Writing an Amish Theology

Abstract

Theological writing is an art that is performed in community by persons of faith. In spite of the longevity of their tradition, the Amish have not inscribed their theology on paper. Until the mid-1990s, scholars in the field of Amish studies routinely noted Amish instruction about simplicity and humility, the logical conclusion being that the Amish lack a theology. This is the result of filtering the Amish through the lens of a modernity that values higher education, technical language, and theological tomes, turning this binary logic to reach the reverse conclusion that the Amish are a-theological because they don’t attend seminary, don’t write theological tomes, and don’t use technical theological language. In 1993, John Oyer conceded that the Amish have a theology, at least an implicit one. However, he brought a strongly neo-Lutheran reading to the discussion, questioning whether the Amish can write a genuinely Christian (Protestant) theology because of their understanding of tradition and the way they correlate faith and works in soteriology. Since then, scholars have more frequently addressed theological subjects. However, the topics are often framed with an Evangelical Protestant slant, and the literature itself—the majority published by Johns Hopkins University Press—has chiefly followed the theory laid down by Donald B. Kraybill in The Amish Struggle with Modernity that the Amish lack a formal theology because they resist Weberian-style rationalization. I aim to move beyond these interpretive paradigms, suggesting diverse ways that the Amish can fruitfully engage (and be engaged by) the wider Christian tradition.