Our community is a vital aspect of how we live our lives. It has a direct impact on our beliefs, values, personalities, desires, and devotions, as well as our fears and concerns. One community may act and behave entirely differently from the others. This doesn’t always mean they’re wrong or bad; it just means they’re unique.
One conservative community is called the Amish. They are an orthodox Anabaptist Christian church group[1] with Alsatian and Swiss-German origins that live in North America. As we learn more about the Amish and their convictions, we must have an open mind concerning their faith, culture, and way of life.
In contrast to others, the Amish regulations are strict, complicated, and sometimes perplexing. The rules are rigid and must be followed without doubt or hesitation. But do the Amish believe in Jesus?
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Who Are The Amish?
The Amish are an extremely conservative Christian group that began in Swiss Germany. The majority of them resided in the city of Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, at the beginning of the 18th century, where they moved in and continue to live in practically the same conditions as their early years.
The Amish communities are highly protective of their Amish beliefs, culture, and lifestyle, which one could say is needed. They take considerable measures to maintain their own autonomy, such as living off the grid and growing food on their property.
Way Of Life
The Amish lifestyle strives to imitate the Bible’s modesty and dedicated devotion. A lot of the Amish intended to live their lives resembling what Christ would approve of. In line with that, the Amish adhere to the Ordnung, a written guide that contains scripturally based regulations and Amish absolute laws that serve as instructions for them.
The Ordnung determines how the church holds services, decides which technology and gadgets are not allowed to be used, and outlines the Amish culture and the community’s connection with families. The Amish are noted for living an ordinary lifestyle and wearing simple attire.
People often refer to this as their Swiss-German roots from the seventeenth century, but it’s actually their attempt to maintain the simple, modest lifestyle that God and Jesus established for his people.
Occupations
The Amish take huge delight in laborious tasks, and while they consider pride to be a sin, they find tremendous pleasure in doing work with their own hands and utilizing their hard work to cater to the needs of their families along with the community in its entirety.
Religious Practices
In the common Amish church schedule and church services, the Amish church members perform worship services similar to most Christian groups, but their customs differ in some fundamental areas.
Amish families alternately host worship services in their houses. The male and female are divided, sitting on different sides of the place while facing each other. The pastor stands in the center of the two sections and gives the teaching of the gospel.
Swartzentruber Amish think that obeying these Amish rules exactly is their sole “hope” for salvation. Moreover, the Amish in these strict communities are not assured of their salvation. Contrary to others, they believe that Jesus is not enough.
The Act Of Shunning
The Amish employ shunning when they are concerned about someone. By shunning a person, they seek to persuade them to acknowledge faults in their actions, influence them, and come back to the group. They try to reinforce someone’s allegiance to God by promoting acceptable conduct.
The bishop defines shunning as a means to keep the community together. Shunning ties the community’s devotion to the Ordnung and the Church, long established by its leadership.
The Holy Bible
The Amish mainly utilize the Martin Luther Bible in its German translation. For scripture readings at church, the Amish make use of this High German language. While they use a dialect known as “Pennsylvania Dutch” in their households, it is not a language used for writing. Amish people are also acquainted with the New International Version (NIV) and the King James Version (KJV), the two most widely used Bible translations in the world.
Do Amish Believe In Jesus?
The Amish are traditional believers in the divine trinity and Jesus Christ’s higher power. The Amish, steadfast in age-old customs, venerate Jesus Christ as the paramount entity and the tripartite deity. Within their singular perspective of divinity, they discern the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit as the trifecta through which His essence is revealed.
Anchored in this belief stands the profound tenet that Jesus willingly bequeathed his existence upon the crucifix, thereby purifying humanity from the stain of transgressions.
They undoubtedly believe in the concepts of heaven and hell. Heaven is the ultimate reward for people who have a deep faith in Jesus and obey the laws of the Amish Church. Hell awaits people who forsake Christ as their Savior and live their lives as they choose, disregarding Amish customs and rules.
Numerous Amish have a work-based connection with God, which means they see their good works as winning God’s favor. They believe that if their positive actions outnumber their bad, God will admit them to Heaven’s Kingdom.
The Amish think that God determines their everlasting fate by measuring their compliance with church laws against their disobedience. They also believe that the divine spirit informs them of sin and helps the Amish pursue a life of purity.
The Amish community also emphasizes humility, simplicity, and a life separate from modern world distractions to maintain their close relationship with God. They interpret the Bible literally and base their lifestyle choices on its teachings. Through leading lives of humility and hard work, they seek to exemplify Christ’s teachings and secure their place in the eternal life He promises.
What Do The Amish Believe About Jesus Christ?
The Amish believe in Jesus, yet they do not comprehend God’s plan of redemption. And it appears that the more rigid they are, the fewer lessons they teach about the actual way to God. They strive harder to become more conservative because they feel that working will lead them there.
Yes, the Amish have faith in Jesus. However, some feel that the selfless death of Jesus was not enough to rescue them. They know Jesus paid for their sins but do not truly comprehend what it means to be reborn. People genuinely grapple with the understanding that our salvation comes solely through grace and faith, as stated in Ephesians 2:8–9. They mistakenly believe that performing good deeds is a prerequisite for God’s acceptance.
Instead of learning that only grace through faith achieves salvation, they learned that faith combined with good deeds grants salvation.
True Salvation Through Jesus Christ
Only our trust in the sacrificial blood of Jesus can rescue us from experiencing eternal damnation. Relying on and embracing His sacrifice for the forgiveness of our sins ensures our salvation (Acts 16:31; John 3:16; Romans 10:9).
As stated in John 3:3, we (God’s people) receive salvation if our faith is honestly grounded in Christ Jesus’ deed of sacrifice. We’ve been reborn because of him.
Receiving eternal salvation really has nothing to do with what we choose to do or don’t do. But it is our faith in Christ that makes us pure and righteous, not the efforts we make or our attempts to obey the rules.
As Isaiah 64:6 reads, “When we display our righteous deeds, they are nothing but filthy rags.” So we must have firm confidence in Jesus in order to enter the entrance of God’s kingdom and not rely on ourselves.
Do The Amish Believe In Salvation Through Jesus?
Unfortunately, most Amish had poor knowledge of salvation and what it takes to be saved. Some communities discourage their members from studying the Word of God since they are opposed to different understandings of Scripture. They are meant to believe what those in authority tell them the Bible says.
As a consequence, numerous of them are still unaware of what the Bible says about true salvation. They embrace what they have been told, which is to follow tradition as well as the Ordnung—the Amish church laws.
When an Amish individual becomes hungry for the Word of God and begins to study on their own accord, they may leave the Amish church. However, we know that if the faith they have is based on works rather than on Christ alone, they cannot be saved.
Own Righteous Works
If someone is genuinely saved, good actions will come naturally to them. But if we rely on our efforts to redeem us, we shall be lost eternally. Jesus died to release us from the bonds of sin and to rescue us from our transgressions. And He also suffered to liberate us from the rules so that we might live abundantly in Him.
Yet, most Amish are subject to the law and do not live free in Christ. Regrettably, plenty of them have similarities to the Pharisees during Jesus’ day, who followed the rules to the letter while believing in their good deeds. Most of the Amish population thinks that for them to go to heaven, they must remain Amish. And living according to the law comes with a lot of criticism.
In Romans 8, it says that Jesus arrived to set all of us free from the strict rule of law and that there is no judgment for people who are in Jesus Christ. We hope for the Amish to find freedom and peace in Christ rather than remaining tied to a law that offers them no salvation.
The New Order Amish
An Amish minority group called New Order Amish holds a different belief. People in their group believe in restoration by grace through faith. There are several New Order churches in the city of Holmes County, Ohio, and there are a few communities distributed throughout numerous other states.
In contrast to the harsher Amish organizations, the New Order Amish urges its members to read the Bible and seek deeper connections with Jesus. They openly discuss the idea of being born again, along with having confidence in salvation.
Unsurprisingly, they still place a high value on doing good and following the rules. Unfortunately, the law still binds numerous people. But most of them realize that their actions will not directly rescue them and that they must truly rely on the sacrifice of Christ on their behalf.
What Are The Beliefs Of The Amish?
Like other Christian communities, Amish and Mennonites truly believe in an eternal God who exists and is completely expressed in three persons (Romans 8:1–17). People in this group also believe in the selfless sacrifice of Jesus on the cross, which paid for the sins of mankind.
The Amish believe that the Spirit convicts of sin as well as inspires Christians to serve others and live virtuous lives. They think that true salvation not only comes by grace through trust in Christ, as a gift from God to all people who repent and believe in Him, but also by good works.
Amish church services frequently mention the Epistle of Romans: “Do not conform to this world but transform by renewing your mind, so you may prove what is the good, acceptable, and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2). They are encouraged to live a life separate from the outside world.
An excerpt from the Mennonite Information Center further stated, “We believe that the Bible is the inspired word of God, that as Christians we should live as brothers, that the church is separate from the state, that we are committed to peace, and that faith calls for a lifestyle of discipleship and good works.”
Conclusion
Due to their intense attention to their seeming peculiarities and isolation from society, other Christian religions and communities sometimes ignore the Amish’s sincere faith in Jesus Christ. In reality, the Amish community has a profound belief in and intense devotion to Jesus as well as the Holy Trinity.
Their convictions and customs are entirely Christian, and their dependence on tradition only adds to their faith in God, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit. If anything, their determination to maintain and uphold their lifestyle, faith, and culture should demonstrate the power of their values even more.