Lutheranism and Social Responsibility ed. by Nina J. Koefoed and Andrew G. Newby (review)

Abstract

LUTHERAN QUARTERLY Volume 37 (2023): 364–366 © 2023 Johns Hopkins University Press and Lutheran Quarterly, Inc. distressing feature of American religious freedom was the toleration of freethinkers. He frequently bewailed the influence of Tom Paine and expressed concern about the election of Thomas Jefferson as president. He struggled with “rationalism” locally in the person of a schoolteacher who once provoked a mob to disrupt his Christmas service. Bergmann’s letters are also interesting for his comments about slavery and the local Creek Indians. Although distressed by how poorly slaves were treated, he was more worried about the threat of Indian or slave insurrections. He never explicitly condemned slavery as an institution and occasionally benefitted from the labor of borrowed slaves. Bergmann originally contracted to stay for six years but, despite illness, poverty, and numerous disputes within the community, he stayed for thirty-eight. He never quite felt at home in his adopted land but, sustained by faith, he resolved to persevere in the “Georgia desert” for as long as God willed (92). Kleckley highlights key features of Bergmann’s letters in his chapter introductions and meticulously identifies all the people and events mentioned in the letters in his extensive footnotes. This makes the book an accessible and revealing resource for anyone interested in the evolution of American Lutheranism or the development of Southern society. Windham, Maine Eric Lund