The Lutherans in North America

by E. Clifford Nelson (Editor & Contributor)

This book gives today's Lutherans a sense of heritage, identity and continuity, a sense of self-understanding. Readers will see themselves as part of a family. They can identify with the struggles, hopes, and frustrations of wave after wave of immigrants adapting to the strange new world of America and at the same time trying to preserve all they had known and loved and brought with them from the homeland. The genius of the entire volume is that it points beyond family memories to an ongoing and continuing life of which we and our children are a living Theodore G. Tappert, Eugene Fevold, Fred W. Meuser, H. George Anderson, August R. Suelflow, and E. Clifford Nelson.

Genres: Religion, History

564 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1975

Reviews

[Liam · Rating 2 out of 5]

Unfortunately, this work only covers the "liberal" & "moderate" sections of American Lutheranism; in other words, the WELS & ELS are only mentioned a couple of times each in passing, and the CLC (as in Church of the Lutheran Confession, not Canadian Lutheran Conference) is not mentioned even once. Even the LC-MS is not covered as well as I would have preferred. In addition, although the relations between the American & German Lutheran churches during and after WWII are covered in some detail, it is primarily the financial aid aspect of those relations which is discussed. Dietrich Bonhöffer is never even mentioned! The extensive discussion of mission activity is also deficient, in that the activities of Ernst Wendland are not touched upon except in the most tangential manner, and Pastor Wendland is also never mentioned. Yet another issue which I had hoped would be covered in detail was the decline of German-language services and the loyalty issue, which was only touched upon briefly. Interesting book, but nowhere near as comprehensive as its title and length would seem to imply.

[Kris]

Cited in The Christian Life: Cross or Glory?.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent! Neutral, informative, sexy graphs. I loved the focus on church leaders and primary sources, and have a greater appreciation for the role of synodical organization from an early date.

[Nathan Hetrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

A dated, but excellent overview of the history of Lutherans. Perhaps unavoidably the biases of the author show through a bit toward the end of the book, but overall this book is thorough and generally unbiased.