Bøker av Jione Havea

Doing theology requires dissension and tenacity. Dissension is required when scriptural texts, and the colonial bodies and traditions (read: Babylon) that capitalize upon those, inhibit or prohibit "rising to life." With "nerves" to dissent, the attentions of the first cluster of essays extend to scriptures and theologies, to borders and native peoples. The title for the first cluster -- "talking back with nerves, against Babylon" -- appeals to the spirit of feminist (to talk back against patriarchy) and RastafarI (to chant down Babylon) critics. The essays in the second cluster -- titled "persevering with tenacity, through shitstems" -- testify that perseverance is possible, and it requires tenacity. Tenacity is required so that the oppressive systems of Babylon do not have the final word. These two clusters are framed by two chapters that set the tone and push back at the usual business of doing theology, inviting engagement with the wisdom and nerves of artists and poets, and two closing chapters that open up the conversation for further dissension and tenacity. Doing theology with dissension and tenacity is unending.

What thresholds of theology would we cross if we engage the aches and despairs, wisdoms, and hopes in and of Aotearoa New Zealand and the neighboring sea of islands? What thresholds need to be jarred or moved (threshold as opening), probed and raised (threshold as limit)? This book engages these questions in two parts: ';(re)Locating Theological Studies' contains essays that interrogate the purposes of theological studies (locally and globally), identify gaps due to the Western heritage and blind spots of ';traditional theology,' and provide examples of how those gaps may be bridged when local concerns are engaged; ';Nativizing Theological Studies' contains essays that present and engage the heritage and wisdom of tangata whenua (indigenous, native people) of Aotearoa and Pasifika. These essays reaffirm the ';native' rhetoric with pride. This collection of essays affirms that theological studies have a future, and that there is a role for theologians in and from Aotearoa New Zealand and Pasifika to play in navigating (into) that future.

This book argues that all theologies are public measures - they disclose as well as gauge the publics (near and far) on which they stand, sit, lie, or fall. Because publics shift and mingle, theologies require reimagining and relocating, incorporating fresh insights and energies, and troubling.

Arguing that theologies are shaped by place so no theology can be universal, "Out of Place" assesses the ways in which theology, as a discipline and a practice, is "out of place". The book argues that for theology to be transformative it must connect with "place" and engage with marginalised peoples and cultures.