이 연구는 17세기 초의 북부 네덜란드 화가 헨드릭 테르브루헨의 작품 <의심하는 토마스>에 초점을 맞추었다. 이 연구는 우선, 테르브루헨의 <의심하는 토마스>를 카라바조의 <의심하는 토마스>와 비교해 구도가 일치하지 않음을 강조했다. 다음으로, 이 연구는 테르브루헨의 작품을 감상했던 감상자들 이 작품 앞에서 서로 대화를 나누었음을 전제했다. 마지막으로, 이 연구는 감상자들이 테르브루헨의 작품 앞에서 성경원문과 그림전통의 차이에 대해 대화했음을 증명하려 했다. 이 연구의 목적은 테르브 루헨의 작품을 둘러싼 수용활동을 구체적으로 보여주는 것이다.

This paper examines how the disabled were considered in the Western Medieval Church. It centers on Thomas Aquinas, St. Louis IX, and some women mystics. The results of this research can be summarized as follows. First, a disability was not always associated with a sin in the Medieval Church. Secondly, the intellectually disabled, who lack cognitive ability to understand the meaning of the sacrament, were not excluded from the Sacrament of Baptism. Thirdly, contrary to the rigorous prohibition against the disabled performing sacred rituals in Leviticus, medieval priests were not prevented from holding their office just because of physical impairment. Finally, disabled people were not considered miserable or beneficiaries of charity but spiritually valuable and beneficial in maintaining a spiritually healthy society. In view of our findings, the general assumption of modern authors that medieval societies saw a link between sin and disability to the extent that the Church sanctioned the abuse of disabled people turns out to be a prejudice. On the contrary, the disabled in the Medieval Church were never excluded from the order of grace. As H.-J. Stiker, the author of a classical monograph on the history of disability, said, disabled people in the Middle Ages, when compared with those in the previous and following ages, can be found under the influence of ethical and divine love.