American Lutheranism Volume II: The United Lutheran Church (General Synod, General Council, United Synod in the South) by Friedrich Bente

(Note: Find the post on the first volume here.)

Bente hits the ground running in the second volume of American Lutheranism with a gripping and incisive evaluation of the 1917 merger of the General Synod, General Council, and the United Synod South to form the United Lutheran Church. With the merger as the setting and fate, he gives the history of each of these three predecessor synods.

Following the Faith of Our Fathers by Friedrich Bente

Here is another treat from Bente before we get to the second volume of American Lutheranism. It is an essay from the Missouri Synod's 1923 Convention. Bente hits the right note by calling upon the Synod to respect and honor her fathers, yet remembering that this is no hidebound traditionalism, but due to the fact that they were loyal to the Word of God.

Perhaps the most refreshing aspect of Bente's essay is that he does not shrink from the other necessary part of believing, teaching, and confessing in the church militant--rejecting and condemning. And he is as sharp in his condemnation as he is coordinately clear with joyous proclamation. He lays out the importance of confessional and biblical fidelity with an eye to the historic and current American Lutheran situation. From his conclusion:

American Lutheranism Volume I: Early History of American Lutheranism and The Tennesse Synod by Friedrich Bente

Most famous for his Historical Introductions to the Lutheran Confessions (online here),  Friedrich Bente was one of the Synod's greatest historians. This first volume of Bente's American Lutheranism traces the early years of Lutheranism in America. He swiftly, but adequately, covers the colonial period and the establishment of the first Lutheran outposts: the Salzburgers, the Swedes, the Dutch, Falckner, Kochertal, etc. (Berkenmeyer in New York is a favorite of mine! (p.32-5)) By page 59, Muhlenburg rightly dominates the narrative of these early years.


Two sections stand out as especially important for the student of American Lutheran history: