LUTHERAHIBM
461
LUTHSKAnsBI
from Salzburg founded the settlement of Ebeneser,
Georna. in 1734. In Eastern Pennsylvania about
30,000 German Lutherans had settled l>efore the mid-
dle of the eighteenth century. Three of their congre-
^tions applied to Europe for ministers, and Count
Zimsendorf became pastor in Philadelphia in 1741.
(b) Period of OrMiization (1742-87) .—In 1742 Rev. Henry Muhlenberg, a Hanoverian, who is re- garded as the patriarch of American Lutheranism, ar- rived in Philadelphia and succeeded Zinzendorf in the pastorate. Durine the forty-five years of his min- istry in America, Muhlenberg presided over widely separated congregations and erected many churches. He began the work of oivanisation among the Lu- therans of America by the foundation of ^e ^rnod of Pennsylvania in 1748. He also prepared the con-
fregational constitution of St. Micnaers Church, Philadelphia, which became the model of similar constitutions throughout the country. His son. Rev. Frederick Muhlenberg, afterwards speaker in the first House of Representatives, was ^e originator of the Ministerium of New York, the second S3rnod in Amer- ica (1773).
(c) Period of Deterioration (1787-1817).— Muhlen- berg and the other German pastors of his time were graduates of the University of Halle. The generation that succeeded them had made their studies in the same institution. But the Pietism of the founders of Halle had now made way for the destructive criti- cism of Semler. The result was soon manifest in the indifferentism of the American Churches, llie Penn- sylvania Ministerium eliminated all confessional tests in its constitution of 1792. The New York ministe- rium, led by Dr. Frederick Quitman,' a decided Ration- alist, substituted for the older Lutheran catechisms and hymn-books works that were more conformable to the prevailing theology. The agenda, or service-
^ book adopted by the Pennsylvania Lutherans in 1818, was a departure from the old type of service and the expression of new doctrinal stanoards. The transition from the use of German to English caused splits in many congregations, the German partv bitterly op- posing the introduction of English in the churcn ser- vices. They even felt that they had more in common with the German-speaking Reformed than with the English-speaking Lutherans, and some of them ad- vocated an Evangelical Union such as was then pro- posed in Prussia.
(d) Period of Revival and Expansion (1817-60).— To prevent the threatened disintegration, a union of all the Lutheran synods in America was proposed. ^ 1820 the General Synod was oiganised at Hagerstown. Pennsylvania, but a few of the district synods stooa aloof. The new organisation was regarded with sus- picion by many, and in 1823 the mother synod of Pennsylvania itself withdrew from the general body. From the beginning there was a considerable element within the General Synod which favoured doctrinal compromise with the Reformed Church. To strengthen the conservative party, the Pennsylvania Synod re- turned to the General Synod in 1853. Meanwhile the Greneral Synod had established the theological seminary at Gettysburg, Penn^lvania (1^), and societies for home and forei^ missions. In the West several ecclesiastical oiganizations were formed by Lutheran emi^nts from Saxony, Prussia, Bavaria, and the Scandinavian countries. The Mifflouri Synod was founded by Rev. Carl Walther in 1847, and the same year opened a theological seminary at St. Louis. A band of Old Lutherans, who resisted the PnuBian union, emimted from SuEony in 1839, and two srears later founded the Buffalo Synod. At first a miion between the Missouri and the Buffalo synods was ex- pected, but instead their leaders were soon engaged in doctrinal controversies which extended over many years. In 1854 a party within the Missouri §ynod, dissatisfied with what it regarded as the extreme <xm-
gregationalism of that body and its denial of open
ouestions in theology, seceded and fonned the lows
erynod with its theological seminary at Dubuque.
Ever since there has been conflict between these two
synods. Travelling preachers of the Pennsylvania
Ministerium founded in Ohio a conference in con-
nexion with the mother s3rnod in 1805. This confer-
ence was reorganized in 1818 into a synod which since
1833 has been known as the Joint Synod of Ohio.
The earliest synods formed by Scandinavian emi-
grants were: (1) the Norwegian Hauge Synod (1846),
(2) the Norw^an Synod (1853), and (3) the Scandi-
navian Augustana Synod (1860), all in the states of the
Middle West.
(e) Period of Reorganization (since 1860). — At the beginning of the Civil War the General Synod num- bered two-thirds of the Lutherans in the United States, and hopes were entertained that soon all the organizations would be unit^ in one body. These anticipations, however, were doomed to ds^ appointment. In 1863 the General Synod lost the five southern district 83rnods, which withdrew and formed the General Synod of the Confederate States '\ A more serious break in the General Sjmod occurred three years later. The disagreements be- tween the liberal and the conservative elements in that body had not abated with time. In 1864 ^e Minis- terium of Pennsylvania established in Philadelphia a new seminary, thereby greatly reducing the attend- ance at the Gettysburg seminary of the Ueneral Synod. At the next convention (1866) it was declm^ that the Pennsylvania Synod was no longer in practical union with the General Synod. The Pennsylvania Minis- terium at once sent out an invitation to all American and Canadian synods to join with it in forming a new general body. In response to this invitation a ood- vention assembled at Reading the same year, and thirteen synods were consolidated into the General Council". With the close of the Civil War the Southern Lutherans might have returned to fellow- ship with their Northern brethren, but the contro- versy between the Northern synods determined them to perpetuate their own organization. In 1886 they reorganized their general body, taking the name of the "United Synod in the South", and stating their doc- trinal position, which is essentially the same as that of the General Council. A fourth general body was formed in 1872, the "Synodical Conference", at present the strongest organization among the Lu- theran Churehes of America. It takes as ito basis the Formula of Concord of 1580, and comprises the Mis- souri and other Western synods. A controversy on predestination led to the withdrawal of the Ohio Synod in 1881, and of the Norw^an Synod in 1884. Tnere are still many independent synods not affiliated with any of the several oiganizations. Tlius iibe Lu- therans of the Imited States are divided into various conflicting bodies, each claiming to be a truer expo- nent of Lutheranism than the others. The memlwr- ship of the four principal organizations is almost exclusively of German descent. The main cause Of separation is diversity of opinion regarding the impor- tance or the interpretation of the official confessicms.
ni. Organization and Worship. — In Uie early days of the Reformation the prevalent form of gov- ernment was tiiat known as the episcopal, which trans- ferred the jurisdiction of the bishops to the civil ruler. It was followed by the territorial system, which recog- nized the sovereign as head of the church, in virtue of his office, both in administiative and doctrinal mat- • ters. The oolleffial eystdm of Pfaff (1719) asserts the sovereignty and independence of the congregation, which may, however, delegate its authority to the State. In the Lutheran state Churehes the secular power is in fact the supreme authority. The praotieal determination of religious questions rests with |ihe natioxial legislatiire, or with a <»w&>&tfii6oQBs^ ^<^^^sm^
