As we have enjoyed the opportunity to get to know many of the Amish of Lancaster, PA, it has become more evident that the Amish are not very different from the Independent Baptist world in which I grew up. This statement might encourage those who have expressed to me statements such as: “Don’t the Amish believe in Jesus?”, Aren’t the Amish Christians?”, “Don’t the Amish believe the Bible? These particular questions reveal an expectation on the part of this inquirer that indeed the Amish are Christians like them but only have some different and strange practices. My statement might cause a negative reaction in others who have seen Amish “convert” to their particular denomination whether that might be a Mennonite church or an Independent Baptist church (seems to be the most common). In these cases, I would hope to prove here that even then, the core beliefs are often not very different, only the practical living out of beliefs are what actually changes.
I enjoy going to Amish bookstores and reading Amish books. When I do so, it is like I am reading within the same world in which I first encountered Christ and His gospel even though we did not drive buggies and require beards on men. But it also stirs within me a desire that all of these denominations that can trace their heritage to the Anabaptist movement of the 16th century would experience a “reformation” of sorts and find peace in the gospel of grace that does not depend on man’s response or free-will decision for its effectiveness.
Most recently I discovered an Amish book called “1001 Questions And Answers On The Christian Life”. It was originally published in 1907 as sort of a catechism with questions and answers on subjects such as: Sin, Salvation, Faith, Repentance, Godly Sorrow, Conversion, Regeneration, Redemption, Adoption, Justification, Consecration, Sanctification, The Church, Ordinances, Baptism, Communion, Feet Washing, Marriage, Anointing with oil, The holy kiss, The Christian Woman’s devotional covering, The ministry, Obedience, Self-denial, Humility, Christian Duties, Christian Service, Prayer, Worship, Alsm, The Home, Child training, Youth, Courtship, Speech, Pleasure, Restrictions, Nonconformity to the word, Unbelief, Pride, Coveteousness, Dress, The beard, Way of life, Nonresistance, Swearing of oaths, Insurance, Government, Voting, Labor unions, Evolution, Musical Instruments, Righteousness, Security and Apostasy, Life, Death, The Second Coming of the Lord, The Resurrection, Hell, and Heaven.
The method of dealing with these subjects is very similar to the method of Bible interpretation that dominates most churches with Anabaptist heritage. The Bible is authoritative and in it you can find an answer to each of these questions. The Bible is an instruction book for all of life and you can find how to live and die within its pages.
Those with any sort of Anabaptist heritage whether Independent Baptist, Free-Will Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Southern Baptist, and Mennonite will agree with statements in this book such as:
What is sin? “Sin is the transgression of the law” (I John 3:4)
What is included as sin? “All unrighteousness is sin” (I John 5:17)
How do we get rid of sin? “The blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin” (I John 1:7)
What is the effect of sin upon the soul? “The soul that sinneth, it shall die” (Ezek 18:4) and “Sin when it is finished bringeth forth death” (James 1:15)
Is there a route of escape? Yes, through Jesus Christ (John 14:6; Acts 4:12); repentance (Luke 13:1-5); and by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8)
What is God’s message to a sinful world? “Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth” (Isaiah 45:22)
What encouragement is there to vile sinners to accept their Savior? Through your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as well” (Isa. 1:18)
What is salvation? Salvation is deliverance from sin and its penalty.
Who is the Author of Salvation? Christ. “And being made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation” (Heb 5:9)
To whom is salvation offered? Everyone. The gospel of Christ “is the power of God unto salvation to everyone that believeth” (Romans 1:16)
How is man saved? “By grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God” (Eph 2:8)
Have our good deeds anything to do with our salvation? “Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Eph. 2:9)
Then do we understand that a man may live on in sin just so he has faith? “Faith without works is dead” (James 2:20). “How shall we that are dead to sin live any longer therein” (Rom. 6:2)?
What is the way of salvation? Jesus Christ is the way of salvation, for He says: “I am the way, the truth, and the life; no man cometh unto the Father but by me” (John 14:6)
Is there no other way? “There is none other name under heaven given among men whereby we must be saved” (Acts 4:12)
Do you see, are not the Amish just like you? They may have some different applications of how they live out their faith but why would you proselytize them? In fact, perhaps they take their faith more seriously than you do. You believe as they do that worldliness is a sin and that you should be separate from the world. You have standards, but so do they and they might see you as more worldly than them and therefore your faith in Christ may not be genuine.
I want to convince the nominal Anabaptist whether Independent Baptist, Free-Will Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Southern Baptist, or Mennonite, that the Amish do indeed need to be evangelized, but not by you. That may sound like a harsh statement but I do not intend for it to be. My heart is for you as well.
So, if the Amish believe the Bible, if the Amish believe the things I listed from their book of beliefs above, then why do they and perhaps you need a Martin Luther to come along and nail a new 95 thesis on the door?
If I asked an Amish person what the Bible is about, the answer would be disjointed. If they’ve listened and have been brought up in a particularly disciplined Amish church environment, they would give some of the points above regarding sin, Jesus, and salvation. But they would likely take the stories in the Old Testament as examples of how one should live and not live, and then the New Testament would be further instructions on how one should live and not live. Jesus death and resurrection fits in the narrative as an additional required belief for sure, and to deny it would be sure condemnation.
To the Amish and perhaps to you, the Bible is not one cohesive story of God’s redemption of a chosen people that He has saved from His own wrath by His own blood for His own name’s sake. The only accepted idea of a chosen people would be Israel in the Old Testament which somehow will still be ethnically saved later in God’s plan. Then perhaps there is a chosen “kind” of person in the New Testament. This would be any “true Christian” who has that kind of faith that James described, and so keeps God’s laws of which believing in Christ is one but not the only one. This would be the “elect” or chosen kind of person that Paul mentions in many of his letters - one who chooses to believe in Jesus and is therefore chosen or “elect”, God having foreknown their choice for Him before the foundation of the world.
I do not desire to provoke you, I do not desire to prove some sort of superiority of doctrine by which I can then lift myself and my denominational affiliations above yours and thereby convert you to myself or to any other man or movement. With the help of God and for the glory of His grace, I desire only that those who read this, who think like the Amish although they are not Amish, would find the peace of God through His promises that He has made and kept before He laid the foundations of this passing world. These promises have been kept in Christ alone and give His chosen people a sure foundation on which to stand - the righteousness of Christ alone.
Some who will read this have set up an Amish-like standard that the Kings James Version of the Bible is the only one that can be trusted and so for the remainder of this writing, I will use this Old English version though the clarity of a modern version might be more understandable.
I respect, recognize and agree with you that you do see the Bible as God’s infallible, authoritative, and unchanging Word. But if it is possible I would like to attempt to change your lenses of Bible interpretation (my presupposition is that your lenses are currently very “Amish like” even if you do not realize it”) by using God’s own words given by His prophets after Christ ascended into heaven as he “sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high” (Heb 1:3).
“And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.” (Gen 3:15)
“God, who at sundry times and in divers manners spake in time past unto the fathers by the prophets, hath in these last days spoken unto us by his Son, whom he hath appointed heir of all things, by whom also he made the worlds; who being the brightness of his glory, and the express image of his person, and upholding all things by the word of his power, when he had by himself purged our sins, sat down on the right hand of the Majesty on high; being made so much better than the angels, as he hath by inheritance obtained a more excellent name than they. For unto which of the angels said he at any time, Thou art my Son, This day have I begotten thee? And again, I will be to him a Father, And he shall be to me a Son? And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him. And of the angels he saith, Who maketh his angels spirits, And his ministers a flame of fire. But unto the Son he saith, Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: A sceptre of righteousness is the sceptre of thy kingdom. Thou hast loved righteousness, and hated iniquity; Therefore God, even thy God, hath anointed thee With the oil of gladness above thy fellows. And, Thou, Lord, in the beginning hast laid the foundation of the earth; And the heavens are the works of thine hands: They shall perish; but thou remainest: And they all shall wax old as doth a garment; And as a vesture shalt thou fold them up, And they shall be changed: But thou art the same, And thy years shall not fail. But to which of the angels said he at any time, Sit on my right hand, Until I make thine enemies thy footstool? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?
(Hebrews 1:1-14)
“And ye have not his word abiding in you: for whom he hath sent, him ye believe not. Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me…For had ye believed Moses, ye would have believed me: for he wrote of me. But if ye believe not his writings, how shall ye believe my words?” (John 5:38, 39, 46-47)
“And, behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus, which was from Jerusalem about threescore furlongs. And they talked together of all these things which had happened. And it came to pass, that, while they communed together and reasoned, Jesus himself drew near, and went with them. But their eyes were holden that they should not know him. And he said unto them, What manner of communications are these that ye have one to another, as ye walk, and are sad? And one of them, whose name was Cleopas, answering said unto him, Art thou only a stranger in Jerusalem, and has not known the things which are come to pass there in these days? And he said unto them, What things And they said unto him, Concerning Jesus of Nazareth, which was a prophet mighty in deed and word before God and all the people: And how the chief priests and our rulers delivered him to be condemned to death, and have crucified him.. But we trusted that it had been he which should have redeemed Israel: and beside all this, to day is the third day since these things were done. Yea, and certain women also of our company made us astonished, which were early at the sepulchre; And when they found not his body, they came, saying, that they had also seen a vision of angels, which said that he was alive. And certain of them which were with us went to the sepulchre, and found it even so as the women had said: but him they saw not. Then he said unto them, O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: Ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into his glory? And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself. And they drew nigh unto the village, whither they went: and he made as though he would have gone further. But they constrained him, saying, Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent. And he went in to tarry with them. And it came to pass, as he sat at meat with them, he took bread, and blessed it, and brake, and gave it to them. And their eyes were opened, and they knew him; and he vanished out of their sight. And they said one to another, Did not our heart burn within us, while he talked with us by the way, and while he opened to us the scriptures? (Luke 24:24-32).
“And he said, Unto you it is given to know the mysteries of the kingdom of God: but to others in parables; that seeing they might not see, and hearing they might not understand.” (Luke 8:10)
I hope to make several points from the scriptures above:
Eyes to see, and ears to hear are given by God. This, not as God’s response to something in man such as self wrought faith, but by God’s gracious choice. Even those who take the scriptures very seriously and seek to obey them are blind and deaf to the mysteries therein unless opened by God. Until such time, even the most sincere religious person is dead, deaf, and blind in their sins though striving to live a life free from either the penalty of sin, the power of sin, or both.
See again: Luke 8:10, John 5:38, Luke 24:16, Luke 24:25, Luke 24:31)
2. The opening of blind eyes and the opening of deaf ears by God causes one to see Christ as the point of all the Scriptures beginning with the writings of Moses and continuing through all the prophets.
See again: Heb. 1:1, John 5:46-47, Luke 24:27
3. Those whose had not been given eyes to see and ears to hear did actually believe in the Christ, but only as they imagined Him. So today, many believe in Jesus but one that is as they imagine Him to be but not the one described in: Hebrews: 1:1-14
4. The Scriptures are not a compilation of God’s laws, stories of some men successfully obeying God’s laws and others disobeying God’s laws, and Jesus coming to die as an example of true love and obedience, and those who believe in Him doing the same. The Scriptures rather are all pointing to a promised rescuer of a particular people by a substitutionary obedience and a substitutionary death. There is a bought and paid for people who “shall be heirs of salvation”. God’s promises to this effect are not dependent upon man whatsoever.
See again: Gen 3:15, Heb. 1:14
5. The Scriptures are entirely about one person, by this one person God has finally spoken in these “last days”. To change the scriptures to only include Christ as part of salvation from God’s just wrath is to deny the true Christ altogether. If faith is reduced to an act of man rather than a gift of God (eyes to see, ears to hear, new birth) by the power of God, then it is not the faith of Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, Joshua, Rahab, Gideon, David, and the other “cloud of witnesses” to the faithfulness of God to keep His promises and save His people from their sins. See Hebrews 11-12
Jesus said to Nicodemus: “Art thou a master of Israel and knowest not these things?” This statement to Nicodemus was like his statement to the men on the road to Emmaus “Oh foolish and slow of heart…”
This is who man is by nature. The religious man like Cain brings his offering to God expecting God to be pleased while blind to the worthlessness of his offerings. The man with eyes to see (given by grace through faith) sees only the Lamb’s blood, the substitute, the removal of fig leaves by God himself to dress him in the skin of the substitute. He beholds the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.
He does not boast in anything but Christ. He takes no assurance in his own obedience and rejection of worldly pleasures.
He takes no assurance in his “decision for Christ”, his baptism, his church affiliation, his separation from the world. Instead he cries out: “Oh wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from this body of death? I thank God through Jesus Christ our Lord”.
Indeed those who have been given this new life are new creatures. Indeed they now hate sin and make war against it, seeing first their own corrupt flesh and selfish hearts that constantly indicate their perpetual need for the righteous obedience of a substitute.
So, those who pursue a holy and separated life out of obedience and thanksgiving for the sacrifice that God has provided on their behalf do so with humility not judging their brother and not creating law where there is no law. Even then, the law of God is used lawfully to bring all men equally guilty to Christ for their righteousness. Then in a desire to walk worthy of this calling of God they groan as they war with their own flesh and they encourage each other to look to Christ alone.
The Bible no longer becomes a manual by which to live and measure obedience but rather it tells the story of Christ’s obedience for us.
This life giving water of Christ flows out of that person in love and obedience to Christ and that person is a new creation who no longer denies and hides his sin but brings it into the light of God’s word trusting that He is faithful and just to forgive our sin and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
He does not act like the older brother in Luke 10 who despises the chosen son for whom the father made a blood sacrifice, thinking that he has obeyed and deserves his place in the Father’s house. He does not despise others who are not as righteous and obedient as him.
Within these Anabaptists denominations that I have mentioned including the Amish, there are sheep who have heard the voice of the shepherd (John 10:27), these are the little children for whom Jesus was very jealous in Mark 10 and said that it would be better for those who offend them (by turning them from the sufficiency of Christ) to be drowned with a millstone around their neck. Paul would say to them, “Oh foolish __________’s, who hath bewitched you?…” (Galatians 3:1) as these sheep are turned away from the “simplicity that is in Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3) by men who add to the gospel or confuse the purpose of the law so that people fear men and their laws over God and His provision for righteousness.
My desire then is that those who read this and have indeed been given eyes to see and ears to hear by being caused by the work of the Spirit of God to cry out: “God be merciful to me the sinner!” (Luke 18:13), will be encouraged in the truth that the Scriptures are one story of one Savior who was and will be faithful to bring all of chosen ones home. They need not fear men who create new laws while never having seen that God’s law brings even the best of men guilty forever before a holy judge if there has not been a perfectly and perpetually obedient sacrifice on their behalf - Jesus Christ the righteous.
Do not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ for it is the power of God to salvation. Preach Christ alone and rest in His work for you whether you be Amish, Free-will Baptist, Independent Baptist, Missionary Baptist, Southern Baptist, or any other offshoot of the Anabaptist movement of the 16th century.
