Theology as Threshold : Invitations from Aotearoa New Zealand

The future of theological education requires crossing thresholds that mainstream theologies blocked and engaging native heritage and wisdom. The contributions to this volume demonstrate that theological studies have a future, and there is a role for theologians and educators in and from Aotearoa New Zealand and Pasifika to play in navigating (into) that future.

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.