\u201cThe Christian Bible is a collection of texts of and about migration.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nIs this the way your congregation understands the Bible?\u00a0 Depending on where your church is located and who worships there, this claim may seem audacious, perhaps even preposterous.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2021\/09\/priscilla-du-preez-9CMUPez8wLo-unsplash-1024x683.jpg\")
Photo by Priscilla Du Preez on Unsplash https:\/\/unsplash.com\/photos\/9CMUPez8wLo<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBut this is exactly the premise of the book, Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration, <\/em>edited by Efra\u00edn Agosto and Jacqueline M. Hidalgo.\u00a0 Because of its authors\u2019 rigorous scholarship and skilled hermeneutics, the reader emerges convinced that this premise (found on p. 11) is correct.\u00a0 Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration <\/em>is a collection of 10 essays written by Latinx biblical scholars who explore not just how migrating peoples have used the Bible to frame their experiences, but to make the case that the Bible itself is a text of migration.<\/p>\nThe Bible is \u201ca space of migrant urgency.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\nThe editors\u2019 and authors\u2019 position is that the Bible is \u201ca space of migrant urgency\u201d and should be interpreted through \u201cthe lens of migration, exile, and diaspora with a focus on migrants and the children of migrants\u201d (2). As such, the Bible should be read with those who are migrants, and our perspectives must be informed by their lived experiences.\u00a0 This should result in Christians calling for U.S. policies to be reshaped so that migrants are seen as human beings rather than \u201cproblems,\u201d \u201canimals,\u201d \u201cillegals,\u201d or \u201caliens.\u201d<\/p>\n
For the growing number of congregations that serve immigrant communities, this is not news.\u00a0 This is their reality every day. And, as the authors in this volume note, the Bible companions migrants and frames their experiences.\u00a0 Scripture gives them a reference point as they are travelling and resettling, and speaks of their struggles with ancient stories that echo from across two millennia.<\/p>\n
But why should congregations who have not lived through migration pay attention to this issue?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\nWhy should pastors whose parishioners have no reference point for the migration experience read this book?\u00a0 What insights are in these pages that congregations made up of the descendants of colonizers need to hear?<\/p>\n
In Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration<\/em>, the authors are \u201cshowing how the Bible was not only produced by migrants but also affirms that settled communities are obligated to welcome, love, and affirm the humanity of migrants\u201d (13).\u00a0 This is a more scholarly book that probably would not be as well suited for a lay audience.\u00a0 But what ministers<\/em> will find in this collection is a window into the experiences of migrating peoples that they might otherwise have no access to.\u00a0 In turn, they can integrate these insights into their sermons, Bible studies, and pastoral conversations.<\/p>\nThe Bible as a \u201choming device\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2021\/09\/Latinxs-the-Bible-and-Migration-212x300.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
For example, Jacqueline M. Hidalgo recounts her ethnographic research with Cuban immigrants at Calvary Chapel at Claremont University in California.\u00a0 She describes how the Bible is like a \u201choming device\u201d for those who experience \u201cunhomeliness,\u201d so that Scripture becomes \u201ca basis from which to mediate and negotiate senses of home, especially for marginalized and migratory peoples\u201d (22).<\/p>\n
For another example, try reading the story of Ruth and Boaz from the perspective of farmworker women of Hispanic origin in the U.S. \u2013 80% of whom experience some form of sexual violence in the fields.\u00a0 How do they interpret Boaz\u2019s order to the men not to bother (i.e., sexually assault) Ruth, a foreign woman gleaning in the fields?\u00a0 This is the question Ahida Calder\u00f3n Pilarski asks in her chapter, \u201cGendering (Im)migration in the Pentateuch\u2019s Legal Codes: A Reading from a Latina Perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n
The importance of telling immigrant stories<\/strong><\/h2>\nOne of the most poignant chapters is Gregory Lee Cu\u00e9llar\u2019s \u201cChanneling the Biblical Exile as an Art Task for Central American Refugee Children on the Texas-Mexico Border.\u201d\u00a0 The author shares the story of G\u00e9nesis, a young girl from El Salvador recounting her viaje a los Estados Unidos<\/em> (trip to the United States) while drawing images using the paper and crayons provided to her.\u00a0 She draws the dehumanizing detention center crammed with babies, children, and parents shivering beneath thin plastic blankets. Yet hovering over the scene next to a yellow sun is an image of God smiling, reassuring her that God is with her.<\/p>\nAs Cu\u00e9llar frames it, \u201cFor G\u00e9nesis, the Rio Grande is a criminalizing landscape; at the same time, it is a place where her faith in God intervenes.\u00a0 Here, her faith narrative takes the form of a political theology in which God is believed to work beyond state sovereignty and mandatory detention in order to ensure the safe passage of asylum seekers\u201d (78-79).\u00a0 In the same way, the Bible contains political theologies for peoples in exile, on the move, or seeking refuge.\u00a0 In sagas such as Joseph sold into slavery and taken to a foreign land, the Lamentations written in exile, and Psalm 137 raging that the Israelites are made to sing their song in a foreign land, the sacred Hebrew texts emerge from the pain and struggle of peoples forced from their homes and homeland.\u00a0 For immigrants then and now, narrative, poetry, and art serves as a healing vehicle for expressing what it is like to endure violent subjugation under a conquering people.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just the Hebrew Scriptures that can be counted as migration texts, however.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\nAs Efrain Agosto points out in his chapter, \u201cIslands, Borders, and Migration: Reading Paul in Light of the Crisis in Puerto Rico,\u201d Paul was, in many ways, a migrant worker.\u00a0 He crossed borders repeatedly in his journeys to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and endured numerous hardships to fulfill his mission.\u00a0 His letters not only recount his experience as a person \u201con the move,\u201d but are his way of making meaning as a border-crosser. Agosto puts Paul\u2019s experiences in conversation with those of his native Puerto Rico which has seen a mass exodus due to hurricanes, agricultural devastation, and economic deprivation.\u00a0 Whether forced or voluntary, those living as diaspora people can find solidarity with Paul\u2019s migration experiences, whether through assimilation, accommodation, or alienation.<\/p>\n
A groundbreaking, border-crossing collection<\/strong><\/h2>\nAmong the authors of Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration<\/em> are five biblical scholars, three theologians, and one professor of religion each coming from different points of origin, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The authors also locate themselves or emerge from various denominations including Presbyterian, Baptist, and Roman Catholic, to name a few. All this to say that the editors were careful to curate perspectives that represent a range of disciplines, cultures, and ecclesial traditions within the Latinx experience.<\/p>\nHowever, one of the most important realizations that comes from this book is how much a second volume is needed \u2013 one that includes perspectives that were not able to be included in this one.\u00a0 The editors note that due to economic, educational, and gender disparities within Latinx communities, female scholars, LGBTQIA+ scholars, and scholars from countries with underrepresented membership in the guild are not included.\u00a0 Thus, the volume itself is a call for voices of more Latinx scholars to be identified, nurtured, and lifted up so that both the guild and the wider public can benefit from their insights.<\/p>\n
Order the ebook Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration<\/em> here.<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2021\/09\/Bible-Politics-and-Ministry-graphic-1024x577.png\")
<\/p>\n
Want to hear more from Efrain Agosto about the Bible and migration policy?\u00a0 Register for <\/em>The Bible, Politics, and Ministry: Guidance for Clergy and Congregations<\/a>, a conversation with Agosto and Jerry Sumney, biblical scholars who will explain how Scripture authorizes and compels us to engage public policy as part of our faith.\u00a0 <\/em>Hosted by the Clergy Emergency League<\/a> and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. <\/em>Tuesday, September 21, 2021,\u00a0 7:00 Eastern, 6:00 Central, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific.\u00a0 To register, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\nRead also:<\/h4>\n
Climate Migration: How Should the Church Respond?<\/a><\/p>\nShoes in the Vineyard: Immigration and Jesus\u2019s Parable<\/a><\/p>\n
\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/764\/2021\/07\/LeahSchade.Headshot3-150x150.jpeg\")
The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nThe Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade<\/strong>\u00a0is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at\u00a0<\/em>Lexington Theological Seminary<\/i><\/a>\u00a0in Kentucky and ordained in the ELCA. Dr. Schade does not speak for LTS or the ELCA; her opinions are her own.\u00a0 She is the author of\u00a0<\/em>Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide<\/a>\u00a0(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019)<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit<\/a>\u00a0(Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of\u00a0<\/em>Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis<\/a>\u00a0(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).\u00a0 Her latest book, co-written with Jerry Sumney is\u00a0<\/em>Apocalypse When?: A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts<\/a>\u00a0(Wipf & Stock, 2020).<\/p>\nTwitter<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/em>@LeahSchade<\/i><\/a><\/p>\n
But this is exactly the premise of the book, Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration, <\/em>edited by Efra\u00edn Agosto and Jacqueline M. Hidalgo.\u00a0 Because of its authors\u2019 rigorous scholarship and skilled hermeneutics, the reader emerges convinced that this premise (found on p. 11) is correct.\u00a0 Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration <\/em>is a collection of 10 essays written by Latinx biblical scholars who explore not just how migrating peoples have used the Bible to frame their experiences, but to make the case that the Bible itself is a text of migration.<\/p>\n The editors\u2019 and authors\u2019 position is that the Bible is \u201ca space of migrant urgency\u201d and should be interpreted through \u201cthe lens of migration, exile, and diaspora with a focus on migrants and the children of migrants\u201d (2). As such, the Bible should be read with those who are migrants, and our perspectives must be informed by their lived experiences.\u00a0 This should result in Christians calling for U.S. policies to be reshaped so that migrants are seen as human beings rather than \u201cproblems,\u201d \u201canimals,\u201d \u201cillegals,\u201d or \u201caliens.\u201d<\/p>\n For the growing number of congregations that serve immigrant communities, this is not news.\u00a0 This is their reality every day. And, as the authors in this volume note, the Bible companions migrants and frames their experiences.\u00a0 Scripture gives them a reference point as they are travelling and resettling, and speaks of their struggles with ancient stories that echo from across two millennia.<\/p>\n Why should pastors whose parishioners have no reference point for the migration experience read this book?\u00a0 What insights are in these pages that congregations made up of the descendants of colonizers need to hear?<\/p>\n In Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration<\/em>, the authors are \u201cshowing how the Bible was not only produced by migrants but also affirms that settled communities are obligated to welcome, love, and affirm the humanity of migrants\u201d (13).\u00a0 This is a more scholarly book that probably would not be as well suited for a lay audience.\u00a0 But what ministers<\/em> will find in this collection is a window into the experiences of migrating peoples that they might otherwise have no access to.\u00a0 In turn, they can integrate these insights into their sermons, Bible studies, and pastoral conversations.<\/p>\n For example, Jacqueline M. Hidalgo recounts her ethnographic research with Cuban immigrants at Calvary Chapel at Claremont University in California.\u00a0 She describes how the Bible is like a \u201choming device\u201d for those who experience \u201cunhomeliness,\u201d so that Scripture becomes \u201ca basis from which to mediate and negotiate senses of home, especially for marginalized and migratory peoples\u201d (22).<\/p>\n For another example, try reading the story of Ruth and Boaz from the perspective of farmworker women of Hispanic origin in the U.S. \u2013 80% of whom experience some form of sexual violence in the fields.\u00a0 How do they interpret Boaz\u2019s order to the men not to bother (i.e., sexually assault) Ruth, a foreign woman gleaning in the fields?\u00a0 This is the question Ahida Calder\u00f3n Pilarski asks in her chapter, \u201cGendering (Im)migration in the Pentateuch\u2019s Legal Codes: A Reading from a Latina Perspective.\u201d<\/p>\n One of the most poignant chapters is Gregory Lee Cu\u00e9llar\u2019s \u201cChanneling the Biblical Exile as an Art Task for Central American Refugee Children on the Texas-Mexico Border.\u201d\u00a0 The author shares the story of G\u00e9nesis, a young girl from El Salvador recounting her viaje a los Estados Unidos<\/em> (trip to the United States) while drawing images using the paper and crayons provided to her.\u00a0 She draws the dehumanizing detention center crammed with babies, children, and parents shivering beneath thin plastic blankets. Yet hovering over the scene next to a yellow sun is an image of God smiling, reassuring her that God is with her.<\/p>\n As Cu\u00e9llar frames it, \u201cFor G\u00e9nesis, the Rio Grande is a criminalizing landscape; at the same time, it is a place where her faith in God intervenes.\u00a0 Here, her faith narrative takes the form of a political theology in which God is believed to work beyond state sovereignty and mandatory detention in order to ensure the safe passage of asylum seekers\u201d (78-79).\u00a0 In the same way, the Bible contains political theologies for peoples in exile, on the move, or seeking refuge.\u00a0 In sagas such as Joseph sold into slavery and taken to a foreign land, the Lamentations written in exile, and Psalm 137 raging that the Israelites are made to sing their song in a foreign land, the sacred Hebrew texts emerge from the pain and struggle of peoples forced from their homes and homeland.\u00a0 For immigrants then and now, narrative, poetry, and art serves as a healing vehicle for expressing what it is like to endure violent subjugation under a conquering people.<\/p>\n As Efrain Agosto points out in his chapter, \u201cIslands, Borders, and Migration: Reading Paul in Light of the Crisis in Puerto Rico,\u201d Paul was, in many ways, a migrant worker.\u00a0 He crossed borders repeatedly in his journeys to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and endured numerous hardships to fulfill his mission.\u00a0 His letters not only recount his experience as a person \u201con the move,\u201d but are his way of making meaning as a border-crosser. Agosto puts Paul\u2019s experiences in conversation with those of his native Puerto Rico which has seen a mass exodus due to hurricanes, agricultural devastation, and economic deprivation.\u00a0 Whether forced or voluntary, those living as diaspora people can find solidarity with Paul\u2019s migration experiences, whether through assimilation, accommodation, or alienation.<\/p>\n Among the authors of Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration<\/em> are five biblical scholars, three theologians, and one professor of religion each coming from different points of origin, including Argentina, Costa Rica, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. The authors also locate themselves or emerge from various denominations including Presbyterian, Baptist, and Roman Catholic, to name a few. All this to say that the editors were careful to curate perspectives that represent a range of disciplines, cultures, and ecclesial traditions within the Latinx experience.<\/p>\n However, one of the most important realizations that comes from this book is how much a second volume is needed \u2013 one that includes perspectives that were not able to be included in this one.\u00a0 The editors note that due to economic, educational, and gender disparities within Latinx communities, female scholars, LGBTQIA+ scholars, and scholars from countries with underrepresented membership in the guild are not included.\u00a0 Thus, the volume itself is a call for voices of more Latinx scholars to be identified, nurtured, and lifted up so that both the guild and the wider public can benefit from their insights.<\/p>\n Order the ebook Latinxs, the Bible, and Migration<\/em> here.<\/a><\/p>\n Want to hear more from Efrain Agosto about the Bible and migration policy?\u00a0 Register for <\/em>The Bible, Politics, and Ministry: Guidance for Clergy and Congregations<\/a>, a conversation with Agosto and Jerry Sumney, biblical scholars who will explain how Scripture authorizes and compels us to engage public policy as part of our faith.\u00a0 <\/em>Hosted by the Clergy Emergency League<\/a> and the Wisconsin Council of Churches. <\/em>Tuesday, September 21, 2021,\u00a0 7:00 Eastern, 6:00 Central, 5:00 Mountain, 4:00 Pacific.\u00a0 To register, click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n Climate Migration: How Should the Church Respond?<\/a><\/p>\n Shoes in the Vineyard: Immigration and Jesus\u2019s Parable<\/a><\/p>\n The Rev. Dr. Leah D. Schade<\/strong>\u00a0is the Assistant Professor of Preaching and Worship at\u00a0<\/em>Lexington Theological Seminary<\/i><\/a>\u00a0in Kentucky and ordained in the ELCA. Dr. Schade does not speak for LTS or the ELCA; her opinions are her own.\u00a0 She is the author of\u00a0<\/em>Preaching in the Purple Zone: Ministry in the Red-Blue Divide<\/a>\u00a0(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019)<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0<\/em>Creation-Crisis Preaching: Ecology, Theology, and the Pulpit<\/a>\u00a0(Chalice Press, 2015). She is the co-editor of\u00a0<\/em>Rooted and Rising: Voices of Courage in a Time of Climate Crisis<\/a>\u00a0(Rowman & Littlefield, 2019).\u00a0 Her latest book, co-written with Jerry Sumney is\u00a0<\/em>Apocalypse When?: A Guide to Interpreting and Preaching Apocalyptic Texts<\/a>\u00a0(Wipf & Stock, 2020).<\/p>\n Twitter<\/strong>:\u00a0<\/em>@LeahSchade<\/i><\/a><\/p>\nThe Bible is \u201ca space of migrant urgency.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong><\/h2>\n
But why should congregations who have not lived through migration pay attention to this issue?\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\n
The Bible as a \u201choming device\u201d<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nThe importance of telling immigrant stories<\/strong><\/h2>\n
It\u2019s not just the Hebrew Scriptures that can be counted as migration texts, however.\u00a0 <\/strong><\/h3>\n
A groundbreaking, border-crossing collection<\/strong><\/h2>\n
<\/p>\nRead also:<\/h4>\n
\n