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    Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy
    Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy
    Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy
    Ebook349 pages5 hours

    Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy

    By Donald B. Kraybill, Steven M. Nolt and David L. Weaver-Zercher

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    “This intelligent, compassionate and hopeful book” examines an Amish community’s extraordinary response to a horrifying act of violence (Publisher’s Weekly, starred review).
     
    On October 2, 2006, a gunman named Charles Roberts entered a one-room Amish school in Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. He took ten schoolgirls hostage, killing five and critically wounding the others before taking his own life. To explain his motivation, he told the children, “I’m angry at God for taking my little daughter.”
     
    By the following morning, as television crews swarmed the village, the Amish parents were already prepared to offer forgiveness. Soon, this extraordinary act of grace became a bigger story than the terrible crime that preceded it. Amish Grace explores the religious beliefs and habits that led the Amish to forgive so quickly.

    The authors examines the importance of forgiveness among cloistered communal societies and ask why this act of forgiveness became news among secular society. With insight and compassion, the authors contemplate how the Amish community’s witness could prove useful to the rest of us.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateMar 11, 2010
    ISBN9780470873816
    Amish Grace: How Forgiveness Transcended Tragedy

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    Reviews for Amish Grace

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      In 2006, a gunman went into a one-room Amish schoolhouse and shot ten girls, killing five of them, and then killed himself. What is the immediate response of the Amish community? The Amish instantly voice their forgiveness of this man and his actions. They visit his widow and children and go to the killer’s funeral. It almost feels superhuman. The authors investigate this incident and the forgiveness that followed and look into the origins of Amish forgiveness in the Amish culture, how it is cultivated in young children, and how forgiveness works to heal.
    • 3/5
      If there had been a way to prevent the tragic school shooting in Nickle Mines, Pennsylvania, any of us would have done it. The horror of it spread across the planet. However, we can say today that God has received much glory from these ashes of grief. A friend gave me this book that not only documents the details but also gives a perspective on grace and forgiveness that is well worth reading. Amish Grace by Donald Kraybill, Steven Holt and David Weaver-Zersher contains the narrative, as well as the history and theology of the Amish. Hours and days after the event, neighbors and even bereaved family members visited the family of the shooter to express kindness and friendship. Here is what the authors say:"When forgiveness arrived at the killer's home within hours of his crime, it did not appear out of nowhere. Rather, forgiveness is woven into the very fabric of Amish life, its sturdy threads having been spun from faith in God, scriptural mandates, and a history of persecution. The grace extended by the Amish surprised the world almost as much as the killing itself. Indeed, in many respects, the story of Amish forgiveness became the story...."I've been challenged to reconsider my view of forgiveness. It's not an easy thing to embrace someone who has perpetrated harm, but there have been times when opportunities have been missed to express Christ's love. The Amish are not evangelists or traveling missionaries, but they have shown the world that one can "preach" through actions.
    • 4/5
      A lovely book, but a bit repetitive. The authors begin with the "phenomena" of forgiveness following the schoolhouse shooting of ten young girls in October of 2005. Unfortunately, school shootings are nothing new in the US, and although this one was more shocking because of the peaceful targeted community, what seemed to capture the attention of the press and of people around the world was the Amish community's quickness to forgive the killer and his family. The authors retell stories of Amish forgiveness, both in the aftermath of this tragedy and earlier ones, while setting the culture in religious and historical context. They also contrast the Amish belief in following strictly the teachings of Jesus with popular contemporary evangelists and so-called Christian politicians (including George Bush).
    • 5/5
      It tells a lot about the Amish view of the world, and it's not one of those books about the quaint Amish that glosses over who they are as individuals. The forgiveness isn't really an easy thing. There are interviews with people about their conflicts and difficulties with this. There is also a section on ethically whether it is right to forgive in some circumstances.
    • 5/5
      Surprised that people were so surprised at the forgivness that was offered by the Amish. We are instructed to forgive those who sin against us. Has compassion been replaced with vengence? WWJD
    • 5/5
      An excellent coverage of the Amish reaction to the Nickel Mines school shooting. The authors show great understanding of Amish theology and thinking. The book is well written, allowing the reader to ponder the Amish way of practicing forgiveness. I found their example to be an inspiration and it challenged me in how I live my own life. I definitely recommend this to anyone interested in reading about the Amish, forgiveness, and Christian living.
    • 5/5
      Excellent! Describes the reaction of the Amish after the school shooting at Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania. The Amish forgave the shooter very quickly. Also describes the culture of the amish which includes forgiveness of all sins. This book blew me away!

    Book preview

    Amish Grace - Donald B. Kraybill

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