Restoring Identities - (The Global Story of Christianity) by Upolu Lumā & Vaai & Mark A Lamport (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

In a sense, Oceania can be considered a microcosm of World Christianity. Within this region are many of the same observable trends on the global level that impact Christian life, faith, and witness. The geography of Oceania--the "liquid continent"--is unique. Christianity arrived in Australia and New Zealand in the late eighteenth century via British colonial powers. Indigenous Aboriginal peoples, Torres Strait Islanders, and Māori peoples were dispossessed of land, property, rights, and dignity. Christianity grew by migration and conversion (not always voluntary), and over time became tightly intertwined with culture. In the twentieth century, rapid secularization moved Christianity into the private sphere, and by 2020 Christian affiliation had dropped from 97 percent to 57 percent. However, the history of Christianity in the Pacific Islands--Melanesia, Micronesia, and Polynesia--is quite different. Christianity arrived via Protestant and Catholic missionaries between the fifteenth and nineteenth centuries and grew substantially in the twentieth century largely due to indigenous Christian efforts. Islanders brought Christianity to neighboring islands, indigenous theologies developed, and churches gradually separated from their Western mission founders. One of the great "success stories" of World Christianity is Papua New Guinea, which grew from just 4 percent Christian in 1900 to 95 percent in 2020. However, growth is never the entire story. Violence against women is endemic in Papua New Guinea and is often combined with accusations of witchcraft. An estimated 59 percent of women have experienced physical or sexual violence in their lifetime (and 48 percent in the last year). As Christianity continues its shift to the global South, it becomes increasingly critical to heed the experiences, perspectives, and theologies of Christians, particularly women, in the Pacific Islands.

Review Quotes

"This book moves on from colonial narratives of Christianity in Oceania, allowing indigenous Christians to tell their own stories to the global Christian community. Their insights offer profound understandings of community and our relationship to land, water, and the environment--perhaps what mankind needs to reverse its poor stewardship of the planet. This collection presents a strong rationale for decolonizing Christianity around the world and forefronting those who, up until now, have had little or no voice."

--Todd M. Johnson, distinguished professor of mission and global Christianity, Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary



"Restoring Identities offers lively conversations and insightful storytelling about the past, present, and future of Christianity in Oceania. All the contributors insightfully consider Pasifika cultural dynamics in fresh and compelling ways, and the volume's diverse chapters harmonize thanks to the authors' shared critical engagements. This book is sure to become a standard reference in studies of global Christianity."

--Matt Tomlinson, professor of anthropology, Australian National University



"Restoring Identities offers a window into the current stage of decolonizing a received Christianity through an Oceanic lens. Of particular interest is the intersection running throughout the volume between talanoa and a moana hermeneutics (on the one hand) and history and the reading of faith's entanglement with empire. The foundations are being laid for further phases of work on a Christian identity and its always ambivalent relationship to culture and theology."

--Clive Pearson, editor-in-chief, International Journal of Public Theology



"This is a timely and important collection which serves the great need--long ignored in the general literature, where it is often absent altogether--of rendering the contested category of Oceania/the Pacific visible to non-specialist scholars and the 'helicopter narrative' scholars. There is a lot here to satisfy readers--whether they be new to the area or established scholars."

--Mark Hutchinson, university historian, Western Sydney University

About the Author

Upolu Lumā Vaai serves as principal of the Pacific Theological College (Fiji) and professor of theology and ethics. His recent co-edited volumes include reSTORYing the Pasifika Household (2023), Methodist Revolutions (2022), and Transformative Spiritualities for the Ecumenical Pilgrimage of Justice (2022).



Mark A. Lamport has for forty years been a professor at graduate theological schools in the United States and Europe. He is editor of a dozen reference works, including Emerging Theologies from the Global South (2022); Christianity in the Middle East (2020); Encyclopedia of Christianity in the Global South (2018); Encyclopedia of Martin Luther and the Reformation (2017); Encyclopedia of Christianity in the United States (2016); and Encyclopedia of Christian Education (2015).