Department of Theology and Religion

Browse by

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

Biblical Studies [14]
Centre for Theology and Public Issues [3]
Centre for the Study of Islam and Muslim Cultures [0]
Christian Thought and History [13]
Ministry and Pastoral Theology [13]
Religious Studies [9]
Theology and Religion* [117]

Recent Deposits

The High Priest and the Temple: Metaphorical Depictions of Jesus in the Letters of Ignatius of Antioch

Lookadoo, Jonathon (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

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

Maliko, Selota (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

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)

Zampol D'Ortia, Linda (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

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.

Paddison, Glenn (Thesis, Master of Theology, 2017)

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

Ross, Peter Graham (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

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 ...
Obedience that Saves: a Dogmatic Inquiry into the Obedience of Jesus Christ in Karl Barth's Doctrine of Reconciliation as shown in his Church Dogmatics

Fong, Edmund (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2017)

This thesis demonstrates the dogmatic significance the motif of the obedience of Jesus Christ has within Karl Barth’s doctrine of reconciliation as shown in the Church Dogmatics. The significance is shown by considering ...
God and the Meaning of Matter: Theological Engagements with the New Materialisms

Lewthwaite, Sonya Christine (Thesis, Master of Theology, 2017)

Post-structuralism and feminism have been uneasy allies in feminism’s third wave. Critics of feminism’s cultural turn are calling for a critical theory and emancipatory politics that takes materiality as its starting point, ...
Indigenous theology--two attempts? : a study in the writings of Dr. Kosuke Koyama and Dr. Choan-Seng Song

Koria, Paulo Tema (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 1994)

The question of Indigenous Theology is not new. The relationship between gospel and culture which provides the basic parameters for the indigenization of theology is something with which the Early Church Fathers and even ...
The Art of Colin McCahon: 'Vision of God and the Land'

Crothall, Peter Douglas (Thesis, Master of Theology, 2017)

The recent sale of Colin McCahon’s Canoe Tainui for a record price has brought his work to the attention of the public once again. He would not approve of the focus on dollars and financial value. The art of McCahon is ...
Escuchando a sobrevivientes masculinos de abuso sexual en la Iglesia

Figueroa Alvear, Rocío; Tombs, David (Project Report, 2016)

Este proyecto busca dar voz a las víctimas masculinas de abuso sexual mediante entrevistas con ocho jóvenes que estuvieron vinculados con el movimiento Sodalicio del Perú. El objetivo de esta investigación es explorar el ...
Listening to Male Survivors of Church Sexual Abuse

Figueroa Alvear, Rocío; Tombs, David (Project Report, 2016)

This project seeks to give voice to male victims of sexual abuse through interviews with eight young men involved with the Sodalicio movement in Peru. The aim of this research is to explore the impact of church-related ...
Fa'atuatuaga Kerisiano ma Sauaga i totonu o Aiga: Ripoti mo Tagata Lautele o Samoa i Niusila

Ah Sir-Maliko, Mercy (Project Report, 2016)

Domestic violence is a serious social problem in Samoan communities. Some studies have suggested that nearly half of Samoan women have been subject to abuse by intimate partners or parents. The increase in cases of domestic ...
Christian Faith and Family Violence: A Report for Samoan communities in New Zealand

Ah Siu-Maliko, Mercy (Project Report, 2016)

Domestic violence is a serious social problem in Samoan communities. Some studies have suggested that nearly half of Samoan women have been subject to abuse by intimate partners or parents. The increase in cases of domestic ...
Reading Scripture with Moltmann: The Cry of Dereliction and the Trinity

Coombe, Cameron (Journal Article, Colloquium: The Australian and New Zealand Theological Review, 2016)

Jürgen Moltmann’s proposals for the doctrine of the Trinity have generated much critical response. His readers have rarely attended, however, to the exegetical basis on which Moltmann establishes his trinitarian interpretation ...
A Practical Theology of Discipleship Formation in Aotearoa New Zealand

Day, Jethro Stephen (Thesis, Master of Theology, 2016)

The objective of this research is to develop a practical theology of discipleship formation that would be effective in the context of Aotearoa New Zealand. Using research methods from practical theology and the social ...
"Let's Talk about Something Else": Religion and Governmentality in New Zealand's State Primary Schools

Bradstock, Helen (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

In 2012, the Churches Education Commission in New Zealand stated that around 40% of state primary schools provided voluntary religious instruction. A search for the word “religion” in the New Zealand Curriculum, at that ...
The Trinitarian Ecclesiology of Thomas F. Torrance

Dugdale, Kate Helen (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

This thesis argues that rather than focusing on the Church as an institution, social grouping, or volunteer society, the study of ecclesiology must begin with a robust investigation of the doctrine of the Holy Trinity. ...
A pentecostal theology of social engagement with a particular focus on Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand

Frost, Michael James (Thesis, Doctor of Philosophy, 2016)

The purpose of this thesis is develop a pentecostal theology of social engagement with a particular focus on Māori in twenty-first century New Zealand society. As a diverse and growing global movement, pentecostalism is ...
Heaven-on-Earth and the Heavenly Jerusalem in Fifteenth and Sixteenth Century Muscovite Church Architecture in the Uspensky Sobor (Assumption Cathedral) and Pokrovsky Sobor (Cathedral of the Intercession)

Pasichnik, Marina Nikolaevna (Thesis, Master of Theology, 2016)

Russian Orthodoxy considered the church building to be an icon of heaven that portrayed Heaven-on-Earth and provided a glimpse of the Heavenly Jerusalem. Symbolism was used in church architecture to express these themes. ...
Spirituality and Aging: How Worship communities of Older Adults Sustain Their Faith in the Absence of Traditional Ordained Leadership

Reid, Gillian (Thesis, Master of Theology, 2016)

This thesis considers the ways that older Anglican Christians (greater than 70 years of age) exercise worship in an environment of shared ministry, rather than in one that is led by traditional ordained stipended clergy. ...