BY CLAUDIA DIONEDA
Origins
While a branch of Christianity, Amish religion has its own unique foundings. According to Jack Zavada from ThoughtCo., the Amish were one of the several Anabaptist branches who originally followed Menno Simons and his teachings, who was also the founder of the Mennonites. Some time later in the 17th century, the group that would eventually become the Amish split from the Mennonites under Jakob Ammann’s leadership, whom the Amish were named after.
The Amish then go ahead and settle in Switzerland, and eventually a large majority of them end up migrating to the American colonies some time in the 18th century, with most of them favouring Pennsylvania due to its religious tolerance (Zavada).
FESTIVALS
Many of the religious holidays observed by the Amish are the same as other Christians, such as Easter and Christmas. According to Amish America, there are no special church services organized for those holidays specifically but they will, however be addressed to the community during their biweekly Sunday masses.
Public holidays (such as Halloween, Thanksgiving, etc) are a hit-and-miss with the Amish (Amish America, “What Holidays do Amish Celebrate?”). Days like Thanksgiving and New Years are celebrated, but Halloween is not; however, they do get into the spirit of it by displaying decorative, uncarved pumpkins during the fall (Amish America).
Symbols + Rituals
Because of how closely the Amish resemble Christianity, it stands to reason that several of their symbols are shared between them. For example, the crucifix is an important symbol.
Their style of clothing is also a symbol; their long, conservative dresses paired with capes and aprons for the women and their coats, straw hats, and dark trousers for the men represent humility (BBC).
Amish News has several Amish religious traditions written up, some of them being:
Mass. Sunday mass for the Amish, unlike tradition Catholic Sunday mass, is held every other Sunday rather than every Sunday. The ceremony starts at 8am, and sermons are taken from Scripture readings.
Baptism. Unlike Catholicism, the Amish celebrate baptism at adulthood rather than infancy. The ritual is severely important for the community; baptism represents the complete and willing act of an individual to join the Church and is a great deal of responsiblity to stay committed to the community.
Communion. Instead of hosting communion every Sunday like Catholics, the Amish have it twice a year: during the summer, and during the fall.
Gods + Sacred Writings
Just like many Christian branches, the Amish follow the teachings of the Bible (Crabtree). Alongside the Bible as one of the Amish’s most important sacred writings is the Ausbund, an ancient hymnal book that is essential to mass celebrations and the Amish as a whole (Amish News).
According to Amish News, the Ausbund is important to the Amish due to the “religious heritage that it preserves”. The ancient hymnal book was composed by German Anabaptists in the 16th century who were the forefathers of the Mennonites and the Amish, with a great deal of them imprisoned for their different religious beliefs (Amish News).
The Amish, just like all Christian religious branches, believes in the same God, Jesus, and Holy Spirit (Lancaster PA). This makes them a monotheism religion.
Comparison
| Similarities with Catholicism | Differences with Catholicism |
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