Do you know about Amish !!!!

Comments

• mike_henain

  June 2004

  Well I wouldn't call them wrong since H.G. Bishop Anba Antonious's mom was like that and she wouldn't let the
  TV enter her house and now look how her children have become, Bishops and monks and Priests.
  
  
  Mike
• Mark423

  June 2004

  I have a great amount of respect for Amish people actually…
• mike_henain

  June 2004

  So do I.
  
  They overcame wordly desires and they live like monks.
  
  Mike
• CopticSoldier

  June 2004

  Hi all,
  
  While their lifestyle may outwardly look commendable we have to remember that most of these groups start on shaky theological beginings like the saltshakers who originally believed that their founder was a reincarnation of the Lord. I don't know a great deal about them but the religon started in Europe and I imagine that some of their believers migrated to America.
  
  God bless,
  
  CS
• faithless

  June 2004

  Thier original country is Germany , They use that language at the same way we do the Coptic language , If they believe that they are right ( for me i don't think it is the way for salvation, At least not the best one ) Why i don't think in the same way in my belife (The coptic Orthodox belife). !!!!!!! We always say we have the original tradition from the 1st fathers of the church How can u say u r the best? For me i used to say Who knows !!!!! By the way i'm not happy for saying that But there is nothing lead me to say anything else.
• Michael_Thoma

  June 2004

  Mennonites
  
  A Protestant denomination of Europe and America which arose in Switzerland in the sixteenth century and derived its name from Menno Simons, its leader in Holland. Menno Simons was born in 1492 at Witmarsum in Friesland. In 1515 or 1516 he was ordained to the Catholic priesthood and appointed assistant at Pingjum not far from Witmarsum. aater (1532) he was named pastor of his native place, but 12 January, 1536, resigned his charge and became an Anabaptist elder. The rest of his life was devoted to the interests of the new sect which he had joined. Though not an imposing personality he exercised no small influence as a speaker and more particularly as a writer among the more moderate holders of Anabaptist views. His death occurred 13 January, 1559, at Wustenfelde in Holstein. The opinions held by Menno Simons and the Mennonites originated in Switzerland. In 1525 Grebel and Manz founded an Anabaptist community at Zurich. Persecution followed upon the very foundation of the new sect, and was exercised against its members until 1710 in various parts of Switzerland. It was powerless to effect suppression and a few communities exist even at present. About 1620 the Swiss Mennonites split into Amish or Upland Mennonites and Lowland Mennonites. The former differ from the latter in the belief that excommunication dissolves marriage, in their rejection of buttons and of the practice of shaving. During Menno's lifetime his followers in Holland divided (1554) into "Flemings" and "Waterlanders", on account of their divergent views on excommunication. The former subsequently split up into different parties and dwindled into insignificance, not more than three congregations remaining at present in Holland. Division also weakened the "Waterlanders" until in 1811 they united, dropped the name of Mennonites and called themselves "Doopsgezinde" (Baptist persuasion), their present official designation in Holland. Menno founded congregations exclusively in Holland and Northwestern Germany. Mennonite communities existed at an early date, however in South Germany where they were historically connected with the Swiss movement, and are found at present in other parts of the empire, chiefly in eastern Prussia. The offer of extensive land and the assurance of religious liberty caused a few thousand German Mennonites to emigrate to Southern Russia (1788). This emigration movement continued until 1824, and resulted in the foundation of comparatively important Mennonite colonies. In America the first congregation was founded in 1683 at Germantown, Pennsylvania. Subsequently immigration from Germany, Holland, Switzerland, and since 1870 from Russia, considerably increased the number of the sect in North America. There are twelve different branches in the United States in some of which the membership does not reach 1000. Among the peculiar views of the Mennonites are the following: repudiation of infant baptism, oaths, law-suits, civil office-holding and the bearing of arms. Baptism of adults and the Lord's Supper, in which Jesus Christ is not really present, are retained, but not as sacraments properly so-called. Non-resistance to violence is an important tenet and an extensive use is made of excommunication. All these views, however, are no longer universally held, some Mennonites now accepting secular offices. The polity is congregational, with bishops, elders, and deacons. The aggregate membership of the Mennonites is now usually given as about 250,000; of these there are some 60,000 in Holland; 18,000 in Germany; 70,000 in Russia; 1500 in Switzerland; 20,000 in Canada, and according to Dr. Carroll (Christian Advocate, New York, 27 January, 1910), 55,007 in the United States.
• Michael_Thoma

  June 2004

  Historical Origins
  The original "Mennonites" were the Anabaptists. The term "Anabaptist" (a Greek word meaning "rebaptizer") is a derogatory term used by the Catholics to describe this set of Christians, who believed in baptizing only upon a profession of faith and dedication to Jesus Christ, thus violating the Catholic doctrine of being saved by infant baptism and thus "rebaptizing" most members (who had been baptized as infants).
  
  The Anabaptists were "formally" born on January 21, 1525, when Conrad Grebel, Felix Mantz, and Georg Blaurock baptized each other in Zurich, Switzerland.
  
  The Mennonites take their name from Menno Simons, an Anabaptist bishop who lead the Anabaptists of the early 1500s, who would soon become known as Mennonites. Menno had been a Catholic priest in Holland, and then became uncomfortable with Catholic church doctrine after he started reading the Bible for himself. After two or three years of anguish, he formally left the Catholic church after his brother was killed as an Anabaptist. His writings and teachings helped to unify a fragmented Anabaptist movement.
  
  The Hutterites are another group which came from the Anabaptist origins, who take their name from Jacob Hutter, a leader of the Hutterites from 1533 to 1536. The Hutterites have a strong belief in community. In fact, no Hutterite has any personal property - it is all owned in community. The Hutterites should not be confused with the Bruderhof(tm), which is a group that came along later. The Bruderhof tried to join with the Hutterites, but in December of 1990, was formally excommunicated from the Hutterites. These two terms (Hutterite and Bruderhof) are often used by both groups, but they need to be separated out. The Bruderhof has taken to lawsuits, arms, and intimidation, all of which are in direct opposition to Anabaptist teachings.
  
  The Amish came along in 1693, and take their name from Jacob Ammans, a Swiss bishop who became dissatisfied with the Mennonite church. He and his followers did not believe that the Mennonites carried shunning of an excommunicated member far enough, and that they were not strict enough in their separation from the "world."
• Michael_Thoma

  June 2004

  Their misinterpretation is that the world is evil. God made the world and said it was good. These people and most protestants believe like Luther, that we are "dung heaps covered by snow." The Orthodox/Catholic teaching is that we are essentially good, but lean toward evil by original sin, but baptism removes that original sin (although we still lean to evil)
• faithless

  June 2004

  I liked that, Thanks ;)