Māori

The thesis is a scholarly piece of written work that reports on the findings of theoretical, practical, or empirical investigation into a defined area of applied theology conducted by you under supervision. Undertaking a thesis provides you with an opportunity to do original in-depth research at Masters level. You will engage in a supervised investigation of a topic of their interest. You are expected to be self-directed in your studies and to produce an account of your research which equates to internationally recognized standards.

The thesis is a scholarly piece of written work that reports on the findings of theoretical, practical, or empirical investigation into a defined area of applied theology conducted by you under supervision. Undertaking a thesis provides you with an opportunity to do original in-depth research at Masters level. You will engage in a supervised investigation of a topic of your interest. You are expected to be self-directed in your studies and to produce an account of your research which equates to internationally recognized standards.

This course examines the way the discipline of public theology seeks to enable the people of God to engage biblically and theologically with public issues in church and society. We will consider the contested nature of public theology as a discipline, as well as the role of biblical studies, systematic theology, historical studies, and practical theology within public theology. Readings and Zoom discussions will give you an opportunity to engage contemporary examples of public theology, while the final assessment will invite you to consider the role of public theology in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic (or a topic negotiated with the lecturers).

Gospel and Discipleship: Interpreting Mark in Today’s contexts. This course seeks to address the question, what is the good news of Jesus and how does it teach us to live? The Gospel of Mark has two central themes, the identity and work of Jesus Christ – the Gospel’s central character, and the nature and cost of answering Jesus’ call to discipleship. This course will begin with detailed critical exegesis of Mark, setting the book in its historical context with attention to Jewish, scriptural, and Graeco-Roman backgrounds and with close attention to its theological and narrative design. The goal of this paper will be to bring such historically informed exegesis into robust and meaningful integrative conversations with the pressing issues of today.

The magnification of the #blacklivesmatter movement and protests about systemic racism around the world raise important issues for theology and the church, not least because of the church’s entanglement in the construction of the modern racial condition. This course examines historical and contemporary misappropriations of theology in the development of current racial issues and explores the biblical and theological possibilities for a gospel centred account of the church’s antiracial witness to God’s kingdom. The aim is to understand the church’s historic and contemporary relationship to racism and examine biblical and theological possibilities for anti-racist discipleship.

This course explores the question: what does it mean to live as disciples in our political lives? Our primary focus will be exploring political dynamics in specific biblical texts, both in light of their ancient political contexts and in dialogue with their contemporary theological and ethical significance. We will examine both the political nature of the people of God and the diverse ways Scripture envisions that people engaging politically with the nations and places within which they find themselves. Having glimpsed something of the exegetical diversity of the Bible’s political witness, we will then explore some of the diverse ways Christian theology and praxis has sought to understand and respond to that Scriptural witness. Readings and Zoom discussions will give you an opportunity to engage examples of political exegesis, theology, and praxis.

The Research Essay provides you with an opportunity to undertake an in-depth study of a topic or issue in Applied Theology under the guidance of supervisor. The topic will normally be in an area that you wish to explore but is outside the scope of available courses in the academic programme. You will acquire specialist knowledge of a specific field and develop skills in research, the evaluation of evidence and the articulation of ideas.

This course considers the life and written work of Dietrich Bonhoeffer who has been variously described as theologian, pastor, pastor-theologian, writer, activist, pacifist and martyr. In the face of such diversity, we attend to the continuities in Bonhoeffer’s thought and practice. More specifically, this course will posit a personal quest undertaken by Bonhoeffer to understand the plight of ego and power and their solution in the notion of discipleship and freedom.

Further, the course brings Dietrich Bonhoeffer into conversation with Bull Hybels, the former pastor and leader of Willow Creek. Willow Creek proves to be a valuable case study in which issues of ego and power surface. It is important to understand them rightly and posit how Bonhoeffer’s thought and practice provides a needed corrective.

This course asks why various models of leadership found in the biblical text may have been helpful to the church in their ancient socio-historical contexts and how they may provide insights into contemporary ministry leadership. Students will engage the writings of Luke-Acts and the letter to the Philippians and the models of leadership they present. These models of leadership will be explored in the socio-historical milieu of the New Testament and interpreted in the crowded marketplace of classical ideas about leadership. The course will exegete New Testament texts and classical Graeco-Roman sources to critically compare their various approaches to leadership. The insights gained from studying biblical approaches to leadership in their ancient setting will enable students to critically reflect on competing modern ideas about leadership and recalibrate their approaches to leadership in Aotearoa.

God epitomizes the flourishing life within Godself. Further, God creates the cosmos out of the sheer abundance of God’s goodness and plenitude, not because God needs to create, but in some sense, God wants to create. In creating, God orders the creation toward its full flourishing. While, that flourishing has also been thwarted, God has still provided means for this to be restored and even deepened. This course will focus especially on human flourishing, assuming this is what God intends for humankind. To inform what is meant by flourishing, we will look at biblical, theological, and psychological perspectives on the flourishing life. This will entail looking back to understand that which impedes us from flourishing and looking forward as we envisage what flourishing may look like in the future.