Swenson, Kristin M.

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Swenson, Kristin M.

PERSONAL:

Education: St. Olaf College, Northfield, MN, B.A., 1988; Boston University, M.T.S., 1993; Boston University, Ph.D., 2001.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Richmond, VA. Office—Virginia Commonwealth University, Annex, Rm. 203, 312 N. Shafer St., Richmond, VA 23220. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Writer, theologian, and educator. Virginia Commonwealth University, School of World Studies, assistant professor of religious studies.

WRITINGS:

Living through Pain: Psalms and the Search for Wholeness, Baylor University Press (Waco, TX), 2005.

Author of blog Living through Pain.

SIDELIGHTS:

Writer, theologian, and educator Kristin M. Swenson is an assistant professor of religious studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. Her undergraduate education was completed at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, where she earned a B.A. in biology and religion. She undertook graduate study at Boston University, first completing a master's in theological studies with a concentration in Biblical studies, then a Ph.D. in the university's History and Literature of Ancient Israel program. As a scholar, she studies how interpretations of the Bible and Scripture influence and shape modern conceptions and thinking in areas such as health, the environment, and social relationships, reported a biographer on the Virginia Commonwealth University Web site.

In Living through Pain: Psalms and the Search for Wholeness, Swenson considers the many aspects of living life with chronic pain, and offers scriptural interpretation and advice to help those in constant pain to come to better terms with it and to decrease its negative effects on their lives. "Swenson does a thorough job of describing how pain encompasses a person's entire being: physical, spiritual, psychological, and social," commented reviewer Nancy Delzer in the Journal of Hospice & Palliative Nursing. The author identifies three critical aspects of pain: the problem of pain itself, the problem of identifying pain, and the problem of describing pain. She notes how pain is more than a physical symptom or a medical condition that can be treated and alleviated; it is a force that affects the entirety of a person's life. Swenson understands that "physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual pain are inseparable," and that pain is a "whole-person event," reported Kathryn Greene-McCreight, writing in the Christian Century.

Swenson finds the spiritual wisdom for dealing with pain within the text of the Psalms, and throughout he book she "brings discussion on the nature of pain into conversation with the Psalms," noted Greene-McCreight. Through engaging with these psalms, Swenson finds that healing can take place. "Drawing heavily upon sociologists and psychologists, Swenson is at her best when she pays close attention to the rhetorical features of these psalms," observed Denise Dombkowski Hopkins in an Interpretation review. However, "this book is not a self-help guide; rather, it is a resource that can be used by both professionals and those who suffer from pain," Delzer observed. Library Journal contributor Graham Christian called it "intelligently written and distinctive." Delzer concluded that "regardless of personal faith traditions, this book offers a fresh, thought-provoking perspective on the many facets of pain."