Amish Life: Following God or Man?

Introduction

Writing this article on the Amish is easily the hardest article I have ever written. In addition to sifting through all the different factions and diversity among the Amish, I found myself experiencing so many emotions. I was fascinated and conflicted. At times I was heartbroken by their stories.

I sometimes envied their lifestyle. I developed a protectiveness towards them in that I didn’t appreciate articles or vlogs that trivialized their lifestyle and beliefs. The Amish people are loving people who value hard work, family, and community. They take care of each other and those in need without being asked, without question, and without complaint. They live close to the earth. They farm, grow their own food, and make their own clothing. Their communities are beautiful, virtually crime-free and their families never experience divorce. From the outside, it can be very easy to romanticize the picturesque Amish lifestyle.

Currently, there are at least 535 settlements of the Amish and at least 20 denominations. The Amish are expanding rapidly and creating new settlements every month. The Amish population doubles every 20 years. There are currently around 350,000 Amish.

This article explores Old-World conservative Amish, the Swartzentruber.

Children of God – Galatians 3:23-25

Before the coming of this faith, we were held in custody under the law, locked up until the faith that was to come would be revealed. So the law was our guardian until Christ came that we might be justified by faith. Now that this faith has come, we are no longer under a guardian.

Ethan & Polly

Sunday morning Ethan and his wife Polly stood and walked to the front of their congregation to hear the fate of their membership to the Amish church and community in which they have lived their whole life. The Elders had reached a decision. The charges against them were: Attending a Bible study, reading the Bible in English, and questioning their leadership’s decisions and the rules that govern their community. Ethan and his wife had been asked if they would repent of these transgressions, they both refused. As the congregation looked on, the elders delivered their ruling. Ethan and Polly were disfellowshipped and shunned from their community. As they left the church for the final time, many of the women cried. The women even gave them homemade food to take with them. Ethan marveled at how kind and loving the community was towards them, even during this time of judgment.

Anne

It was 2:30 am when 23-year-old Anne quietly snuck out of her home and, without a sound, ran away from the only life she had ever known. Anne walked for several miles and slept the rest of the night in a barn. She then made her way into town and bought a bus ticket to Connecticut. Anne had no ID or social security card and no clue what she planned to do.

Saloma, a woman who grew up Old-World Amish, was awakened by a call early in the morning hours. The man on the other end said he had found her name on the internet and asked if she could help an Amish runaway. Saloma agreed and rushed to the depot where she found Anne sitting alone, her only belongings were the clothes on her back and a few books she had tucked in the pockets of her coat. Saloma gathered Anne and took her home to live with she and her husband, no questions asked.

To understand the Amish better, let’s go back to the beginning…

History

The Amish started off in Europe, during the reformation period as the Ana-Baptists (the Re-Baptized). At the time this was a group of “radical reformists” who rejected the belief in infant baptism and the involvement of the state in church affairs. The Anabaptists believe that individuals needed to make the choice to serve Christ and only then should they be baptized, as an adult. The Anabaptists also believed that the “world” is non-Christian and that they need to live separated from the “worldly” and conformed to the nature of Christ. They abandon all war, strife, and taking of human life. At the time, the Anabaptists defied the existing world order and therefore, became a threat. The Anabaptists were hunted, imprisoned, and killed in torturous ways for much of the 1500s–1700s when they finally began to migrate to the United States in search of religious freedom.

In 1693 the Amish were founded by Jacob Ammon, in Germany. He believed that the Mennonites had become too progressive and opted for more strict and regulated church order. After the migration to the United States, they wrote to the Bishops in Germany for advice on how to conduct church affairs, out of this was the development of the Ordnung.

The Ordnung

The first and most important thing to understand about being Old World conservative Amish is that they live their lives sun-up, to sun-down by following a legalistic set of rules called the Ordnung.

The Ordnung is the unwritten set of rules and regulations that guide everyday Amish life. Meaning “order”, or “discipline”, this German word takes on a deeper meaning in the Amish context. The Ordnung provides the foundation for the Amish Christian community.

The Purpose of the Amish Ordnung

The purpose of the Ordnung is to uphold community. Adherence to the rules of the Ordnung is one test of membership. On one level, Amish feel that a community without rules, that anyone can enter and leave as they please, is hardly worth being a part of.

The Ordnung, however, serves deeper purposes as well. Rules of the Ordnung can help church members better live Christian lives, the Amish believe. The strictures of the Ordnung are generally not found in the Bible but are frequently based on Scriptural principles.

The Ordnung is not a rigid code. It may change over time as technologies are evaluated and accepted or rejected. This would also depend on the leadership in that community.

The Amish view the Ordnung as an indispensable basis for Christian communal living. Following the Ordnung is important to Amish life, as such behavior demonstrates humility and submission, characteristics the Amish view as key to living full Christian lives. The Ordnung, along with the practices of ex-communication and shunning, are considered key factors in the high retention rate of the Amish Church.

Amish America

The Ordnung can be flexible but not all communities accept advances, which is why there is a spectrum of liberal and conservative, even among the Old-World Amish settlements. The Ordnung is reviewed every two years by the Bishops and Elders of the Church.

As an Amish believer, you are never taught to live in freedom. All Amish communities follow different sets of rules that direct that community, which are set forth by that leadership. Families MUST adhere to these rules, WITHOUT question. It is for this reason that some Amish families move and then, move again, this is their only recourse if they don’t like the rules that govern that community.

Romans 10:9.

If you declare with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved.

Amish rules

The rules of the Amish are restrictive, complex, and often confusing. The rules are absolute and must be obeyed without question. They cover all aspects of life, they are taught that anyone who disobeys the rules risks eternal damnation.

Hair (style and length), beard (style and length), head coverings, shirt and trouser color, the color of your shoes, length of the dresses, what your home will look like inside and out (color of the home, floors, cabinets, counter-tops and what kind of furniture you can have). How many cows you can own, can you own ponies, what your buggy color is, what kind of lighting you can use on your buggy, can you have a wagon cover, can you have a windshield, the width of the brim of your hat, how to hold your trousers up, what kind of suspenders you will use.

One Amish woman commented that she didn’t believe God could hear her if she didn’t have her head covering on properly.

Homes are not allowed: Electricity, phones, TV, radios, or internet because they are a direct connection to the wickedness of the outside world.

There is literally no end to the list of ambiguous and complex rules set forth by each community leadership.

Swartzentruber Amish believe that following these rules, to the letter, is their only ‘hope’ to receiving salvation. The Amish in these conservative communities do not have certainty of their salvation. Jesus alone is not enough.

2nd Corinthians, 5:17 - 21

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

The Bible / The Church

Old World Amish speak Pennsylvanian Dutch. Their children also learn English in school so that they can interact with the ‘world’ as needed. Their church services are preached in an old-antiquated High German language that many of them don’t speak and struggle to understand. Their Bibles are also in this old German language. They believe that German is God’s chosen language therefore, they do not allow the community to read the Bible in English or sing hymns in English.

“They kept us in darkness, completely dependent on our Bishops for direction.”

1 Peter 2:24

And he himself bore our sins in His body on the cross, so that we might die to sin and live to righteousness; for by His wounds, you were healed.

Shunning

Shunning, as described by the Bishop, is meant to keep the community close. Shunning binds the community and their commitment to the Church and the Ordnung set forth by that leadership. Being Shunned means you are “handed over to the devil”. One can return from ex-communication if they adequately repent and profess their loyalty and submission to the church, the community, and their Elders.

“Shunning is harsh, we have had it in our home, it is brutal. We cannot sit at the same table to eat; they are not a part of the family”. - Church Elder
It is the disobedient people who leave the church. They want something that was not allowable, so they just moved on… If we are not obedient, we will fall by the wayside, but how can you be obedient if you have no rules? When we lose obedience, we lose the church, amen”. - Church Elder
It is the New Testament equivalent of stoning someone to death. If you see them in need you are to help them, but you have no social contact, you don’t take anything out of their hand under any circumstance, you don’t eat with them. They are unclean. - Amish patron
“There is no chance of heaven if you leave the Amish church, when you die in the world you are eternally damned.” - Amish patron
“If one of our children goes out into the world it would hurt terribly, if they like better what’s out there, the responsibility is on their shoulders, they made their choice. We have our other children to take care of and the influence that child has on the rest of the family is huge. We believe; ‘Whoever knowest to do good and does not, it is a sin’. We know that sin cannot enter heaven.” - Amish Father

Let’s Revisit Ethan and Polly

Ethan and his family were shunned from their community because they began to read and study the Bible in English. Ethan began to question everything he had been told by his Amish Elders and Bishops. Ethan’s family realized that they didn’t have hope in salvation through their Amish beliefs. They now understand the certainty of the Gospel and Christ’s work on the cross.

Ethan’s sister and her family have joined them in this new life and shared belief in the Word.

Ethan spends his spare time witnessing on the streets, this is a practice strictly prohibited by Swartzentruber Amish as it is seen as arrogant and prideful.

Currently, both families are thriving, they support each other and are very active in their new church.

Let’s Revisit Anne

Anne begins to open up and try new things with Saloma. She obtains a personal ID and social security card. Anne begins to sell her baked goods so that she can earn her own money. However, Anne is struggling. Anne misses her family and writes them letters, they have not responded; “I don’t think they have a lot to say if I’m not Amish”. Saloma notices that Anne packs and unpacks her suitcase frequently. Anne states she is afraid that she will go to hell if she stays and dies in the “world”.

I get the feeling that the real reason Anne left her home is not that she doesn’t believe in the Amish ways, but because she is a young lady who is heartbroken. Anne reports to Saloma that there were very few young men in her community to marry. She states that she went on 1 date, but that he never asked her out again. Anne states that there are other Amish communities close by however, she is not allowed to associate with any of them because they are more liberal than her own. Anne is now at the age where she is considered almost too old to marry (even though she is just 23 years old). Anne’s window is closing to marry and start her own family. She says that they will call her an “old maid”.

Saloma, although out of the Amish culture, doesn’t appear to have a new belief system therefore, although she loves and supports Anne, she is unable to share the Gospel with her. Eventually, Anne’s fear of dying in the “world” and spending eternity in hell takes over and she returns home.

Conclusion

Are the Amish a cult? We must look at this through God’s Word and Christ’s finished work on the cross. The Amish believe in their lifestyle, they believe that they live true to the nature of Christ. The Amish benefit from their community and communal living. There is nothing inherently wrong in living that lifestyle however, the absolute legalism of the Ordnung that dictates every aspect of their lives and holds them captive for fear of ex-communication and damnation if they disobey, begs the question…

Do they follow God or man?

John 14: 5-6

Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?” Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.”

written by Tracey Woods 10.4.21