Religion, Historic Sites & Museums Working Group 2015 reading list

from Nick Siegert – Custodial Guide Supervisor, Ephrata Cloister

Books

Kraybill, Donald. The Riddle of Amish Culture. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins University Press, 1989. Herald Press, 2003 Description: The Riddle of Amish Culture has become recognized as a classic work on one of America’s most distinctive religious communities. The book covers not only the history, tradition, and culture, but also the many changes that have occurred within Amish society over the past decade, as well as the challenges that they face today and into the future. It may not have a direct impact on our immediate studies and interests here at Ephrata, but it is a good piece of sociological and historical research on this unique group of people with Anabaptist connections to Ephrata and the history of religion in Pennsylvania.

Bach, Jeff. Voices of the Turtledoves: The Sacred World of Ephrata. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press, 2006. Description: This is the quintessential book on the Ephrata Cloister. Of all the books and research on Ephrata, this is the first one that deals with it comprehensively, empathetically, and objectively. It makes a real contribution to American religious history and the history of intentional or communal societies. Written originally as Bach’s doctorial thesis in 1994. It was restructured into [this] book form in 2006. It has also become an important part of our interpretation and guide training program here at Ephrata. It also deals with colonial Pennsylvania, the Brethren, and Pietism in early America.

Shantz, Douglas H. An Introduction to German Pietism: Protestant Renewal at the Dawn of Modern Europe (Young Center Books in Anabaptist and Pietist Studies) ,2013 Description: This book provides a scholarly investigation of a movement that changed the history of Protestantism. Most books on this subject are written in German, so a book of this scope, the first in 40 years written in English is a welcome addition to the existing scholarship. An Introduction to German Pietism provides a narrative interpretation of the movement as a whole. The book’s accessible tone and concise portrayal of an extensive and complex subject make it ideal for courses on early modern Christianity and German history. The book includes appendices with translations of German primary sources and discussion questions.

Bushman, Richard Lyman. Joseph Smith: Rough Stone Rolling (New York: Vintage Books, 2007) Description: This is probably one of the best newer biographies of the founder of the Mormon Religion in the last 10 years. A great and highly readable piece of research by an esteemed scholar of the subject. Contains extensive and useful footnotes, references, and citations.

Quinn, D. Michael. Early Mormonism and the Magic World View (Signature Books, 1998) Description: This is an important and controversial book. The author explores the beginning of the Mormon religion through the lens of folk magic in nineteenth-century New England, and the effect it has on the Mormon founder Joseph Smith’s upbringing. Quinn discovers that Smith’s world was inhabited by supernatural creatures whose existence could be both symbolic and real. He explains that the Smith family’s notoriety at treasure digging was not unusual for the times and is vital to understanding how early Mormons interpreted developments in their history in ways that differ from modern perceptions. Any serious student of Mormon Studies should read this book.

Brooke, John L. The Refiner’s Fire: The Making of Mormon Cosmology, 1644-1844 (Cambridge University, 1994) Description: Another important and original work, at first considered quite controversial, The Refiners Fire presents a new understanding of the roots of Mormon religion. Brooke contends that origins of Mormonism involve a mix of radical religion with occult ideas. As well as religion, the book explores magic, divining, alchemy, Freemasonry, counterfeiting, and state-formation. It remains, more than 20 years after its first publication, a fascinating piece of scholarship.

Rebecca Lawrence
Museum Program & Volunteer Facilitator, Ephrata Cloister

Books:

Fogleman, Aaron Spencer. Two Troubled Souls. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2013.

Folgeman offers a personal story of a couple, Maria Barbara Knoll (Sister Delilah) and her husband, a doctor and Moravian minister, Jean Francois Reynier (Brother John), spent time independently of each other as members of Beissel’s Camp of the Solitaries, the Ephratenser. Reynier’s personal account, frequently cited in Folgeman’s account of the couple’s story, is an important addition to the few known first-hand accounts of experiences of life in 18^th century Ephrata. Reynier and his wife’s relationship with faith, their commitment to each other, and transgressions in the Ephrata community are explored in Two Troubled Souls.

Peter Bain and Paul Shaw, eds., Blackletter: Type and National Identity. New York: The Cooper Union, 1998 with essays by Lawrence Mirsky, Philipp Th. Bertheau, Christopher Burke, Philipp Luidl, Yvonne Schwemer-Scheddin and Hans Peter Willberg.

In a succinct text of 75pages this collection of essays explores the history and cultural identity that the Blackletter letterforms have embodied since its inception in Europe through the present day. The inherit connection to the unique characteristics of the German language, the tensions between the secular and non-secular use, and its movement from positive to negative connotations are surveyed. Fraktur as a printed and hand created typeface was the vessel of which the dominant printed German Protestant texts and calligraphic messages resided and flourished in 18th century America; this collection provides a historic and cultural overview to understand Fraktur’s evolution in Germany and America.

Daly, Peter M. Literature in the Light of the Emblem. Second edition. Toronto, Canada: University of Toronto Press, 1998. (1979 original edition)

18^th century emblematic language of the Baroque period is defined and analyzed in Daly’s text. Meditative texts, secular and nonsecular poems, and emblematic images are placed in a historical and literary context. For the18th century Pennsylvania German, emblematic literary works such as Johannes Arndt’s Wahres Christendom were widely read and celebrated. Daly’s ideas and interpretation of emblematic literature can be helpful to understand the creation and function of the metaphoric visual and written language of the PA Germans, particularly the work created by the 18^th century Ephrata community.

Lindberg, Carter Ed. The Pietist Theologians: An Introduction to Theology in the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries John Wiley and Sons Ltd, United Kingdom, 2004

Lindberg’s volume contains biographical and theological summaries of 16 Pietist spiritual leaders beginning with Johann Arndt (1555-1621) and ending with John Wesley (1703-1791). Literary works including devotional readers and hymntexts written by key Pietists such as Madame Guyon, Gerhardt Tersteegen, Paul Gerhardt, Count Ludwig von Zinzendorf, and Jane Leade, whose life and work are reviewed in Lindberg’s text, influenced the establishment of and provided spiritual sustenance to the Moravians, Schwenkfelders, and the Ephratenser- in 18^th century America. The Pietist Theologians is a primer on Pietism and can be seen as a good companion to Douglas Shantz’ An Introduction to German Pietism: Protestant Renewal at the Dawn of Modern Europe, an accessible historical overview of the German Pietist movement in Europe and America.

from Katie Garland:

I do not think that I will have time to look into any of these books between now and our conversation at NCPH because I am graduating this semester and busy preparing for my portfolio defense in April, but this is a (very short!) list of books on this topic that could prove useful.

Alba, Richard D. , Albert J. Raboteau, and Josh DeWind. Immigration and Religion in America: Comparative and Historical Perspectives. NYU Press, 2009.
Beneke, Chris, Beyond Toleration: The Religious Origins of American Pluralism. New York: Oxford University Press, 2008.
Bowden, Henry Warner, American Indians and Christian Missions: Studies in Cultural Conflict. University of Chicago Press, 1985.
Fisher, Linford D., The Indian Great Awakening: Religion and the Shaping of Native Cultures in Early America. Oxford University Press, 2012.
Martin, Joel and Mark A. Nicholas, Native Americans, Christianity, and the Reshaping of the American Religious Landscape. University of North Carolina Press, 2010.
Wyss, Hilary E., Writing Indians: Literacy, Christianity, and Native Community in Early America. University of Massachusetts Press, 2003.
Yazbeck Haddad, Yvonne, Jane I. Smith, and John L. Esposito, eds. Religion and Immigration: Christian, Jewish, and Muslim Experiences in the United States. AltaMira Press, 2004.