Amish Traditions

By Joseph Warren Yoder

“Joseph Yoder (September 22, 1872 – November 13, 1956) was an educator, musicologist, and writer, the first successful Mennonite literary figure in the United States, especially known for his semi-fictional account of his mother's life, Rosanna of the Amish (1940), and for his investigation of the sources of the Amish tunes of the Ausbund, along with his efforts to record and preserve traditional Amish music.”-Wiki

“I felt that someone who knows the Amish should write a truthful book about them and show the world their good qualities, instead of magnifying; their peculiarities. So, after thinking about it for about twenty years, and after reading a book called “Straw in, the Wind,” which I thought was very unfair, I determined to write my book, “Rosanna of the Amish.” But may I say that writing a book is no small job. First, it takes a lot of work; second it takes a lot of money to have it printed, but those are not the worst things to think about. What are you going to do if the people do not like your book, do not buy it, and you lose everything you put into it? Even though these discouraging things stared me in the face, I wrote it anyway, and may I say without boasting, that since seven printings have already been made and the book is still selling well, and every now and then I receive a letter from some far off country saying how much they liked Rosanna of the Amish, I am not sorry that I wrote it.”-From the Author’s introduction.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barakaldo Books
• Release date: May 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781839746963

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AMISH TRADITIONS

BY

JOSEPH WARREN YODER

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS 4

DEDICATION 5

PREFACE 6

CHAPTER I—DIVISIONS 9

CHAPTER II—THE MINISTRY 16

CHAPTER III—ROMANS 12: 2 AND THE ORDNUNG 21

CHAPTER IV—THE UNEQUAL YOKE 39

CHAPTER V—THE YOUNG FOLKS 44

CHAPTER VI—THE PRAYER VEIL—1 Cor. 11: 1 to 16 53

CHAPTER VII—THE BAN—1 Cor. 5:11 68

CHAPTER VIII—EDUCATION 82

CHAPTER IX—SINGING 86

CHAPTER X—PECULIAR PEOPLE—Titus 2: 14 91

CHAPTER XI—PHOTOGRAPHS 94

CHAPTER XII—MISSIONS 96

CHAPTER XIII—LANGUAGE 97

CHAPTER XIV—HEALTH AND HAPPINESS 100

REQUEST FROM THE PUBLISHER 105

DEDICATION

TO

The Spiritual Advancement

of

The Amish People,

everywhere

PREFACE

I THINK nobody will doubt my word, when I, say that I have always been greatly, interested in, the welfare and happiness, of the, Amish people, everywhere. My parents were Old Order Amish of the Peachey Church where I attended preaching services with them until I was sixteen years old. Then when I went away to school and saw that, some other devout young Christian people seemed to have more, liberty than we Amish had, I seriously considered joining one of those churches. Especially did I wish to join the Church of the Brethren where by now, I had many friends, but the President of the college in talking to me about the Amish people one day said, Joseph, stick to your people. And whenever I had a great desire to join some other church; I seemed to, hear, the voice of Martin Brumbaugh, saying, Joseph, stick to your people, so I never joined another church, but; still belong to the Amish church at Belleville where I first joined church.

Another, reason why my interest, in the welfare of the Amish people can hardly be doubted is the fact that when books and magazine articles were written about the Amish that seemed to make fun of them on account of their unusual dress, I felt that someone who knows the Amish should write a truthful book about them and show the world their good qualities, instead of magnifying; their peculiarities. So, after thinking about it for about twenty years, and after reading a book called Straw in, the Wind, which I thought was very unfair, I determined to write my book, Rosanna of the Amish. But may I say that writing a book is no small job. First, it takes a lot of work; second it takes a lot of money to have it printed, but those are not the worst things to think about. What are you going to do if the people do not like your book, do not buy it, and you lose everything you put into it? Even though these discouraging things stared me in the face, I wrote it anyway, and may I say without boasting, that since seven printings have already been made and the book is still selling well, and every now and then I receive a letter from some far off country saying how much they liked Rosanna of the Amish, I am not sorry that I wrote it.

Then when father was old and delicate, he and I were invited to a wedding. It happened that a young man from Kansas was at the wedding, and when all were through eating the young singer from Kansas was asked to lead the singing of the first hymn at the table, Wacht Auf: He seemed glad to do it, but when we came home father said to me, That young man from Kansas sang the Wacht Auf so badly it almost made me sick on my stomach, Es hot mich schier kotze g’macht. I said to father, Can you still sing it right?, and he said Yes, I can. Then I said to him, You sing it for me, and I will write it on paper, then when you and Rheuben Kauffman are gone, and the singers cannot agree as to how it should be sung, I can sing it right for them. We wrote the Wacht Auf, but that led me to see that if the Slow Tunes were not written down, they would eventually be lost. I had a feeling that I ought to do it as nobody else seemed to care whether they were lost or not, nobody who could write them. So, after years of inward urging, I wrote the Slow Tunes and published them in Amische Lieder, not knowing again whether I would ever get my money back or not. But I felt it should be done, and since nobody else was interested who could write music, I did it.

From the interests I have named here I believe I have a right to write about another interest I have in the Amish people everywhere, and that is my interest in their religious practices. For the last forty years I have traveled considerably: I have met many fine Christian people. I have tried to find out just what real Christianity is. Nobody knows all about it, and I assure you I do not claim to know all about it, but after observing many other line Christians, I have slowly come to the conclusion that the Amish people are missing much of the joy of fellowship that Christians should have, and it seems to me they are bearing useless burdens and making sacrifices that do not add to their righteousness.

I praise the Amish people for many things. I believe that 99% of the Amish children join church. Very few churches can match such a record. I believe 95% of the children join the church their father and mother belong to, and that is very good. To the best of my knowledge there is not one divorce among the Amish people in the whole United States. There are none in jail for crime. Once in a while one is put to jail for conscience sake,—refusing to send his children to High School, believing that High School educates away from the farm, and he wants his children to be farmers. None are in Alms Houses, and none are on relief. The Amish keep their own poor. They have no unemployment problem, and economically they are self-sufficient,—asking no material help from the government. If any accept help from the State, it is only a very small minority, and certainly none from the Old Order.

Besides these good qualities, with very few exceptions, they are honest, moral, sober, industrious, quiet, law-abiding, and by the word of a man from the Agricultural Department at Washington, D.C., They are the best farmers in the country.

The sincerity and devotion and obedience of the Amish people cannot be questioned. But it is possible to have great religious zeal but be misinformed in some things. I do not believe that devout Amish people will be lost. They will be saved by the Grace of God, but I do think they are missing many of the joys of the Christian life here in this world. For example,—recently a friend of mine in Lancaster County being hard pressed with field work used his tractor in the field. It was against the rules: he had to come before the church and confess a fault but he asked the Bishop this searching question, Why do we Amish always have to do things the hard way? To lift some of those burdens and to encourage a finer Christian fellowship among all the Amish churches is the purpose of this writing.

What I shall say in this book is not intended as a criticism of the Amish ways. But I do see some things that, compared to other religious groups, do not seem to have had the blessing of God to the fullest extent. So, what I say here is said in all Christian charity, in the hope that it may bring light to shine where now it seems to be lacking. If what I say is contrary to scripture, then do not believe it, but when I quote scripture to prove what I say, then I beg of you to think deeply and carefully, before you condemn it, lest by your thoughtlessness you might blaspheme against the Holy Ghost, Mark 3: 22 to 31.

And do not think that I am just a young up-start that is trying to show off and be smart. Oh, no: I am already more than half way between three score years and ten and four score years. For many years I have had an inward urge to try to shed some scriptural light on some of the practices of the Amish people, but I hesitated to do it because I know that I will be severely censured by some orthodox Amish people, but this inward urge has become so strong that I can hardly listen to a good sermon without thinking about the Amish people so intently that I cannot hear the sermon. When one wishes to be helpful, and that inward urge grows stronger and stronger, is the urge from God or is it the urge of the evil one? You may answer that question as God directs you, but I am persuaded that it is God directed.

When I see the many divisions among the Amish churches, and the very little Christian fellowship between the churches, the small number of Amish people compared to some other denominations, I cannot help but feel that there is something wrong somewhere. The question is: What is wrong that we have these divisions and lack of fellowship and small numbers? After long thinking about it, I have come to the conclusion that the Amish people have not been thinkers, but have been satisfied to follow the teachings of old Bishops who followed the teachings of old Bishops before them and so on back to Jacob Amman and they have not studied the scriptures, but have put the emphasis on Das alt Gebrauch. In this book I want to cite the scripture that deals with old customs, and divisions, and a lack of friendliness between different churches which Paul and St. John wrote about so much and emphasize so strongly.

What reward will I receive for writing about these things? No doubt I shall be violently condemned by those who have always built on old customs, Das alt Gebrauch. I will likely lose much of the money that it will cost to print the book. I will be called a heretic, a deceiver, a teacher of false doctrines, and those who judge without thinking will say Er ist ein verfierischer Mann. Since through all history those who dared to depart from the beaten path have been condemned by the unthinking, I certainly do not expect praise. If a few study these words seriously, and see the liberty which Jesus and Paul teach everywhere, and if they can lay aside some burdens that have been bound upon them by unlearned and unthinking Bishops, I shall feel that all the expense of printing and writing has been well invested. The book cannot do any harm to those who close their eyes to the Truth, and it may do much good for those who are pressing toward the mark of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. If the book will help to drive away ignorance and bondage, and bring to those who seek the Truth, light and liberty, the book will be worthwhile, and by the grace of God, I will try to bear the persecutions with Christian fortitude.

CHAPTER I—DIVISIONS

WHEN one travels about and observes the conduct of other churches, and then comes among the Amish, he cannot help but be impressed with one outstanding fact,—so many different divisions. In Beautiful Kishacoquillas Valley, Big Valley, Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, my boyhood home, there are eight different Amish churches that have no spiritual fellowship whatever. They have the same Articles of Faith, the same Baptism, the same Communion and the same Prayerbook. Being alike in these great essentials, how then can they or how do they differ? The difference is Church rules, regulating many of their practices in both the religious and economic life,—length of hair, trim of beard, color of carriage, no automobiles, no telephones, no tractors, or for belt work only, no plumbing in the house, no electric lights and many more forbidden things. All these rules taken together in each church are called the Ordnung of that church, and the Ordnung is strictly enforced. But in no two of the eight churches is the Ordnung the same. The difference between some of them is very slight, so slight that a man not thoroughly acquainted with their customs could not tell one from the other. But these slight differences are held so important that no members of different churches ever commune together. Some of these rules cause a great deal of inconvenience, e.g., doing without electric lights, telephones, tractors, etc.

When we read the Gospels we find that the old Jews had many similar laws which they made and enforced very strictly,—washing hands always before eating, washing pots and pans twice, limitation of Sabbath Day journeys, not eating with Gentiles, no work on Sabbath day, no healing of sick on Sabbath day, and probably strictest of all, circumcision.

When Jesus was among these people, being the Son of God, He could easily see that these man-made rules had no virtue in righteous living, so He simply ignored them. But the Jews criticised Him very severely for not keeping these Jewish ordinances. Finally, Jesus got tired of their bickering, so he turned to them and said in Mark 7: 7, Howbeit, in vain do they worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men. When I look at these Jewish traditions made by men, and then look at the many rules of the Amish not found in the Bible, but also made by men, traditions, I am wondering whether the Amish did not since the days of Jacob Ammen put too much stress on these traditions, man-made rules. As we look at Amish churches everywhere and see that their only difference is Ordnung, then see how divisions have come, we cannot help but wonder whether the cause of these divisions is not Ordnung, or man-made rules. Now, let us ask ourselves the question, honestly, if Jesus were here present and we asked Him to obey these rules, cut of hair, trim of beard, hooks-and-eyes, etc., I wonder honestly whether He would do it, or would he turn to us and say, Howbeit, in vain do you worship me, teaching for doctrine the commandments of men? He refused to honor and obey the Jewish rules, why would He honor and obey ours? There is something far deeper in the Christian religion than obeying outward rules and ordinances. If the Ordnung has caused our divisions, and they were caused by either Ordnung or spite, then Ordnung cannot be a good thing, for Paul talks very strongly against divisions in I Cor. III: 3, For are ye not carnal, for whereas there is among you envy and strife, and divisions, are ye not carnal and walk as men?

In 1880 Shem Zook of Matawanna, Pennsylvania, wrote a booklet showing how the first divisions in the Amish churches of the Valley came about. Briefly, Abram Peachey was the Bishop in the upper church, Solomon Byler was Bishop in the middle church and Shem Yoder was Bishop in the lower church. But these three congregations earlier were all one church. As they had their services in their dwelling houses there were too many people to get into a dwelling house, so they divided the church into three congregations. Solomon Byler was somewhat progressive, and thought it would be more nearly like Christ’s baptism to have the young folks go to the creek for baptism, but Abram Peachey refused to give his consent or to cooperate. The argument got so disturbing that committees of preachers were called from Lancaster County once, then from Somerset County, and lastly from Ohio, to try to settle this matter and bring peace to the church. But Abram Peachey would not give in. He seemingly did not care what the Committees said. This was Eppes Neues, something new, therefore it was wrong, shall I say, No matter how Jesus was baptized. Building on the old tradition that anything that is new is against the Ordnung, and therefore wrong, Abram Peachey would not give up. One Sunday at preaching Solomon Byler mentioned again baptising in the creek, Abram turned to him rather impatiently and said, In heavens name, if you don’t like what we are doing, go and do as you please. This was the signal for Solomon Byler to withdraw all members that were in sympathy with him. But when Bishop Shem Yoder saw this he saw that this was his time to draw off all those who were in sympathy with him, members who wished to draw the church rules a little tighter. And so through bickering about church rules made by men, Ordnung, the strong church of the Valley was divided into three denominations who immediately had no fellowship with each other whatever. Abram Peachey, was regarded by many Amish people as a great Bishop, very strict and a man who could not be moved, but I wonder what Paul would have said to him. I wonder whether Paul would not have said to him, Abram, since you are so strict that you put your old church rules, your Ordnung, above charity, and long suffering, and cooperation,