THE HISTORY OF NORWEGIAN-AMERICAN LUTHERANISM, 1870-1890

534 Pages·029.413 MB·English

by  FEVOLD, EUGENE L

THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
Date____________ .Tims i_________19-5.1-
Fevoldj Eugene Lysno________________________|____________October 5» 1918
Author Birth Date
The History of Norwegian-American Lutheranism, 1870-90
Title of Dissertation
T)i vi ni fry__________________________ Ph-»P«___________________________June_l_1951..
Department or School Degree Convocation
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THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
THE HISTORY OF N0RWEGIAH-AMERICAN LUTHERANISM, 1870-90
A DISSERTATION
SUBMITTED TO THE FACULTY OF THE DIVINITY SCHOOL.
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
nv
EUGENE LYSNE FEVOLD
CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
JUNE, 1951
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PREFACE
The h istory of Norwegian-American Lutheranism is consid­
erably involved. During the past one hundred years a number of
synodical organizations have been brought into being in th is coun­
try by Norwegian immigrants of the Lutheran persuasion, for fa c­
tiousness and d ivisiven ess have characterized the relig io u s h is ­
tory of Norwegian-American Lutherans from the beginning. Many of
these synodical bodies have lo st their id en tity through4church
unions, but as of today there are s t i l l five separate church
bodies of Norwegian Lutheran background in America— the Evangeli­
cal Lutheran Church, the Lutheran Free Church, the Norwegian Synod
(the L ittle Synod), the Lutheran Brethren, and E ielsen ’s Synod.
However, the membership of the Evangelical Lutheran Church is ap­
proxim ately ten times as large as that of the remaining four com­
bined. Any effo rt to deal in a un ified way w ith the h istory of
Norwegian-American Lutheranism is complicated by the number of
church bodies which must be considered.
The author’s aim in th is d issertation is to present the
history of Norwegian-American Lutheranism during the period 1870-
90. He is concerned w ith even ts, problems, and developments at
the synodical, rather than the congregational or individual,
le v e l. However, his in terest is not prim arily in d eta iled , in ­
dividual synodical h isto r ie s but in the o v er-a ll picture of Nor­
wegian-American Lutheranism during the period chosen for study.
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He has been motivated by a desire to bring together into one nar­
rative in as lucid and simple a manner as possible the most im­
portant facts and most sig n ifica n t developments relatin g to the
church bodies involved. He has consciously kept in mind a reader
largely unoriented in Norwegian-American Lutheran h istory in order
to try to avoid "bogging down" in d eta ils concerning individual
synods. The developments within individual synods are viewed in
rela tio n to the to ta l picture of Norwegian-American Lutheranism
insofar as p ossib le.
The two themes, or m otifs, of "controversy" and "union"
dominate the period. It is a period marked by intra-synodical
tensions and by inter-synodical c o n flic ts, but i t is also a period
characterized by earnest strivin gs for union. These two themes
are help fu l in tying the synodical sto ries together. Thus, the
h istory of Norwegian-American Lutheranism during the period 1870-
90 is to a considerable degree a history of controversies and of
e ffo r ts directed towards the achievement of union. This is not
en tirely the case, of course, for th is is also a period of remark­
able growth and of a very considerable development in the assump­
tion of synodical resp o n sib ilitie s and the carrying on of organ­
ized synodical work.
In settin g out to accomplish his aim the author has organ­
ized his m aterial in the following manner:
F ir st, the opening chapter serves to orient the reader to
the subject by providing a b r ie f review of Norwegian backgrounds
in the nineteenth century, of the development of the movement of
m igration from Norway to America, and of the h istory of Norwegian-
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American Lutheranism prior to 1870. in order to help account for
the nature and development of Norwegian Lutheranism in America
something must he known about the general conditions, and more
particu larly the relig io u s conditions, ex istin g in Norway at the
time the immigrant le ft his homeland. Variant relig io u s emphases
which had developed within the Church of Norway were transplanted
to America in the process of m igration.
Second, three chapters are devoted to a characterization
of the Norwegian Lutheran church bodies in America during our p eri­
od, together with a discussion of the most sig n ifica n t aspects of
th eir development. These church bodies are discussed in accordance
with the follow ing c la ssific a tio n : (1) A "right wing" group, rep­
resented by the Norwegian Synod, which was marked by its concern
for church order, it s emphasis upon the importance of pure doc­
trine and the n ecessity of complete unity in doctrine as a prereq­
u is ite for union or cooperation, and its retention of the worship
forms and practices tra d ition a l in the Church of Norway. (2) A
" left wing" group of Haugean conviction s, represented in our period
by two synods which had a common origin under the leadership of
Ellin,g E ielsen, namely, E ielsen 's Synod and Hauge’s Synod. In
some respects they were the a n tith esis of the Norwegian Synod in
emphasis, being much less concerned about church organization and
order, emphasizing the importance of an experienced fa ith and the
Christian lif e rather than pure doctrine, and being h o stile to
any tendencies towards formalism in litu rg y and worship. However,
men and women who had been influenced by the Haugean Revival in
Norway were to be found in lesser or greater numbers in a ll the
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Norwegian Lutheran synods in America. (3) An intermediate group,
represented by the Conference and the Norwegian Augustana Synod,
bridged the gap between the Norwegian Synod on the one hand and
. the E ielsen follow ing on the other. Members of th is group wanted
church order and organization without destroying congregational
freedom or lay a c tiv ity ; they desired a balanced stress upon both
doctrine and the Christian lif e ; and they favored retention of
tra d itio n a l litu r g ic a l and worship forms, although there was not
complete agreement here. In fa c t, a characteristic of th is in ter­
mediate group was that there was a greater d iv ersity of opinion
and less unity of sp ir it than in either of the other two groups.
The h istory of our period reveals that groups two and three had
more in common than groups one and three.
Third, the topic of controversy receives particular atten ­
tion in Chapters V and VI. Chapter V is devoted to a discussion
of a b itte r inter-3ynodical b attle between the Norwegian Synod and
the Conference which occupied much of the decade of the sev en ties.
This controversy had many doctrinal and p ractical ram ifications,
and th is disctission supplements the characterization of these two
groups which is found in Chapters II and IV. The ch ief th eological
discussion centered about the doctrines of absolution and j u s t i f i­
cation . In th is same decade both Eielsen*s Synod and the Confer­
ence had intra-synodical controversies on th eir hands (See Chapters
III and IV). Chapter VI is devoted to the most v io len t controversy
of a ll, the E lection Controversy of the e ig h tie s. This was an in ­
tra-synodical controversy involving the Norwegian Synod, resu ltin g
in the d ivision of that synodical body.
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Fourth, Chapter VII is devoted to the second sig n ific a n t
theme to be considered, that of union. It con sists o f a d iscu s­
sion of the pre-1890 movement for union among Norwegian-American
Lutherans. It was largely confined to the decade of the e ig h ties
and culminated su ccessfu lly in the formation of the United Nor­
wegian Lutheran Church of America in 1890.
F ifth , synodical a c t iv it ie s —m issionary, charitable, and
educational in nature—of a ll the synods are discussed as a unit
in Chapter VIII under the t i t l e , "The Synods at Work, 1870-90,"
rather than In connection w ith the discussions dealing with the
individual synods in Chapters II-IV . This procedure is adopted
in furtherance of the author’s aim to provide as integrated a
presentation of the h istory of the period as p o ssib le. Chapter
IX, consisting of a summary and review of the period, is designed
to serve the same purpose.
It has not been the author’s purpose to delve into an ex­
haustive discussion o f the th eological controversies of the period.
Each of the major controversies, such as that concerning absolu­
tion or that involving e le c tio n , could w ell be the sole top ic for
a thorough, inten sive study, in dealing w ith a controversy the
author’s purpose has been to consider it s general nature, to a s ­
certain the issues at stake, and to dep ict the course of develop­
ment of the controversy. Rather than the question, Why did the
participants believe and act as they did?, the question, What i s ­
sues were involved and what course did the controversy take?, has
been kept In mind. This means that the "Internal" aspects of the
controversies—the m otivations of the co n tro v ersia lists, the
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origins of th eir th eo lo gica l p o sitio n s, and the lik e — are not
d ealt with in any d etailed way in th is d isserta tio n . The author
does not intend thereby to minimize the importance of these a s­
pects of the controversies, but he b eliev es that in accomplishing
the purpose set for him self he w ill be providing in the English
language a necessary basis for further investigations more lim ited
in scope and more in ten sive in nature. Furthermore, a treatment
of the "in tern al” aspects would require the in vestigation of a
type of source m aterial not u tiliz e d in the preparation o f th is
d isserta tio n , namely, the private papers and correspondence of
prominent in d ivid u als. The bulk of the synodical literatu re which
had to be consulted did not permit analysis of such sources. This
leads to a b rief consideration of the nature of the source m ateri­
als used.
A ll primary source m aterials are in the Norwegian language,
Those used have included the printed reports of synodical meetings
(ordinarily d etailed and complete, p articu larly in the case of the
Norwegian Synod and the Conference); relig io u s periodicals of the
period, c h ie fly the o f f ic ia l synodical publications, but also some
p eriod icals p riv a tely published; the printed minutes o f conferences
and meetings (p articu larly in connection with the union movement);
books and pamphlets of the period, many of which were published
in the heat of controversy; the co llected published works of two
prominent lead ers—Georg Sverdrup and U, V, Koren; and, to a
lim ited exten t, some of the Norwegian newspapers of the day. The
synodical reports and synodical period icals have been u tiliz e d
for a ll phases of the in vestigation and have been the sources of
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Information most heavily relied upon. This has been the natural
approach in a d isserta tio n which has been concerned with develop­
ments on the synodical le v e l. One interested in the matter of
m otivation in connection w ith the controversies would want to con­
su lt the co llectio n s of personal papers of the prominent Norwegian
Synod leaders H. A. Preus and U. V« Koren, which are available In
the library of Luther C ollege, Decorah, Iowa, and those of other
leaders, which are to be found in the library, s t i l l only p a rtia lly
c la s s ifie d , of the Norwegian-American H istorical A ssociation, lo ­
cated at S t. Olaf C ollege, N orthfield, Minnesota* Unfortunately
the correspondence and personal papers of many person alities prom­
inent In the relig iou s h isto ry of the period would have to be run
down Inasmuch as they are not accessib le in the lib ra ries.
Most of these primary source m aterials may be found in
the library of Luther Theological Seminary, St. Paul, Minnesota,
where most o f the research for th is d issertation was carried on.
The library of Luther C ollege, Decorah, Iowa, however, has a better
co llectio n of Norwegian newspapers, and i t also has as complete a
co llectio n of pamphlet literatu re as w ill be found. Other library
f a c ilit ie s u tiliz e d , where Norwegian-American source m aterials may
be found, have been those of S t. Olaf colleg e, N orthfield, Minne­
sota, Concordia C ollege, Moorhead, Minnesota, and Augsburg College
and Seminary, M inneapolis, Minnesota. Only the newspaper
Folkebladet was consulted at the last-named. The author expresses
h is sincere thanks and appreciation to the sta ffs of the above-
mentioned lib ra ries for th eir u n failin g helpfulness and coopera­
tion •
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The nature o f th is d isserta tio n , involving as it does a
consideration of various phases of the development o f several syn­
ods, has also dictated dependence upon a number of secondary
sources. Fortunately the Norwegian immigrant group has been the
object of much study, and a number of works of real worth have
been produced. Special mention should be made of the valuable
studies published over the years under the auspices of the Norwe­
gian-American H istorical A ssociation* The many volumes of th eir
Norwegian-American Studies and Records are a veritab le storehouse
o f accurate and u sefu l information about Norwegian-Americana.
Books published under th eir auspices and w ritten by the follow ing
authors have been extremely h elp fu l: Theodore C. Blegen, Karen
Larsen, Laurence M. Larson, and Carlton Qualey. Books w ritten or
edited by the follow ing in d ivid u als, variously published, likew ise
have been valuable references; J. A. Bergh, J. M. Rohne, Andreas
Helland, and 0. M. N orlie.
A few words remain to be said concerning the reason for
sele c tin g the period 1870 to 1890 for study. The period prior to
1870 has been covered rather w ell in J. M. Rohne*s study, en titled
Norwegian American Lutheranism up to 1872 (New York; Macmillan
Co., 1926). However, in the author's opinion, 1870 would have
been a more natural term inal date for h is work since the period
1870 to 1890 in v ites u n ified treatment because the year 1870 w it­
nessed the appearance of two Norwegian-American Lutheran church
bodies, the Conference and the Norwegian Augustana Synod. Their
h isto r ie s as independent synods exactly span the two decades stud­
ied in th is d isserta tio n . A d istin c t period in the h isto ry of
ix
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