“Singing the Song of the Lord on Foreign Soil”: What the Early Centuries Tell Us about the Migrant Factor in the Making of Global Christianity

Paul, the Praetorium and the Saints from Caesar’s Household: Philippians Revisited in Light of Migration Theory

“…the fact that migrants are a highly diverse group with respect to individuals’ migration stories. 24 Yet, as Jehu Hanciles (2016: 37) has pointed out, ‘[m]igration is as old as humanity and has been a prominent factor in the history of human progress. Migrant movements have also played a vital role in the cross-cultural spread of religious ideas, beliefs, and practices; and this is reflected in the formation, scope, and patterns of growth of major religions over time’.…”

“…26 However, studies on migration processes in early Christianity often stretch over a wide time span of several centuries (e.g. Hanciles 2016; de Ligt and Tacoma 2016).…”

“…Thus, a given Christ-believing migrant might be a potential missionary (cf. Hanciles 2016: 42), but these are still two different categories. Similarly, while there is, of course, a difference between a traveller and a migrant, Luuk De Ligt and Laurens Ernst Tacoma (2016: 6) rightly emphasize that ‘it remains the case that throughout history some “travelers” have become “migrants” by opting for permanent residence in another city or region’.…”

“…In the final section of this article, I want to reflect briefly upon Paul’s missionary activity and strategy against the background of the above-mentioned theories and concepts of migration. Hanciles (2016: 42) holds very generally that ‘the migration of Christians has typically contributed to the spread of Christianity’ and distinguishes four categories of migrants that had particular influence on this process: (1) transnational leaders, (2) captives (including slaves), (3) refugees and exiles, (4) merchants. He regards Paul as an example of the first category, transnational leaders , but, as I will sketch in the following, Paul might well fall into all four categories.…”

“…Thus, it is little wonder that questions of identity and tradition stimulate his interactions with the audiences of his letters to such an extent. As Timothy Smith has noticed, ‘migration was often a theologizing experience’ (Smith 1978: 1174, as cited in Hanciles 2016: 41).…”