Parting the waters? dissociative identity disorder and baptism

Harvey Tait Cawdron*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

In Christian disability theology, effort has been made to better accommodate disabled persons in Christian communities and discussions of doctrine. This endeavor has encompassed discussions of both physical and psychiatric disabilities. In this paper, I will contribute to this area of research by investigating the implications of Dissociative Identity Disorder—a disorder in which a number of different personalities arise in the same body—for our understanding of baptism. I will start by providing an overview of Dissociative Identity Disorder, and will then pinpoint the question it raises regarding baptism, namely the question of whether the entire individual or particular personalities are baptized in this process. I will then propose a way of approaching this question in which our answer is dictated by the views that the personalities themselves have on their baptism. After this, I will consider an issue Dissociative Identity Disorder raises for cases of infant baptism.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of Disability and Religion
VolumeLatest Articles
Early online date2 Jun 2025
DOIs
Publication statusE-pub ahead of print - 2 Jun 2025

Keywords

  • Dissociative identity disorder
  • Baptism
  • Faith
  • Disability theology

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