Entertaining Angels Unaware

“This is a timely, compelling, well-argued, and lucidly written book for Christians wondering how to respond to the immigration crisis. Gottschalk’s book astutely dispels, with a deeply personal touch, common ‘terrorist’ misconceptions, awakens us to see our ‘neighbors’ differently, and calls us to our welcoming responsibilities to the immigrant ‘other’ among us. Highly recommended!”


—Ronald T. Michener, Professor and Chair of Systematic Theology, Evangelical Theological Faculty, Belgium





“This book is the considered outcome of years of experience of, and reflection on, immigration, from inside and from outside. It is an informed and informative book about one of the most troubling and unsettling happenings of our time. It is instructive on many levels: the legal, the ethical, the political, the religious. Yet it never loses touch with the vulnerable humanity of those caught in the reality and experience of immigration, forced and unforced. The book is very balanced in taking into account the many sides of the crucial issues at stake. I found it to be calm, judicious, wise, compassionate, and Christian in its account and in its judgments. Warmly recommended.”


—William Desmond, David Cook Chair in Philosophy, Villanova University





“Entertaining Angels Unaware is an informative and compassionately written book, which offers a balanced and thoughtful approach to immigration through a theological lens. By using a learned but conversational tone, Dr. Philip Gottschalk helps the reader look beyond themselves to their larger community. As a book which is both pastoral and reflective, Entertaining Angels Unaware will be a necessary part of a more complete spiritual formation for today’s globally engaged Christian.”


—Cristina Richie, Lecturer in Philosophy and Ethics of Technology, Delft University of Technology, Netherlands





“Phil Gottschalk is an American scholar who has spent decades overseas serving others. In Entertaining Angels Unaware he blends stories and insights from these many years of experience with philosophical and theological reflection in order to produce a book that offers both theoretical and practical understanding of the attitude that Christians—and by extension people in general—should have toward immigrants. That attitude is, in a word, ‘love.’ This is a timely and needed corrective to the reactionary responses that have typified American attitudes in recent years.”


—Michael S. Jones, Professor of Philosophy and Religion, Liberty University, President, Virginia Philosophical Association, and Executive Editor, Journal for the Study of Religions and Ideologies