The Amish

  • Thread starter Thread starter Dr. Huk-N-Duck
  • Start date Start date
D

Dr. Huk-N-Duck

Guest
The older I get, the more often I’ve wondered if the Amish are one of the only Christian sects who are living Christianity in its purest form.
www.premierchristianity.com

5 things Christians can learn from Channel 4’s Amish hit 'The Simpler Life'

The Simpler Life, a new reality TV show from Channel 4, follows 24 urbanites as they attempt to live by Amish principles on a farm in rural Devon. Portia Berry-Kilby looks at what it can teach Christian viewers
www.premierchristianity.com www.premierchristianity.com
 
Huk said:
The older I get, the more often I’ve wondered if the Amish are one of the only Christian sects who are living Christianity in its purest form.
www.premierchristianity.com

5 things Christians can learn from Channel 4’s Amish hit 'The Simpler Life'

The Simpler Life, a new reality TV show from Channel 4, follows 24 urbanites as they attempt to live by Amish principles on a farm in rural Devon. Portia Berry-Kilby looks at what it can teach Christian viewers
www.premierchristianity.com www.premierchristianity.com
Click to expand...
You have GOT to be pulling our legs! Have you ever lived near an Amish community? They're far from "Christian" in their lifestyle. There are many who are nothing more than Mobsters without electricity riding around in their black, horse-pulled limousines! ;) We've had experiences with several in our area, and some are truly good people, but, we've found more often than not, they're deceptive, cheating people like the "gangsta's" of this world.
 
AverageJoe said:
You have GOT to be pulling our legs! Have you ever lived near an Amish community? They're far from "Christian" in their lifestyle. There are many who are nothing more than Mobsters without electricity riding around in their black, horse-pulled limousines! ;) We've had experiences with several in our area, and some are truly good people, but, we've found more often than not, they're deceptive, cheating people like the "gangsta's" of this world.
Click to expand...
No, I actually never have lived near them. I’ve just seen them on TV. I thought they were basically just the 1800s version of what Baptists would have been like.
 
Huk said:
The older I get, the more often I’ve wondered if the Amish are one of the only Christian sects who are living Christianity in its purest form.
www.premierchristianity.com

5 things Christians can learn from Channel 4’s Amish hit 'The Simpler Life'

The Simpler Life, a new reality TV show from Channel 4, follows 24 urbanites as they attempt to live by Amish principles on a farm in rural Devon. Portia Berry-Kilby looks at what it can teach Christian viewers
www.premierchristianity.com www.premierchristianity.com
Click to expand...
One of the men who was on staff in the church I pastored came from an Amish family. When he was in his teens they left the Amish, and he tells me stories. He does not believe then even a small proportion of them are truly Christians.
 
Bob Jones V said:
One of the men who was on staff in the church I pastored came from an Amish family. When he was in his teens they left the Amish, and he tells me stories. He does not believe then even a small proportion of them are truly Christians.
Click to expand...
Interesting. I guess they had me fooled. I thought they were just diehard Christians living simple, community oriented lives.
 
According to this article, some Amish may be a bit confused with regard to the grounds of their salvation: "For many Amish, salvation is believed to be obtained not only through faith in Jesus, but also through a life-long process of obedience to parents, church authority, community standards, and one’s 'baptism covenant.' As one Amish leader put it, 'Salvation is a gradual project.'”

Amish beliefs about salvation: grace, works, and baptism | carm.org
 
illinoisguy said:
According to this article, some Amish may be a bit confused with regard to the grounds of their salvation: "For many Amish, salvation is believed to be obtained not only through faith in Jesus, but also through a life-long process of obedience to parents, church authority, community standards, and one’s 'baptism covenant.' As one Amish leader put it, 'Salvation is a gradual project.'”

Amish beliefs about salvation: grace, works, and baptism | carm.org
Click to expand...
There are indeed some groups within the Amish community that believe this. There are several that believe it's faith in Christ alone and nothing to do with their lifestyle. But, those who believe that works have nothing to do with it are few and far between.
 
illinoisguy said:
According to this article, some Amish may be a bit confused with regard to the grounds of their salvation: "For many Amish, salvation is believed to be obtained not only through faith in Jesus, but also through a life-long process of obedience to parents, church authority, community standards, and one’s 'baptism covenant.' As one Amish leader put it, 'Salvation is a gradual project.'”

Amish beliefs about salvation: grace, works, and baptism | carm.org
Click to expand...
I didn’t know this. I’ve been exposed to some varieties of IFB churches that aren’t too dissimilar to what the Amish seem like, as far as dress, respect for family/community figures, basic social norms and values, etc.
 
illinoisguy said:
According to this article, some Amish may be a bit confused with regard to the grounds of their salvation: "For many Amish, salvation is believed to be obtained not only through faith in Jesus, but also through a life-long process of obedience to parents, church authority, community standards, and one’s 'baptism covenant.' As one Amish leader put it, 'Salvation is a gradual project.'”

Amish beliefs about salvation: grace, works, and baptism | carm.org
Click to expand...
That is what my friend said, they believed in salvation by faith plus works, but no one could ever clearly delineate what were enough to ensure heaven. They have no concept of assurance of salvation.
 
Bob Jones V said:
That is what my friend said, they believed in salvation by faith plus works, but no one could ever clearly delineate what were enough to ensure heaven. They have no concept of assurance of salvation.
Click to expand...
Again, for many, this may be correct. There are groups within the Amish community that do know it has nothing to do with works.
 
Many years ago I visited an IFB mission in rural Chihuahua State, Mexico. On the way, we stopped in a big-box K-Mart type store in the city of Cuauhtemoc, where there was big sign inside saying "Wilkommen" (German) for the benefits of shoppers from the Mennonite districts near the city. The IFB missionary told us that the Mennonites in that area believed in "salvation by works, salvation by being a Mennonite." (Of course, not all Mennonites or Amish believe in salvation by works. But some do). Even IFBs, who want to go back to the lifestyle of the 1950s, do not believe that they are saved by their old-fashioned lifestyle, but some Mennonites and Amish do seem to believe in a form of salvation by their antique lifestyle. (Not intended as a blanket statement about the beliefs of all Mennonites and Amish).
 
So, ironically when it comes to faith, ultimately a lot of the Amish have more in common with the Catholics than the Baptists. Whodathunk
 
Huk said:
The older I get, the more often I’ve wondered if the Amish are one of the only Christian sects who are living Christianity in its purest form.
Click to expand...
The Amish are a suborthodox Christian sect. Their doctrine of salvation is basically "obey the Ordnung (the community rules) and hope for the best."

It is precisely at this point that Amish faith bewilders those with evangelical religious persuasions. Amish faith is holistic. The Amish resist separating means and ends--salvation and eternal life. They are reluctant to say that they are sure of salvation. They focus on living faithfully while waiting on providence--trusting that things will turn out well. Announcing that one is certain of eternal salvation reveals a haughty attitude that mocks the spirit of Gelassenheit [yielding to higher authority]. The faithful, in the Amish view, are called to yield to God’s eternal will and rest in hope that things will turn out for the best. After all, "not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Indeed it is God, the Amish believe, that makes these weighty decisions. Boldly declaring oneself "saved" is a pretentious self-assertion that borders on idolatry in Amish thinking, for only God can make such claims. (Donald B. Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture)​

In this, the Amish aren't too far off the Roman Catholic dogma that claiming assurance of salvation is a heresy worthy of anathema--but with a little bit of fatalism thrown in. Whereas the Bible tells us that assurance of salvation is a fact: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).
 
Last edited:
Ransom said:
The Amish are a suborthodox Christian sect. Their doctrine of salvation is basically "obey the Ordnung (the community rules) and hope for the best."

It is precisely at this point that Amish faith bewilders those with evangelical religious persuasions. Amish faith is holistic. The Amish resist separating means and ends--salvation and eternal life. They are reluctant to say that they are sure of salvation. They focus on living faithfully while waiting on providence--trusting that things will turn out well. Announcing that one is certain of eternal salvation reveals a haughty attitude that mocks the spirit of Gelassenheit [yielding to higher authority]. The faithful, in the Amish view, are called to yield to God’s eternal will and rest in hope that things will turn out for the best. After all, "not everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved." Indeed it is God, the Amish believe, that makes these weighty decisions. Boldly declaring oneself "saved" is a pretentious self-assertion that borders on idolatry in Amish thinking, for only God can make such claims. (Donald B. Kraybill, The Riddle of Amish Culture)​

In this, the Amish aren't too far off the Roman Catholic dogma that claiming assurance of salvation is a heresy worthy of anathema--but with a little bit of fatalism thrown in. Whereas the Bible tells us that assurance of salvation is a fact: "I write these things to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life" (1 John 5:13).
Click to expand...
Thank you for the information. I truly had no idea that their theology was so skewed. I thought they were just simple Christians choosing to live an old fashioned lifestyle free from the temptations of the world. Well, at least they make nice furniture and good food!
 
Huk said:
Well, at least they make...good food!
Click to expand...
That is disputable! We live within an hour from one of their communities and two hours of one of their largest communities in the Ohio- Pennsylvania area. Me and the missus spent a getaway weekend at a romantic cabin in Holmes county several years back and thought that we would enjoy their down home cooking cuz that's the kind of people we are. It was some of the most bland and pathetic foods that I had ever tasted.
 
illinoisguy said:
According to this article, some Amish may be a bit confused with regard to the grounds of their salvation: "For many Amish, salvation is believed to be obtained not only through faith in Jesus, but also through a life-long process of obedience to parents, church authority, community standards, and one’s 'baptism covenant.' As one Amish leader put it, 'Salvation is a gradual project.'”

Amish beliefs about salvation: grace, works, and baptism | carm.org
Click to expand...
I think your issue is obedience per se.

So let me ask you something, can one be disobedient to the command to be baptized, and call himself a Christian?
 
Ekklesian said:
I think your issue is obedience per se.

So let me ask you something, can one be disobedient to the command to be baptized, and call himself a Christian?
Click to expand...
Can one be disobedient to any of the commands of Christ and call himself a Christian? The answer of course, is yes. It is not our obedience that saves us.
 
ALAYMAN said:
That is disputable! We live within an hour from one of their communities and two hours of one of their largest communities in the Ohio- Pennsylvania area. Me and the missus spent a getaway weekend at a romantic cabin in Holmes county several years back and thought that we would enjoy their down home cooking cuz that's the kind of people we are. It was some of the most bland and pathetic foods that I had ever tasted.
Click to expand...
True! Many of their "foods" are terrible....They do have some nice quilts and wood products, though! :) We have a community not too far from where we live now.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top