Spirit possession, theology, and identity : a Pacific exploration [WorldCat Entities]

"The George Sainsbury Foundation was established in 1989, ̀for research into and treatment of spirit possession as it relates to mental illness for the benefit of those persons suffering from such sickness.' In 2006, a legal representative for the Foundation approached the School of Theology at the University of Auckland, asking if the School could conduct research into spirit possession. The research project undertaken in response to the grant of funds from the George Sainbury Foundation was conducted in Aotearoa New Zealand for the ̀benefit of those suffering' from spirit possession in this particular context. --Book Jacket."
"The growing contemporary interest in spirit possession prompted eleven past and present faculty members of The University of Auckland's School of Theology along with two of the School's recent post-graduate students to offer essays that in some way explored the reality of spirit possession in Oceania today. Authors were chosen because of their particular research teaching or ministry competencies, and this explains the division of the book into three sections. The first section draws on the experiences of those engaged in pastoral ministry with people who believe they are possessed or those whose particular research interests are the relationship of faith culture and praxis. In the second section, the function and place of spirit language in the biblical texts is examined, while the last section's focus is somewhat broader, addressing some of the historical responses to spirit possession, as well as emerging pneumatologies of good and bad spirits and their impact on the human condition."