This thesis inhabits the space between the art of poetry and the conditions of faith. Its concern is threefold: women, Church, poetics. It undertakes a journey from institutional Church into more radical and textual spaces, beginning with an examination of the state of the Roman Catholic Church today as revealed in Tina Beattie’s critique of Hans Urs von Balthasar, whose disturbing theology has contributed to a misogyny she argues has poisoned the body of the Church. Beattie’s critique is a point of departure into a potentially transformative poetics that she hints at but never fully pursues. I attempt to articulate such a poetics through multiple, spiraling approaches that are interdisciplinary, invitatory, performative and creative. In my reading and writing practices, I seek to trace the contours of this poetics through the delineation of a series of alternative poetic ‘ecclesiological’ spaces. These spaces will be shaped mainly by engaging the work of five poet/thinkers, a seemingly disparate group of authors, who, whether strictly poets or not, exhibit qualities of ‘poetic being’: Ignatius of Loyola, Gaston Bachelard, Yves Bonnefoy, Dennis Potter, and Hélène Cixous. The latter will further assist me in defining this poetic geography through her philosophical and fictive investigations of the interrelationships of gender, writing and spirituality. The readings I undertake are relational, conversations in which reading is a careful listening to texts and writing becomes an organic outcome of that listening. I ask essentially what happens when we, man/woman, stand in the clearing with Heidegger to share his wonder at being? With the help of my poet-companions, I respond that we are transformed after a full engagement of poetic thinking itself. I conclude that we are brought by this engagement to a sacred space of poetic dwelling.

The pentecostal tradition began as an eschatologically-driven pneumatological missionary movement whose identity was shaped by the empowering experience of Spirit baptism. Although characterised by an impulse towards biblically-rooted doctrine as well as an affinity for narrative, the movement has been founded largely on a truncated narrative of ‘Calvary, Pentecost and Parousia’. Previous models of Spirit baptism have not been sufficiently narrative, nor have they engaged with the larger canonical perspective. This study addresses the deficiency by constructing a theodramatic model of the pentecostal doctrine of Spirit baptism, locating it in the context of a canonically-shaped theodrama that is organised around the imago Dei motif. It sets the stage for the drama by developing the Spirit-constituted imago Dei role using the covenantal structure of sonship, shaping and sending, which corresponds to the pentecostal concern for relationship, sanctification and mission, evidenced in the three-stage ordo salutis of Holiness Pentecostalism. The thesis proceeds to trace the plot from creation to the church with attention to the anthropological, Christological and ecclesiological manifestations of the image. Using this dramatic framework, it argues that Spirit baptism is the initiation of God’s new covenant people that recreates them through union with Christ as the Spirit-bearing imago Dei.

This thesis develops a pentecostal ecclesiology using the structure of networks that leads to a fresh approach to contextualisation. It addresses the neglect in pentecostal scholarship of church structures beyond the congregation and of critical approaches to contextualisation. The pentecostal systematic methodology of Amos Yong is utilized, based on the synthesis of discerned experience (Spirit), biblical studies (Word) and the traditions of systematic and mission theology (Community). A trinitarian understanding of networks is developed and linked with an approach to the catholicity of the church that has a common essence and mission movement. This is shaped by the missionary nature of pentecostalism and rooted in an understanding of a church marked by Spirit baptism. The character of networks is defined in terms of partnership, a term with a rich mission understanding and seen also in the pentecostal tradition. A three-fold approach to contextualisation arises from the overlap between networks within and outside the church which is based on hospitality. Significantly, this thesis is the first in pentecostal ecclesiology to utilise a pentecostal methodology, to focus on structural and contextual issues and to develop a trinitarian network ecclesiology. It provides a fresh approach to catholicity, Spirit baptism, partnership and contextualisation.

Cecil Polhill (1860-1938) remains unfamiliar to the vast majority of Pentecostals, yet he was one of the founding fathers of the tradition in Britain, and his impact and legacy stretch far beyond Britain. Research into his life has been slow and patchy, and what little research there is tends to skim over his pre-pentecostal years (1860-1908). This thesis is the first serious step towards rectifying widespread ignorance about Polhill by taking a more systematic, thorough and chronological approach to analysing and evaluating his life. This is the first to attempt to comprehensively connect Polhill's early life and former experiences with his time as a Pentecostal. This thesis addresses the question of how it is that such a well-established Anglican, senior missionary of the China Inland Mission, dedicated to mission to Tibet, became so involved in the pentecostal movement. What has become evident is that between 1888-1907, his attempts to evangelise Tibet were met with numerous difficulties, but crucially he lacked the long-term support of the China Inland Mission executive. This forced Polhill to look for a new source of missionaries that would be entirely under his direction, and the pentecostal movement became the perfect solution. By providing Polhill with missionaries, the pentecostal movement benefited from his resources and loyalty. For pentecostal history, Polhill is one of the “great persons” through whom the lives of many other Pentecostals can be contextualised and understood.

This study proposes a restorative hermeneutic and uses it to assess and evaluate the ‘restorativity’ of the responses of five local Christian communities to crime and wrongdoing. Its central contention is that they can become more ‘restorative’ by critically reflecting on their responses to crime and wrongdoing using the hermeneutic. In chapters I to III, the hermeneutic is established through a mutual critical dialogue between restorative justice and contemporary atonement theology. It has three core principles: ‘radical participation’, ‘righting wrong in a morally serious way’ and ‘reintegration’. These principles are extrapolated from a definition of restorative justice and resonate with the key themes of contemporary atonement theology. In chapters IV and V the understanding, attitude and practical response of these local Christian communities to crime and wrongdoing are categorised and assessed. The findings are then systematically evaluated using the restorative hermeneutic. The final chapter articulates the main conclusion, that to achieve a more restorative response to crime and wrongdoing local Christian communities need to develop a sustained critical dialogue with secularisation theory, an even balance between addressing personal and structural types of crime and wrongdoing, and a critical understanding of the underlying causes of crime and wrongdoing.

Chapter One asks whether Christianity and religion have been re-defined in the Jamaican context. The definitions of spirituality and mysticism, particularly as defined by Lartey are given and reasons for using these definitions. Chapter Two examines history and the Caribbean religious experience. It analyses theory and reflects on the Caribbean difference. The role that literary forefathers and foremothers have played in defining the writers about whom my research is concerned is examined in Chapter Three, as are some of their selected works. Chapter Four reflects on the work of Lorna Goodison, asks how she has defined God whether within a Christian or African framework. In contrast Olive Senior appears to view Christianity as oppressive and this is examined in Chapter Five. Chapter Six looks at the ways in which Erna Brodber re-connects the spirit. Chapter Seven regards the spiritually joyful God of Jean 'Binta' Breeze. Conclusions are then drawn as to whether writers have adapted a God to the Jamaican context, whether they have re-connected to the spirit and if it is true that Jamaica is a spiritual nation.

At present no scholar has provided an in-depth study into the dissemination of the Pater Noster outside the clerical sphere. This thesis provides a detailed consideration of the ways in which the Pater Noster was taught to the laity in medieval England. It explores the central position of the prayer in the lay curriculum, the constitutions which played a fundamental role in its teaching, and the methods by which it was disseminated. Clerical expositions of the prayer and its tabular and diagrammatic representations are examined to consider the material available to assist the clergy in their pedagogical role. The ways in which material associated with the Pater Noster was modified and delivered to a lay audience provides an important component in the holistic approach of this thesis. The thesis itself proposes that the prayer was widely known and recited, drawing on a variety of mediums in which it was presented to the laity. These include sermon material, which would have been delivered in the vernacular; the recitation of Paternosters, an earlier version of the conventional rosary; the performance of the Pater Noster plays in the northern locations of York, Beverley and Lincoln; and representations of the prayer in wall paintings.

The use of models to study mission activities enables not only vivid description and systematic analysis but also prescriptions for the future. This thesis examines the mission activities of the Church of Pentecost from 1917 to 2008 using five mission models: local, regional, migrational, reverse and reflex. Departing from the general pattern, where mission activity is normally shaped from above by a mission organization, members of the Church of Pentecost developed a ‘mission from below’ strategy that has become a feature of all aspects of mission work in the church. These models were formed and shaped by members at the grassroots. Reflecting on their strengths and weaknesses, the thesis proposes another mission model that can be used as an analytical tool to evaluate mission models generally. The ‘Economission’ model which draws on economic principles enables the mission practitioner to assess, evaluate, identify and apply the appropriate model to a particular mission context.

This study is an attempt to do relevant Mizo Theology of Mission in a Mizo context. The author has drawn theological hermeneutics from the interaction of the gospel and Mizo cultural elements with the aim of reconstructing Mizo Contextual Theology of Mission. Methodologically the author employed the postcolonial and synthetic models. This study introduced the Mizos and their traditional elements with a brief interpretation. Then the colonial power and Christian mission came to Mizoram which brought various changes in Mizo society. While admitting that change was a need of the Mizo society and irreversible process, it has also brought problems which shake the foundation of the Mizo society and also alienated from their traditional culture. To regain the lost identity and cultural alienation, revival movements have been taken place and this inspired the Mizos to construct a contextual theology to address their problems. However, the impact of western theology was so great that the present theological paradigm is an exclusive one and not relevant for today. Therefore, the author developed a Mizo contextual Theology of Mission that would seriously take contemporary realities and promote participation in ‘Missio Dei’ in building the reign of God here and now.

This thesis embarks upon a thorough investigation into the relationship between genre and interpretation, using the principle of narrative coherence to provide a methodological basis upon which to build. It argues that the attempt to find a single or even simple hybrid genre for Acts is an academic cul-de-sac that is curtailing effective progress, and advocates instead a model of fluid intertextuality that sees the author make use of many different genres. It then goes on to explore these findings in three separate studies, all of which make use of different intertextual and generic frameworks to interpret the text in new ways. The first study makes use of a device seen in Epic and Tragedy, the second makes use of wider systems of characterisation, particularly of divinely elected heroes, and the third looks at the use of comedy in sections of the narrative. Overall, the conclusion of the thesis is that only a change in methodological basis from history and source to narrative and text will allow biblical studies to make substantial progress in the interpretation of the scriptures.