D. L. Moody and Swedes
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D. L. Moody and Swedes Linköping Studies in Arts and Science, No. 419 Linköping Studies in Identity and Pluralism, No. 7 At the Faculty of Arts and Science at Linköping University, research and doctoral studies are carried out within broad problem areas. Research is organized in interdisciplinary research environments, and doctoral studies are carried out mainly in graduate schools. Jointly, they publish the series Linköping Studies in Arts and Science. This doctoral dissertation is written on the subject of Church History in Religious Studies in the multi- disciplinary Graduate School of Identity and Pluralism in the Department of Culture and Communication. Postgraduate study in Religious Studies at Linköping University aims, for example, to provide deeper knowledge of how world-views and religions contribute to identity formation of individuals, groups, and societies. D. L. Moody and Swedes: Shaping Evangelical Identity among Swedish Mission Friends 1867–1899 David M. Gustafson Department of Culture and Communication LINKÖPING UNIVERSITY Linköping, Sweden 2008 Linköping Studies in Arts and Science, No. 419 Linköping Studies in Identity and Pluralism, No. 7 Gustafson, David M., D. L. Moody and Swedes: Shaping Evangelical Identity among Swedish Mission Friends 1867–1899, 357 pp., ISBN: 978-91-7393-995-9 The American Dwight L. Moody (1837–1899) was the most famous revivalist of the late 1800s and exercised a wide and lasting influence on the Protestant world, reaching Swedes in Sweden and America. His influence was felt among Swedes despite the fact that he was of Anglo-American heritage, never visited Sweden, and never spoke a word of the Swedish language. Nevertheless, he became a “hero” revivalist among Swedish Mission Friends in Sweden and America. Moody’s early ministry was centered in Chicago, the largest urban population of Swedes in the United States. In Chicago, he came into contact with Swedish immigrants such as J. G. Princell, Fredrik Franson, and E. A. Skogsbergh, later proponents of his ideal, beliefs and methods. News of Moody’s revival campaigns in Great Britain from 1873–1875 traveled quickly to Sweden, making “Mr. Moody” a household name in homes of many Mission Friends. Moody’s sermons published in Sweden were distributed in books, newspapers, and colporteur tracts, and led to the spread of Sweden’s “Moody fever” from 1875–1880. P. P. Waldenström cited Moody as an example of evangelical cooperation. Songs of Moody’s musical partner, Ira D. Sankey, were translated into Swedish by Erik Nyström and sung in homes and mission houses. As Mission Friends adopted Moody’s alliance ideal, beliefs, and methods, their evangelical identity shifted in the direction of Moody’s new American evangelicalism. Key Words: Moody, Dwight, Swedes, Swedish, Mission, Friends, Missionsvänner, American, Amerikanska, revivalism, väckelse, free, frikyrkan, Covenant, church, immigration, evangelical, evangeliska, identity, Chicago, ethnic, Alliance, allians © David M. Gustafson 2008 ISBN: 978-91-7393-995-9 ISSN: 0282-9800 (Linköping Studies in Arts and Science, No. 419) ISSN: 1651-8993 (Linköping Studies in Identity and Pluralism, No. 7) Series editor: Kjell O. Lejon Cover design: David M. Gustafson; Cover layout: Tomas Hägg Front cover: “Dwight Lyman Moody,” Swenska Kristna Härolden, Jan. 21, 1885. Courtesy of Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center, Augustana College, Rock Island, Illinois; back cover: D. L. Moody. Used by permission of Moody Bible Institute Archives, Chicago, Illinois. Printed by LiU Tryck, Linköpings universitet, 2008 Distributed by: Department of Culture and Communication/ Research School of Identity and Pluralism Linköpings universitet SE-581 83 Linköping Contents Preface .………………………………………………………………………………… 1 Introduction …………………………………………………………………………….. 3 PART I: Background Chapter 1: American and Swedish Backgrounds ……………………………………… 19 PART II: History Chapter 2: Moody’s Early Work among Chicago Swedes …………………………….. 43 Chapter 3: Spread of “Moody Fever” in Sweden ……………………………………….67 Chapter 4: Moody’s Alliance Ideal in Sweden ………………………………………… 93 Chapter 5: Moody’s Chicago Revival and Swedes …………………………………… 115 Chapter 6: Moody’s Ideal among Swedes in America ……………………………… 141 Chapter 7: Mission Friends and the Struggle for Identity …………………………….. 167 Chapter 8: Moody’s Disciples in Scandinavia ………………………………………... 195 Chapter 9: Swedes in Moody’s Final Years ………………………………………….. 225 Chapter 10: Moody, Sankey’s Songs, and Swedes …………………………………… 251 PART III: Analysis Chapter 11: Moody’s Swedish Critics and Kindred Spirits …………………………... 275 Chapter 12: Distinguishing Marks of Moody’s Influence ……………………………. 295 Summary…….………………………………………………………………………… 321 Appendix: Moody’s Works Published in Swedish …………………………………….329 Bibliography ………………………………………………………………………….. 337 Index of Persons ………………………………………………………………………. 351 List of Illustrations D. L. Moody, age 25 ………………………………………………………………….. 42 Moody and Farwell with a Sunday school class ………..……………………………….45 Moody as a missionary of the Chicago YMCA ……………………………………… 47 J. G. Princell as a young man ………………………………………………………... 52 Ira D. Sankey at the organ ….………………………………………………………… 61 Translation of D. L. Moody and His Work by W. H. Daniels ………………………. 66 Moody preaching at Agricultural Hall in London ….…………………………………. 73 Colporteur tract of The Dying Thief by Moody ……………………………………… 79 E. A. Skogsbergh as a young man …………………………………………………... 87 Translation of Great Joy by D. L. Moody ..……………………………………………92 P. P. Waldenström …………………………………………………………………… 97 Chicago Tabernacle ………………………………………………………………… 114 Fredrik Franson as a young man …………………………………………………... 120 Swedish Mission Tabernacle in Chicago ……………………………………………127 John Martenson of Chicago-Bladet ………………………………………………… 135 Chicago Avenue Church (Moody’s church) ……………………………………….. 152 John F. Okerstein ……………………………………………………………………. 160 J. G. Princell in 1882 ………………………………………………………………… 169 Oak Street Mission in Chicago ……………………………………………………... 185 Moody driving his surrey in Northfield ……………………………………………. 189 Moody at the pulpit ………………………………………………………………….. 194 Fredrik Franson as itinerant evangelist ……………………………………………. 196 Nathan Söderblom as a student …………………………………………………….. 215 Söderblom at the Northfield Student Conference …………………………………. 218 Moody as chairman of the Northfield Conference …………………………………... 221 Moody in his later years ………………………………………………………………..224 Franson and Skogsbergh ……………………………………………………………. 226 Karl J. Erixon …………………………………………………………………………231 Emma Dryer …………………………………………………………………………. 239 Moody’s Swedish Books published by Revell ……………………………………… 240 Swedish version of Sankey’s songs …………………………………………………. 250 Ira D. Sankey ………………………………………………………………………… 254 Eric Nyström ………………………………………………………………………… 257 A. L. Skoog …………………………………………………………………………… 261 Preface My interest in this study piqued as I read books by various authors who described how D. L. Moody played a role in shaping Swedish Free Mission Friends in America. Free Mission Friends, commonly known as the “Free” eventually formed the Swedish Evangelical Free Church of America that merged in 1950 with the Norwegian-Danish Evangelical Free Church Association to form what is today the Evangelical Free Church of America. I am ordained in this church body. I began research in this area of study when Philip J. Anderson of North Park Theological Seminary in Chicago suggested that I write an article on Evangelical Free Church history. In response, I wrote “J. G. Princell and the Waldenströmian View of the Atonement” that appeared in Trinity Journal, and mentioned briefly the connection between D. L. Moody, E. A. Skogsbergh, P. P. Waldenström, and J. G. Princell.1 When my research bibliography on the Evangelical Free Church was published in the Swedish- American Historical Quarterly, the journal’s editor, Byron J. Nordstrom, asked me to submit an article on Evangelical Free Church history.2 In response, I wrote the article titled “D. L. Moody and the Swedish-American Evangelical Free.”3 This article was followed by a related article that appeared in The Covenant Quarterly titled, “John F. Okerstein and the Swedish Fellowship at Moody Church.”4 As a regular researcher at the Swenson Swedish Immigration Research Center at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois, I was further encouraged to write in the area of church history by the Swenson Center’s director, Dag Blanck. In addition, my former mentor, David L. Larsen, at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, encouraged me in my research and writing on the history of Moody and the Evangelical Free Church. With encouragement from Dag Blanck, and Lennart Johnsson of Växjö universitet who was conducting research at the Swenson Center at the time, I applied to Linköpings universitet where I began doctoral studies in church history under my advisor, Kjell O. Lejon. During the course of research at Linköping, my doctoral seminars with faculty and doctoral students have refined my topic to the present study. 1 David M. Gustafson, “J.G. Princell and the Waldenströmian View of the Atonement,” Trinity Journal, 20, No. 2, (Fall, 1999) 191–214. 2 David M. Gustafson, “A Bibliography of the History of the Swedish Evangelical Free Church of America,” The Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, LII, No. 4 (October, 2001) 222–230. 3 David M. Gustafson, “D.L. Moody and the Swedish-American Evangelical Free,” The Swedish-American Historical Quarterly, LV, No. 2 (April 2004) 105–135. 4 David M. Gustafson, “John F. Okerstein and the Swedish Fellowship