DONALD B. KRAYBILL, STEVEN M. NOLT, DAVID L. WEAVER-ZERCHER. The Amish Way: Patient Faith in a Perilous World. San Fransisco: Jossey-Bass, 2010. Pp. 267. $16.95 (U.S.)
There is no dearth of new literature related to the Amish, and the authors of The Amish Way have contributed their fair share to the nonfiction category of recent Amish-themed literature. In The Amish Way, however, these three authors have succeeded in contributing a substantially fresh and in-depth portrayal of Amish life.
While researching and writing Amish Grace, their bestselling account of the Nickel Mines Amish School shooting, Kraybill, Nolt, and Weaver-Zercher realized that the subject of Amish spirituality deserved a more thorough portrayal. It was this challenge of uncovering the “heartbeat” of Amish life and perspective that the authors undertook in The Amish Way. The authors address the readers not as professors and scholars of Amish life, but as fellow moderns (and postmoderns) looking at Amish life as both strange and significant. The Amish Way is not merely an attempt to outline authentic Amish spiritual perspectives; it is a book intended to introduce its readers to the often hidden core of Amish life for the purpose of allowing readers to learn from Amish understandings of spirituality.
The writers succeed in painting a sympathetic portrait of Amish spirituality that is both multi-dimensional and accessible. Drawing from a wealth of Amish sources, The Amish Way provides a series of vignettes into Amish life, introducing readers not only to basic Amish spiritual understandings and practices, but also to the stories of actual individual practitioners of Amish faith. Through these portrayals of Amish life, readers are invited to enter into the joys, sorrows, and struggles of ordinary life among the Amish. The real-life (though mostly pseudonymous) cast of Amish characters introduced in The Amish Way display courage, faith, and more than a little humor as they navigate the tensions of Old Order life in a modern world, work to support their families, or struggle with the loss of a loved one. Its reliance on these Amish voices and its commitment to telling their stories sets apart The Amish Way as one of the finest and most human contemporary portrayals of Amish faith and life.
An example of the book’s incorporation of Amish voices can be found in the use of the Pennsylvania Dutch word uffgevva (to give up) to describe the primary posture of Amish spirituality. (C. Richard Beam’s Pennsylvania German Dictionary [1982] renders the word as uffgewwe.) The use of the word uffgevva does not replace synonymous terms that are more common in Amish-related literature as the authors make ample use of terms such as humility, submission, surrender, and Gelassenheit; however, the authors’ utilization of the Pennsylvania Dutch word uffgevva does carry a greater degree of authenticity by framing Amish spiritual understanding in the language Amish actually use.
The concept of self-surrender and the word uffgevva in particular provide a way to frame the unique posture of Amish spirituality for readers who may be more familiar with Evangelical Protestant understandings of faith. In relation to Christianity’s promise of human salvation, the writers outline the way Amish humility results in a “quiet confidence” and “living hope” rather than the bold certainty of “assurance of salvation” (p. 39), as well as the conviction that “the new birth can’t take place in isolation” (p. 38). Using self-surrender as the organizing principle of spiritual understanding, the authors reveal the Amish perspective of a holistic “one-track” gospel that creates no separation between belief and obedience, grace and ethics (p. 39).
Although the authors’ use of uffgevva provides an authentically Amish way to frame spiritual understanding, the authors push the term slightly beyond the bounds of traditional Amish uses. In the Pennsylvania Dutch language, the word uffgevva is primarily a verb, but the authors consistently use uffgevva in noun form (p. 35, 109, 131, 158), defining the word as “giving up.” The construal of uffgevva as a noun, although not necessarily grammatically incorrect, sounds slightly foreign to the ears of native Pennsylvania Dutch speakers and represents the challenge of translating Amish forms of faithfulness to the outside word. To the Amish, uffgevva is assumed to be an action—one must give up. To the outside world, uffgevva begins to sound like a ritual or even a philosophy.
In portraying Amish understandings to a modern audience, The Amish Way walks a careful tightrope between respect for the Amish and relatability to contemporary readers. When describing areas of Amish life that are foreign or even repulsive to contemporary readers, such as the far-reaching regulations of the ordnung or the harshness of church discipline, the authors present the best ideals of the Amish while also acknowledging the legitimate struggle of those who through much emotional and spiritual upheaval choose to break away from Amish life. The authors themselves reveal the personal tensions they expect their readers to feel, noting that despite their deep respect for the Amish, “their patient approach runs counter to some of our deepest sensibilities” (p. xiv). Nevertheless, the premise of The Amish Way is that contemporary readers “who desire greater spiritual grounding in their lives without becoming Amish” can adopt some principles of Amish spirituality (p. 189).
In an era when the media and entertainment industry is fascinated by the peculiarities of the Amish lifestyle, Kraybill, Nolt, and Weaver-Zercher’s The Amish Way reminds readers that there is more to the Amish than beards, bonnets, and buggies. The authors give readers a chance to go beyond the rejection of modern life, the slow-to-change tradition, the tight-knit communities, and the large, rambunctious families to glimpse the spiritual understandings and practices that pervade all of Amish life, as well as the deep-rooted Christian faith that informs all of their peculiar practices.