Affirms
Humanity is fallen and prone to sin; grace and community are needed
The Amish affirm the fallenness of human nature as a consequence of Adam's sin. All people are prone to sin and in need of God's redemptive grace. This conviction shapes the Amish community's strict discipline (the Ordnung) and mutual accountability: human weakness requires communal structures of support and correction.
Amish theology does not extensively develop the metaphysics of original sin. The practical implications — that humans need God's grace, cannot save themselves, and require the support of the community — are the focus rather than Augustinian debates about inherited guilt.
Key Distinctions
- Doctrine type:
- Anabaptist — humans enter a sinful condition but each person is responsible for own sin
- Free will effect:
- will capable of responding to grace with God's help
- Infant guilt:
- infants are not guilty; adult/believer's baptism only
Scripture References
Sources
- Dordrecht Confession of Faith (1632), Article 2