Does Disability Come From Sin?

What I'm about to address is a controversial topic, but it's come up in way too many conversations, and even a sermon or two, in the past 6 months.  I have to say something.  There is a belief prevalent among conservative Christians, regardless of denominational affiliation, that developmental disabilities (like birth defects and genetic conditions) are an indirect result of original sin.  Put more simply, this belief teaches that had Adam and Eve not committed the original transgression against God in the Garden, disability would not exist.  That because man exercised free will and disobeyed God, disabilities acquired in our Earthly lives are one of the ways we have been made to "pay" for the act of our predecessors.

Specifically, this belief teaches that God did not intend for man to have disabilities  but man brought them upon himself.  Disabilities are inherently bad because they are a result of sin.

I have cerebral palsy and Matthew has autism because of sin.

But the Bible does not teach this.  After Adam and Eve sin in the Garden, God is very specific with them about what the consequences of their actions will be:

14 The Lord God said to the serpent,

“Because you have done this,
    cursed are you above all livestock
    and above all beasts of the field;
on your belly you shall go,
    and dust you shall eat
    all the days of your life.
15 I will put enmity between you and the woman,
    and between your offspring[e] and her offspring;
he shall bruise your head,
    and you shall bruise his heel.”

16 To the woman he said,

“I will surely multiply your pain in childbearing;
    in pain you shall bring forth children.
Your desire shall be for[f] your husband,
    and he shall rule over you.”

17 And to Adam he said,

“Because you have listened to the voice of your wife
    and have eaten of the tree
of which I commanded you,
    ‘You shall not eat of it,’
cursed is the ground because of you;
    in pain you shall eat of it all the days of your life;
18 thorns and thistles it shall bring forth for you;
    and you shall eat the plants of the field.
19 By the sweat of your face
    you shall eat bread,
till you return to the ground,
    for out of it you were taken;
for you are dust,
    and to dust you shall return.” Genesis 3: 14-19 ESV

Specifically in this passage, God condemns man and woman to pain in child bearing, hard labor in life, and ultimately, physical death.  The wages of sin is death, both physical and spiritual. (Rom 6:23).

I suppose that if one really wanted to make an argument that disability is a result of original sin, he could stretch verses 17-18 to include it as one of the toils of life.  However, God doesn't imply that here... so if you want to read the Bible in context, that's too much of a stretch.

Paul, however, does specifically address the role of a disability in the life of a Christian in his second New Testament letter to the Corinthians.  We are never told specifically what Paul's disability is.  He simply calls it his "thorn in the flesh."  I have a theory that he has CP.  (If you want to know why, just ask and I'll go into detail, but that's really the subject of a completely different post.)  Some people think he is blind.  It doesn't really matter what Paul's thorn in the flesh was; we know it was something visible, and he describes it as follows:

"7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations,[a] a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong." 2 Cor 12:7-10 ESV

Paul specifically says that disability exists, not as punishment for sin, but as a test or a trial, given to him from Satan.  At first blush, this description might sound equally as horrifying as the belief that disabilities are a result of sin, but Paul describes it as a good thing.  Contentedness with his weak human flesh gives him opportunity to perfect his strength in Christ.  This is true of any aspect of our humanity; we are to use everything about ourselves, whether we perceive it to be good, bad, or ugly to the glory of God.  We know from examples of other lives in the Bible-- Abraham, Job, even the life of Jesus-- that God never lets man experience any more than he can handle.

Furthermore, Paul says that his disability was given to him so that he would not be conceited, having had direct revelations from the Lord.  He used his "thorn in the flesh" to relate to people and to help bring them to Christ.  He used his weakness for strength.

So this thing that helped Paul, that rooted him in Christ, that helped him bring others to the Lord-- this was a result of sin? No.

This was a result of chance.  A test that God allowed him to endure for his own edification and that of those around him.