The Religious Aspects Of Swedish Immigration: A Study Of Immigrant Churches

Book Summary

Professor Stephenson's main purpose has been to stress the influence of religion upon Swedish immigration, and to trace the religious history of the Swedish-American element in the United States. This is no easy task, for, although the church was one of the agencies contributing to Swedish-American unity, it necessitates following many currents that run back and forth across the Atlantic, a discussion of the theological and proselyting activities of many denominations, the conflict between a rigorous and to a degree theologically barren Church of Sweden and the pietistic and occasionally fanatical movements of protest which affected the history of Swedish emigration in the nineteenth century. The author skillfully weaves his way through a bewildering maze of synods, conferences, and warring factions, and enlivens what might easily become a tedious recital with charming biographical sketches of important Swedish leaders in the American vineyard of the Lord. This book could only have been written by one who is bilingual, and whose own experiences give him an intimate approach to the story of the people from whom he has sprung. It required courage to pass historical judgments on the activities and personnel of religious groups that are still militantly alive, but Professor Stephenson has done this effectively and in good taste. His narrative is a sympathetic, but entirely balanced and critical, and, on occasion, gently ironical, discussion of a mass of highly charged religious materials. But this study is more than a detailed discussion of religious forces. It is in other respects also a substantial contribution to the rapidly growing literature on immigrant contribution, for it includes many pages on community life in Swedish-American areas, a history of education institutions, and a discussion of journalism, and the many forces which made for a phenomenally rapid Americanization of the Swedes. A critical bibliography of over thirty pages attests the author's prodigious industry, and reveals the use of a mass of material gathered in Sweden through the aid of a Guggenheim fellowship. The Mississippi Valley Historical Review Volume 19 Number 2 September 1932

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