Limits, Personhood, Formation & Mystery - A Conversation with Keith Dow

Søren Kierkegaard heavily influenced Jacques Ellul’s work, so like Kierkegaard, Ellul has been criticized for a hyper-focus on the individual and an apparent lack of interest in communities, institutions, and societies. But as it is for Kierkegaard, so it is for Ellul: appearances can be deceptive. Both thinkers focus on the status of the individual within communities, institutions, and societies that erode and eliminate individuals.As much as Kierkegaard and Ellul appear to be anti-social individualists, it is more accurate to say they are trying to inspire people to become aware of and resistant to communities, institutions, or societies that devalue people. For these reasons, I was excited to speak with Kierkegaard scholar Keith Dow in this conversation.Keith works at a unique intersection of the academic, not-for-profit, and local church worlds—an intersection that, as you will discover, brings him into relationship with people who have intellectual and developmental disabilities. So, we spend a lot of time speaking about these worlds, how they do and don’t intersect, and what these intersections—or lack thereof—mean for the status of individuals, communities, institutions, and societies today. Consequently, while the word 'disability' does not appear in Kierkegaard or Ellul’s work in evident or significant ways, this conversation explores how attentive considerations of what most people call ‘disability’ are enriched by Kierkegaard and Ellul’s work.BioDr. Keith Dow (PhD, Theology) has served with Karis Disability Services in Canada (karis.org) for almost two decades. He specializes in theology of care, grief and loss support, and conflict resolution training. Dr. Dow works alongside churches and service providers to celebrate the spiritual lives of people with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). Author of Formed Together: Mystery, Narrative, and Virtue in Christian Caregiving (Baylor, 2021), he is a credentialed pastor with Be in Christ and a visiting researcher with Martin Luther University College. Keith lives just South of Ottawa, Ontario with his wife and three surprisingly delightful teenage children.LinksWebsite: https://keithdow.com Formed Together: Mystery, Narrative, and Virtue in Christian Caregiving (authored book): https://www.baylorpress.com/9781481313216/formed-together/Work with Karis: https://karis.org/churchesBirmingham Fellowship work: https://crosstrainingpsychologyandtheology.com/ Images of God art exhibition launch: https://karis.org/media-resources/stories-news/images-of-god-art-exhibit-in-waterloo-on