The Old Order Amish April 2014 | Page 3

2. Origins

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2. Origins

The very origin of the Amish faith is Anabaptism. Roman Catholics baptize their children at a very young age, deciding on their religion without the children being conscious about it. Anabaptists believe that people shouldn’t be baptized (and being forced into a religion) until they are conscious about it, and choosing to become a Christian should be a decision they are aware of. Anabaptism appeared after the Reformation Movement in the 16th century. Anabaptists were not accepted and were persecuted in Catholic Europe (Schaefer and Zellner 5).

Mennonites were a group of Anabaptists under the leadership of Menno Simmons. He was a Catholic priest, but decided to leave the Church due to his ideas. He claimed that the State and the Church should be separated and baptizing should happen at an adult age. One of the most important notions in connection with Mennonites and the Amish is the Meidung. Meidung means that the religious group stays away from the excommunicated members (Schaefer and Zellner 5).

Jacob Amman was the figure whose name is linked with the Amish. He was a Mennonite preacher, who believed in the enforcement of Meidung. Those who shared his ideas joined him and formed a new religious group in 1693 and were called the Amish (Schaefer and Zellner 6).