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Religions
Special Issues
Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History
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Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History

A special issue of Religions (ISSN 2077-1444). This special issue belongs to the section "Religions and Humanities/Philosophies".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 January 2026 | Viewed by 7214

Special Issue Editor

Dr. Anthony Miller

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
World and East Asian History, Hanover College, Hanover, IN 47243, USA
Interests: the Cold War; Sino–American relations; the transnational ties forged by religion, immigration, and diplomacy connecting the US Midwest to China since the late 19th century

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In this Special Issue of Religions, scholars are invited to analyze the history of various religions by emphasizing the ways in which mobility has shaped the development of transnational networks of spiritual systems across the globe. In particular, we ask scholars to examine the ways in which historical subjects have criss-crossed political, cultural, and social borders as pilgrims, missionaries, refugees, and members of migrant communities to practice their religion. In analyzing the mobility of religious persons within a transnational historical context, scholars should offer insights into how the movement of religion from one place to the next has been shaped by larger external events such as war, revolution, economic development, and technology, but also how various forms of movement such as moving across geopolitical borders have become integral to religious practices and identities. In so doing, scholars will contribute to the ongoing “transnational turn” in history, charting how various communities around the globe from Jerusalem to Beijing or rural Appalachia to the northern Sahel have come to forge shared communities of faith and worship. Along with this, the Special Issue aims to prompt scholars to think critically about the ways in which mobile religious subjects have promoted the interconnectedness of societies, cultures, and economies between places around the globe while also underscoring how that historical process has both challenged and reinforced nation states and national identities. Lastly, scholars should consider how a religion’s movement through transnational circuits of trade, cultural exchange, and immigration has created controversy surrounding ideas about orthodoxy, tradition, progress, cultural adaptation, and evolution within a faith. In that sense, the Special Issue hopes to highlight the various problems produced by mobility that transnational religious groups have had to overcome historically and how clergy, lay disciples, and institutions from aroud the globe compete to act as custodians of their faith.   

We request that, prior to submitting a manuscript, interested authors initially submit a proposed title and an abstract of 200-300 words summarizing their intended contribution. Please send this information to the Guest Editor, Dr. Anthony J. Miller, at millera@hanover.edu, or to the Assistant Editor of Religions, Ms. Evelyn Zeng, at evelyn.zeng@mdpi.com. The Guest Editors will review the abstracts to ensure they align with the scope of the Special Issue. Full manuscripts will undergo a double-blind peer-review process.

Deadline for abstract submission: 1 May 2025.

Deadline for full-text submission: 1 August 2025.

We look forward to receiving your contributions.

Dr. Anthony Miller
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.

Keywords

  • pilgrims
  • mobility
  • transnational turn
  • refugees
  • missionaries
  • migrants
  • border crossing
  • orthodoxy
  • cultural adaptation

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Published Papers (5 papers)

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Research

19 pages, 227 KB  
Article
Endogamy and Religious Boundaries in a Transnational Context—The Case of Knanaya Christians in North America
by Sinu Rose
Religions 2025, 16(10), 1242; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16101242 - 28 Sep 2025
Viewed by 399
Abstract
The Knanaya Christians, also referred to as Thekkumbhagar or Southists, represent a distinct endogamous group within the wider community of Saint Thomas Christians of southern India. Their origins can be traced to the arrival of Jewish Christians led by Knai Thoma or Thomas [...] Read more.
The Knanaya Christians, also referred to as Thekkumbhagar or Southists, represent a distinct endogamous group within the wider community of Saint Thomas Christians of southern India. Their origins can be traced to the arrival of Jewish Christians led by Knai Thoma or Thomas of Cana, who migrated to the Malabar Coast from Persia in 345CE. Upon their arrival, they mingled with the established Christian population of the Malabar Coast, known as the Vadakkumbhagar or the Northists, whose roots extend back to the apostolic mission of Saint Thomas in the 1st century CE. However, the Knanaya Christians have successfully preserved their unique identity through the practice of endogamy, which keeps their bloodlines separate from those of the Vadakkumbhagar, while also maintaining a spiritual connection and liturgical continuity with the latter. Despite their matrimonial exclusivity, the Knanaya Christians have followed the same developmental path as the larger Thomas Christian community, sharing liturgical practices, enjoying similar privileges, facing the same challenges during the Portuguese era, experiencing divisions in the 17th century, and striving to preserve their identity. The migration of this endogamous community to other parts of the world since the mid-20th century, in similar lines with different groups of Thomas Christians, has posed challenges to their traditions and practices, especially endogamy. This paper explores how Knanaya Christians maintain and adapt their endogamous marriage traditions in transnational settings by focusing on how Knanaya religious authorities and lay members collectively negotiate these tensions—whether by reinforcing endogamy or adapting it in response to shifting realities in North American settings. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History)
12 pages, 284 KB  
Article
Sacred Ambition, Secular Power: Jesuit Missions and the Rebalancing Authority of the Portuguese Empire, 1540–1759
by Boyu Fang
Religions 2025, 16(9), 1211; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091211 - 21 Sep 2025
Viewed by 592
Abstract
This article treats the familiar triad “Gold, God, and Glory” as a heuristic to track how commercial, missionary, and reputational aims were configured within overlapping jurisdictions of the Portuguese world. Through three cases—the 1552 clash in Malacca between St. Francis Xavier and Captain [...] Read more.
This article treats the familiar triad “Gold, God, and Glory” as a heuristic to track how commercial, missionary, and reputational aims were configured within overlapping jurisdictions of the Portuguese world. Through three cases—the 1552 clash in Malacca between St. Francis Xavier and Captain D. Álvaro de Ataíde da Gama; the Gama family’s bargaining over offices and revenues; and the 1759 expulsion of the Society of Jesus—it argues that localized, negotiable frictions in the sixteenth century evolved into a structural confrontation by the mid-eighteenth century. Drawing on published Jesuit correspondence and secondary analyses of royal and municipal records, the study shows how missions initially supported metropolitan aims yet increasingly challenged them as Jesuit educational networks and revenue-bearing assets expanded. The Malacca dispute is read as a jurisdictional struggle over diplomatic access and rents, not merely a moral drama. The 1750 Treaty of Madrid and the Guaraní War further politicized perceptions of Jesuit wealth and influence, while the Lisbon-centered reform agenda after 1755 turned tension into rupture. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History)
24 pages, 396 KB  
Article
The Rural Reconstruction Models of American Christianity in China: A Perspective of Sino-American Transnational Cultural Exchange, 1907–1950
by Zheyu Shi and Wei Duan
Religions 2025, 16(9), 1202; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091202 - 19 Sep 2025
Viewed by 571
Abstract
In the context of global modernization, both the United States and China faced major challenges in rural social development. In the early twentieth century, the American federal government launched the Country Life Movement, during which Christianity addressed the rural crisis through rural church [...] Read more.
In the context of global modernization, both the United States and China faced major challenges in rural social development. In the early twentieth century, the American federal government launched the Country Life Movement, during which Christianity addressed the rural crisis through rural church reforms. Meanwhile, influenced by the American-led World Agricultural Mission Movement, the Christian churches applied the experiences and insights gained from the U.S. rural church reforms to China’s rural reconstruction movement. During the first half of the twentieth century, the Christian rural reconstruction models in China evolved to become increasingly comprehensive and targeted. In the early decades, Christian missions promoted the establishment of an agricultural education system to cultivate rural talents. By the 1920s, churches in China had developed a comprehensive rural social reform program. After the 1928 Jerusalem Meeting of the International Missionary Council (IMC), the concept of “Rural Community Parish” emerged as the guiding principle for the comprehensive rural reconstruction program in China. The Christian church further clarified its ultimate goal: to build a “Christian rural civilization in China.” Based on this, Christian rural work in China developed steadily until 1950, when the withdrawal of Christian forces brought an end to their rural influence in China. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History)
13 pages, 225 KB  
Article
Asylum Seekers in the Old Testament: Reinterpreting Moses, Elijah and David
by Hyeong Kyoon Kim
Religions 2025, 16(9), 1196; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16091196 - 18 Sep 2025
Viewed by 519
Abstract
Migration issues remain one of the most contentious topics in contemporary social discourse. This paper reinterprets key Old Testament figures who can be identified as asylum seekers or political migrants. The central question is the following: who represent asylum seekers in the Old [...] Read more.
Migration issues remain one of the most contentious topics in contemporary social discourse. This paper reinterprets key Old Testament figures who can be identified as asylum seekers or political migrants. The central question is the following: who represent asylum seekers in the Old Testament? Employing a narrative methodology, the study focuses on biblical stories and their thematic development rather than linguistic or historical analysis. The paper unfolds in three key sections. First, it defines asylum seekers and reviews prior research related to migration in the Old Testament. Second, it analyzes three significant biblical figures—Moses, Elijah, and David—who represent the law, the prophets, and the Messiah, respectively. Their migration experiences (genocide, resistance, political violence, dictatorship, and rebellion) provide a theological bridge for churches to engage with contemporary political migrants. Lastly, the paper offers practical approaches for churches to support asylum seekers. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History)
16 pages, 255 KB  
Article
Empire, Colonialism, and Religious Mobility in Transnational History
by AKM Ahsan Ullah
Religions 2025, 16(4), 403; https://doi.org/10.3390/rel16040403 - 22 Mar 2025
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 4212
Abstract
The expansion of empires and colonial rule significantly shaped the movement of religious communities, practices, and institutions across borders. This article examines the intersections of empire, colonialism, and religious mobility with a view to exploring how colonial administrations facilitated, restricted, or co-opted religious [...] Read more.
The expansion of empires and colonial rule significantly shaped the movement of religious communities, practices, and institutions across borders. This article examines the intersections of empire, colonialism, and religious mobility with a view to exploring how colonial administrations facilitated, restricted, or co-opted religious movements for governance and control. Religious actors—such as missionaries, clerics, traders, and diasporic communities—played roles in transnational exchanges, carrying faith traditions across imperial networks while simultaneously influencing local spiritual landscapes. The study situates religious mobility within the broader framework of colonial power structures and analyzes how missionary enterprises, religious conversions, and state-sponsored religious policies were used to consolidate imperial control. It also considers how indigenous religious movements navigated, resisted, or transformed under colonial rule. The case studies include Christian missionary networks in British and French colonies, the movement of Islamic scholars across the Ottoman and Mughal empires, and the role of Buddhism in colonial southeast Asia. These examples highlight the role of religion not just as a tool of empire but as a vehicle for indigenous agency, resistance, and syncretic transformation. This article explores the transnational mobility of religious artifacts, sacred texts, and pilgrimage networks, demonstrating how colonial expansion altered religious landscapes beyond political boundaries. The study critically engages with postcolonial perspectives to interrogate how colonial legacies continue to shape contemporary religious diasporas and global faith-based movements. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Religion, Mobility, and Transnational History)
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