Martyr Hymns
In their church services, the Amish sing from the Ausbund, the oldest Protestant hymnal in continuous use. First printed in 1564, this small but chunky 900-page book contains the words of 140 songs, nearly half of which were written by or about martyrs. For more than a century after its initial publication, officials considered the Ausbund a heretical book, and some governments banned and confiscated it. The hymn texts appear in Gothic German script without musical notation. The melodies, half of which were originally folk tunes, have been maintained across the generations through oral transmission as children learned the tunes from their parents. The words and images of these songs keep Amish spirituality anchored in a sixteenth-century world.
Eighteen Articles of Faith
The Amish themselves have never written a formal confession of faith or a systematic doctrinal theology. They show little interest in abstract theological concepts, pointing instead to the practical teachings of Jesus. For the most part, their implicit theology is orally transmitted from older members of the congregation to younger ones.4 For them, truth and universal principles are not found in papers produced by study commissions, panels, or scholarly research, but rather are found in the life of Jesus, whose example silences debate on lofty theological questions.
Nevertheless, various Anabaptist groups did compose statements of doctrine in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, and the Amish have long used one of those, the Dordrecht Confession of Faith. Written by Dutch Mennonites in 1632, the Dordrecht Confession is a statement of faith organized in eighteen sections called articles—and thus it is often called “the Eighteen Articles.” Apart from the Bible, the Dordrecht Confession remains the theological foundation of Amish spirituality. Its articles, especially the one on shunning, were frequently cited in the controversies that produced the Amish church in 1693.
The Eighteen Articles “remain firmly established and accepted” in all Amish churches, according to one Amish historian, and churches use them to instruct baptismal candidates.5 The articles cover basic topics of Christian doctrine—creation, sin, salvation, baptism, and eternal life. Other sections highlight distinctive Anabaptist themes such as prohibitions of revenge, refusal to swear oaths, the ritual of footwashing, and the practice of church discipline through excommunication and shunning. These articles provide a written bedrock for the oral tradition of Amish spirituality.
Several Amish leaders in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries wrote about doctrine and theology, but these were often private reflections on faith composed for their heirs rather than systematic statements of Christian faith for broad distribution.6 The closest example to a reformulation of a doctrinal statement is a document produced in 1983 by New Order ministers in Holmes County, Ohio. Yet even that 70-page booklet, its authors insist, “is not intended to replace any former confession of faith.”7
Prayer Books and Devotional Writings
While the Dordrecht Confession links Amish spirituality to seventeenth-century Dutch Mennonite views, their main prayer book, Die Ernsthafte Christenpflicht (The Prayer Book for Earnest Christians), first printed in 1708, reflects the influence of Swiss Anabaptist writers, as well as the sentiments of Pietism. Available in German and English, Christenpflicht has enjoyed some sixty North American printings.8 Again, because the Amish resist composing original prayers for public gatherings, these historic prayers shape the tone of Amish spirituality. Prayers from Christenpflicht are read in church services, when the family kneels for evening prayers, and on other devotional occasions.
Lust-Gärtlein, another prayer book, was first compiled in 1736. Its prayers, likely written by Pietist devotional writers, are designated for certain occasions or times of the day, such as the evening or Christmas, or for certain people, such as pregnant women or those who are recently widowed.9 Lust-Gärtlein also contains a section of forty-seven short admonitions translated as “Rules of a Godly Life,” which explain how to lead a “God-pleasing life and to attain eternal salvation.”10
A formative source for Amish spirituality, “Rules of a Godly Life” is widely read on fasting days and used for instructing youth and for private inspiration. Divided into three sections—admonitions for thoughts, words, and deeds—“Rules” expounds on spiritual virtues such as patience, humility, suffering, loving enemies, and discipline.
Members of more progressive Amish groups may also read contemporary devotional material such as Our Daily Bread, popular among many Christians; Beside the Still Waters, produced by conservative Mennonites; and Tagliches Manna, authored by writers from horse-and-buggy churches. Books written by mainstream evangelical Christian authors such as Max Lucado, Rick Warren, and James Dobson are also found in some Amish homes. An Amish man in the Lancaster, Pennsylvania, community estimated that half of his Amish friends under age forty had read Warren’s The Purpose Driven Life. Such books, however, would rarely be found in conservative settlements.
Two Pillars of Faith
One Amish author calls discipleship and obedience the twin “unchangeable truths” of the Christian faith.11 Amish churches embrace basic Christian beliefs, but like other Christians, they also accent certain themes. Unlike modern modes of spirituality that see the spiritual quest as mostly private, the Amish fuse personal faith and communal commitments.12
For both the early Anabaptists and the present-day Amish, the paramount question of faith is this: What does it mean to follow Jesus in daily life? This disciple-ship tradition rests on Jesus’s words to his disciples: “If any man will come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily, and follow me” (Luke 9:23). Amish leaders believe that the “most devoted, sincere, and useful Christians” are those “who practice self-denial and sacrifice their own selfish interests and desires in service to God.”13
For the Anabaptists, the radical commitment to give up selfish desires and follow Jesus requires a voluntary decision confirmed by adult baptism. Although the wording of baptism vows varies slightly from one Amish group to another, all candidates are asked if they will “renounce their own flesh and blood”—in short, deny their selfish desires. On bended knees, they promise to yield themselves to God’s will and to covenant with the church to remain steadfast until death.
Obedience, the second pillar of faith, often tops the list when the Amish describe discipleship.14 An Amish businessman calls obedience “the most important word in the dictionary.” Amish faith underscores the importance of obedience to Christ and the church as well as the severe consequence of disobedience: eternal damnation. Disobedience is considered dangerous because it signals self-will and, if not confessed, leads to eternal separation from God. Furthermore, disobedience disrupts the harmony of community, in which yielding to others is paramount.
Obedience to the will of God is the cardinal religious virtue in Amish faith. To highlight the imperative of obedience, leaders frequently cite Scripture passages such as “We ought to obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29) and “Obey them that have the rule over you” (Heb. 13:17). In the Amish view, genuine spiritual obedience will produce righteousness in daily living. Submission is another way of speaking about obedience. One Amish writer says, “There is probably nothing harder for the flesh than submitting to others.”15
The theme of obedience undergirds the entire socioreligious system by fusing faith with life, and the individual with the community. “Our brotherhood,” writes one New Order minister, is based on “self-denial, submission, and obedience.”16 The emphasis on discipleship and obedience means that Amish faith focuses more on how one lives than on what one believes. We discuss this theme in more depth in chapter 6.
The Fruits of Faith
Yielding to Divine Providence
Early Anabaptists sometimes used the German word Gelassenheit to convey the idea of yielding fully to God’s will and forsaking all selfishness.17 They believed that Christ called them to abandon self-interest and follow his example of suffering, meekness, humility, and service. In the wor
ds of an Ohio deacon, “Gelassenheit is the first step to true brotherhood … overcoming selfishness … renouncing force.… The opposite of Gelassenheit is force and manipulation.” Furthermore, the church’s purpose is “to give this principle bodily form by living it out in everyday life.”18
Gelassenheit signals a calm surrender to God’s will. It echoes the words of Jesus, “Not my will, but Thine be done,” spoken as he faced a torturous death. Following his example, Anabaptist martyrs died without fighting back, and their blood has imprinted the virtue of surrender onto the sacred texts of Amish history.
Surrendering to the purposes of divine providence means that one does not quarrel with God but rather accepts suffering with a quiet confidence that God’s will, although often concealed from humans in this life, ultimately shapes all events into a larger pattern of good. The Amish community at Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, exhibited this spirit of acceptance in 2006 when it rejected revenge in response to the shooting of ten girls and expressed confidence that justice was in God’s hands.
The mantra “Thy will be done” found in the Lord’s Prayer captures the central script of Amish faith: yieldedness to God’s will. This stance of Gelassenheit frames the Amish response to daily hardships—a child’s illness, a sudden death, a drought, or a job loss. Acceptance of such adversity is not easy, and Amish people readily admit a propensity to anger and disappointment. Yet following Jesus, in their view, means renouncing Satan, denying self, and yielding to God’s call again and again. Thy Will Be Done is the title of a book chronicling more than a hundred stories of accidental or premature deaths among the Amish, and the theme of Gelassenheit also threads through a collection of first-person accounts of Amish people with disabilities.19 This resignation to divine providence pervades Amish thinking and action and extends beyond the spiritual realm to other dimensions of Amish life.
Defenseless Disciples
Traditional Anabaptist practice also includes a commitment to forego violence, even in self-defense, in the face of hostility. Christians, the Amish believe, should pray for their persecutors, love their enemies, forgive those who wrong them, and refuse to resist evil with force. This nonviolent stance rests on Jesus’s teaching to love enemies and accept injustice without a fight. As indicated by the second part of the title of their martyr book, The Bloody Theater, or Martyrs Mirror of the Defenseless Christians, the Amish consider their religious ancestors “defenseless” disciples.
Forgiving others, in the Amish view, is one of Jesus’s prominent teachings. And while most Christians emphasize God’s forgiveness of sins, Amish people point to the forgiveness clause in the Lord’s Prayer that also puts that responsibility back on humans: “Forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors” (Matt. 6:12).20 Here, the Amish say, is evidence that the effectiveness of God’s grace depends at least in part on the willingness of Christians to forgive others. Indeed, the Amish note, Jesus followed his prayer with a pointed conclusion: If you forgive, you will be forgiven; if you do not forgive, you will not be forgiven (Matt. 6:14–15). Twice a year, prior to each church district’s communion service, leaders highlight Jesus’s admonition to forgive the wrongs of others seventy-times-seven times—implying that forgiveness should be a daily habit.
Any use of violence is considered disobedience to God. Thus the Amish will not only sit in jail rather than fight in war, they will also absorb hostility rather than file lawsuits, because litigation employs coercive force. Holding public office is also taboo, because a public official may need to use lethal or legal force. Amish people insist that they do not seek adversity or persecution and that suffering does not necessarily bring heavenly rewards. When faced with insult or injustice, they simply believe that Jesus expects them to respond with patience and forgiveness.
Humility, Patience, and Silence
The Amish believe that a humble person, fully yielded to God, submits to others and patiently accepts suffering, and thus Amish leaders urge their people to “patiently bear the cross of Christ without complaining.” Humility is welcomed in Amish life as a sign of discipleship, for Jesus described himself as “meek and lowly in heart” (Matt. 11:29) and “humbled himself, and became obedient onto death” (Phil. 2:8). Humility is perfected in “death to self,” argues one Amish writer, who places obedience, self-denial, humility, and meekness among the highest Christian duties.21 This communal stream of spirituality stands in stark relief to more individualistic versions of religious experience.
Humility is expressed in personal spirituality as well as in corporate theological views. The Amish have confidence in God’s providence and are content to live with mystery and unanswered questions. Their profound sense of theological humility means that they do not attempt to explain all religious riddles, nor do they seek to speak for God or claim to know God’s mind on matters of eternal destiny. Like other aspects of their faith, their theological humility sets them apart from the modern penchant to know, explain, and control. “We should not put a question mark where God puts a period,” said one Amish minister.
Patience is one expression of humility and Gelassenheit. Amish spirituality values patient waiting rather than rushing to conclusions and forcing results. Indeed, the perception of time in Amish society, regulated by the changing seasons, is slower than the speeding seconds tracked by digital clocks. Patience is the implicit, invisible message conveyed by every Amish carriage that slowly makes its way along roadways as cars streak past it.
Amish spirituality is also a quiet spirituality. Silence, rather than a boisterous retort or argument, is the common Amish answer to conflict.22 Amish people are comfortable with silence and feel no need to fill in all the pauses with words. Behavior expresses meaning better than words. A father who lost a daughter in the schoolhouse shooting at Nickel Mines said, “Our forgiveness was what we did, not what we said.” A silent prayer opens and closes every meal in Amish homes, and a quiet prayer on bended knees signals humility in church services. When perplexed by an attorney or a bureaucrat, outwitted by a regulation, or cursed by an outsider, the Amish response is often simply silence.
Their example, of course, is Jesus, who remained mute in the face of mocking taunts. This is the silence of nonviolence—of loving the enemy, of “walking the second mile,” of humility, and of patience. Such spiritual values, which find little traction in a noise-filled, hyperactive culture, are important for achieving harmony in a collectivist society. It is to that communal body—what one scholar of Amish life called “the redemptive community”—that we now turn.23
A Covenant Community
Small and Local
The forces of specialization in contemporary America have pulled many parts of social life asunder. Work, education, leisure, and religion—once lodged at home or in the neighborhood—are dispersed. With abundant religious programming available on television and via the Internet, stay-at-home spiritualists can worship with a virtual community thousands of miles away.
In a radical rejection of these trends, Amish people continue their centuries-old tradition of holding church services in their homes every other Sunday. Their spirituality is grounded in their church district, with physical boundaries marked by roads, streams, and fence lines. The district’s twenty to forty families live near each other. A single four-letter word, Gmay—a dialect shorthand for Gemeinde (community)—refers to this local church-community, both its members and its worship services.
This little community meets together to interpret Scripture and establish guidelines for dress, technology, and leisure. Although a cluster of Gmays may collaborate, each one is the ultimate authority in the lives of its members. Each congregation rules on membership, baptism, ordination, and excommunication. No national delegate body, conference minister, or synod office holds authority over the local Gmay. “We don’t have a pope,” quipped one Amish man, “just a lot of bishops.”
The high view the Amish hold of the Gmay’s authority is based on their interpretation of Matthew 18, a passage in
which Jesus declares that decisions made by the church are affirmed in heaven. Their Anabaptist forebears rejected Catholic and Protestant views of sacraments, especially the idea that sacred elements in the communion service held the real presence of Christ. The bread and wine used in the service, the Anabaptists argued, were only symbols of Christ’s body and blood. For the Anabaptists, the real presence of Christ—the true sacrament—was when Christians gathered for moral discernment in the spirit of Jesus (Matt. 18:18–20). Such a view invests the covenant agreed to by members of each Gmay with considerable divine authority.
In members’ meetings, convened at the close of some Sunday services, members might discuss how to assist a family with a major medical bill, approve candidates for baptism, plan for an ordination, restore a wayward member, or endorse guidelines for using new technology. Decisions on these matters carry binding expectations, the Amish believe, because the covenant forged by the Gmay is guided by Jesus’s spirit and ratified in heaven.
A Disciplined Life
A communal spirituality that focuses on the daily practice of faith requires common lifestyle understandings for the Gmay. What is striking about Amish religion is how it crisscrosses all dimensions of daily life, from dress codes to the use of technology, from education to political participation. “We must submit to each other in the application of biblical principles that are not specifically spelled out in the scriptures,” says one Amish leader.24
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