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Abstract

Future ecclesial responses to refugee crises benefit from inspecting past historical encounters. In 2015-2016, Sweden exhibited a systemized, policy-driven reaction to the displaced peoples of Afghanistan, Iraq, and Syria. This research employs the missional helix to interpret how such a response occurred. A cursory investigation of scripture reveals a clear mandate for believers to care for sojourners. A concise cultural analysis by Swedish anthropologists reveals an egalitarian people seeking identity apart from the Christian past, albeit with echoed, residual praxes. Sweden’s attitudes toward refugee care in the 20th century ranged from xenophobic to receptive amid pressure to revert to a closed border policy. This article then proposes a strategy for the formation of care based on the response of Lewi Pethrus and various Christian churches in Sweden.

Keywords

Refugee Sweden Syria diversity integration Folkhemmet sojourner

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Historical Christian response to refugees in Sweden

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