John Swinton – författare

I mötet med psykisk ohälsa, räcker det inte med ”tunna” diagnoser och förklaringar som riskerar att stigmatisera och ge människor en stämplad identitet. För en djupare förståelse behövs ”tjocka” beskrivningar. Sådana kan endast växa fram i en öppen dialogprocess där människors unika berättelser blir lyssnade på med respekt.

Utifrån kvalitativa forskningsintervjuer med personer som vill ”leva med Jesus” och som samtidigt lever under någon av diagnoserna depression, schizofreni och bipolär sjukdom, strävar John Swinton i boken Möta Jesus i stormen efter just en sådan djupare förståelse. Han reflekterar teologiskt – i dialog med medicinska, psykologiska och filosofiska perspektiv – över såväl samhällets som psykiatrins och kyrkans bemötanden, och hur ett helande bortom botandet kan se ut.

Resultatet är en enastående och prisbelönad bok som handlar om personer i stället för symtom, beskrivningar i stället för diagnoser och om ett livgivande hopp för de som lever mitt i stormen. Boken vänder sig till alla som på något sätt berörs av psykiska hälsoutmaningar, oavsett om man arbetar inom kyrkan eller vården, vill vara en god medvandrare eller själv lever med en sådan utmaning.

John Swinton är professor i praktisk teologi vid Aberdeens universitet i Skottland, med särskild inriktning mot området teologi och funktionsvariation. Swinton har en mångårig bakgrund som sjuksköterska inom bland annat psykiatrin, har grundat Aberdeens Centre for Spirituality, Health, and Disability och är en flitigt anlitad föreläsare världen över.

What does healing mean for people with disabilities?The Gospels are filled with accounts of Jesus offering physical healing. But even as churches today seek to follow the way of Jesus, people with disabilities all too often experience the very opposite of healing and life-giving community: exclusion, judgment, barriers. Misinterpretation and misapplication of biblical healing narratives can do great damage, yet those who take the Bible seriously mustn't avoid these passages either.Bethany McKinney Fox believes that Christian communities are better off when people with disabilities are an integral part of our common life. In Disability and the Way of Jesus, she considers how the stories of Jesus' healings can guide us toward mutual thriving.How did Jesus' original audience understand his works of healing, and how should we relate to these texts today? After examining the healing narratives in their biblical and cultural contexts, Fox considers perspectives from medical doctors, disability scholars, and pastors to more fully understand what Jesus does as he heals and how he points the way for relationships with people with disabilities. Personal reflections from Christians with disabilities are featured throughout the book, which concludes with suggestions for concrete practices adaptable to a variety of church settings.Bridging biblical studies, ethics, and disability studies with the work of practitioners, Fox provides a unique resource that is both theologically grounded and winsomely practical. Disability and the Way of Jesus provides new lenses on holistic healing for scholars, laypeople, and ministry leaders who care about welcoming all people as Jesus would.

This book brings together theologians, clergy, people with dementia, carers, clinicians and others to offer a holistic, interdisciplinary exploration of dementia which focuses not only on what dementia is and what it is not, but more importantly, what it means to live well with dementia and to find hope where sometimes it feels like there is no hope.Located within practical theology and theological anthropology, the diversity of perspectives on dementia presented in this book offers deep insights into what it means to be a human being, to live humanly in the midst of difficult situations, and helps us understand and navigate the complexities of the dementia journey. In offering foundational practical and theoretical knowledge, the book helps cut through the false consciousness of modernity and enter a world where personhood is defined not by our capacities or the loss of them, but by God’s loving presence. It offers a contextual theological framework to look beyond what we assume to be obvious and to recognize the “hidden” depths that can be discovered and encountered within individuals as they journey into dementia. In doing so, it takes seriously the lived experience of people with dementia and allows that to shape, form, and perhaps reform our understandings of God, human beings, and what it means to live well. Taken as a whole, the book posits that together, we can reflect upon and act out a hopeful future that makes people’s lives meaningful, purposeful and loving even in the midst of the challenges that Dementia brings. Still Waters Run Deep will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of theology, divinity and religious studies, gerontology, psychology, mental health, and nursing. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging.

This book brings together theologians, clergy, people with dementia, carers, clinicians and others to offer a holistic, interdisciplinary exploration of dementia which focuses not only on what dementia is and what it is not, but more importantly, what it means to live well with dementia and to find hope where sometimes it feels like there is no hope.Located within practical theology and theological anthropology, the diversity of perspectives on dementia presented in this book offers deep insights into what it means to be a human being, to live humanly in the midst of difficult situations, and helps us understand and navigate the complexities of the dementia journey. In offering foundational practical and theoretical knowledge, the book helps cut through the false consciousness of modernity and enter a world where personhood is defined not by our capacities or the loss of them, but by God’s loving presence. It offers a contextual theological framework to look beyond what we assume to be obvious and to recognize the “hidden” depths that can be discovered and encountered within individuals as they journey into dementia. In doing so, it takes seriously the lived experience of people with dementia and allows that to shape, form, and perhaps reform our understandings of God, human beings, and what it means to live well. Taken as a whole, the book posits that together, we can reflect upon and act out a hopeful future that makes people’s lives meaningful, purposeful and loving even in the midst of the challenges that Dementia brings. Still Waters Run Deep will be a key resource for academics, researchers, and advanced students of theology, divinity and religious studies, gerontology, psychology, mental health, and nursing. The chapters included in this book were originally published as a special issue of Journal of Religion, Spirituality & Aging.