a collaborative approach.

Rooted in the conviction that all people are made in the image of God (Imago Dei), the project explores how participants connect with God not only through words but through art, movement, and other expressions that open insight beyond spoken language.

“Let us make human beings in our image, to be like us.”

In 2023, Keith began a fellowship at the University of Birmingham, funded by the John Templeton Foundation. The program brought together theologians and psychological scientists to explore how social and cognitive psychology could deepen theological understanding.

For his fellowship project, Dr. Dow collaborated with eleven Ontario-based Christian adults with intellectual disabilities. Through photovoice exercises, journaling, semi-structured interviews, accessible measures of God-concept and self-esteem, and collage-making, participants reflected on how they perceive God and themselves.

Their reflections offer glimpses into how God’s presence is experienced in everyday life — in relationships, nature, memories, scripture, and sacred practices.

Six key themes emerged, reflecting the ways participants experience God and see themselves in relation to the divine. Participants connected God with nature, friendship, mission, family, sacred ritual, and meaningful moments. Most expressed embodied, lived theology grounded in relational trust rather than abstract doctrine.