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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 examines the relationship between divine in/activity and human agency in the five books of the Megilloththe books of Ruth, Song of Songs, Ecclesiastes, Lamentations, and Esther. As works of literature dating to the early Second Temple period (ca. 6th3rd centuries BCE), these books and the implicit interpretation of these particular themes reflect the diverse cultural and theological dynamics of the time. Megan Fullerton Strollo contends that the themes themselves as well as the correlation between them should be interpreted as implicit theology insofar as they represent reflective interpretation of earlier theological traditions. With regard to divine in/activity, she argues that the Megilloth presents a certain level of skepticism or critical analysis of the Deity. From doubt to protest, the books of the Megilloth grapple with received traditions of divine providence and present experiences of absence, abandonment, and distance. As a correlative to divine in/activity, human agency is presented as consequential. In addition, the portrayal of human agency serves as a theological response insofar as the books advance the theme through specific references to and reevaluations of earlier theocentric traditions.

Dystopia, from the Greek dus and topos ';bad place,' is a revelatory genre and concept that has experienced a meteoric rise in popularity at the start of the twenty-first century. This book addresses approaches to the study of dystopia from the academic fields of theology and religious studies. Following a co-written chapter where Scott Donahue-Martens and Brandon Simonson argue that dystopia can be understood as demythologized apocalyptic, ten unique contributions each engage a work of popular culture, such as a book, movie, or television show. Topics across chapters range from the critical function of dystopia, social location and identity, violence, apocalypse and the end of everything, sacrifice, catharsis, and dystopian existentialism. This volume responds to the need for theological and religious reflection on dystopia in a world increasingly threatened by climate change, pandemics, and global war.

In Daniel's Mysticism of Resistance in Its Seleucid Context, Timothy L. Seals proffers a postcolonial interpretation of the book of Daniel, investigating certain texts that constitute Daniel's mystical way or practice. Daniel uses mysticism to resist the repressive script of Antiochus IV outlawing the Jewish religion in 167 BCE. In his use of non-violence to resist the imperial power of the Seleucids, Daniel stands in the non-violent, passive-resistant tradition of both Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr. Daniel uses mysticism both to resist imperial intrusions into his humanity and to decolonize his mind in the aftermath of colonization. In this endeavor, mysticism proves to be world-affirming.

By comparing the intersecting histories of interpretation of Mary Magdalene, a first-century disciple of Jesus, and La Malinche, a sixteenth-century Mesoamerican woman enslaved by the Spanish conquistadores, Jennifer Vija Pietz critically evaluates the use of past lives to address contemporaneous concerns. She demonstrates how the earliest sources portray each woman as an agent in the foundation of a new community: Magdalene's proclamation of Jesus's resurrection helped form the first Christian community, while La Malinche's role as interpreter between Spanish and native people during the Conquest helped establish modern Mexico. Pietz then argues that over time, various interpreters turn these real women into malleable icons that they use to negotiate changing conceptions of communal identity and norms. Strikingly, popular portraits develop of both women as archetypal whores who represent transgressionportraits that some women have experienced as harmful. Although other interpreters present contrary portraits of Magdalene and La Malinche as admirable emblems of female empowerment, Pietz argues that the tendency to turn real people into icons risks producing stereotypes that can obscure past lives and negatively affect people in the present. In response, she posits strategies for developing historically plausible and ethically responsible interpretations of people of the past.

This volume is a collection of 33 essays, sermons, and contemporaneous addresses by Paul L. Lehmann, a highly influential theological voice of the twentieth century. Lehmann was a close friend of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, a student and friend of Reinhold Niebuhr, and a longtime colleague of James Cone. One of the first American readers of Karl Barth, Lehmanns work also influenced early liberation theologies throughout the world. The works included here span the years 1938-1998 and are organized around the following themes: the direction of theology today (I); the revolutionary dimension of the gospel (II); the future of theology in a post-Christian world (III); and Dietrich Bonhoeffer: a theological friendship (IV). The works contained in this volume were written to address a particular context yet remain surprisingly relevant for today.

In Matthew, Disability, and Stress: Examining Impaired Characters in the Context of Empire, Jillian D. Engelhardt examines four Matthean healing narratives, focusing on the impaired characters in the scenes. Her reading is informed by both empire studies and social stress theory, a method that explores how the stress inherent in social location can affect psychosomatic health. By examining the Roman imperial context in which common folk lived and worked, she argues that attention to social and somatic circumstances, which may have accompanied or caused the described disabilities/impairments, destabilizes readings of these stories that suggest the encounter with Jesus was straightforwardly good and the healing was permanent. Instead, Engelhardt proposes various new contexts for and offers more nuanced characterizations of the disabled/impaired people in each discussed scene, resulting in ambiguous interpretations that de-center Jesus and challenge able-bodied assumptions about embodiment, disability, and healing.

While still relatively unknown to the general public, early twentieth century American horror author H.P. Lovecraft left an indelible stamp upon popular culture. Images of tentacled horrors, forbidden tomes, and protagonists struggling against the insanity that comes with the revelation of the terrible truth of realityLovecraft pioneered all of these. Best known for his short story ';The Call of Cthulhu,' Lovecraft instantiated his philosophy of cosmicism into every one of his tales. This collection of fourteen essays is the first sustained academic engagement with horror author H.P. Lovecraft from a theological perspective. Covering the major themes of Lovecrafts work such as nihilism, xenophobia, dark cults, and unimaginable horrors beyond the stars, the book is divided into five sections corresponding to each of the divisions of theology: biblical, historical, systematic, practical, and comparative. With responses ranging from admiration to critique, the contributors explore the dark uncharted regions of Lovecraft's dark mythology in the service of theological truth.

Batman is one of the most recognized and popular pop culture icons. Appearing on the page of Detective Comics #27 in 1939, the character has inspired numerous characters, franchises, and spin-offs over his 80+ year history. The character has displayed versatility, appearing in stories from multiple genres, including science fiction, noir, and fantasy and mediums far beyond his comic book origins. While there are volumes analyzing Batman through literary, philosophical, and psychological lenses, this volume is one of the first academic monographs to examine Batman through a theological and religious lens. Theology and Batman analyzes Batman and his world, specifically exploring the themes of theodicy and evil, ethics and morality, justice and vengeance, and the Divine Nature. Scholars will appreciate the breadth of material covered while Batman fans will appreciate the love for the character expressed through each chapter.

This book investigates the relationship between justification by faith and final judgment according to works as found in Paul's second epistle to the Corinthians within a Protestant theological framework. Benjamin M. Dally first demonstrates the diversity and breadth of mainstream Protestant soteriology and eschatology beginning at the time of the Reformation by examining the confessional standards of its four primary ecclesial/theological streams: Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist, and Anglican. The soteriological structure of each is assessed (i.e., how each construes the relationship between justification and final judgment), with particular attention given to how each speaks of the place of good works at the final judgment. This initial examination outlines the theological boundaries within which the exegesis of Second Corinthians can legitimately proceed, and illuminates language and conceptual matrices that will be drawn upon throughout the remainder of thebook. Then, drawing upon the narrative logic of Paul's Early Jewish thought-world, Dally examines the text of Second Corinthians to discern its own soteriological framework, paying particular attention to both the meaning and rhetorical function of the ';judgment according to works' motif as it is utilized throughout the letter. The book concludes by offering a Protestant synthesis of the relationship between justification and final judgment according to works in Second Corinthians, giving an explanation of the role of works at the final judgment that arguably alleviates a number of tensions often perceived in other readings devoted to this key aspect of Pauline exegesis and theology. Dally ultimately argues a three-fold thesis: (1) For the believer one's earthly conduct, taken as a whole, is best spoken of in the language of inferior/secondary ';cause' and/or ';basis' as far as its import at the last judgment. (2) One's earthly conduct, again taken as a whole, is soteriologically necessary (not solely, but secondarily nonetheless) and not simply of importance for the bestowal of non-soteriological, eschatological rewards. (3) There are crucial resources from within mainstream Protestantism to authorize such ways of speaking and to simultaneously affirm these contentions in conjunction with a robust, strictly forensic/imputational, ';traditional' Protestant understanding of the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

In this book, Wayne Baxter explores and unpacks the Shepherd Christology in the Gospel of Matthew. By examining Matthews shepherd motif against the backdrop of the metaphors appropriation in the biblical tradition, in the writings of Second Temple Judaism, and in the New Testament, Baxters analysis reveals important convergences and divergences between Matthew and these three groups of authors. One the one hand, the Evangelists shepherd motif closely echoes that of the Jewish Scriptures; on the other hand, at points Matthews motif aligns with the tropes usage by Christ-believers over and against its deployment by Second Temple Jewish authors. Sometimes he agrees with the Second Temple writers over and against Christ-believers, and at other times he stands alone, deviating from both Second Temple Jews and Christ-believers. Baxter argues that the reason for these convergences and divergences is Matthews high Shepherd Christology: In Jesus the messianic Shepherd, YHWH has personally returned in a dramatic way to shepherd his people, Israel.

Death and rebirth was of vital importance to early Christians in late antiquity. In late antiquity, death was all encompassing. Mortality rates were high, plague and disease in urban areas struck at will, and one lived on the knife's edge regarding one's health. Religion filled a crucial role in this environment, offering an option for those who sought cure and comfort. Following death, the inhumed were memorialized, providing solace to family members through sculpture, painting, and epigraphy. This book offers a sustained interdisciplinary treatment of death and rebirth, a theme that early Christians (and scholars) found important. By analysing the theme of death and rebirth through various lenses, the contributors deepen our understanding of the early Christian funerary and liturgical practices as well as their engagement with other groups in the Empire.

In this carefully argued book, T. Luke Post shows that "good works" occupy a central, though often overlooked, place in Pauline ethics. Surveying a wide terrain of exegetical territory, Post makes a compelling case that believers "doing good" is a primary aim of Paul's theological, social, and ethical agenda.

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.

Aristide: A Theological and Political Introduction is a study of the political theory, democratic vision, and theological ethics and anthropology in the writings and ideas of Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

Many critiques of consumerism inadequately consider the complex interactions between individuals, their desires, and their social practices. Christine Darr provides an analysis of desire within consumer culture by integrating insights from moral theology and sociology and offers intellectual resources for more deliberate decision-making.

This book examines fifty instances from the afterlife of Matthew's "Massacre of the Innocents." Warren Carter argues that interpreters "think with" the scene's triad of power relations (tyrant, victims, means of tyranny) in various socio-political circumstances and media to make sense of these experiences and address their audiences.

This assemblage of feminist theologies is written from different cultures, geographies and discourses and brought together around themes as specific and wide-ranging as immigration detention, hate crime, discrimination, rites of marriage and partnership, and artistic and religious imagination.

This book explores the charismata Paul lists in Rom 12:6-8 within the ritual setting he establishes in Rom 12:1-2. Using analysis from ritual studies, religious studies, and classics, Teresa Lee McCaskill constructs a reception for gentile Christ-followers who were transitioning into a new belief system and in need of sanctioned practices.

This comprehensive sourcebook of Philo of Alexandria presents topics and themes drawn from commonly studied Philonic texts in seven chapters: theology, cosmology, anthropology, ethics, biblical characters, Jewish Law, and Jewish worship and observances.