Immigrant Neighbors among Us: Immigration across Theological Traditions

by M. Daniel Carroll R., Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. (Editor), Juan F. Martinez (Foreword)

How do different Christian denominations in the United States approach immigration issues? In Immigrant Neighbors among Us, U.S. Hispanic scholars creatively mine the resources of their theological traditions to reflect on one of the most controversial issues of our day. Representative theologians from Roman Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist/Wesleyan, Pentecostal, and Independent Evangelical church families show how biblical narratives, historical events, systematic frameworks, ethical principles, and models of ministry shape their traditions' perspectives on immigrant neighbors, law, and reform. Each chapter provides questions for dialogue. "A superb collection of chapters addressing immigration from the theological, ethical, and pastoral perspectives of most of the main ecclesial traditions present among U.S. Latinas/os today. Highly recommended for those seeking a serious, informed, and more sensible understanding of immigration." --Orlando O. Espín, Professor of Systematic Theology, University of San Diego "This book is a splendid rejoinder to the critique that Latino/a theology has not developed a full-fledged theology of migration. Digging deep into Latino/a experiences of migration and the theological resources of six different Christian communities, the contributors offer rich and challenging reflections on migration . . . I most strongly recommend this book to church leaders, those ministering with and for Latino/a migrants, and activists working for the reform of law and public policies regarding migration." --Peter C. Phan, Ignacio Ellacuria Chair of Catholic Social Thought, Georgetown University M. Daniel Carroll R. is Distinguished Professor of Old Testament at Denver Seminary, Denver, Colorado, and adjunct professor at El Seminario Teológico Centroamericano, Guatemala City, Guatemala. He is the author of Christians at the Immigration, the Church, and the Bible (2013). Leopoldo A. Sánchez M. is Associate Professor of Systematic Theology at Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, Missouri, where he holds the Werner R.H. and Elizabeth Ringger Krause Chair for Hispanic Ministries and is Director of the Center for Hispanic Studies. He is the author of Receiver, Bearer, and Giver of God's Jesus' Life in the Spirit as a Lens for Theology and Life (2015).

164 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 11, 2015

Reviews

[Karl Mueller]

Another good book on immigration edited by Daniel Carroll. This book focuses on Catholic, Lutheran, Reformed, Methodist, Pentecostal and Independent Evangelical perspectives on immigration in the USA. While the authors focus on Hispanic immigration issues, there is more than enough here that applies to all immigrants. If you have read other more foundational books on Biblical perspectives on immigration, then this is a good book to read. Each chapter provided some insight into the issue.

[Ricky Beckett]

This book accomplished what it set out to do. The collection of essays are by Hispanic Christians from various church traditions that seek to offer the perspective and approach to immigration issues largely through the systematic and historical theology of their respective church traditions. Not too long ago, as a person who typically identifies as a conservative and votes Republican, I used to be vehemently against harbouring undocumented immigrants in our land. That is, until I married an immigrant (documented) from Finland and met her immigrant friends, one of whom became an undocumented immigrant (though previously documented) due to forces outside her control. She no longer resides in this country because the system failed her. Ever since meeting my wife and dealing with the terrible complexities of U.S. immigration laws—especially as we are currently trying to get her her Green Card (which can take anywhere between 6 months and 2 years)—my perspective on undocumented immigrants has changed entirely. In addition to developing actual relationships with real-life undocumented AND documented immigrants and their stories that opened my eyes to their struggles and vulnerabilities, learning about my own church tradition's biblical stance on immigration helped me change my mind as well (Lutheranism, LCMS). Instead of being unapologetically cruel, we ought to be hospitable, like Christians are supposed to be.

I don't think this book aims to change peoples' minds. In fact, one of the authors in the book says he doesn't want to do that. Rather, its aim is to provide information on the various church traditions' perspective and history in support of the immigrant neighbour among us. It also has discussion questions for a Bible study group or some other group of some sort. But that doesn't mean this book won't change your mind if you despise undocumented immigrants in their desperate plights (and I hope it would change your mind). It would be a challenging read for such people. But how can we learn and grow if we don't read and/or listen to opposing points of view? Otherwise, you're just engaging in confirmation bias, which is a logical fallacy.

As an LCMS Lutheran, while there are certainly some theological things I don't agree with in each of the church traditions, there are things from each tradition we Lutherans can glean and learn from to incorporate into our own tradition. This doesn't mean I'm Democrat or liberal now. I'm definitely neither of those things. Sure, I think of myself as conservative, but not necessarily Republican. But rather than any of these labels, I instead aim to follow Christ faithfully, which one way of doing that is to be hospitable to our immigrant neighbour among us. I don't follow an elephant or a jackass; I follow Christ, the Lion of Judah.