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Acknowledgements Many have helped bring this project to fruition over the past decade, and all deserve my thanks. Spring Arbor University has given me enormous opportunities to craft my role as a historian, professor, and administrator. This community has proved everything I hoped for when I first arrived. I am thankful to my colleagues, administrators, and students for the confidence they have bestowed on me. I wish to offer particular thanks to Mark Edwards for his assistance in the publication process. Gary Burge and Mark Noll, my professors at Wheaton, have my enduring thanks for introducing me to the subject of biblical criticism and to the personal work of Adolf Schlatter and Christoph Blumhardt. The history faculty of the University of Florida provided me with the opportunity to begin this project. Frederick Gregory was the ideal dissertation adviser, leaving me a free hand to delve into the subject of my choice but offering poignant advice and criticism when they were most useful. I am deeply indebted to the Deutsche Akademische Austauschdienst and the University of Tübingen for their generous support for a year of research in German archives. The provincial archives for the Protestant churches in Stuttgart, Speyer, and Kiel overwhelmed me with their support, assistance, and friendliness. Their abundant resources are sadly underused by academics. I would also like to thank the state and university archives in Göttingen and the state library in Berlin for the use of materials. Thanks also to Fortress Press. When I first took a temporary job at Augsburg Fortress headquarters in 1997, I certainly could never have imagined having my own work published by the company. It is a happy homecoming, and I appreciate Will Bergkamp, Lisa Gruenisen, and Marissa Wold for their help producing the finished book. My family also has earned my lifelong gratitude for their input on this project. My brother-in-law Matthew Miller was a helpful sounding board for my queries in historical research and interpretation. I am beholden to my inlaws , Wolfgang and Elfriede Schmidtpott, who allowed us to stay with them in Germany and always supported me, even when the purpose of my project remained rather abstract to them. I appreciate my parents, who encouraged me in my pursuit of history. Finally, to my children, I feel their support and love every day, and I am so thankful to my wife, Ina, for her support, love, and humor in this long process. It is to her that I dedicate this book. ix ...

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