Forced Migration and the Bible: Displacement, Statelessness, and Resiliency in Sacred Texts

Dear Colleagues,

Forced migration refers to the coerced movement of individuals and communities, whether on a national or global scale, caused by diverse social, political, economic, and environmental factors. Biblical texts have responded to forced migrations through references to natural disasters, imperial interventions, deportations, and exiles. In the Hebrew Bible (e.g., Exodus, 1 & 2 Kings, Lamentations, Psalms) and the New Testament (e.g., Gospels, the Book of Acts, 1 Peter, and Revelation), forced migration often emerges as a sign of liberation, divine judgment, accompaniment, or missionary outreach, to name a few examples. Thus, the biblical authors articulate how such forced migrations have shaped their communities’ collective memories, histories, theologies, spiritualities, and ritual practices.

This Special Issue explores forced migration in sacred texts from an interdisciplinary standpoint. It endeavors to advance our understanding of forced migration by considering intersecting religious, social, economic, political, historical, and environmental aspects. Thus, we invite scholars to submit essays examining forced migration through new methodological and comparative approaches in ancient and modern religious contexts.

Essays may address specific or general topics related to migration, the Bible and their intersections with research areas that may include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Climate migration in ancient and contemporary contexts and interpretation.
• Statelessness—refugees, asylum seekers, migrants, deportees, and exilees.
• Imperialism/colonialism—occupation, displacement, deportation, and exile.
• Persecution—religious intolerance, civil war, ethnic cleansing, and structural racism.
• Trauma and lamenting—storytelling, resiliency, and healing rituals.
• Borderlands—human trafficking, racism, and constructions of the self and others.
• Paradigms of biblical interpretation—migration in theological, historical, cultural, and postmodern perspectives.
• Theologies and spiritualities of migration.

We request that, before submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200–300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this to the Guest Editor ([email protected]) or the Assistant Editor ([email protected]) of Religions. The Guest Editors will review abstracts to ensure they properly fit within the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo double-masked peer review.

Deadline for abstract submission: December 31, 2024
Deadline for complete manuscript submission: July 5, 2025

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Roberto Mata
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Religions is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 1800 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• climate migration
• trauma
• borderlands
• statelessness
• neocolonialism