Perspectief 2017-36

2017-36 JT Chapter 2: Lutheran responses 27 Reageer is part of the Task Force on Immigration Reform of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America. In line with Martin Luther’s doctrine of sola scriptura (‘scripture alone’) Lutheran theologians root their responses to the refugee crisis primarily in the Bible. Balch, for example, uses Paul’s letter to the Galatians as a basis for a Lutheran approach to welcoming foreigners. He explains that the immigrant Gauls were viewed and depicted as subhuman and barbaric, as well as strongly inferior in battle, by the Greeks and Romans at the time of Paul’s writing 87 . Balch asserts that in the cultural context of the time the Greeks and Romans viewed the Jews in the same way as they did the Gauls. As a result, he claims, Paul’s statement that “[t]here is neither Jew nor Greek” 88 could just as well be read as “there is neither Jew/Gaul nor Greek”. Such a universalised reading of this verse would make clear that the gospel Paul professed “countered racism against emigrants in the Roman Empire” 89 . The fact that Paul’s words ran contrary to the laws of the time, undermining both the Mosaic law that prescribed circumcision and the Roman law that regarded Gauls as inferior, was precisely the reason that a vast number of Gauls were baptised 90 . They converted after learning from Paul that man is “not justified by the works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ” 91 . This line of thought immediately brings in the classic Lutheran emphasis on sola fide , or salvation through faith alone. Furthermore, “God’s ethnic inclusion of emigrants” and appreciation of different ethnic groups requires Christians, too, to move across established ethnic borders, even if this is regarded as illicit by the law and by the majority of society 92 . If an inclusive approach is the norm for Christians in the case of voluntary migrants such as the Gauls, it can only be even more normative when Christians encounter people fleeing for their lives. 87 Balch, D.L. (2015) Paul’s Mission to Rome’s Enemies the Gauls: Faith Welcoming Foreigners Journal of Lutheran Ethics 15-10, §9. 88 Galatians 3:28, NASB. 89 Balch (2015) Paul’s Mission to Rome’s Enemies the Gauls §17. 90 ibid. 22-24. 91 Galatians 2:16, NASB. 92 Balch (2015) Paul’s Mission to Rome’s Enemies the Gauls §1.