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The Religious Development of the Early German Settlers in "Greater Pennsylvania": the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia*
The Religious Development of the Early German Settlers In "Greater Pennsylvania": The Shenandoah Valley of Virginia* John B. Frantz The Pennsylvania State University Introduction Throughout much of the eighteenth century, the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia was the frontier. The first Europeans to settle there came from colonies to the north. They had the opportunity to create new culture in this sparsely inhabited area. Most of the Indians had aban- doned it, and Europeans from the Tidewater had not yet spread their plantations that far west. The Valley was an ideal location for innova- tion. Nevertheless, the early settlers brought with them their religious heritage and developed patterns and institutions for their spiritual nur- ture that were remarkably similar to those that they had known in their previous homes. Historiography Study of the religious development of the early German settlers has been underway for more than a century and a half One of the first accounts appeared in Samuel Kercheval's 1833 History of the Valley of Virginia.' A more detailed description is contained in John W Way- 1. Samuel Kercheval, The History of the Valley of Virginia 4th ed. (Strasburg Shenandoah Publish- ing House, 1925), originally published in 1833. The Religious Development of the Early German Settlers 67 land's History ofThe German Element of the Shenandoah Valley, published in 1907,2 some of which he included in his History of Shenandoah County that appeared twenty years later.3 Dedicated to Wayland and drawing on his work but going further is The Pennsylvania Germans of the Shenandoah Valley, the 1962 volume of the Pennsylvania German Folklore Society, by Elmer Lewis Smith, John G. -
Approaches to Fellowship Norman J
Consensus Volume 10 | Issue 1 Article 2 1-1-1984 Approaches to fellowship Norman J. Threinen Follow this and additional works at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus Recommended Citation Threinen, Norman J. (1984) "Approaches to fellowship," Consensus: Vol. 10 : Iss. 1 , Article 2. Available at: http://scholars.wlu.ca/consensus/vol10/iss1/2 This Articles is brought to you for free and open access by Scholars Commons @ Laurier. It has been accepted for inclusion in Consensus by an authorized editor of Scholars Commons @ Laurier. For more information, please contact [email protected]. APPROACHES TO FELLOWSHIP Norman J. Threinen Although the question of church fellowship among Lutherans has posed a problem in various parts of the world, it is really, strictly speaking, one which has emerged out of conditions and circumstances existing in the Americas. For where one has a free church tradition and a multitude of religious bodies co-existing alongside of one another, one quite naturally also has a tendency to have different church bodies of the same tradition or confession growing up. Where in Europe one had divergences of theological opinion contending against one another within the same church body, in America these divergences took on organizational form and were embodied in church structures. As a result, essentially the same question confronted Lutherans in 17 18 Consensus America in their dealings with other Lutherans as had confronted the churches of dif- fering confessions in Europe in their dealings with one another. The question was changed from “Is that body Christian enough?” to “Is that body Lutheran enough for fellowship?” Yet the overtones of the former were still contained in the latter as Lutherans used words like heterodox to describe other Lutherans. -
In Response to Bengt Hagglund: Ihe Importance of Epistemology for Luther's and Melanchthon's Theology
CONCORDIA THEOLOGICAL QUARTERLY Volume 44, Numbers 2-3 -- JULY 1980 Can the Lutheran Confessions Have Any Meaning 450 Years Later?.................... Robert D. Preus 104 Augustana VII and the Eclipse of Ecumenism ....................................... Siegbert W. Becker 108 Melancht hon versus Luther: The Contemporary Struggle ......................... Bengt Hagglund 123 In Response to Bengt Hagglund: Ihe Importance of Epistemology for Luther's and Melanchthon's Theology .............. Wilbert H. Rosin 134 Did Luther and Melanchthon Agree on the Real Presence?.. .................................. David P. Scaer 14 1 Luther and Melanchthon in America.. .................. ..... .......................C. George Fry 148 Luther's Contribution to the Augsburg Confession .............................................. Eugene F. Klug 155 Fanaticism as a Theological Category in the Lutheran Confessions ............................... Paul L. Maier 173 Homiletical Studies 182 In Response to Bengt Hagglund: Luther and Melanchthon in America C. George Fry It has always struck me as strangely appropriate that the Protestant Reformation and the discovery of America occurred simultaneously. When Martin Luther was nine, Christopher Columbus landed in the Bahamas; in 15 19, while he debated Dr. John Eck at Leipzig, a fellow-subject of Emperor Charles V, Hernando Cortez, began the conquest of Mexico. Philip Melanc ht hon, the "Great Confessor," was com.posing the Augustana at about the time Francisco Pizarro was occupying the Inca Empire in Peru. By the time of Melancht hon's death in 1560, the Americas had been opened up to European settlement. A related theme of equal interest is that of the American dis- covery of the Reformation. Or, more properly, the recovery by Lutherans in the United States of the history and theology of the Reformers. -
Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives Global
A Guide to the Microfilm Edition of Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives Global Missions, Series 1 Primary Source Media Evangelical Lutheran Church in America Archives Global Missions, Series 1 Primary Source Media Primary Source Media 12 Lunar Drive, Woodbridge, CT 06525 Tel: (800) 444 0799 and (203) 397 2600 Fax: (203) 397 3893 P.O. Box 45, Reading, England Tel (+ 44) 1734 583247 Fax: (+ 44) 1734 394334 ISBN: 978-1-57803-389-6 All rights reserved, including those to reproduce this book or any parts thereof in any form Printed and bound in the United States of America 2007 TABLE OF CONTENTS Scope and Content Note………………………………………………………………….. v Source Note…………………………………………………………………………..… viii Editorial Note………………………………………………………..…………………… ix Reel Index Part 1: American (Danish) Evangelical Lutheran Church ……………………………… 1 Part 2: American Lutheran Church, 1930-1960 ………………………………………... 2 Part 3: General Council [of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in North America] …… 4 Part 4: Iowa Synod [Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Iowa and Other States] ………… 5 Part 5: Joint Synod of Ohio [Evangelical Lutheran Synod of Ohio and Other States] … 6 Part 6: United Lutheran Church in America ……..……………………………….….… 7 Appendix: Administrative Histories……………………………………………….. …..11 SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE Since 1842, when Rev. J.C.F. Heyer went to India as a missionary of the Pennsylvania Ministerium, representatives of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America (ELCA) and its predecessor bodies have helped spread the Gospel throughout the world. This microfilm collection provides essential and unique research materials for the study of the role of missionary activities in developing countries, the impetus for missionary work, and the development of the Lutheran Church worldwide. -
Charles Porterfield Krauth: the American Chemnitz
The 37th Annual Reformation Lectures Reformation Legacy on American Soil Bethany Lutheran College S. C. Ylvisaker Fine Arts Center Mankato, Minnesota October 28-29, 2004 Lecture Number Three: Charles Porterfield Krauth: The American Chemnitz The Rev. Prof. David Jay Webber Ternopil’, Ukraine Introduction C. F. W. Walther, the great nineteenth-century German-American churchman, has some- times been dubbed by his admirers “the American Luther.”1 While all comparisons of this nature have their limitations, there is a lot of truth in this appellation. Walther’s temperament, his lead- ership qualities, and especially his theological convictions would lend legitimacy to such a de- scription. Similarly, we would like to suggest that Charles Porterfield Krauth, in light of the unique gifts and abilities with which he was endowed, and in light of the thoroughness and balance of his mature theological work, can fittingly be styled “the American Chemnitz.” Krauth was in fact an avid student of the writings of the Second Martin, and he absorbed much from him in both form and substance. It is also quite apparent that the mature Krauth always attempted to follow a noticeably Chemnitzian, “Concordistic” approach in the fulfillment of his calling as a teacher of the church in nineteenth-century America. We will return to these thoughts in a little while. Be- fore that, though, we should spend some time in examining Krauth’s familial and ecclesiastical origins, and the historical context of his development as a confessor of God’s timeless truth. Krauth’s Origins In the words of Walther, Krauth was, without a doubt, the most eminent man in the English Lutheran Church of this country, a man of rare learning, at home no less in the old than in modern theology, and, what is of greatest import, whole-heartedly devoted to the pure doctrine of our Church, as he had learned to understand it, a noble man and without guile.2 But Krauth’s pathway to this kind of informed Confessionalism was not an easy one. -
Cantors of the Church
HENRY MELCHIOR MUHLENBERG (1711 – 1787) Photo courtesy of Valparaiso University Archives . was to North American Lutheranism what George Washington was to the fledgling United States, for Muhlenberg fathered the first union of Lutheran congregations on these shores. Following theological study at Göttingen, young Muhlenberg spent a short term in the small village of Grosshennersdorf, then taught at the orphanage in Halle, the center of the Pietist movement. The Pietist leader, Johann H. A. Francke, was deeply committed to the immigrant congregations in America and chose Muhlenberg to provide spiritual leadership for the Germans in Pennsylvania. Muhlenberg reached Philadelphia in 1742 only to discover deep spiritual distress. The young pastor threw himself into the work of creating spiritual power out of ecclesiastical confusion. A serious shortage of pastors during surging North European immigration had opened the door for imposters who usurped spiritual authority — and fees! — for themselves. Muhlenberg met the challenge head on, even confronting the Moravian Count Nicholas von Zinzendorf and his grandiose claim to be bishop of all the separated churches. Conscious of the opportunity to create a powerful church without the constraints of Europe’s religious despotism, he adopted the motto ecclesia plantanda (the church must be planted). By 1748 Muhlenberg had created an orderly church organization, generally known as the Pennsylvania Ministerium. Adding to the confusion was the multiplicity of hymnals the immigrants had brought from the various German states of their origins. Common worship and hymn singing were difficult at best. Lack of musical leadership created yet another burden for the overworked pastor, who was actually proficient on organ, cittern (a type of guitar), violin, and harp. -
Pietism and Mission: Lutheran Millennialism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries Lawrence R
Volume 64:4 October 2000 Table of Contents Eschatology and Fanaticism in the Reformation Era: Luther and the Anabaptists Carter Lindberg ............................... 259 Death and Resurrection as Apocalyptic Event David P. Scaer ................................279 Pietism and Mission: Lutheran Millennialism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries Lawrence R. Rast Jr. ........................... 295 Sectarian Apocalypticism in Mainline Christianity Larry Nichols ................................. 319 Theological Observer ............................... 336 Out of the Mouths of Babes - Almost Rediscovering the Treatise as Ecumenical Response ....................................... David P. Scaer Book Reviews ...................................... 345 New England's Moral Legislator: Timothy Dwight, 1752-181 7. By John R. Fitzrnier .......... Lawrence R. Rast Jr. When God Becomes My Enemy: The Theology of the Complaint Psalms. By Ingvar Flqsvik. ..................................Chad L. Bird The Fabricated Luther: The Rise and Fall of the Shiver Myth. By Uwe Siemon-Netto. .......... Lowell C. Green Preaching Christ from the Old Testament: A Contemporary Hermeneutical Method. By Sidney Greidanus. ......................., ... Carl C. Fickenscher I1 Pietism and Mission: Lutheran Millennialism in the Eighteenth and Nineteenth Centuries Lawrence R. Rast Jr. Introduction A noted historian of Christianity in the United States assessed the influence of pietism in the following sweeping terms: "There is no area of American life which is free from our pietistic concern; none in which the pietistic attitude is not a significant factor."' Pietism is part of the atmosphere Americans breathe. Believing that style does, in fact, inform substance, it is not too much to say that pietistic practice has significantly formed the theology and practice of American Chri~tianity.~As a distinctly American church, The Lutheran Church-Missouri Synod has also been formed in fundamental ways by pietism. -
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity Lancaster, Pennsylvania
The Evangelical Lutheran Church of the Holy Trinity Lancaster, Pennsylvania Part Two — 1762- 1980 By Dr. George L. Heiges THE CIVIL WAR YEARS 1862 — 1867 Rev. Frederick W. Conrad, D. D. Rev. Samuel Laird. D. D. A successor to Doctor Krotel was selected in the person of Rev. Frederick William Conrad of Dayton, Ohio. A native of Pine Grove, Pennsylvania, he had already served parishes in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Ohio, had been an instruc- tor in Wittenberg College and was an associate editor of The Lutheran Observer His work in Lancaster began in March 1862, and immediately his preaching and his pastoral work gave universal satisfaction. He was barely settled in his new situation when he was involved in preparations for a convention of the General Synod of the Lutheran Church in America which was scheduled to convene in Trinity Church on the first of May. On the eve of the convocation the Lancaster Daily Express commented: The meeting will be a very important one and no doubt a very interest- ing one. The delegates are arriving and though there will hardly be so full an attendance as would have been the case but for the national difficulties yet there will be a strong delegation. We understand however that no Southern Synods except Maryland and Kentucky will be represented. When the President of the General Synod gaveled the convention to order on the first of May, there were 258 delegates from the states of Maryland, New York, Ohio, Illinois, Kentucky, Indiana, Iowa, New Jersey and Pennsylvania, Frederick W. Conrad, D.D. -
HHJ Bl Liicmnnniu) a SALUTARY INFLUENCE
HHJ Bl liicmnnniu) A SALUTARY INFLUENCE: GETTYSBURG COLLEGE, 1832-1985 Volume 1 Charles H. Glatfelter Gettysburg College Gettysburg, Pennsylvania 1987 Copyright © 1987 by Gettysburg College Allrights reserved. No part of this book may be used or repro- duced in any manner without written permission except in the case of brief quotations incritical articles or reviews. Printed inthe United States of America byW &MPrinting,Inc. Design and typography by C & J Enterprises, Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania The College Seal, 1832-1921 From an 1850 deed Contents Illustrations and Maps viii Tables ix Preface xi 1. The Background of Gettysburg College (1776-1832) 3 July 4, 1832 3 Two Colleges for Southcentral Pennsylvania 6 Lutheran Ministerial Training 13 Samuel Simon Schmucker 16 Gettysburg and the Lutheran Theological Seminary 22 Classical School and Gymnasium (1827-1832) 26 Pennsylvania College of Gettysburg (1831-1832) 32 2. Acquiring a Proper College Edifice (1832-1837) 41 Getting the Money 41 Building 58 3. After the Manner of a Well-Regulated Family (1832 1868) 73 Trustees 75 Finances 81 Presidents and Faculty 92 The Campus 104 Preparatory Department 119 Curriculum 122 Library 135 Equipment 139 The Medical Department 141 Students 146 Student Organizations 159 Alumni Association 167 Town and Gown 169 The College and the Lutheran Church 173 In the World of Higher Education 180 The Civil War 191 Changing the Guard 190 4. A Wider Place for a Greater Work (1868-1904) 193 Trustees 195 Finances 207 Presidents and Faculty 222 The Campus 242 Preparatory -
The Scriptural and Confessional Stance of American Lutheranism
Concordia Seminary - Saint Louis Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary Master of Divinity Thesis Concordia Seminary Scholarship 5-1-1970 The crS iptural and Confessional Stance of American Lutheranism 1742-1867 Arthur Gillespie Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: http://scholar.csl.edu/mdiv Part of the Christianity Commons, and the History of Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Gillespie, Arthur, "The crS iptural and Confessional Stance of American Lutheranism 1742-1867" (1970). Master of Divinity Thesis. 82. http://scholar.csl.edu/mdiv/82 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Concordia Seminary Scholarship at Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master of Divinity Thesis by an authorized administrator of Scholarly Resources from Concordia Seminary. For more information, please contact [email protected]. I THE SCRIPTURAL AND CONFESSIONAL STANCE OF AMERICAN LUTHERANISM 1742-1867 A Research Paper Presented to the Faculty of Concordia Seminary, St. Louis, in fulfillment of the Research Elective, H.499 by Arthur Lynn Gillespie May 1970 Approved by: Advisor TABLE OF CONTENTS Chapter Page I. INTRODUCTION 1 II. THE MUHLENBERG ERA 4 III. THE PENNSYLVANIA MINISTERIUM 8 IV. THE GENERAL SYNOD 1820-1862 14 V. "AMERICAN LUTHERANISM" AND "CONFESSIONAL LUTHERANISM" IN TENSION 21 VI. DEFINITE PLATFORM: "AMERICAN LUTHERANISM" MAKES ITS MOVE 26 VII. THE INFLUENCE OF S. S. SCHMUCKER 32 VIII. THE GENERAL SYNOD 1862-1867 35 IX. THE GENERAL SYNOD IN THE SOUTH 40 X. THE FORMATION OF THE GENERAL COUNCIL 42 XI. CONCLUSION 46 FOOTNOTES 49 APPENDIX A Constitution, 1781 58 APPENDIX B Ministerium Withdrawal from General Synod, 1823 . -
\200\200The American Recension of the Augsburg Confession
The American Recension of the Augsburg Confession and its Lessons for Our Pastors Today David Jay Webber Samuel Simon Schmucker Charles Philip Krauth John Bachman William Julius Mann Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod Evangelical Lutheran Synod Arizona-California District Pastors Conference West Coast Pastors Conference October 20-22, 2015 April 13 & 15, 2016 Green Valley Lutheran Church Our Redeemer Lutheran Church Henderson, Nevada Yelm, Washington In Nomine Iesu I. Those creeds and confessions of the Christian church that are of enduring value and authority emerged in crucibles of controversy, when essential points of the Christian faith, as revealed in Scripture, were under serious attack. These symbolical documents were written at times when the need for a faithful confession of the gospel was a matter of spiritual life or death for the church and its members. For this reason those symbolical documents were thereafter used by the orthodox church as a normed norm for instructing laymen and future ministers, and for testing the doctrinal soundness of the clergy, with respect to the points of Biblical doctrine that they address. The ancient Rules of Faith of the post-apostolic church, which were used chiefly for catechetical instruction and as a baptismal creed, existed in various regional versions. The version used originally at Rome is the one that has come down to us as the Apostles’ Creed. These Rules of Faith were prepared specifically with the challenge of Gnosticism in view. As the Apostles’ Creed in particular summarizes the cardinal articles of faith regarding God and Christ, it emphasizes the truth that the only God who actually exists is the God who created the earth as well as the heavens; and the truth that God’s Son was truly conceived and born as a man, truly died, and truly rose from the grave. -
Zion Trumpet Address Service Requested Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit April/May 2020
Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church Non-Profit Org. “Blow the Trumpet in Zion” (Joel 2.15) 4305 Military U.S. Postage Detroit MI 48210-3415 PAID Permit No. 1489 Zion Trumpet Address Service Requested Zion Evangelical-Lutheran Church of Detroit April/May 2020 by Father Braden “...He was wounded Holy Week - As this issue of the Trumpet is published, by for our God’s grace we find ourselves in Holy Week. Passiontide, that transgressions, deep violet two-week period, that time when the glory of the Lord is veiled among us, began with the prayer “Judge me, O God, and He was bruised for plead my cause…” That prayer for the vindication of the righteous our iniquities; is answered as the Christ enters Jerusalem, and as palm branches The chastisement and joyous shouts give way to cries of “Crucify! Crucify!” and to scourge and cross. for our peace was In love, your Lord instituted the Supper in which He comes to you. upon Him, He willingly went forth to His arrest. He endured the agony of His And by His stripes garden prayers. He knew the three horrible hours in the darkness we are healed.” of Golgotha. He heard the taunts as His life was drained from Isaiah 53:5 Him, as the Words of the 22nd Psalm found their fulfilment. And He lay silent on the Passover Sabbath, perfectly keeping the Sabbath for all men of all times. In This Issue Holy Week P A G E 1 The account of our Lord’s Passion, suffering and death that Holy Vicarage Update P A G E 2 Scripture records is accurate.