THE AMISH
SECULAR VS.
SACRED
WHY???
ANABAPTISTS:
Historical Background
Religious Freedom!!
…. The ultimate Protestants!
History:
Protestant Reformation: 1500s
European Free Church; German, Swiss, Dutch
Anabaptist traditions: Menno Simons (1496-1561
Jacob Amman: founds the Amish )
ANABAPTISTS:
Historical Background
Hutterite Brethren - Jakob Hutter, communal movement
Amana Society - pietistic, communal sect;
1855 - Christian Metz establishes the Amana Society in eastern Iowa
1932 - The Great Change - communalism abandoned for profit-sharing corporation
THE AMISH:
Historical Background
- Anabaptist doctrines:
- adult baptism
- Christians should separate themselves from the world
- Warfare is outside the perfection of Christ
- Christ’s followers must not swear oaths
- institution of the BAN or SHUNNING for sinners
KEY AMISH BELIEFS
Separation of Church & State
no to politics
no to government service
no to military service
not to public school after the 8th grade
THE BAN = excommunication of members who did not accept the Amish position
AVOIDANCE = shunning; no eating, drinking, sleeping with "fallen" members
MADE IN AMERICA RELIGIONS
Mormons (Latter Day Saints)
Christian Science and New Thought groups (the metaphysical traditions)
Adventists, Jehovah’s Witness (Millennial groups)
Spiritualism & Channeling
Pentecostal groups
LATTER DAY SAINTS
(Mormons)
PROPHET: Joseph Smith (1805-1844); classic seeker then charismatic founder of the Mormon Church.
PROMISE: the divine personage, Moroni, guides Smith to ancient gold plates on which the Book of Mormon is engraved; published in March 1930.
MORMONS
PLAN: RESTORATION of the "true Christian church" in the latter days of God’s great historical drama.
POSSIBILITY:
links the American nation with the biblical past (new covenant)
combines millennial fervor with frontier spirit = powerful set of religiopolitical ideas and ideals!!!
MORMONS
PLACE
Latter Day Saints: New York, Ohio, Missouri, Nauvoo, Utah, the world - 8,000,000 members
Reorganized Church: Independence, MO; followed Joseph Smith III; 250,000 members
More than 20 Mormon sects exist today, including polygamous sects
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
PROPHET: Mary Baker Eddy (1821-1910) - resurrects the ancient Gnostic heresy = the material world is an illusion; all is spirit; Jesus is the great exemplar who demonstrates the power of DIVINE MIND over MORTAL MIND; everyone can demonstrate Jesus’ "miracles!"
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
PROMISE: sin, disease, death, limitation in any form can be overcome by understanding one’s nature as the reflection or expression of God’s own Being; "…all is infinite mind and It’s infinite manifestation. For God is All in All."
monist mysticism
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
PLAN: Health, wealth, & happiness represent the eternal, REAL status of human kind; any other "suggestion" is mortal mind or error in thinking; mind over matter!
POSSIBILITY: the social and intellectual revolutions of the late 19th century allow for alternative religious expressions (women-led!)
CHRISTIAN SCIENCE
PLACE: America during the 3rd Awakening; Boston, MA, then on to the nation and world; lluminism, perfectionism, universalism, etc.
medical treatments were primitive
women’s rights movements were on the rise
an openness to questioning traditional religious expressions
NEW THOUGHT
Women in Religion!
Emma Curtis Hopkins - the teacher of teachers in New Thought
Annie Rix Militz - HOMES OF TRUTH
Malinda Cramer, in San Francisco, and the Brooks sisters in Colorado create DIVINE SCIENCE
Myrtle & Charles Fillmore - Unity School of Christianity