18431908
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 201
them abroad upon the face of the earth." It is evident that the
"confounding of language" was meant as a check to an inordinate
pride, and must be viewed as a punishment. However, divine chas-
tisement is always followed by salutary results. It is God's purpose
that all things shall work together for good. It is also a part of his
plan to have us work ourselves out of difficulties and tight places.
The aim of this particular visitation of Providence was accomplished :
"And they left off to build the city." The ultimate blessings have
been developed gradually. As time speeds along and the world
hastens on to its glorious consummation, the folly of the plain of
Shinar will have been outweighed by the innumerable benefits of a
healthful competition among all peoples to reach the highest
standard of excellence, in which language takes a most conspicuous
part.
We cannot ignore the fact that the difference of language has
presented many difficult problems in the world's history. In com-
merce, education, and the work of evangelization there have been
tremendous obstacles to overcome. But the trophies of victory have
been worth the battle. The world has become enriched by the
conquests.
Language is a reflection of the temperament and soul life of a
people. In the multitudinous languages and dialects, living or dead,
the world's literature, thought, song, and music are treasured. These
expressions are as natural as the prattle of the babe in the language
of its father and mother. It is the outburst of soul in its own
spontaneous fashion. As a natural product, it has adaptability to its
own home. The nation makes the language. Language does not
make the nation. The best knowledge of a people is through its own
language, customs, history, and traditions. We have our grave doubts
that any one language, hitherto used, could have reflected correctly
the characteristics of all the different races of earth. If, out of the
languages now spoken, a new one can be evolved, which readily adapts
itself everywhere, is a question for speculation. At the present, time
the world is polyglot, and richer for it.
May a word be said at this point about the language which our
fathers, the pilgrims fr ^m out of the Northland, spake and which their
children love? As the sail at sea catches the breeze, and is borne on-
ward, so has the mother-tongue caught the harmony and melody of
The Augustana Synod 14
202 THE A UG US TANA SYNOD
sighing forest, clanging steel, roaring torrent, whispering zephyr, and
of the warbling songsters. The clear waters of the North reflect the
matchless sky, the glorious sun, the drooping lily; it gathers in the
rays of the flaming Aurora Borealis and drinks the light from
myriads of constellations. Can you hear it; can you see it in the
language of that land? Dare anyone say that the world owes not a
debt to the Vikings? To their language? To the Eddas? To
Frithiof's Saga? To the Surgeon's tales? To the hymnology, to
the music of the North? Is it to be deplored that such wealth of
genius has been brought over oceans and seas into other countries?
Is it to be regretted that there is an international exchange of in-
tellect? Has not the Augustana Synod performed a splendid mission
in keeping alive and making known the rich heritage from S'vea-land ?
Our love for the native tongue, while citizens of a foreign country,
has brought us into a perplexing situation, not as individuals, but as
an organization. I do not belittle other problems, when I say that
the Language question is the one of paramount importance for the
present and for the future. It is within the memory of even those
among us who are still young, when the vital question was, Whence
the men and means ? Every year brings a new answer in consecrated,
Christian ministers and offerings of money. We can use more, but
we thank God for what we get. The congregations are settled in
doctrine and firmly rooted in the faith. The Word is preached in
truth and purity. All reports bear testimony to the loyalty of pastors
and parishes. The real, living, practical issue is : How shall we keep
what we have and still grow, and how shall a Swedish religious body
live in new surroundings and under Americanizing influences? In
other words, can a church, using a foreign tongue, having a mem-
bership of 250,000 souls, working among the 1,500,000 of its own
nationality, 1,000,000 of whom are born in the United States, and
surrounded by approximately 80,000,000 fellow citizens speaking
another language, can a Swedish church under such conditions be
assured of permanent success by clinging to its historic language?
Or, is it not reasonable to suppose that in the process of construction
of a new citizenship, the tendency is toward one language, which is
a necessity, and that all other languages will be mere accomplish-
ments, without any direct value? And does not necessity rule? Are
not accomplishments the boon of a few ?
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 203
The history of the Augustana Synod is wonderful. The statistics
for 1860, the year of organization, show that then there were 27
ministers engaged in the work, 17 of whom were Swedish and 10
Norwegian; 49 congregations, of which number 36 were Swedish
and 13 Norwegian; 4,967 communicants, 3,753 Swedish and 1,214
Norwegian. That same year marked the birth of "a theological semi-
nary to educate pastors and teachers for our congregations", the
beginning of our own Augustana College. These were our assets.
Not all, however. We must not forget the contingencies, the prom-
ising field of labor and its future possibilities, God's additional
gifts to the young Synod. After 49 years of work, the stewards
present the following table of results: 611 ministers, 1,092 congrega-
tions, 965 churches; value of property, $8,077,862. The communicant
membership is 163,473, entire baptized membership 254,645, and the
contributions for the fiscal year 1908 were $1,607,201. The Synod
supports 20 eleemosynary institutions, one publishing house, and
9 colleges and lower schools of learning, a marvellous record of
industry for Swedish immigrants and their descendants.
How has it become possible? Here we must remind ourselves that
the mother-country has been favored with the gospel of Jesus Christ
for many centuries. Through that powerful agency, ennobling forces
have been put in operation in the kingdom of Sweden with telling
effect. The tribes have been made over into a nation. In times of
war the nation has been brave, in times of peace it has been diligent
in the cultivation of arts, letters, sciences, and above all to create a
high standard of Christian life, in the home and in public. Slowly
this process has been going on. Every new generation has received an
added impetus from the foregoing one. There is nothing which can
equal a good pedigree. When our fathers came to the new shores,
they brought not riches, not escutcheons from noble houses, not
elaborately prepared charts of an illustrious family-tree, but they
did have something infinitely better. They were the products of
plain and righteous living. They were brought up to fear and love
God. Their first lesson was to learn God's law, the second, to keep
it. That was the chief characteristic of the simple homes. Oh, the
glory of such an ancestry! True, God-fearing, and strong! Such
was the training of the children in the Northland, the children who
were eventually to be the founders of the Augustana Synod.
204 TJfE AUGUSTAN A SYNOD
In the middle of the past century the "vandringslust" seized upon
the inhabitants of the North. The roving spirit of the Vikings had
been cooled by the ordered state of society, and with the exceptions
of the big military campaigns and the attempt at settlement upon
the banks of the Delaware, the descendants of the Vikings had been
living in quiet. The rumors of glowing possibilities in the great
western republic reached Sweden, where the prospects for the future
seemed doubtful, and a pilgrimage to America was begun, which has
continued up to the present day, sometimes stronger, sometimes weaker
in numbers, but never ceasing. It is an eternal farewell to the
native land. It means a new home for all time. We travel, we visit
often, but we emigrate only once. Our fathers have even sworn off
allegiance to their former ruler, the Swedish king. They remained
loyal, however, to the King of kings and the Lord of lords. They
brought with them centuries of religious training and yearning,
which coursed in their very blood. They did not quench the fire of
spiritual intelligence which had been kindled in their souls. The
Swedish pilgrim fathers were as pious as their cousins who stepped
out from the Mayflower upon the granite surface of Plymouth Rock
many years before. The meeting-house was as necessary as the
dwelling. Such was the actual beginning of the Augustana Synod,
That body existed in the hearts of the Swedish pilgrims long before
it became a reality.
The field of labor of the Augustana Synod has been among the
Swedish immigrants and their children. It was not the purpose of
our pioneers to establish a mission for the native, American popula-
tion. It was their burning desire to minister to their countrymen
and to aid them to remain faithful to the Church of their fathers.
The immigrants could be reached only in their own language. It
was the only one they knew, and in many instances it has been the
only one they ever did learn. The gospel was preached by Swedish
pastors to Swedish listeners in the Swedish language, and no person
with unimpaired reason will for a moment doubt the wisdom and
benefit of such a course. To have followed the advice given by raVjid
quasi-patriots to attempt to Americanize immediately the incoming
foreigners by depriving them of the privilege of speaking their lan-
guage and prohibiting the organization of congregations where the
new citizens might worship God in the only fashion they understood,
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 205
would have been a wholesale massacre, intellectually and spiritually,
of what is now a creditable portion of the best element in the American
nation. The United States is better to-day for the German, Nor-
wegian, Danish, Dutch, Swedish and other preaching within its
domain. Imagine the possibility of coercing these sturdy, liberty-
loving people to forget ! Or that they could occupy pews in churches
where they could not worship ! In such a process of acclimatization
they would have frozen to death. There would not have been that
healthy, vigorous life, that excellent citizenship, that devotion to duty
and that reverence for God, which characterizes the Protestant foreign
element which has settled in our adopted country, if they had not
begun as they did. Before God and the Constitution, our fathers did
what was the only natural thing to do. They commenced their work
in Swedish and taught their children to love Sweden's interesting
history and its language. "They builded better than they knew."
In many of the Swedish Baptist churches in the United States, the
services have been conducted in the mother tongue, but Sunday-school
work has been carried on in the English language. The whole de-
nomination to-day deplores this circumstance as a mistake. Steps
have been taken to remedy it by introducing Swedish day-schools
and Sunday-schools and by encouraging study of the forgotten and
neglected language. The experiences of others justify the action of
the founders of our Synod. Ah, my beloved kinsmen from the North !
Would you have had your birth-right sold? Would you have had
effaced from your memory the recollections of a childhood made
beautiful by the wonderful tales of that far-off land where your fore-
bears lived and died? If you could, would you destroy the incom-
parably sweet harmony in Northland melodies which oft-times sweeps
through your souls, as the wind through the forest, refreshing, in-
vigorating, and strengthening? Methinks I hear the answer as the
roar of many waters. It is the chorus of the Young Augustana, true
scion of the old, and its shout is strong in praise of the fathers' work
well done.
In common with all other human activity, the work of the Augus-
tana Synod is marked by some imperfections and mistakes. But the
general result has been splendid. We need not bow our heads in
shame while our history is being read. The errors appear only as
defective type upon an otherwise well-printed page. The good intent
206 THE AUGUSTAN A SYNOD
is everywhere evident. The whole story indicates a reaching out
after the best. The mistakes are those of judgment, not of the heart.
The sum total is so great that we forget the insignificant subtractions.
To such a past those now in the work must pledge themselves to
be true. We cannot rest upon laurels already won. We cannot always
sing songs of grief or praise upon the graves of the fathers, we must
press on, as they did, and pass the well-kept vineyard on to a coming
generation. New days bring new problems, but they must be grap-
pled with in the old faith. The spirit of 1910 should be the spirit
of 1860, with new strength for new issues. We cannot shirk our
plain duty. The future belongs to us, and past successes are indica-
tions of what is in store for an active, clear-eyed Synod. We must
grow as long as we exist. It is surely God's will that we shall continue
to be a power for good, and this must be made plain to the whole
Synod during the year of Jubilee.
The Census of 1900 reports the presence in the United States of
574,625 persons whose native country is Sweden; 86,304 born in the
United States of one Swedish parent, the other native; 998,538 born
in the United States of Swedish born parents; in all 1,659,467 in-
habitants of Swedish ancestry. The religious census of the Swedes
in the United States is as follows:
Augustana Synod 163,473
Swedish Covenant, including Congregationalists and Free
Church 46,000
Methodists .'. 20,500
Baptists 27,000
Other Swedish denominations (estimated) 6,000
Swedish members of English speaking churches outside of
Synod (estimated) 10,000
Sunday-school children (estimated) 150,000
Children under S'unday-school age (estimated) 35,000
Total 457,973
These figures can be only approximately correct, but will serve
for illustration. Accepting- the estimate of 457,973 as the number of
Swedes and their descendants in the United States who are affiliated
with any church, and subtracting that sum from 1,659,467, the
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 207
number found by census enumerators in this country, we find that
1,201,494 Swedes are not taken up in any religious statistics, an
astounding figure.
How can we explain the cause of such a disproportion? In a
degree it has been a lack of an adequate working force of ministers
in our Synod to care for the incoming countrymen. But we have also
been the victims of a dual misrepresentation, the effects of which
have been keenly felt. There was, formerly, at least, a tendency in
the Church of' Sweden to repudiate the Swedish Lutheran Church
of the United States, and, strange to relate, the other extreme, the
Free Church, would have nothing in common with our work. The
operation of this logic has been thus: The Church of Sweden (or,
rather, men in it) would say, "Beware of Augustana, for that is the
Free Church movement in the States," and the Liberal element would
warn, "Look out for Augustana, for it is like the discredited Estab-
lished Church." Another reason for the lethargy of the Swedish
immigrants, too little taken into account, is the sudden escape from
the duties to the Church to which every Swedish subject is pledged.
They will enjoy that liberty ! From figures which have been produced
and from what we have just written, the conclusion might be arrived
at, that the great majority of Swedes and their descendants in this
country are an irreligious class. That is not true. The Augustana
Synod is bigger than it appears upon paper. As a class the Swedes
are churchly and devoted to the faith of their fathers. The peculiar
expression is true of them, "They are members of our congregations,
but not of the organization." As proof of this statement we submit
statistics. In 1907 our pastors baptized 5,259 children, whose parents
are members of the Synod, and 7,126, whose parents are not members.
This may safely be taken as an indication of the strength of our
organization and as a correct measurement of the field open to us.
One pastor performs eleven times as many christenings outside of
the stated membership as within it; another can multiply his figures
by 7, another by 6, and so on in nearly all large settlements. We
are inclined to place the real strength of the Synod at a figure con-
siderably higher than is shown by the table of statistics. Very few,
if any, religious bodies have a field so full of promise and possi-
bilities as the Augustana Synod. A million Swedes to gather in,
many of them ready to come for the asking. It is their old faith and
208 THE AUGUST AN A SYNOD
their religious home. Will anyone deem it a vain boast to say that
to the Augustana Synod, more than to any other agency, must be
entrusted the duty of conserving and uniting the Swedish nationality
in the new world. Is it not true that this Synod, with its churches,
colleges, Sunday-schools, parochial schools, press and institutions, has
been able to accomplish as much in this direction as all other forces
combined, and more? We shall gladly give credit to any effort to
keep and lift up our people, even though it has not the mark of
Augustana upon it, but shall at the same time maintain that the
working force and field have been such, that the biggest results are
apparent from the efforts of the Swedish Lutheran Church in the
United States.
The process of creating a new nation in this country is steadily
going on. It has a distinctive name, American. In characteristics
it is unlike any other on earth. It consists not of any one people,
but of many, gradually being made into one. The official language
is English. That is the language of the Declaration of Independence
and the Constitution which governs us. How English came to be
the language of the land, is familiar to every school-boy. It was done
through the right of possession. The commands to the Continental
army were in English. The coming to our shores of different peoples
after the revolution did not alter the situation. Consciously or un-
consciously they were made Americans in heart and utterance. What-
ever their mother tongue, they understood that the privileges of
American citizenship were enhanced by a knowledge of the official
language.
The American citizen is a new creation in the history of the world.
He has no counterpart. From 1789 to 1908, 27,000,000 foreigners set-
tled in America. One glance at them will tell us that they are made
over. The American is a composite character. Here the nations of
the world are thrown together to give and to take. The result is a
combination of the best of what comes here and what is already here,
blended under favorable conditions and matured in our atmosphere
of freedom. You know how the model of a perfectly formed body is
obtained. One man has the correct poise of the head; another, grace-
ful body-lines; another, a well developed arm; another, a fine pair of
shoulders ; and so the search is carried on, until by measurements and
observations a form can be made, and in it is cast the figure of the
THE LANGUAGE QUESTION 209
ideal physical man. The ideal American will be a combination of the
good traits of the best people who settle here. Eventually we shall
lose our former identity, but we shall find a new one. After a two
years' residence in the United States, the Swedish emigrant cannot
return to his native land without betraying some American char-
acteristic.
We are also drifting towards a common language. The Swedish,
German, Dutch, French, Hebrew, Eussian, etc., channels converge
into English. As well try to hold roaring Niagara back with the
palm of one's hand, as to prevent this change. One solitary argument
is sufficient to substantiate this statement our compulsory education
law. In New York State all children under 14 16 years of age
must attend school 160 days each year, and there every branch is
taught in English and, on top of them all, that language itself.
This phase of our national life presents a problem to the foreign
people who have become citizens of the republic and are keeping up
their own language. It concerns the Augustana Synod. The fact
that the editor of this publication has invited a discussion of the
question indicates that we see something coming. It is the problem
of to-day to some extent, of a near-at-hand to-morrow to a greater
extent. How soon we shall see that to-morrow we cannot say def-
initely,, but the infallible signs of its approach are plain. Will the
Synod read them ? Let us point out a few : In 1907 the immigra-
tion from Sweden was 20,589, in 1908 only 12,809, an immense
falling off from former years. A supreme effort is being made to
discourage emigration, and it will be more or less successful. The
Swedish language is now an optional study in our colleges, where it
formerly was obligatory. A demand has been found for a Church
paper, published in the English language, The Young Lutheran's
Companion. The organization of English Lutheran churches upon
Swedish fields. The need of instruction in the English language
in our Swedish Sunday-schools. The gradual disappearance of the
Swedish summer schools. The occasional English service in Swe-
dish churches. The use of the English ritual at baptisms, marriages,
and funerals. The difficulty to secure Sunday-school teachers in
the cities, who know Swedish well enough to instruct children.
The preference of English by our young people as a conversational
medium. The prevalence of anglicisms in the sermons of a majority
210 THE AUGUST AN A SYNOD
of our younger pastors. The numerous applications by catechumens
for instruction in English. The increasing number of intermar-
riages. The apparent difficulty of the younger laymen to express
themselves in Swedish at congregational business meetings, and the
ease with which they do this in English. Such conditions are actually
found in our Synod, in some localities more pronounced than in
others. Even though some peculiar circumstances may have been for-
gotten in the above recital, we feel that in the main the picture is
true. That there are congregations, to which the description does not
apply, only proves that the process is slower there than elsewhere.
Time will make the change. Such is the situation after fifty years.
Has there been an over-zealous anxiety for Swedish and tardiness
in taking up English work, and have we lost thereby? We do know
of a few instances of impatience with us for the slowness of transition
into English work which have resulted in a severance of membership
in our Synod, but they are exceptions. In most of such cases there
have been other considerations. The history of the Augustana English
congregations is both interesting and instructive. They have grown
steadily but slowly. In the nature of things this is to be expected.
Our English work must not be compared with the Swedish in results
for at least a few years to come. The demand for it will not be
sudden, it is gradual. There cannot be a phenomenal growth, such
as the Swedish churches enjoyed when immigration was at its height.
There is perhaps no Swedish church in the Augustana Synod which
to-day could adopt the use of English entirely without sustaining
a loss of membership and without crippling itself. Yet there are very
few congregations, if any, where some English work, in a true and
sensible proportion, would not bear good fruit. One danger to be
avoided is precipitation. Hesitation and stagnation are equally fatal.
General legislation is impossible. It is the unequivocal duty of each
pastor to keep a sharp lookout upon the field entrusted to his care.
He must grasp the opportunity and strike out at the right moment.
The Synod seems to be agreed that the proper solution is the organiza-
tion of independent English-speaking congregations under the super-
vision of the mother church. One thing is certain, it must be an
Augustana Church. An effort by other bodies will not succeed among
the Swedes. As a nation we have our own temperamental character-
istics, religiously and socially. So have others. They have inherited
211
them; so have we. What we have is a part of us. We also want an