German Religious Life in Colonial Times; by Lucy F. Bittinger; Originally published in 1906; reprinted 1988, reprinted 2011; 5½x8½; paper; index; 146 pp.; ISBN #: 978-1-55613-167-7; Item #: HBB3167
This volume is in many respects a sequel the author’s previous work, The Germans in Colonial Times, which describes the German settlements in America down to the American Revolution. However, in this volume the emphasis is on their religious motivations. The author begins with a description of the religious conditions in Germany which were a primary factor in inducing many of the Separatists sects to immigrate to the colonies, and then proceeds to discuss the arrival of the various Separatists groups such as the Mennonites, Amish, Dunkards, Brethren, etc.
There then follow chapters on the emigration of the members of the Lutheran, Reformed, and the Moravian churches, an account of the strong interaction between the German churches and the Methodists, and a concluding chapter on the role of the German churches in the American Revolution. The text is documented and there are bibliographies at the end of each chapter.
