Yale scholar argues Book of Revelation sways immigration policy
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Yale Divinity professor Yii-Jan Lin and her new book, "Immigration and Apocalypse: How the Book of Revelation Shaped American Immigration." Photo: Courtesy of Lin.
The Bible's Book of Revelation has influenced U.S. immigration policy, with interpretations of America as the New Jerusalem and unwanted migrants as the castaways meant for Hell, a New Testament scholar says in a new book.
Why it matters: White American evangelicals continue to shape U.S. policy by using strict interpretations of the Bible as a guide, and Yale Divinity professor Yii-Jan Lin argues this has always been the case around immigration.
Zoom in: "Immigration and Apocalypse: How the Book of Revelation Shaped American Immigration" examines how the Apocalypse story has been used to determine who belongs in the U.S. — and who does not.
- From Columbus in 1492 to Trump's evangelical base, Lin argues that the Book of Revelation has shaped how the United States is seen as the Promised Land for the Chosen People, who must also keep out "hordes" of unhealthy heathens.
- That interpretation has influenced popular culture, church sermons, and restrictive immigration laws throughout U.S. history, Lin argues.
Catch up quick: The Book of Revelation, written by John of Patmos in the First Century, is the last book of the New Testament and envisions a violent Second Coming of Jesus.
- Told in allegorical language, Jesus is locked in a cosmic battle with the forces of evil. The Chosen are accepted into a New Jerusalem, while those kept out are portrayed as subhuman, sexually deviant, and disgusting.
In an interview with Axios, Lin says she came up with the idea for her book after being asked to share her thoughts on apocalyptic Bible passages with Asian Americans in the Bay Area in 2014.
- She remembers writer Junot Díaz asking, "Is there anything more apocalyptic than immigration?"
- "That combined with thinking about the place names of where I was living, so, Golden Gate, Golden State, Angel Island ... Chinese called San Francisco 'Gold Mountain.' There's this heavenly arrival and a promise of paradise for immigrants."
- But the other possibility for immigrants could include disaster, catastrophe, and rejection, Lin says.
The intrigue: Lin says that, while researching for her book, she found racist "Yellow Peril" novels of the 1880s, drowned in the Book of Revelation imagery, warning that Chinese immigrants are taking over the country. Congress eventually passed Chinese Exclusion Act.
- Robert Jeffress, an evangelical preacher and prominent Trump supporter, told "Fox & Friends" in 2019: "The Bible says even Heaven itself is going to have a wall around it. Not everybody is going to be allowed in."
- Lin says that's a direct reference to the Book of Revelation.
Zoom out: Lin says Trump's talk of an immigrant invasion or immigrants eating house pets is also language straight from Revelation.
- As some people believe "cities have been conquered and invaded," Trump has been seen "as a savior, Messiah-like....(a) Chosen One."
What we're watching: Progressive-leaning Christians are expected to use other passages in the Bible that welcome "the stranger" as a way to counter anti-immigrant sentiment, Lin says.
- Yet it will be difficult for them to use the Book of Revelation, too, since it's so exclusionary, she says.
