The dating of the writing of many Old Testament books is a complicated endeavor, and it is diffic... more The dating of the writing of many Old Testament books is a complicated endeavor, and it is difficult to know when, and where, the book of Ecclesiastes was written. But the evidence of certain Persian loanwords in the text of this book lends credence to it being written in Persia in the fifth century BCE. In light of this likely dating, this paper looks at the possibility that the book may also have emerged out of a diasporic context.
This chapter aims to lift the ban that missionaries put on our people so that we may again find m... more This chapter aims to lift the ban that missionaries put on our people so that we may again find mālie (humour) in, and entertain native mālie with, the Bible. The Bible is one of the pillars of Pasifika societies (in private, domestic, public, and church spaces), where it is under the control of Christian churches. Our churches also control our theologies, and the upshot is that both our readings of the Bible and our theologies have lost our native senses of mālie. This is the spirit in which I approach the text. To uncover mālie in the text I will engage the text through talanoa, for Pasifika humor is best felt when conversing as Pasifika. In Samoan circles, this humorous type of talanoa is known as tala tausua or just simply, tausua.
Theology as Thresholds: Invitations from Aotearoa New Zealand. Edited by Jione Havea, Emily Colgan and Nāsili Vaka'uta, 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:7 speaks of the futility of the actions of the streams running endlessly into the ... more Ecclesiastes 1:7 speaks of the futility of the actions of the streams running endlessly into the seas, as the sea is never filled. This view of water is based on the premise that the oceans are just seamless masses of water. But to Pasifika peoples, the Moana is anything but seamless. They are serene and peaceful, but they are also rough and unforgiving. To Westerners, the Moana is the post-card backdrop waiting to be explored, but to Pasifika, the Moana gives life and must be treated with respect. The Moana also takes life, with respect to the harsh realities of climate change. In this paper, I re-read Ecclesiastes 1:7 from a Pasifika lens, that seeks to draw back the celebratory and utopian notions of Moana. Firstly, I want to provide an alternative perspective of Qohelet’s idea of futility through a Pasifika perspective that perceives the Moana as the connection between lands. In addition, I want to highlight the changing ocean-face of the Moana in light of rising sea levels in Pasifika in response to Qohelet’s idea that “the sea is not full.” Lastly, the Moana is an avenue for migration for Pasifika, and as a second-generation Australian Samoan, I wish to consider implications of this reading of Qohelet, for Pasifika migration and diaspora.
Jonah's encounter with the I'a tele (Samoan for "big fish") has been told many times through the ... more Jonah's encounter with the I'a tele (Samoan for "big fish") has been told many times through the viewpoint of the rebellious prophet, where the satirical value of the story has been heightened and highlighted. Yet not much has been made of the I'a tele's animality, as the focus has been instead on the fish's human-like traits. Interpretations of the story therefore sees the animal's agency often neglected and reducing the animal in the story-as with most biblical stories involving animals-as merely submissive to the human agenda. In Fāgogo, a form of Samoan storytelling, animals are not subjugated, but are equals to humans, and at times worshipped as gods. They do not serve a satirical purpose for a human agenda but are often feared for their mana (power) or praised for their tautua (service). In this paper, I seek to reclaim the position of the animal-Other in storytelling which has been lost through anthropocentric readings. As an Islander, this is a claim that I will pursue through indigenous wisdom, specifically the wisdom of Polynesian cultures. Through a reading of Jonah 1:17-2:10 using a Fāgogo hermeneutic, I take up the story of the Maa o le Tanifa (the stone of the human-eating shark). I use this story in talanoa with the Jonah narrative in a way that highlights the agency of the I'a tele in its own search for Jonah.
While Pasifika communities in the diaspora are mainly Christian communities, they also seek to ma... more While Pasifika communities in the diaspora are mainly Christian communities, they also seek to maintain cultural traditions such as those related to service and respect. However, the focus on service (Samoan: tautua) often engenders a masculine agenda that can be damaging for young men as well as for women, children, LGBTQIA+ members and second-generation members within a church community. In this paper, I propose a new kind of theology that seeks to address toxic masculinity, drawing on the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes ('Qohelet'). Qohelet knows all about tautua. In Ecclesiastes 2, he describes the work of his hands. But then his language takes a dark turn: 'all was vanity and a chasing after wind' (2:11). This turn could provide a turning point for Pasifika theologies being taught in diasporic contexts. In proposing a new theology, I will offer a diasporic re-reading of Ecclesiastes to address toxic masculinity, particularly its influence on identity constructs for second-generation Samoans.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.
Samoan version of my book chapter "Tulou Reading of Song of Songs" which was presented to the Min... more Samoan version of my book chapter "Tulou Reading of Song of Songs" which was presented to the Ministers' Renewal Fellowship at Malua Theological College in 2015. Later published in the Malua Journal 2016.
O se faitauga o le tusi o Pese a Solomona, e faaaogaina ai le "tulou" e fai ma ala e faitau ai vaega maaleale o le tusi. O le faamoemoe ina ia fai se faitauga e tatou te faatulou ma ava i le Tusi Paia, nai lo le lē faitauina ma faauigaina le tala e aunoa ma se amana'ia o ona vaega maaleale. E i ai le talitonuga, atonu o se aga e ono lē faaaloalo lea i Afioga Paia a le Atua.
Reading Eve and the Serpent as a love story, through a Samoans lens of Fāgogo (Samoan storytellin... more Reading Eve and the Serpent as a love story, through a Samoans lens of Fāgogo (Samoan storytelling). I used the tale of Sina and the Tuna (Eel) to read the Gen 3 story alongside.
A biblical response to the COVID-19 pandemic from a Samoan perspective, drawing implications from... more A biblical response to the COVID-19 pandemic from a Samoan perspective, drawing implications from the practice of the 'Shemitah' in Leviticus 25.
PEPA MAFUTAGA FA'AFOUINA FAIFEAU MA AOAO TAUSINUU MALUA, 2016 MATAGALUEGA O LE FEAGAIGA TUAI, 2016
A Samoan reading of Exodus 12:2-13 using Samoan Fishing analogy. (In Samoan language)
Presented ... more A Samoan reading of Exodus 12:2-13 using Samoan Fishing analogy. (In Samoan language)
Presented at Ministers Renewal Fellowship, August 2016, Malua SAMOA
Council for World Mission Regional Meeting, Apia SAMOA MEETING THEME: DANCING IN BABYLON Biblical Response to the Theme: , 2015
Paper presented at CWM Regional Meeting 2015 held in Apia, SAMOA, in response to the theme "Danci... more Paper presented at CWM Regional Meeting 2015 held in Apia, SAMOA, in response to the theme "Dancing in Babylon."
The paper is a Samoan re-reading of Song of Songs 1:5-8 from the perspective of Tautua (Service, server, servant).
A Moana Reading of Qohelet in Samoan
Pepa sa faia i le Mafutaga Faafouina a Faifeau ma Aoao Tausi... more A Moana Reading of Qohelet in Samoan Pepa sa faia i le Mafutaga Faafouina a Faifeau ma Aoao Tausinuu i Malua 2022
The dating of the writing of many Old Testament books is a complicated endeavor, and it is diffic... more The dating of the writing of many Old Testament books is a complicated endeavor, and it is difficult to know when, and where, the book of Ecclesiastes was written. But the evidence of certain Persian loanwords in the text of this book lends credence to it being written in Persia in the fifth century BCE. In light of this likely dating, this paper looks at the possibility that the book may also have emerged out of a diasporic context.
This chapter aims to lift the ban that missionaries put on our people so that we may again find m... more This chapter aims to lift the ban that missionaries put on our people so that we may again find mālie (humour) in, and entertain native mālie with, the Bible. The Bible is one of the pillars of Pasifika societies (in private, domestic, public, and church spaces), where it is under the control of Christian churches. Our churches also control our theologies, and the upshot is that both our readings of the Bible and our theologies have lost our native senses of mālie. This is the spirit in which I approach the text. To uncover mālie in the text I will engage the text through talanoa, for Pasifika humor is best felt when conversing as Pasifika. In Samoan circles, this humorous type of talanoa is known as tala tausua or just simply, tausua.
Theology as Thresholds: Invitations from Aotearoa New Zealand. Edited by Jione Havea, Emily Colgan and Nāsili Vaka'uta, 2022
Ecclesiastes 1:7 speaks of the futility of the actions of the streams running endlessly into the ... more Ecclesiastes 1:7 speaks of the futility of the actions of the streams running endlessly into the seas, as the sea is never filled. This view of water is based on the premise that the oceans are just seamless masses of water. But to Pasifika peoples, the Moana is anything but seamless. They are serene and peaceful, but they are also rough and unforgiving. To Westerners, the Moana is the post-card backdrop waiting to be explored, but to Pasifika, the Moana gives life and must be treated with respect. The Moana also takes life, with respect to the harsh realities of climate change. In this paper, I re-read Ecclesiastes 1:7 from a Pasifika lens, that seeks to draw back the celebratory and utopian notions of Moana. Firstly, I want to provide an alternative perspective of Qohelet’s idea of futility through a Pasifika perspective that perceives the Moana as the connection between lands. In addition, I want to highlight the changing ocean-face of the Moana in light of rising sea levels in Pasifika in response to Qohelet’s idea that “the sea is not full.” Lastly, the Moana is an avenue for migration for Pasifika, and as a second-generation Australian Samoan, I wish to consider implications of this reading of Qohelet, for Pasifika migration and diaspora.
Jonah's encounter with the I'a tele (Samoan for "big fish") has been told many times through the ... more Jonah's encounter with the I'a tele (Samoan for "big fish") has been told many times through the viewpoint of the rebellious prophet, where the satirical value of the story has been heightened and highlighted. Yet not much has been made of the I'a tele's animality, as the focus has been instead on the fish's human-like traits. Interpretations of the story therefore sees the animal's agency often neglected and reducing the animal in the story-as with most biblical stories involving animals-as merely submissive to the human agenda. In Fāgogo, a form of Samoan storytelling, animals are not subjugated, but are equals to humans, and at times worshipped as gods. They do not serve a satirical purpose for a human agenda but are often feared for their mana (power) or praised for their tautua (service). In this paper, I seek to reclaim the position of the animal-Other in storytelling which has been lost through anthropocentric readings. As an Islander, this is a claim that I will pursue through indigenous wisdom, specifically the wisdom of Polynesian cultures. Through a reading of Jonah 1:17-2:10 using a Fāgogo hermeneutic, I take up the story of the Maa o le Tanifa (the stone of the human-eating shark). I use this story in talanoa with the Jonah narrative in a way that highlights the agency of the I'a tele in its own search for Jonah.
While Pasifika communities in the diaspora are mainly Christian communities, they also seek to ma... more While Pasifika communities in the diaspora are mainly Christian communities, they also seek to maintain cultural traditions such as those related to service and respect. However, the focus on service (Samoan: tautua) often engenders a masculine agenda that can be damaging for young men as well as for women, children, LGBTQIA+ members and second-generation members within a church community. In this paper, I propose a new kind of theology that seeks to address toxic masculinity, drawing on the writer of the book of Ecclesiastes ('Qohelet'). Qohelet knows all about tautua. In Ecclesiastes 2, he describes the work of his hands. But then his language takes a dark turn: 'all was vanity and a chasing after wind' (2:11). This turn could provide a turning point for Pasifika theologies being taught in diasporic contexts. In proposing a new theology, I will offer a diasporic re-reading of Ecclesiastes to address toxic masculinity, particularly its influence on identity constructs for second-generation Samoans.
This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative... more This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) licence.
Samoan version of my book chapter "Tulou Reading of Song of Songs" which was presented to the Min... more Samoan version of my book chapter "Tulou Reading of Song of Songs" which was presented to the Ministers' Renewal Fellowship at Malua Theological College in 2015. Later published in the Malua Journal 2016.
O se faitauga o le tusi o Pese a Solomona, e faaaogaina ai le "tulou" e fai ma ala e faitau ai vaega maaleale o le tusi. O le faamoemoe ina ia fai se faitauga e tatou te faatulou ma ava i le Tusi Paia, nai lo le lē faitauina ma faauigaina le tala e aunoa ma se amana'ia o ona vaega maaleale. E i ai le talitonuga, atonu o se aga e ono lē faaaloalo lea i Afioga Paia a le Atua.
Reading Eve and the Serpent as a love story, through a Samoans lens of Fāgogo (Samoan storytellin... more Reading Eve and the Serpent as a love story, through a Samoans lens of Fāgogo (Samoan storytelling). I used the tale of Sina and the Tuna (Eel) to read the Gen 3 story alongside.
A biblical response to the COVID-19 pandemic from a Samoan perspective, drawing implications from... more A biblical response to the COVID-19 pandemic from a Samoan perspective, drawing implications from the practice of the 'Shemitah' in Leviticus 25.
PEPA MAFUTAGA FA'AFOUINA FAIFEAU MA AOAO TAUSINUU MALUA, 2016 MATAGALUEGA O LE FEAGAIGA TUAI, 2016
A Samoan reading of Exodus 12:2-13 using Samoan Fishing analogy. (In Samoan language)
Presented ... more A Samoan reading of Exodus 12:2-13 using Samoan Fishing analogy. (In Samoan language)
Presented at Ministers Renewal Fellowship, August 2016, Malua SAMOA
Council for World Mission Regional Meeting, Apia SAMOA MEETING THEME: DANCING IN BABYLON Biblical Response to the Theme: , 2015
Paper presented at CWM Regional Meeting 2015 held in Apia, SAMOA, in response to the theme "Danci... more Paper presented at CWM Regional Meeting 2015 held in Apia, SAMOA, in response to the theme "Dancing in Babylon."
The paper is a Samoan re-reading of Song of Songs 1:5-8 from the perspective of Tautua (Service, server, servant).
A Moana Reading of Qohelet in Samoan
Pepa sa faia i le Mafutaga Faafouina a Faifeau ma Aoao Tausi... more A Moana Reading of Qohelet in Samoan Pepa sa faia i le Mafutaga Faafouina a Faifeau ma Aoao Tausinuu i Malua 2022
Uploads
O se faitauga o le tusi o Pese a Solomona, e faaaogaina ai le "tulou" e fai ma ala e faitau ai vaega maaleale o le tusi. O le faamoemoe ina ia fai se faitauga e tatou te faatulou ma ava i le Tusi Paia, nai lo le lē faitauina ma faauigaina le tala e aunoa ma se amana'ia o ona vaega maaleale. E i ai le talitonuga, atonu o se aga e ono lē faaaloalo lea i Afioga Paia a le Atua.
Presented at Ministers Renewal Fellowship, August 2016, Malua SAMOA
The paper is a Samoan re-reading of Song of Songs 1:5-8 from the perspective of Tautua (Service, server, servant).
Pepa sa faia i le Mafutaga Faafouina a Faifeau ma Aoao Tausinuu i Malua 2022
O se faitauga o le tusi o Pese a Solomona, e faaaogaina ai le "tulou" e fai ma ala e faitau ai vaega maaleale o le tusi. O le faamoemoe ina ia fai se faitauga e tatou te faatulou ma ava i le Tusi Paia, nai lo le lē faitauina ma faauigaina le tala e aunoa ma se amana'ia o ona vaega maaleale. E i ai le talitonuga, atonu o se aga e ono lē faaaloalo lea i Afioga Paia a le Atua.
Presented at Ministers Renewal Fellowship, August 2016, Malua SAMOA
The paper is a Samoan re-reading of Song of Songs 1:5-8 from the perspective of Tautua (Service, server, servant).
Pepa sa faia i le Mafutaga Faafouina a Faifeau ma Aoao Tausinuu i Malua 2022