Amish Furniture Reviews

Religion and religious practice are fundamental to the Amish people. Amish faith is not simply about an abstract religious doctrine but rather an entire way of living. Currently, although the Amish people almost exclusively inhabit the mid-western region of the United States, the Amish movement has its historical roots in Europe. Furthermore, nearly all people of Amish faith are born and raised within their community; rarely has outside conversion been demonstrated. Ranging from self proclamation as protestants and Anabaptists, and although similar in both practice and history to the Mennonites, the Amish live under a vastly different lifestyle than their fellow Christian brethren.
The history of the Amish religion shares deeply its roots with the traditions of the Mennonites, both of whom formed in the early 16th century out of a group of Swiss Anabaptist—literally, twice baptized—sects that developed as a backlash against both the Catholic Church and Lutheran reformation. A small group of Mennonite pilgrims following their leader Jacob Amman—the eventual namesake of the Amish religion—separated under Amman’s assertion that the Mennonites had lost their way. Their strike adherence to the teaching known as the ‘Dordrecht Confession of Faith,’ the cornerstone documents influencing the radical reformation, brought with it controversy and religious persecution. This in turn forced the Amish to seek new homes in North America in the late 1800s.

From the onset of their new beginnings in the United States, the Amish faith was tested. Ranging from physical violence of the American’s War of Independence, which was in contrast with the Amish religious beliefs of pacifism, to various religious “revivals” of other sects that specifically targeted the Amish religious beliefs, the Amish people were constantly assaulted with the same problems that had brought them to the new world. Likewise, each individual Amish community had developed a separate Ordnung—German for ‘Order’—which further isolated groups within their own communities.
Today, the Amish religion is still practiced by approximately 200,000 in the United States – although exact numbers are difficult to define due to their isolation to the outside. Problems with adapting to and conflicts against both modern society and the U.S. government are in ever-present conflict with Amish religious beliefs; however, the sheer population and technological overgrowth bordering their settlements have forced them to make compromises. Fundamental to the Amish religious belief is that ‘The World’ is to be cast away – something that is becoming increasingly difficult in any ordinary sense. Rather than increasing the tensions between them and the outside world, they decided to utilize some functions of modern society.

Understanding the faith and practice of the Amish people is difficult for many people to understand. The origins of their people and the extent that their founders went to abandon the domination of the medieval church is important in order to gain a better appreciation for the Amish sub-culture – both in America and as a denomination of Christianity. It is through this lens—that of historical interest—that the Amish can be seen not as being out of step with the rest of their neighbors but rather simply one of the many traditions that add depth and richness to the overall picture. The world of the Amish may be foreign on inspection by an outsider; however, their beliefs and traditions still demonstrate a solidarity and openness that defines them even in this modern world.