History Commons^™

Inward Baptism: The Theological Origins Of Evangelicalism, Baird L. Tipson

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Inward Baptism analyses the theological developments that led to the great evangelical revivals of the mid-eighteenth century. Baird Tipson here demonstrates how the rationale for the "new birth," the characteristic and indispensable evangelical experience, developed slowly but inevitably from Luther's critique of late medieval Christianity.

Addressing the great indulgence campaigns of the late fifteenth and early sixteenth centuries, Luther's perspective on sacramental baptism, as well as the confrontation between Lutheran and Reformed theologians who fastened on to different aspects of Luther's teaching, Tipson sheds light on how these disparate historical moments collectively created space for evangelicalism.

This leads to an …

Ms – 231: Frederick Augustus Muhlenberg Keller, Class Of 1838, Karen Dupell Drickamer

All Finding Aids

The collection consists of four notebooks penned in Keller’s hand. Two of the notebooks contain notes taken by Keller while a student at the Seminary, 1838-1840, for courses taught by Samuel. S. Schmucker, founder and sole instructor at the Seminary (original).

The notes in MS #1 begin with a lecture on Chronology, (the application of periods of time to history) and moves through lessons on “Biblical History” as presented in the Hebrew Scripture from creation in Genesis to the kingships of David and Solomon in I & II Samuel. The notes in MS #2 cover two subjects, “Church Government & …

Religion And The State: The Influence Of The Tokugawa On Religious Life, Thought, And Institutions, Savannah A. Labbe

Student Publications

This paper describes the influence of the Tokugawa government on religious life in Japan. It focuses on the religious traditions of Buddhism, Shintoism, and Neo-Confucianism and how the state used these religions to their advantage. The Tokugawa had strict control over all aspects of Japanese life including religion and this paper explores that.

The Oatmeal Brigade: Quaker Life During The Civil War, Anika N. Jensen

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Quakers in the Civil War seems like an inherently contradictory idea; the Society of Friends practices pacifism and nonviolence, and, for many, putting money or resources toward war efforts goes against the faith. But tensions were high in 1861, and deviations from Quakerism were made when Friends, both Northern and Southern, had to choose whether to prioritize the sanctity of union, support abolition, or remain neutral. Each of these decisions had its share of repercussions within the religious community, and the Quakers themselves found their mindsets changing as the tide of the war rolled on, whether they chose to fight, …

The Saint Patrick’S Battalion: Loyalty, Nativism, And Identity In The Nineteenth Century And Today, Kevin P. Lavery

The Gettysburg Compiler: On the Front Lines of History

Two decades before the Irish Brigade covered itself with glory, an earlier unit of Irish immigrants had won renown for its service during the Mexican American War. Calling themselves the Saint Patrick’s Battalion, these men marched under a flag of brilliant emerald decorated with Irish motifs: a harp, a shamrock, and the image of Saint Patrick [excerpt].

Did Religion Make The American Civil War Worse?, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

If there is one sober lesson Americans seem to be taking out of the bathos of the Civil War sesquicentennial, it’s the folly of a nation allowing itself to be dragged into the war in the first place. After all, from 1861 to 1865 the nation pledged itself to what amounted to a moral regime change, especially concerning race and slavery—only to realize that it had no practical plan for implementing it. No wonder that two of the most important books emerging from the Sesquicentennial years—by Harvard president Drew Faust, and Yale’s Harry Stout—questioned pretty frankly whether the appalling costs …

The Nature Of Food: Indigenous Dene Foodways And Ontologies In The Era Of Climate Change, David S. Walsh

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

Climate change leading to a drastic decline in caribou populations has prompted strict hunting regulations in Canada’s Northwest Territories since 2010. The Dene, a subarctic indigenous people, have responded by turning to tradition and calling for more respectful hunting to demonstrate respectful reciprocity to the caribou, including a community-driven foodways project on caribou conservation and Dene caribou conservation which I co-facilitated in 2011. In these ways the caribou is approached as a person. Dene responses to caribou decline can best be understood by ontological theories of an expanded notion of indigenous personhood. However, I argue these theories are inadequate without …

“Servants, Obey Your Masters”: Southern Representations Of The Religious Lives Of Slaves, Lindsey K.D. Wedow

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

This paper focuses on how representations of the religious lives of slaves, specifically their abilities to comprehend the Bible and flourish spiritually, became an issue that not only propelled the North and South toward the Civil War, but also perpetuated the conflict. Using original documents from the collections housed at Chicago’s Newberry Library, predominantly sermons written by proslavery ministers as well as documents published by missionary organizations, this paper explores the fierce defense of the institution of slavery mounted by proslavery Christians. Specifically, this paper’s interest is in how the representation of slaves by proslavery evangelical Christians as incapable of …

Gettysburg College Journal Of The Civil War Era 2015

The Gettysburg College Journal of the Civil War Era

No abstract provided.

Stoning In Iran: A Sexist And Overlooked Practice, Megan R. Haugh

What All Americans Should Know About Women in the Muslim World

This paper seeks to dissect and expose the ancient practice of stoning in Iran, and to analyze the injustices that are built into this punishment.

Ms-168: Lena And Dr. Robert Fortenbaugh ’13 Papers, Faythe Grace

All Finding Aids

This collection consists primarily of materials related to the professional activities of Dr. Robert Fortenbaugh as a historian and, to a lesser extent, a Lutheran clergyman. Activities represented include Lutheran ministry, publication, review, and requests for published works, speaking engagements, involvement in professional organizations, summer employment at colleges and universities, and communication with former students. His correspondence from 1931 to 1959, and his diary from a trip to Germany in 1933 most fully document his activity as a historian, although the handwriting in the diary is extremely challenging. In particular, the diary and accompanying materials demonstrate Robert’s specialized knowledge of …

Strange Bedfellows : The Rise Of The Military Religious Orders In The Twelfth Century, Sarah E. Hayes

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

Most people would not describe Christian monks as militaristic. However, there are instances in history when Christians have strayed from their basic pacifist beliefs in the name of defending their religion. The most famous example of this would be the Military Orders of the medieval Crusades, when full scale war was encouraged by the Catholic Church in order to protect the Holy Land. These militant monks formed a new breed of religious organization where brothers were soldiers willing die defending Christianity against the infidel. Although the Order of the Temple, or the Templars, was the most infamous of the Orders, …

Ms-143: Frederick Weiser ’57 Papers, Stephanie Bowen

All Finding Aids

A large portion of the collection contains documents related to the management of the Pennsylvania German Society. It includes correspondence from fellow Directors, Committee Chairs, Society members, authors and researchers; as well as memos, minutes, and financial records from various Society committees. A portion of the Society- related papers include documents, pamphlets and sources relating to Society events, issues, and special interests.

Smaller portions of the collection have personal scrapbooks, photos, and postcards of Weiser's travels in Europe, the United States, and his time at Gettysburg College. Some others are related to the Lutheran church and early German immigrant culture. …

The National Muslim Forum Nepal: Experiences Of Conflict, Formations Of Identity, Megan Adamson Sijapati

Religious Studies Faculty Publications

With Nepal's recent transition to state secularism, the politicization of Muslim religious identity has emerged with increasing vitality. One particular pan-Nepali Muslim organization, the Rastriya Muslim Mane Nepal (National Muslim Forum Nepal), offers a window into the complex relationship between national and religious identity that animates this politicization. Through analysis of the National Muslim Forum's earliest discourses, produced between 2005 and 2006, both immediately before and after the people's revolution that resulted in the declaration of Nepal as a secular state, this essay highlights the ways that experiences of conflict coupled with a national political transition shape and contribute to …

She Shall Be Saved In Childbearing: Submission, Contemplation Of Conception, And Annunciation Imagery In The Books Of Hours Of Two Late Medieval Noblewomen, Dallas A. Grubbs

The Gettysburg Historical Journal

The role of the Book of Hours in female lay devotional life during the late Middle Ages has been investigated and analyzed by many scholars and art historians over the course of the past century. The general consensus has been that semi-literate medieval women valued these books greatly as instructional manuals on how to attain salvation, using the images contained within as spiritual aids meant to encourage individual contemplation and pious recitation. Prayers for mediation, protection, and guidance featured prominently within these books and many historians of both genders have come to the conclusion that Books of Hours were a …

Book Review: The Ordeal Of Thomas Barton: Anglican Missionary In The Pennsylvania Backcountry, 1755-1780, David L. Preston

Adams County History

The Ordeal of Thomas Barton is a highly informative read that I recommend for anyone interested in the history of eighteenth-century Pennsylvania. Scholars will find the book useful for its many connections to the histories of settlement, religion, politics, Indian diplomacy, and warfare on the Pennsylvania frontier. The book's author, Gettysburg College English professor James P. Myers, Jr., has written the most deeply researched account of Barton's importance in eighteenth-century religion and politics, and has contributed some of the finest overall scholarship on early Pennsylvania in recent years. Based in Huntington Township in what is now Adams County, and later …

Ms-106: J.G. Morris & Morris-Hay Family Diaries, Kate Boeree

All Finding Aids

This collection contains 10 diaries ranging from 1827 to 1890, two of which are written by John Gottleib Morris and eight by M.A. Hay. These diaries contain church membership and donation records as well as Morris' personal thoughts on the ministerial profession, and his duty to the church. He speaks on personal matters like his marriage and his children who have died. One diary also includes his note on the formation of the Lutherville Female College.

Special Collections and College Archives Finding Aids are discovery tools used to describe and provide access to our holdings. Finding aids include historical and …

Edwards On The Will: A Century Of American Theological Debate, Allen C. Guelzo

Gettysburg College Faculty Books

Jonathan Edwards towered over his contemporaries--a man over six feet tall and a figure of theological stature--but the reasons for his power have been a matter of dispute. Edwards on the Will offers a persuasive explanation. In 1753, after seven years of personal trials, which included dismissal from his Northampton church, Edwards submitted a treatise, Freedom of the Will, to Boston publishers. Its impact on Puritan society was profound. He had refused to be trapped either by a new Arminian scheme that seemed to make God impotent or by a Hobbesian natural determinism that made morality an illusion. He …

Adams County History 2008

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

Book Review: Expanding Horizons For American Lutherans: The Story Of Abdel Ross Wentz, Charles Hambrick-Stowe

Adams County History

Abdel Ross Wentz (1883-1976) of the Lutheran Theological Seminary at Gettysburg joked about his small physical stature but he was a giant of American Lutheranism, noted religious historian and theological educator, and exemplar of a great generation of church leaders working in national and world arenas from the 1920s through the 1950s. This biography by his son, himself a historian and seminary professor and president, traces Wentz’s life from childhood in Lineboro, Maryland through his significant career in Gettysburg and much wider circles to his retirement near the Seminary campus. Obviously a labor of love and written in a style …

Mt. Pleasant Church, Conewago Township, Larry C. Bolin

Adams County History

About two miles south of McSherrystown and a similar distance southwest of Hanover, in Conewago Township, lies the small village of Mt. Pleasant. The community developed at and near the intersection of State Route 194, commonly called the Hanover-Littlestown Pike, and Legislative Route 01005, known in days past as the road from McSherrystown to Gitt's Mill and its segment south of the intersection called in recent times Narrow Drive. In the eastern quadrant of the intersection, a church was built in 1878; nearby and adjacent to the crossroads sat a public school, which had been built sometime before 1858. The …

Adams County History 2005

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

Ms-043: George Washington Beidelman Collection, Kevin D. Luy

All Finding Aids

The George W. Beidelman Collection holds its most significant information in letters written by George to his father, Jacob. In these letters, George shares his political opinions, religious beliefs, and camp-life descriptions. The core of the collection is the correspondence from August 1, 1862 until November 18, 1862, in which George writes diary-like entries to his father, recounting each day’s activities. Accounts of the fighting at Ball’s Bluff and Fredericksburg are the most detailed battle descriptions. However, the collection’s strength is in George’s astute observations regarding camp life and the political aspects of the war.

In addition to letters written …

Ms-005: The Papers Of Charles H. Huber, Class Of 1892, Christine M. Ameduri

All Finding Aids

Charles H. Huber was born June 7, 1871 in Nebraska City, NE, the son of Eli Huber (Class of 1855 and the first professor of English Bible at Gettysburg College), and Mary E. Deibert Huber. Upon graduating from Gettysburg College in 1892, Charles was hired as a tutor at Gettysburg Academy, appointed vice-principal in 1893 and headmaster in 1896. He earned his A.M. from Gettysburg College and Litt.D. from Gettysburg Theological Seminary both in 1895. After the Gettysburg Academy closed in 1935, he was appointed Director of Gettysburg College's Women's Division, and held that position until his retirement in 1941. …

Interview With Harold A. Dunkelberger, July 29, 1999, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Michael J. Birkner, David Hedrick

Oral Histories

The first of two interviews, Harold A. Dunkelberger, a student and professor at Gettysburg College, was interviewed on July 29, 1999 by Michael J. Birkner & David Hedrick. He graduated with the class of 1936, and discusses his experience as a student of English at Gettysburg and his time at the Gettysburg Seminary.

Length of Interview: 87 minutes

Collection Note: This oral history was selected from the Oral History Collection maintained by Special Collections & College Archives. Transcripts are available for browsing in the Special Collections Reading Room, 4^th floor, Musselman Library. GettDigital contains the complete listing of oral …

Adams County History 1999

Adams County History

No abstract provided.

Some Early Adams County Communities, Their Churches, And Church Lands, Charles H. Glatfelter

Adams County History

The earliest European settlers in today's Adams county were basically a religious people. While probably most of them should not be described as particularly pious, they did have the fear of the Lord in their hearts and wanted to have access to the services of some religious organization, either the one to which they were accustomed in Europe or one with which they had affiliated in America. If they belonged to groups such as the Quakers, Mennonites, or Brethren, it was easy for them to develop internally the leadership necessary to function successfully as a religious community. If they were …

God's Designs: The Literature Of The Colonial Revival Of Religion, 1735-1760, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

In December of 1990, after the completion of a section on Jonathan Edwards at the annual meeting of the American Historical Association in New York City, a dozen or so of mostly younger scholars of Jonathan Edwards swept around the corner from the convention hotel and settled themselves down to a staggering repast at a posh north Italian restaurant. In the midst of some very un-Edwardsean consumption, I offered a question to everyone around the table: What is the most important book which you've ever read on the Great Awakening? With only one exception, the Young Edwardseans gave the palm …

An Heir Or A Rebel? Charles Grandison Finney And The New England Theology, Allen C. Guelzo

History Faculty Publications

Examines the contributions of Charles Grandison Finney to mid-nineteenth century theology. Finney's rejection of Calvinism; Critiques on Finney's theology by interpreters including William McLoughlin; Reference to the book `Memoirs'; Finney's perverse admiration of Jonathan Edwards; Development of the doctrine of perfection.

Oberlin Perfectionism And Its Edwardsean Origins, Allen C. Guelzo

Civil War Era Studies Faculty Publications

An impression has very generally prevailed," wrote James Harris Fairchild toward the end of his twenty-three-year presidency of Oberlin College, "that the theological views unleashed at Oberlin College by the late Rev. Charles Grandison Finney & his Associates involves a considerable departure from the accepted orthodox faith." It was an impression that Fairchild believed to be inaccurate, and he would probably be horrified to discover a century later that the prevailing impression the "Oberlin Theology" has made on historians of the nineteenth-century United States continues to be one in which Oberlin stands for almost all the progressive and enthusiastic unorthodoxies …