John Swinton
Biographic Data
| ID | 4245208 |
|---|---|
| NAME | John Swinton |
| GIVEN NAMES | John |
| FAMILY NAME | Swinton |
| SIGNATURE | SWINTON J |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Aberdeen |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-3991-8949 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 35 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 9 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 35 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1997 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 2 |
Theology and Mental Health: New Perspectives and Dialogues
Dialogical responses to suffering in a traumatised world: An experiment in epistolary theology
Engaging with themes from the 2024 Church of Scotland Chalmers Lectures, as well as the authors’ forthcoming co-authored book (provisionally titled Defiant Hope: Theological Conversations in a Traumatised World), this article takes the form of an epistolary conversation about the problem of suffering and the reality of ongoing trauma. This dialogical format has deep roots within the Christian tradition and early Christian communities. It is used …
Spiritual Care at the Crossroads: An Ecumenical White Paper on the Future of Christian Healthcare Chaplaincy
This ecumenical White Paper aims to clarify the profile of Christian healthcare chaplaincy in a context of rapidly changing healthcare systems. The increasing complexity and specialization of healthcare, the shift towards outpatient care, mounting economic pressures, the demographic and epidemiological transitions towards chronic and elderly care, and global health crises are profoundly transforming and challenging Christian healthcare chaplaincy…
Re-imagining personhood: Dementia, culture and citizenship
The paper explores the issue of personhood and citizenship. It looks at some of the philosophical and cultural challenges that accompany the experience of dementia and offers a way of thinking that can hold together the vital relationality that comes with certain models of philosophical personhood with the more concrete and politically engaged understandings of dementia that come through a focus on citizenship in general and social citizenship in…
Bass ten years on: A personal reflection
This article revisits the speech made by John Swinton at the inauguration of the British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS) in January 2010. It argues that some of the difficulties in defining spirituality can be clarified and addressed if we think of spirituality not simply in definitional terms, but in relation to how we use it in practice. It provides a critique of the ways in which ideas about spirituality are constructed, and o…
Religious Involvement and Self-Perceived Spiritual Health: A Quantitative Study of Canadian Children with Disabilities
This study presents a national analysis of 24,190 young Canadians in which relationships between religious group involvement and the spiritual health of children with and without disabilities is described. Two key findings emerged: 1) Children who report religious involvement report higher self-rated importance of spiritual health compared with non-involved peers; 2) among involved children, spiritual health was rated as less important among thre…
What comes next? Practical theology, faithful presence, and prophetic witness
The paper is a reflection on some aspects of and developments within practical theology within the UK and Ireland. It highlights some of the possibilities for Practical Theology alongside of the potential dangers. It recognises the diversity of practical theology but argues that this is a strength for the discipline. The paper develops the image of practical theology as a diamond that is shaped and formed as it encounters various pressures. It ar…
Disability, Vocation, and Prophetic Witness
This paper builds on Frances Young’s suggestion that people with profound intellectual disability have a prophetic vocation. It explores the idea of vocation using the experience of intellectual disability as a critical hermeneutic that brings to the fore a perspective that views vocation as something that includes all of the Body of Christ and not just the head. The intention is to offer a different more theologically and practically inclusive p…
The Unforeseen Relationship Between Spirituality and Psychiatric Medication: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study
In the last 30 years there has been a simultaneous rise in psychiatric medication use and in the numbers of people seeking to address spiritual issues in mental health treatment. To date, there is little research into perceptions of how these two factors interact. This study explores the interrelationship between spirituality and psychiatric medication, and its impact on the journey toward recovery. The concept of spiritual side effects (SSE) is …
Spiritual Care in General Practice: Rushing in or Fearing to Tread? An Integrative Review of Qualitative Literature
Guidance for medical staff reminds employees of the responsibility to deliver spiritual care in its broadest sense, respecting the dignity, humanity, individuality and diversity of the people whose cultures, faiths and beliefs coexist in society. This is no small or simple task, and although GPs (family practitioners) have been encouraged to deliver spiritual care, we suggest this is proving to be challenging and needs further careful debate. Thi…
Running for Jesus! The Virtues and the Vices of Disability and Sport
The author explores some of the virtues and the vices of sport for Christians. Although sport is clearly a popular and potentially fruitful enterprise for human beings, it has its glories and its temptations. On the one hand, sport can be a magnificent exhibition of the beauty, diversity, power, and God-given potential of the human body. On the other hand, in drawing attention to the things that our bodies can do, we risk glorifying ourselves rat…
A Graceful Embrace: Theological Reflections on Adopting Children
This book significantly deepens the contemporary discussion of the theology and practice of adopting children. Though adoption appears prominently in Scripture, contemporary adoption practice has thus far proceeded without serious theological engagement. This book seeks to fill this gap by offering a theological and ethical perspective on adoption that not only clarifies and complicates contemporary understandings of adoption, but also throws fre…
A Word From the Guest Editors
Using Our Bodies Faithfully: Christian Friendship and the Life of Worship
The paper explores the significance of our bodies for an understanding of what it means to be a member of the body of Christ and ultimately for what it means to be human. Within the body of Christ, our bodies cease to be our own. We discover that who we are is who we are “in Christ.” As we come to recognise that the essence of the body of Christ is its diversity and unification in Christ, so we begin to see the importance of bodies that some migh…
The Ecology of Spirituality: Meanings, Virtues, and Practices in a Post-Religious Age, written by Lucy Bregman
Spirituality-in-Healthcare: Just Because it May Be ‘Made Up’ Does Not Mean That it is Not Real and Does Not Matter (Keynote 5)
This paper explores the current and extraordinarily diverse concept of spirituality, particularly as it relates to healthcare practices. It suggests that there is no such ‘thing’ (singular) as spirituality. Rather it is a ‘made up’ concept that helps us to understand certain things about human beings and human living. It is in this sense that there is no such ‘thing’ (singular) as spirituality. However, once we ‘make up’ spirituality(s) and creat…
Peter Gilbert: In Memory of a Life Lived Well
This article is written as a tribute to Peter Gilbert who was an Executive Editor of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality from its inception, and who played a large part in bringing the journal into being
What the Body Remembers: Theological Reflections on Dementia
The article explores the experience of spirituality and advanced dementia from the perspective of Christian theology. It examines the significance of Christian education and spiritual practices for understanding the significance of spirituality for people living with advanced dementia. The article explores the nature of memory and the importance of the body in remembering. When our recall memory fades, our bodily memory remains. The real question…
Critical Reflections on Stanley Hauerwas' Theology of Disability: Disabling Society, Enabling Theology
Technology in the Aid of Delivering Economic Content to Teachers: Virtual Economics v. 3
We examine the impact on student achievement of a face-to-face teacher workshop that also provides economics instructors with access to an electronic library of instructional and reference material for their economics classroom—Virtual Economics v. 3 (VE3), offered by the Council for Economic Education. Based on evidence using student and teacher-level administrative data from the Georgia Department of Education and controlling for students’ prio…
Reflections on Autistic Love: What Does Love Look Like?
This article reflects on the question of what a Christian theology of love looks like when we take seriously the experiences of people on the autistic spectrum. The essay offers a practical exegesis of the nature of Christian love which takes seriously the broad range of possibilities that rotate around the practice of love. The article explores in some detail why it is that Western people (Christians and non-Christians) have come to think about …
Disability in the Christian Tradition: A Reader
This book brings together for the first time the views of renowned Christian leaders throughout history - including Augustine, Aquinas, Julian of Norwich, Luther, Calvin, Hegel, Kierkegaard, van den Bergh, Bonhoeffer, Barth, Vanier, and Hauerwas. Fourteen experts in theology and disability studies guide readers through each era or group of thinkers, offering clear commentary and highlighting important themes. --from publisher description
What is Missing from Our Practice? Spirituality as Presence and Absence
The British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS) was formally launched on 29 January 2010 at Charterhouse in London. This is a summary of the opening address given by the then Acting Chair of BASS, Professor John Swinton.Keywords: British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS)human experienceinterdisciplinaryprofessional practicespiritual care and education
Who is the God We Worship? Theologies of Disability; Challenges and New Possibilities
This research report is less a survey of the literature than a reflection on the emergence, aims and predominant themes to emerge from theological engagements with issues of disability. It advances a rather bold claim: the theology of disability is central to our understanding of what it means to know who God is and to know what it means to be a human being living fully under God. While such a statement will need justification, the emphasis withi…
Reynolds, Thomas E. 2008. Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality
Building a Church for Strangers
The paper focuses on the relationship between the author and a young man who has Down's syndrome. As the author reflects on his experiences with Stephen, he finds his understanding of theology, church and disabilities transformed. Life with Stephen reveals the oppressive nature of Western societies and the subtle ways in which the church is implicated in such oppression. Yet at the same time the dependence and simplicity of Stephen's life reminds…
Who is the God We Worship? Theologies of Disability; Challenges and New Possibilities
This research report is less a survey of the literature than a reflection on the emergence, aims and predominant themes to emerge from theological engagements with issues of disability. It advances a rather bold claim: the theology of disability is central to our understanding of what it means to know who God is and to know what it means to be a human being living fully under God. While such a statement will need justification, the emphasis withi…
Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity
Book Reviews / International Journal of Public Th eology 2 (2008) 379–394 389 Gëzim Alpion, Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity (London: Routledge, 2007), pp. 284, £16.99, ISBN 978-0-415-39247-1 (pbk). Mother Teresa is one of the world’s best known religious figures. Millions have been touched, moved and challenged by her powerful ministry with the poorest of the poor in the back streets of Calcutta. Born in Albania in 1910, her unique ministry has…
A Graceful Embrace: Theological Reflections on Adopting Children
This book significantly deepens the contemporary discussion of the theology and practice of adopting children. Though adoption appears prominently in Scripture, contemporary adoption practice has thus far proceeded without serious theological engagement. This book seeks to fill this gap by offering a theological and ethical perspective on adoption that not only clarifies and complicates contemporary understandings of adoption, but also throws fre…
Persons in Relation: The Care of Persons with Learning Disabilities
Restoring the Image: Spirituality, Faith, and Cognitive Disability
Persons in Relation: The Care of Persons with Learning Disabilities
Spirituality and Mental Health Care: Rediscovering a 'Forgotten' Dimension
Introduction. 1. What is spirituality? 2. The neglect of the spiritual. 3. Spirituality and mental health care: Exploring the literature. 4. Living with meaninglessness: The lived experience of spirituality in the context of depression. 5. Enabling spiritual healing: Developing an understanding of spiritual care. Conclusion. References. Index
Spiritual Dimensions of Pastoral Care: Practical Theology in a Multidisciplinary Context
Introduction, David Willows and John Swinton, Contact Quarterly Part One: The Emergence of Practical Theology. 1. Pastoral theology: Towards a new discipline (1983), Anthony Dyson, formerly University of Manchester. 2. Can theology be practical? (1992), Paul Ballard, Cardiff University and British and Irish Association of Practical Theology. 3. A vision of pastoral theology: In search of words that resurrect the dead (1994), Stephen Pattison with…
Building a Church for Strangers
The paper focuses on the relationship between the author and a young man who has Down's syndrome. As the author reflects on his experiences with Stephen, he finds his understanding of theology, church and disabilities transformed. Life with Stephen reveals the oppressive nature of Western societies and the subtle ways in which the church is implicated in such oppression. Yet at the same time the dependence and simplicity of Stephen's life reminds…
Rediscovering Mystery and Wonder: Toward a Narrative-Based Perspective on Chaplaincy
Should chaplaincy be scientific? The answer is a resounding yes! Science is not the enemy of chaplaincy any more than it is the enemy of theology. It is necessary and therapeutically vital that chaplains strive to base their theory and practice on appropriate and well-researched evidence. The substantial question, however, is: What actually constitutes acceptable evidence, who decides and why
Spiritual Caregiving as Secular Sacrament: A Practical Theology for Professional Caregivers
Foreword, John Swinton, University of Aberdeen. Preface. 1. The Spiritual Praxis of Practical Theology. 2. The Integrative Gestalt of the Human Self. 3. The Ecological Matrix of the Human Person. 4. The Social Ecology of Human Spirituality. 5. The Life Continuum and the Formation of Self-identity. 6. Self-care: A Guide to Spiritual Fitness. 7. Recovering from Moral Injuries to the Self. 8. Casting Light on the Dark Side of Human Spirituality. 9. …
Critical Reflections on Stanley Hauerwas' Theology of Disability: Disabling Society, Enabling Theology
No other mainstream theologian has so consistently and trenchantly taken a stand with and for people with developmental disabilities. John SwintonCritical Reflections on Stanley Hauerwas’ Theology of Disability: Disabling Society, Enabling Theology examines the influential writings of one of the most important contemporary theologians. Over the past thirty years, Time magazine Theologian of the Year (2001) Dr. Stanley Hauerwas has consistently pr…
The benefits of the Kyoto Protocol to developing countries
Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity
Book Reviews / International Journal of Public Th eology 2 (2008) 379–394 389 Gëzim Alpion, Mother Teresa: Saint or Celebrity (London: Routledge, 2007), pp. 284, £16.99, ISBN 978-0-415-39247-1 (pbk). Mother Teresa is one of the world’s best known religious figures. Millions have been touched, moved and challenged by her powerful ministry with the poorest of the poor in the back streets of Calcutta. Born in Albania in 1910, her unique ministry has…
Reynolds, Thomas E. 2008. Vulnerable Communion: A Theology of Disability and Hospitality
What is Missing from Our Practice? Spirituality as Presence and Absence
The British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS) was formally launched on 29 January 2010 at Charterhouse in London. This is a summary of the opening address given by the then Acting Chair of BASS, Professor John Swinton.Keywords: British Association for the Study of Spirituality (BASS)human experienceinterdisciplinaryprofessional practicespiritual care and education
Who is the God We Worship? Theologies of Disability; Challenges and New Possibilities
This research report is less a survey of the literature than a reflection on the emergence, aims and predominant themes to emerge from theological engagements with issues of disability. It advances a rather bold claim: the theology of disability is central to our understanding of what it means to know who God is and to know what it means to be a human being living fully under God. While such a statement will need justification, the emphasis withi…
Critical Reflections on Stanley Hauerwas' Theology of Disability: Disabling Society, Enabling Theology
Technology in the Aid of Delivering Economic Content to Teachers: Virtual Economics v. 3
We examine the impact on student achievement of a face-to-face teacher workshop that also provides economics instructors with access to an electronic library of instructional and reference material for their economics classroom—Virtual Economics v. 3 (VE3), offered by the Council for Economic Education. Based on evidence using student and teacher-level administrative data from the Georgia Department of Education and controlling for students’ prio…
Reflections on Autistic Love: What Does Love Look Like?
This article reflects on the question of what a Christian theology of love looks like when we take seriously the experiences of people on the autistic spectrum. The essay offers a practical exegesis of the nature of Christian love which takes seriously the broad range of possibilities that rotate around the practice of love. The article explores in some detail why it is that Western people (Christians and non-Christians) have come to think about …
Disability in the Christian Tradition: A Reader
This book brings together for the first time the views of renowned Christian leaders throughout history - including Augustine, Aquinas, Julian of Norwich, Luther, Calvin, Hegel, Kierkegaard, van den Bergh, Bonhoeffer, Barth, Vanier, and Hauerwas. Fourteen experts in theology and disability studies guide readers through each era or group of thinkers, offering clear commentary and highlighting important themes. --from publisher description
Spirituality-in-Healthcare: Just Because it May Be ‘Made Up’ Does Not Mean That it is Not Real and Does Not Matter (Keynote 5)
This paper explores the current and extraordinarily diverse concept of spirituality, particularly as it relates to healthcare practices. It suggests that there is no such ‘thing’ (singular) as spirituality. Rather it is a ‘made up’ concept that helps us to understand certain things about human beings and human living. It is in this sense that there is no such ‘thing’ (singular) as spirituality. However, once we ‘make up’ spirituality(s) and creat…
Peter Gilbert: In Memory of a Life Lived Well
This article is written as a tribute to Peter Gilbert who was an Executive Editor of the Journal for the Study of Spirituality from its inception, and who played a large part in bringing the journal into being
What the Body Remembers: Theological Reflections on Dementia
The article explores the experience of spirituality and advanced dementia from the perspective of Christian theology. It examines the significance of Christian education and spiritual practices for understanding the significance of spirituality for people living with advanced dementia. The article explores the nature of memory and the importance of the body in remembering. When our recall memory fades, our bodily memory remains. The real question…
Using Our Bodies Faithfully: Christian Friendship and the Life of Worship
The paper explores the significance of our bodies for an understanding of what it means to be a member of the body of Christ and ultimately for what it means to be human. Within the body of Christ, our bodies cease to be our own. We discover that who we are is who we are “in Christ.” As we come to recognise that the essence of the body of Christ is its diversity and unification in Christ, so we begin to see the importance of bodies that some migh…
The Ecology of Spirituality: Meanings, Virtues, and Practices in a Post-Religious Age, written by Lucy Bregman
A Word From the Guest Editors
Running for Jesus! The Virtues and the Vices of Disability and Sport
The author explores some of the virtues and the vices of sport for Christians. Although sport is clearly a popular and potentially fruitful enterprise for human beings, it has its glories and its temptations. On the one hand, sport can be a magnificent exhibition of the beauty, diversity, power, and God-given potential of the human body. On the other hand, in drawing attention to the things that our bodies can do, we risk glorifying ourselves rat…
A Graceful Embrace: Theological Reflections on Adopting Children
This book significantly deepens the contemporary discussion of the theology and practice of adopting children. Though adoption appears prominently in Scripture, contemporary adoption practice has thus far proceeded without serious theological engagement. This book seeks to fill this gap by offering a theological and ethical perspective on adoption that not only clarifies and complicates contemporary understandings of adoption, but also throws fre…
Sociology (28 works) · Philosophy (26 works) · Psychology (17 works) · Theology (17 works) · Medicine (13 works) · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology (13 works) · Spirituality (13 works) · Epistemology (12 works) · Political science (9 works) · Philosophy (8 works)