Department of Theology and Religion
All items relating to the Department can be found under Theology and Religion*. They are also listed under their sub-discipline.
The Department is home to programmes in Theology and Religion and two research centres, the Centre for Theology and Public Issues, and the Centre for the Study of Islam and Muslim Cultures.
The Department has a strong record of research. It was the highest ranked department in Theology and Religious Studies in New Zealand, and the third highest across departments in all disciplines, in the most recent assessment of research quality in New Zealand.
Collections in Department of Theology and Religion
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Biblical Studies [14]
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Theology and Religion* [132]
Recent Deposits
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Seeing is Believing: Revelation, Emotion, and Film Images
One of the most theologically interesting aspects of cinema is its apparent capacity to mediate revelation. While the primary agent of revelation is God, without whom revelation cannot happen, certain films seem to elicit ... -
Love Does Not Seek Its Own: Augustine, Economic Division, and the Formation of a Common Life
This thesis arises out of contemporary concerns regarding the nature and formation of the church amidst economic inequality. What does it mean to be the church amidst an economically divided society? And how does God seek ... -
Anglicanism and the Ephesians 4 Gifts: Towards a Leadership Model that Disciples and Equips the Church for Mission
This research project has two aims; to look for evidence that Hirsch’s proposition that the five ministry gifts of Eph 4:11, the apostle, prophet, evangelist, pastor and teacher are needed to transition an institutional ... -
The Supreme Σημεῖον of Jesus' Death-and-Resurrection in the Fourth Gospel
This thesis argues that Jesus’ death-and-resurrection is the supreme σημεῖον in the Fourth Gospel (FG). By focusing on the present text of the Gospel, without regard to questions of tradition and redaction, the above ... -
Your Strength in Our Hearts: New Zealand Churchgoers in Midlife
Midlife is a period marked by transitions. Sudden or gradual changes in individuals’ circumstances and responsibilities can prove to be catalysts for personal growth and development. Re-evaluation of priorities and changes ... -
Revisiting the Babylonian Exile in Jeremiah 29: 1 -14: A Samoan La-tō Reading using an Oceanic Hermeneutic
This project explores the feasibility of a Samoan approach to the Judahites’ ‘exile,’ with particular reference to Jeremiah 29:1-14. The word ‘exile’ in the Hebrew Bible can imply discipline as an act of love, life, and ... -
Archaeology and the Itinerant Jesus: a historical inquiry into the Extent of Jesus' itinerancy in the north
There is a general consensus among New Testament scholars that the historical Jesus was itinerant. Mark claims that Jesus travelled among the towns and villages of Galilee, preached in their synagogues, attracted the ... -
A Christian reading of Psalm 119: an exploration of Torah as God's self-revelation using a Trinitarian hermeneutic
In this thesis I aim at a contemporary Christian reading of Psalm 119 which is in continuity with the New Testament and the Fathers, that is, a Trinitarian reading of an Old Testament text. I demonstrate that a Christian ... -
Fetausia'i - a servant leadership paradigm for the mission of the Methodist Church in Samoa
Christian churches in Samoa today face public criticism regarding the autocratic style of leadership they have embraced and encouraged, which goes hand in hand with their lack of attention for people below the poverty line. ... -
Blessings and Woes in Luke: Intertextual Echoes of Antithetical Covenant Blessings and Curses in Luke's Gospel with Particular Reference to 6:20b-26
Luke contrasts his Beatitudes with a corresponding series of Woes creating an antithesis between the eschatological fate of the blessed and those in woe. This antithesis displays similarities to the covenant blessings and ... -
A Christian Life: Living Across the Lines. A Grounded Theory Study of Understandings of the Atonement Among Evangelical Christians
Aim: To explore evangelical Christians’ understanding of the atonement and establish whether there is a relationship between different ideas of the atonement and wellbeing in the lives of participants. Methods: Christians ... -
Spiritual Journeying with ‘A New Zealand Prayer Book: He Karakia Mihinare o Aotearoa’: Perspectives from Three Tikanga.
This thesis begins by exploring the varied spiritual backgrounds and current practices of people of the three Tikanga Anglican Church within the Province of Aotearoa, New Zealand and Polynesia. It focuses on the New Zealand ... -
Silence in Translation: Interpreting 1 Corinthians 14:34-35 in Myanmar
The concept of silence, which is understood by Myanmar people as a sign of submission to the powerful who are anyone in a position of authority, has gained importance in Myanmar due to its prolonged history of imperial, ... -
Drifting Through Samsara: Tacit Conversion and Disengagement in Goenka’s Vipassana Movement in New Zealand
The field of religious conversion and disengagement is mostly composed of studies that focus on traditions with an explicit moment of conversion and, correspondingly, an explicit demarcated exit. As a result, movements ... -
Soteriology Before Epistemology: Kierkegaard's Theology of Divine Revelation
In this study I examine the role of divine revelation within the thought of Søren Kierkegaard. For Kierkegaard, I contend, divine revelation is first and foremost a soteriological matter. Although his writings address many ... -
The High Priest and the Temple: Metaphorical Depictions of Jesus in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch
Taking seriously Ignatius of Antioch’s composition of his letters as individual documents sent to separate communities, this thesis explores the high priestly and temple metaphors in Ephesians 9.1; 15.3, Magnesians 7.2, ... -
Restorative Justice: A Pastoral Care Response to the Issue of Fa'ate'a ma le Nu'u (Banishment) in Samoan Society
This thesis examines banishment in Samoa in cultural, historical, theological and pastoral perspective, seeking to construct a contextual pastoral care response to banishment centred in the concept of restorative justice. ... -
The Cape of the Devil: Salvation in the Japanese Jesuit Mission Under Francisco Cabral (1570-1579)
This dissertation sheds new light on the missionary policies implemented by the Portuguese Jesuit Francisco Cabral (1533-1609) during his time as Superior of the Japanese mission (1570-79), by contextualising his actions ... -
An Examination of the Pneumatological Anthropology and Pneumatological Ecclesiology of Yves Congar: Roots and Ramifications.
In this thesis we examine the theology of the French Roman Catholic Priest Yves Congar. Our focus is on his ecclesiology and in particular his belief that there is a profound connection between pneumatology and ecclesiology. ... -
Pneumatology and Union: John Calvin and the Pentecostals
The aim of this research is to identify whether affinities, or touch points, exist between John Calvin’s pneumatology and account of the union between the believer and Christ and Pentecostal thought on these issues. If it ...