Breaking, not Broken

Ableism and the Church after Constantine

By: Timothy Goode

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Paperback | 30 January 2026

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258 Pages

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15.6 x 23.5 x 2.1

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How have inherited and contemporary notions of perfection distorted our theology and the way in which we have expressed and lived out our faith?

Breaking, not Broken exposes how Western Christianity, post-Constantine, assimilated a Greco-Roman ideal of the flawless body as its anthropology and built its theology, architecture, and memory around it. Against this ableist inheritance, Timothy Goode offers a radical alternative: a return to a risen body anthropology grounded in the wounded yet glorified body of Christ. Drawing deeply on disability and liberation theology, critical heritage studies, and his own lived experience of disability, Timothy Goode reframes how the Church understands the body, healing, time and space. Here, disabled lives are not marginal but central: living archives of God's story, prophetic voices that disrupt and renew, and bearers of hope for a more just ecclesiology. Written with theological depth and human honesty, this book bridges scholarship and practice, inviting the Church to rediscover its true heritage not in monuments of stone or ideals of perfection, but in the scars of resurrection and the grace of embodied diversity.

Industry Reviews

"Breaking, not Broken issues a strong and at times uncomfortable challenge, shining a light on an important area of our shared life that we should not ignore. Tim Goode is opening up a long overdue conversation and inviting us into deeper understanding. This is a book born of pain but full of hope for the possibility of transformation, not just for disabled people but for the whole church" - Guli Francis-Dehqani, Bishop of Chelmsford

"This is a fascinating book and a must read for anyone interested in reflecting in more depth about the place that bodies have in Christian faith. Tim Goode reflects powerfully on the way in which Greco-Roman ideals of perfection still affect our understanding of embodiment and argues that the Body of Christ, shaped as it is by the scarred, glorious resurrection body of the risen Jesus, should think again about our relationship to our bodies. Challenging, thought-provoking and rich in every way, this book comes highly recommended!" - Paula Gooder, theologian, author and Canon Chancellor at St Paul's Cathedral, London

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