Professor Andrew Bradstock
Professor of Theology and Public Issues
Room: 4S8, Arts Building
Tel 64 3 479 8450
Email andrew.bradstock@otago.ac.nz
Andrew holds the Howard Paterson Chair in Theology and Public Issues and is Director of the Centre for Theology and Public Issues.
Andrew studied Theology and Politics at the University of Bristol before completing his PhD in Politics and Government at the University of Kent at Canterbury.
Before coming to Otago, Andrew co-directed the Centre for Faith and Society at the Von Hügel Institute, St Edmund’s College, Cambridge. He has also been heavily involved in working with UK politicians to develop links between Parliament and the churches and other faith communities.
The Centre for Theology and Public Issues at Otago is part of a network of similar international centres, the Global Network of Public Theology. The Centre seeks to raise the profile of public theology in New Zealand and make a significant contribution to public discourse and policy thinking.
For further information about the Centre for Theology and Public Issues
Visit the Centre's website and/or
email ctpinz@otago.ac.nz
Teaching
Public Theology: God in the Public Square
Public Theology and Global Issues
The Roots of Public Theology
- CHTX305/405
Theology, Money and Markets
- CHTH/X334
Preferred Areas of Supervision
- The relationship between faith and politics in contemporary contexts
- Public theology
- Religious and political thought from the Reformation to the present day
- Christian socialism
- Liberation and other ‘developing world’ theologies
Main Research Interests
- Public theology, particularly in an Aotearoa-New Zealand context
- Meanings of 'secular', including in an Aotearoa-New Zealand context
- The value of the 'common good' in contemporary political discourse
- Theological responses to ‘global’ issues
- Radical religion and politics
- The use of the Bible in the 'public square'
Current Research
- The meaning of 'secular' in Aotearoa-New Zealand (UORG-funded project in collaboration with Dr Vivienne Anderson, College of Education)
- The issue of using religious language in the public square, particularly in the ‘secular’ context of New Zealand
- Theological responses to the current economic situation, looking in particular at how theology can stimulate and contribute to fresh thinking about what constitutes a ‘good society’. A particular interest within this area is economic inequality and whether it can be reduced
- Historical and current perspectives on the role of the New Zealand churches in influencing government policy
Current Postgraduate Students
- Mercy Ah Siu-Maliko (PhD) The Prophetic Voice of the Church in Samoan Society: A Public Theology
- Michael Frost (PhD) A Pentecostal theological framework for social engagement with a particular focus on Māori.
- Eleanor Sanderson (M.Theol) A Public Theology of Relationships: Reflections from the Mothers' Union of Aotearoa New Zealand and Polynesia.
- Deborah Broome (M.Theol) Living in Two Cities: Public Theology in Augustine’s City of God and Lessons for the Church Today
- Becky Heale (M.Theol) What do the ethics of the Kingdom of God offer to the New Zealand policy making and reform discussion regarding refugee and asylum seekers?
Publications
