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| Kenneth Scott Latourette |
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| History of the Expansion of Christianity |
“The
single work for which Latourette is most remembered is the seven-volume "A
History of the Expansion of Christianity".[9]Latourette noted within Volume 4 that only 5% of Americans in 1790
had formal ties to churches or synagogues.” Wiki
Latourette was prolific in writing, very much loved by students at Yale, and a genuine believer.
Latourette was prolific in writing, very much loved by students at Yale, and a genuine believer.
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| Jaroslav Pelikan, LCMS, ELCA, Eastern Orthodox |
Jaroslav
Pelikan was very famous. We often saw him at Bethesda Lutheran Church. I think
he was more of an opportunist. He became “senior editor” of Luther’s Works then
left that to be at Yale, if I remember the facts correctly. Someone else
continued the work, and Pelikan got most of the credit.
One
long-term history professor at Yale thought Pelikan’s history of Christianity
was not good at all. He published a tough review in the Yale Divinity magazine. It
was a shock for Yale to have a Yale professor say the Great Pelikan was not that
good. Pelikan wanted to be Yale President, I think, and devoted a lot of time to
that. Pelikan became Eastern Orthodox after leaving the LCMS for ELCA. He won a $500,000 prize and gave it to the Russian Orthodoxy Seminary in America.
Sydney Ahlstrom, (Augustana Synod) another Lutheran, wrote his famous American Church History book. A bit
too general for me. The joke was “A elephant conceived and bore a mouse.”
Ahlstrom had serious neurological problems and that may have blunted his
efforts. Still, it was a best seller.
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| Day Missions Library, Yale Divinity School |
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| Yale Divinity School, New Haven, Connecticut |
