This is a regional history. The "Southeastern States" are those states lying south of the Mason-Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi River which held an appreciable number of Lutherans in 1860. They would include Virginia and the present West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The dates 1860-1886 are determined by the natural divisions of southern Lutheran history. 1860 is an ideal beginning date since it affords an opportunity to consider southern Lutheranism while it was still a part of an undivided nation. The following years trace the history of ecclesiastical division caused by the war, and then the slow formation of a regional consciousness expressed in synodical cooperation and union. This process culminates in the establishment of the United Synod of the South in 1886. - Preface.

This is a regional history. The "Southeastern States" are those states lying south of the Mason-Dixon Line and east of the Mississippi River which held an appreciable number of Lutherans in 1860. They would include Virginia and the present West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. The dates 1860-1886 are determined by the natural divisions of southern Lutheran history. 1860 is an ideal beginning date since it affords an opportunity to consider southern Lutheranism while it was still a part of an undivided nation. The following years trace the history of ecclesiastical division caused by the war, and then the slow formation of a regional consciousness expressed in synodical cooperation and union. This process culminates in the establishment of the United Synod of the South in 1886. - Preface.

The publication of the Encyclopedia of Religion in the South in 1984 signaled the rise in the scholarly interest in the study of Religion in the South. Religion has always been part of the cultural heritage of that region, but scholarly investigation had been sporadic. Since the original publication of the ERS, however, the South has changed significantly in that Christianity is no longer the primary religion observed. Other religions like Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism have begun to have very important voices in Southern life. This one-volume reference, the only one of its kind, takes this expansion into consideration by updating older relevant articles and by adding new ones. After more than 20 years, the only reference book in the field of the Religion in the South has been totally revised and updated. Each article has been updated and bibliography has been expanded. The ERS has also been expanded to include more than sixty new articles on Religion in the South. New articles have been added on such topics as Elvis Presley, Appalachian Music, Buddhism, Bill Clinton, Jerry Falwell, Fannie Lou Hamer, Zora Neale Hurston, Stonewall Jackson, Popular Religion, Pat Robertson, the PTL, Sports and Religion in the South, theme parks, and much more. This is an indispensable resource for anyone interested in the South, religion, or cultural history.

Winner of the Bancroft Prize After more than two decades, Origins of the New South is still recognized both as a classic in regional historiography and as the most perceptive account yet written on the period which spawned the New South. Historian Sheldon Hackney recently summed it up this way: “The pyramid still stands. Origins of the New South has survived relatively untarnished through twenty years of productive scholarship, including the eras of consensus and of the new radicalism. . . . Woodward recognizes both the likelihood of failure and the necessity of struggle. It is this profound ambiguity which makes his work so interesting. Like the myth of Sisyphus, Origins of the New South still speaks to our condition.” This enlarged edition contains a new preface by the author and a critical essay on recent works by Charles B. Dew.

This unique collection of excerpts from Lutheran historical documents--many translated here for the first time--presents readers with a full picture of how the Lutheran movement developed in its thought and practice. Covering not only theology but also church life, popular piety, and influential historical events, the primary documents include theological treatises, confessional statements, liturgical texts, devotional writings, hymns, letters and diaries, satirical polemics, political documents, woodcuts, and pamphlet literature. This first volume covers the chronological period from Luther‘s first calls for reform to the development of Lutheran Orthodoxy and Pietism during the seventeenth century. The judiciously selected and carefully translated texts as well as the contextualizing information provided in each chapter‘s introductory essay acquaint readers with the turbulence and fervor of this revolutionary Christian movement, its struggles for survival and consolidation, and its further evolution up to the dawn of the Enlightenment.