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My dearest readers,

Welcome to another blog post from angelloforero.com in concern to Autism Bible Study. As always, I consult a lectionary, which is a well-structured set of Bible readings. And on the eve of finding relief and refresh to my spiritual body, behold I found this Pauline epistle to be taught on this article!

When I read slowly this Bible passage, I said: “Well, this passage has lots to do with the gifts and talents given to people with autism”. And it is thus! Foremost because of the many talents that autistic individuals have in common regarding who they are! In most stances, I consider myself as the “Mirabel Madrigal of Autism”, because my restricted interest on the Bible and religion is perhaps, very unusual among autistic individuals. As Fr. Matthew Schneider (2022), says:

“‘Jesus loves you just the way you are’ is a common refrain in religious education classes. However, those of us living with an autistic brain don’t often feel it. We feel more like an outsider in social groups, including in church. In fact, we are nearly twice as likely for us than for persons with any other condition. Also, autistics are significantly more likely to be atheists or agnostics, or to make their own religious system”

So, what are the patterns of the followed-up passage we’re going to study right now? The mere fact is that we, as autistic Christians, do not find a place to show up our gifts in church. Well, that is, perhaps, my personal reality. There are many autistic Christians that are mostly involved in church services and tend to have a more personal relationship with the Lord than the average churchgoer. The thing is that it doesn’t see it!

Now, we’re going to make the study of the Bible from a neurodivergent perspective:

What is the principal idea of the text?

This is a Pauline letter to the Church of Corinth (in Greece). On this occasion, this passage has a lot to do with the difference spiritual gifts that come from God and those that don’t. Something I want to clarify specifically is the matter of fact about differences between the “Spirit” and the “spirit”. I would suppose “Spirit” and “spirit” can have different meanings depending on the situation or region. Indeed, this is a question about how to identify the gifts that come from the Spirit and those that don’t come from the Spirit, instilling St. Paul the Apostle to not let the Corinthian churchgoers to misunderstand that (v.1)

To make an anecdote, he used to remind Corinth church people that when they were still pagan, they even went astray and swept along in worshipping speechless idols (v.2). Furthermore, He instills that no spirit can curse Jesus Christ while no spirit can say Jesus is Lord, unless is the Spirit (the Holy Spirit) (v.3).

Moreover, St. Paul the Apostle addresses directly to the kinds of spiritual gifts, especially ones that come from the Spirit, as it is the source for them all. He instills also to say that there are different kinds of services, reminding that the Church worships the same God. Something beautiful it wants to note is that the Lord works different in many people, as He’s the same God that does the work for all of us (vs.4-6).

Please be advised that a spiritual gift is given by the Lord through his Spirit so we can help each other. Hence the ability and skill to make sort of things some others do not (v.7). Since there, St. Paul the Apostle explains to the Church of Corinth that the Spirit has all the authority of giving those spiritual gifts to the people of God. From giving one the ability to give wise advice to a message of special knowledge to another (v.8). Furthermore, is the same Spirit that gives great faith to one and is the same Spirit that also gives the gift of healing (v.9). Successively, this Spirit gives lots of spiritual gifts to those who want to work in the work of Jesus Christ: “He gives one person the power to perform miracles, and another the ability of prophesy. He gives someone else the ability to discern whether a message is from the Spirit of God or from another spirit. Still another person is given the ability to speak in unknown languages, while another is given the ability to interpret what is being said.” (v.10).

In summary, the Spirit is the only one who distributes all the questioned gifts, designating thus each specific spiritual gift to any person in question (v.11).

What is the meaning of the passage?

“The formulaic ‘now concerning…’ indicates a new argument devoted to ‘spiritual things’, which begins with 12:1 and runs through chapter 14, where it focuses more specifically on ‘tongues’ and ‘phrophecy’. As in the previous two arguments Paul may be responding to issues raised by the Corinthians in their letter. The introduction (12:1-13) and conclusion (14:36-40) enclose three major steps in the argument: 12:4-30, insisting upon diversity in unity […]” (Horlsey, 1998, p.165)

“Modern opinion on the background has been cataloged not only in commentaries but also in several recent studies, and no need to be repeated here. I shall merely summarize my own conclusions. From chapter 7 on, Paul appears to be answering a series of questions put to him in a letter from the Corinthians. That explains why the topics change so radically: at one point Paul is dealing with relations between the sexes (chap.7), at another with meat offered to idols (8:1ff). He can move from women praying and prophesying in the congregation (11:2-16), to the Lord’s supper (11:17-34), to grace-gifts and love (chaps.12-14), to the resurrection (chap.15) […]

First, one of the common denominators that Paul places in the Church in dynamic tension between an ‘already’ view of what God has done, and a ‘not yet’ view of what is he still to do. Already the kingdom has dawned, and the Messiah is reigning, already the crucial victory has been won, already the final resurrection of the dead has begun in the resurrection of Jesus, already the Holy Spirit has been poured out on the church as the down payment of the promised inheritance and the first fruits of the eschatological harvest of blessings.” (Carson, 1987)

An analysis of what this text explores about the disabled and the ecclesial ministry toward them

At the beginning of this post, I had proclaimed myself to be the “Mirabel Madrigal of Autism”. But who is such a Mirabel Madrigal? If any of you have realized in some instances, my person is from Colombia (South America). And thus, English is not my native tongue, but Spanish. Under these circumstances, Mirabel Madrigal is the protagonist of the Disney animated movie “Encanto”. She is, indeed, the only member of her family without any “magical gift”, and this (according to my allegorical hermeneutic of Holy Scriptures) lies around me as the only person with autism without any gift. While reading the cited book of the Autistic Priest, I had realized he was considered the Wikipedia of the seminary, because of his prodigious memory. Besides, he was also good at math, as he studied certain sorts of Engineering in college. However, my own person was bad on math. I always got bad grades at school during my secondary school years. I am also unorganized (I confess it!), while many fictional sectors of entertainment portray autism as cute and quirky, often glamorize disability in the sense that many autism individuals are organized, intelligent, and logical, I am not that kind of autism individual. Hence my self-proclamation of being the Mirabel Madrigal of Autism.

“The Holy Spirit gives gifts to each believer for the common good. None of his gifts are followed by an asterisk explaining that these spiritual gifts do not apply to people with disabilities. These gifts are not given based on our ability; we cannot earn them, and we certainly don’t deserve them. His gifts will achieve his eternal purposes, and he alone supernaturally enables recipients to use them in doing his work and edifying the church.” (Beyond Suffering Bible, 2016)

Many of the autistics tend to have common fixations on toys, video games, music. However, I must assert that my interests as an autistic go beyond arts, sports, and music because they do not satisfy my self-being. I remember having said this when I wrote many emails to people who I didn’t know, and they didn’t know that I existed. Now I realize that spiritual gifts given to autistic individuals are underestimated and under evaluated in the Church. Well, that would seem thus in my personal reality, as those spiritual gifts given to autistic individuals tend to be overestimated in many Christian denominations. Nevertheless, the Roman Catholic Church is perhaps the single Christian denomination that tend to work more often with autism individuals. Even Pope Francis stated that autistic individuals can be the “Good Samaritans”:

“The Samaritan can be a person with a disability, with autism, who becomes a neighbor to others, putting his or her talents at the service of the community” (Gomes, 2022)

Finally, how can I relate this passage in terms of my life and ministry in church?

In my denomination, Baptist Churches are very closed in terms of inclusion. Amid those things, they often confuse the inclusion theme with the depravation of morality as they often misinterpret the Holy Scriptures in a literal way. Well, that may be according to my viewpoint, as there are many viewpoints that have to do with how the churches assist people with disabilities. In my own terms, I am a professional theologian from a private, non-sectarian university. It may seem that God has deemed my own understanding and molded my path to practice my profession as a non-sectarian theologian that works with many churches at the time without the sole intention of promoting ecumenism (on purpose, the university where I study is ecumenical in nature, and the theology program is mostly non-sectarian, I repeat). So, how does this passage relate to my ministry and life in church?

So, how do these things relate to the spiritual gifts given to autistic individuals? The thing is, the spiritual gifts of autistic individuals are (in my own personal reality) underestimated in the Church. But what is the “Church”? and why do I capitalize the “C”. This can have multiple meanings about what this means about. But in some stances, I must afford and say that Christianity is beautiful, but there’s no need to proselytize. I can only imagine many autistic individuals proselytizing as their refuge is found in the Church! Sadly, when the Church is not prepared (and a Christian school either), there are many spheres in the atmosphere that autistic Christians tend to leave the Church and become atheists! Now, I won’t say atheists are bad people, because there is a single minority of atheists that defend human life from conception apart from the religious ones, and there’s even a wave of atheists that are pro-life but socially liberal. These things I want to contribute and explain more in the coming posts from the Autism Bible Study.

You can reach me out at yo@angelloforero.com

References

Beyond Suffering Bible. (2016). Tyndale House Publishers.

Carson, D. (1987). Showing the Spirit:A Theological Exposition of 1 Corinthians 12-14. Baker Publishing Group.

Gomes, R. (2022). Pope: Person with autism can be a Good Samaritan. Retrieved January 28, 2025, from Vatican News: https://www.vaticannews.va/en/pope/news/2022-04/pope-francis-italy-autism-foundation-inclusion-solidarity.html

Horsley, R. (1998). Abingdon New Testament Commentaries: 1 Corinthians. Abingdon Press.

Schneider, M. (2022). God Loves the Autistic Mind Prayer Guide for Those on the Spectrum and Those Who Loves Us. Pauline Books and Media.