The Lutherans in North America, ed. by E. Clifford Nelson

E. Clifford Nelson (ed.). The Lutherans in North America, Revised Ed. Philadelphia: Fortress, 1980.

I came across this book when I asked for a text that would summarize Lutheran history in this country.  The book is, quite frankly, one to be waded through.  In its 541 pages it works through over three hundred years of history of Lutheran presence and activity in North America, dealing with a wide variety of topics.  Unfortunately, the book is poorly laid out and unattractive.  It also tends to have a less than tight writing style.  Because there are a large number of small Lutheran groups on this continent, it is quite easy to lose track of the different groups, especially when they are referred to by various abbreviations.  The overall flow of history, however, yields several important insights.  First, it seems that Lutherans in North America have tended to have deep divisions based on their commitments to either confessional history or personal piety.  There has been a strong tendency to bifurcate between confessionalism and personal piety.  Lutheran groups have also, until rather recently, tended to reach only to people of similar cultural and ancestral background.  Hence, Lutherans from Norwaywould send missionaries into different areas looking for other Norwegians, while Lutherans from Germany would restrict their ministry to people of a German heritage.  Therefore, Lutheran faith and practice have tended to be very much culturally mediated. This book will prove useful as a reference tool and as a reminder of some of the pitfalls we find when we reach out to one group rather than to the entirety of the population surrounding us.

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Dave Spotts
blogging at http://capnsaltyslongvoyage.blogger.com