The Migrants’ God: Christianity, “Home,” and Just Hospitality

Melissa Snarr, Vanderbilt University

Location

Janet Ayers Academic Center, JAAC 4094

Presentation Type

Presentation

Start Date

19-9-2017 5:00 PM

Description

Home is a disruptive category in both Jewish and Christian traditions: God’s people are often exiles, refugees and even slaves seeking a true home. Their search for home serves as a critique of the political systems of their day. But they also are not immune to using “home” as a category to justify their own injustice and violence. Recentering the immigrant and refugee people of the Bible and God’s love for them refocuses our contemporary faith and calls us to consider its moral and political responsibilities… and temptations. A migrant people beloved by a migrant God, one—in Jesus—who is even born a refugee, calls us to particular practices of just hospitality, caring for the stranger in ways that move beyond charity to justice. The current international refugee crisis demands this depth of theological grounding, praxis and honesty about the category of home.

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Featured Speaker

Convocation Credit: Christian Faith and Tradition

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Sep 19th, 5:00 PM

The Migrants’ God: Christianity, “Home,” and Just Hospitality

Janet Ayers Academic Center, JAAC 4094

Home is a disruptive category in both Jewish and Christian traditions: God’s people are often exiles, refugees and even slaves seeking a true home. Their search for home serves as a critique of the political systems of their day. But they also are not immune to using “home” as a category to justify their own injustice and violence. Recentering the immigrant and refugee people of the Bible and God’s love for them refocuses our contemporary faith and calls us to consider its moral and political responsibilities… and temptations. A migrant people beloved by a migrant God, one—in Jesus—who is even born a refugee, calls us to particular practices of just hospitality, caring for the stranger in ways that move beyond charity to justice. The current international refugee crisis demands this depth of theological grounding, praxis and honesty about the category of home.