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Amish Grace and the Rest of Us

The Amish response to the Nickel Mines shootings wasn't just plain Christianity.

Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt, and David L. Weaver-Zercher | posted 9/17/2007 09:59AM

The Amish Are Not Us

If there's one thing we learned from the Nickel Mines story, it's this: the Amish commitment to forgive is not a small patch tacked onto their fabric of faithfulness. Rather, their ...

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Graham UK

Posted: September 19, 2007 5:30 AM

I have come to know that forgiveness is not an act but an attitude and a way of life. For a Christian forgiveness is not an option but mandatory neccessitating profound exploration of personal prejudice and walking with Jesus through the dark places in the soul. You may know the Corrie Ten Boom story and the wonderful grace of forgiveness that blessed her when she was confronted by the Nazi Guard from Ravensbruk concentration camp who tortured and killed her sister Betsy. If not the memorable part for me was when she felt initial rage, hatred, etc... and simply prayed to Jesus saying: 'Lord I can hold out my hand but you provide the feeling'. As she stretched out her hand to the killer of her sister a feeling so wonderful washed over her enabling her to grab the man's hand saying with joy 'I forgive you my brother from the bottom of my heart I forgive you'. Jesus said to gain life we must first lose our life and the Amish way and my belief is the more we lose tempting worldy things ...

Anna	Posted: September 18, 2007 5:18 PM

The reason the Amish can "forgive" the killer so easily is not with their religion. The killer was a pervert. He liked little girls and its obvious he got to the point where he was going to have little girls and thats it. He was planning on having sex with them when the police decided to move in and that's when he killed them so they couldn't talk. The boys should be told the reason why they survived had only to do with the fact that the pervert was not after them, he was after the girls. It's a lot easier to forgive a killer pervert "because they can't help it" than it is to forgive someone within the community who can help it and still doesn't follow the rules of the community. Witness the technique of not talking to their own when their own breaks a rule. The rule breaker is in reality agreeing to the not being talked to and thus still in effect follows the rules. The pervert killer had nothing to do with community rules, he was outside the "realm", so thus the easy forgiving

John	Posted: September 18, 2007 12:47 PM


Excellent article up until the point where you seemed to imply the foreign policy of President Bush is sanctioned by God. In our personal lives we are supposed to be loving and forgiving, but we are to accept the premise that God ordains a a holy war against Muslims? Sorry, don't buy into that.

Dana	Posted: September 18, 2007 9:20 AM

George wrote: "The first thought that comes to my mind is to wonder where Amish shunning of a disobedient member fits into the issue of forgiveness." As a Messianic Jew, I can't presume to speak for the Amish, but I would guess that this comes from 1 Cor. 5:11 - "But now I am writing you that you must not associate with anyone who calls himself a brother but is sexually immoral or greedy, an idolater or a slanderer, a drunkard or a swindler. With such a man do not even eat." They're not contradicting the Word by this shunning, they're showing us how to live it.

Jonathan

Posted: September 18, 2007 2:08 AM

QUOTE: All Christians can read Jesus' words in Matthew's Gospel—"forgive us our debts as we forgive our debtors"—but Amish people truly believe that their own forgiveness is bound up in their willingness to forgive others. For them, forgiveness is more than a good thing to do. It is the thing to do. Perhaps this idea is not so isolated as one might believe. Matthew 6:15, Mark 11:25-26, Luke 6:37, Col 3:13 all command us to forgive. It is not an option as a Christian. For this reason, I applaud the Amish for their forgiveness. This article seems to give the idea that it is amazing that the Amish are so ready to forgive. To me, I see it as a proof that the Amish truly rely on the Holy Spirit, for without the Holy Spirit's power, I don't think anyone could forgive as they do.

Pam Clack

Posted: September 17, 2007 9:57 PM


Even fellow Christians who are not Amish have a hard time understanding that the call to righteousness and to "pruning out" unrighteousness are not, to the Amish, in opposition to the call for forgiveness. It is an ancient Christian tradition that does not harmonize with modern Christian thinking. They seek to be, in their way, New Testament people who follow their Shepherd at all personal cost.

Sam D

Posted: September 17, 2007 8:39 PM


I think most people who read the sermon on the mount will find some parts easy and other parts impossibly hard. Our neighbors can help us with the parts that we can't do alone. In this case, the Amish show us that radical forgiveness is both good and possible.

Alexander Patico

Posted: September 17, 2007 8:14 PM

I rated this "5" -- it does provoke thought. However, I disagree with what I understand to be the points the authors were making (although it was not real clear what points they were attempting to make). Many of the statements, of the form "the Amish are to be commended, BUT...." seemed designed to ease into yet another reason why their example can not be applied to "normal" life (the life that most of us lead). It occurs to me that one could have made similar statements, when Christ walked the earth among us: "well, Jesus is really a great, great man, BUT after all, he's the Son of God...we're not." "Jesus' example is inspiring, BUT...his ideas about giving up all we own and giving it to the poor cannot be done by all of us or there'd be no wealth at all." "I'd like to follow Jesus, but if someone -- I mean in real life -- attacked my daughter, I couldn't very well 'turn the other cheek', now could I?" The Evil One will always provide plenty of excuses for eschewing holiness.

Kansas Bob

Posted: September 17, 2007 6:25 PM

Often the first response to tragedy is not the one of the heart. Job said admirable things in chapters one and two but things fell apart in chapter three. The book of Job mirrors the full gamut of the grief cycle ... what seems so positive at first may often be denial. The offer of forgiveness may seem, and indeed may be, real but it also can be more of a reflection of denial than of heart-felt forgiveness. I guess I get concerned when people, in the name of religion, short circuit the grief cycle and don't give broken-hearted people oom to really forgive and really heal.

Mairlyn Zeman

Posted: September 17, 2007 5:57 PM

I suppose I do believe in te War against Terrorism however, I do believe we will have Terrorism until the very end of the age. Except for the war on terrorism, I do believe we should attempt as much as we can to "forgive". The Bible doesn't give us any conditions for forgiving others, when we should or shouldn't. In Mathew 18:21-22, Peter asks Jesus how many times should he forgive his brother, Seven times, he asks Jesus, but Jesus replies, no not seven times but seventy-seven times. Jesus died for all sinners, he didn't go up on the cross and say, "no, I don't feel lilke forgiving that one or that one", or "he doesn't deserve to be forgivesn". he gave himself for all of us to be forgiven. I believe we each forgave each other more, each one of us would be much more emotionally and mentally healthy. It should be easier way to give this a rating. I rate this article 4 stars. Maybe a drop down menu would be easier.

Wendell Franklin Wentz

Posted: September 17, 2007 5:46 PM

The Amish are not above average or above the norm for Christians. They are just plain Christians, and they are examples of whom and what Christians are. They are authentic Christains. They are New Testament Christians who truly obey the Lord Jesus' teachings. The New Testament is a dangerous book, and that is the reason we don't find church folk practicing Christianity when they kill people, go to war, devise plans to take over America with their doctrines, and what to shut down institutions that help the poor, marginal people, the dispossessed, those not able to defend themselvers, the strangers within our gates, the orphans, the widows, and for those whom Jesus died. Most church folks think they are superior, and they most certainly build walls to separate mankind. I see Jesus walking, stalking, and talking in those people called Amish. They are products of the grace of God, and fine examples of those who forgive as Jesus taught us to do. Amen.

George Nye

Posted: September 17, 2007 4:39 PM


A carefully thought out article on Amish forgiveness, with much material for personal and corporate reflection. The first thought that comes to my mind is to wonder where Amish shunning of a disobedient member fits into the issue of forgiveness.

John	Posted: September 17, 2007 3:41 PM

Of all the reasons to criticize Bush, the idea of Amish blanket forgiveness is not one of them. In fact, on this point I agree with the writer, and for all ofmy enormous respect for the beliefs of the Quakers, I think they miss the boat on non-violence. You can only take turning the other cheek so much or you end up with the Nazis. However, I would never hold the Amish out as any sort of role model for Christians, as they have taken the cowards way out. If Jesus had ANY message at all, it was to go out into the WORLD and PREACH and CONVERT and TEACH his message, not withdraw from the world and live in your own little enclave. Again, the Quakers have all the good of the Amish and yet are right on the front line of being salt and light, even with their non-violent philosophy. The Menonites, which are for all practical purposes the same religion as the Amish, have no problem sending missionaries to the most dangerous parts of the globe. The Amish take the easy way out.

Ted Hewlett

Posted: September 17, 2007 3:14 PM


A carefully-thought-out and significant article.

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