Journal of Amish and Plain Anabaptist Studies: Volume 6, Issue 1 (Spring 2018)

Permanent URI for this collection

Issue DOI: https://doi.org/10.18061/1811/86014


Front Matter
Description | Full Text PDF

Special Section: The Apostolic / Nazarene Churches

The Nineteenth Century Apostolic Christian Church: The Emergence, Establishment, and Fragmentation of a Neo-Anabaptist Sect
Pfeiffer, Joseph F. pp. 1-25
Description | Full Text PDF

A Socio-Religious Introduction to the Apostolic Churches in North America
Anderson, Cory pp. 26-60
Description | Full Text PDF

"Our Faith Is Good, but Strict": The Transformation of the Apostolic Christian Church-Nazarene in North America
Djurić-Milovanović, Aleksandra pp. 61-72
Description | Full Text PDF

Regular Articles

The Pure Church Movement
Hoover, Peter pp. 73-99
Description | Full Text PDF

The Hoover Mennonites in Belize: A History of Expansion in the Shadow of Separation
Roessingh, Carel; Bovenberg, Daniëlle pp. 100-116
Description | Full Text PDF

Interpreting Non-Amish Perceptions of the Old Order Amish Using Cultural Relativism and Human Rights Frameworks
Park, Kristin pp. 117-143
Description | Full Text PDF


Browse

Recent Submissions

Now showing 1 - 7 of 7
  • Item
    Front Matter (Volume 6, Issue 1, Spring 2018)
    (Ohio State University. Libraries, 2018)
  • Item
    The Nineteenth Century Apostolic Christian Church: The Emergence, Establishment, and Fragmentation of a Neo-Anabaptist Sect
    (Ohio State University. Libraries, 2018) Pfeiffer, Joseph F.
    This article traces the emergence, proliferation, and identity formation of a 19th century Neo-Anabaptist sect known variously as Neutäufer (New Anabaptists), Nazarenes, and Apostolic Christian Church. The Neutäufer emerged during an era that was a turning point in world religious history, marked by a renewed sense of missionary vigor and the proliferation of major voluntary (as opposed to state-driven) religious movements. These movements radically transformed Western, and even global, Christianity. The article gives detailed attention to the role of Samuel Heinrich Fröhlich in synthesizing evangelical renewalist impulses with traditional Anabaptist convictions. It also follows the tensions that emerged, where agreed upon centrally held traditional Anabaptist values—e.g. non-conformity, plainness, and separation from the world—came to be understood differently as the movement diversified beyond its original context. This article not only contributes to the historical study of the Neutäufer but also contributes to understanding the sociological dynamics of the emergence, establishment, and fragmentation of religious sectarian movements more generally.
  • Item
    A Socio-Religious Introduction to the Apostolic Churches in North America
    (Ohio State University. Libraries, 2018) Anderson, Cory
    The Apostolic Christian Churches descend from the religious revivals instigated under the leadership of Samuel Fröhlich in 1830s Switzerland. Fusing Anabaptist thought into his revival through contact with Mennonites, Fröhlich’s movement constitutes a distinct religious tradition within the larger Anabaptist movement. Research about this Anabaptist tradition has remained sparse. This article helps introduce the Apostolics to a scholarly audience. It reviews the movement’s recent history in North America, tracing the history of both the largest body—the Apostolic Christian Church of America—and several smaller, generally more conservative, factions. In addition to establishing links between the Apostolics and other Anabaptist branches, this article also outlines their distinctive properties, including not only their ritual forms but also four overarching, generalized socio-religious characteristics. These include: true repentance and death of the old man; gentle, reasoned pleading; affectionate fraternity of the repentant; and the personal leading of the Spirit through the Church.
  • Item
    "Our Faith Is Good, but Strict": The Transformation of the Apostolic Christian Church-Nazarene in North America
    (Ohio State University. Libraries, 2018) Djurić-Milovanović, Aleksandra
    The number of religious minorities from Central and Eastern Europe prone to migration to the English-speaking world increased considerably during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Among them were the Evangelical Baptists, or Neutäufer, founded by a former Reformed minister, Samuel Fröhlich, around 1830 in Switzerland. Reviving some of the old Mennonite principles, this newly emerging religious community was emphasizing nonresistance, a refusal of taking oaths, the rejection of infant baptism, and separation from the world. Their expansion to Southeastern Europe in the late nineteenth century attracted new members from various ethnic groups. Because of state oppression and religious persecution, the Nazarenes from Yugoslavia started to immigrate to North America. There, they joined the Apostolic Christian Church, which was the official name of the Nazarene community in the United States and Canada. The material collected for this article is the result of empirical research conducted in Serbia and the United States on the history of the Nazarene migration to North America after the Second World War. The geographical focus of my research is the area of Akron and Mansfield, Ohio, which received the most Nazarene immigrants from Yugoslavia. Based on qualitative interviews with community members and archival research (Virginia Historical Society Archives), this paper addresses several questions: what the migration waves of the Nazarenes were, how the Nazarenes integrated into the new society, and how this religious community transformed in the English- speaking world.
  • Item
    The Pure Church Movement
    (Ohio State University. Libraries, 2018) Hoover, Peter
    The "Pure Church Movement" is introduced as a plain Anabaptist revival that unfolded in American, Canadian, and Latin American Swiss Mennonite, Russian Mennonite, and Amish churches over the course of the 20th century. It was an intentional return to the ideals they perceived "early Anabaptists" held. The pressures prompting this re-evaluation were both a protest against what members perceived as the bondage of spiritually-dead traditionalism and church slackness (Old Order) as well as a protest against the supposed reforms of late 19th century Protestant-influenced revivals, which led by-and-large to 20th century assimilation. Distinctive emphases of the Pure Church Movement include a strong practice of church discipline; a propensity to make frequent and drastic changes when such changes are felt to bring the church closer to early Anabaptism and Scripture teachings; agriculture and other within-community employment, especially that which employs the family; high mobility despite strong transportation restrictions; and a rejection of outside methods, especially those of evangelical Protestants, to achieve revival. The history of the Pure Church Movement is highly varied—geographically, chronologically, and ideologically. This article traces its origins and complex developments, beginning with groups such as the Reformed Amish Christian Church, the David Martin Mennonites, Reidenbach Mennonites, and Titus Hoover group. Today, the Pure Church Movement consists of two currents: (1) those basically Old Order but having adopted Pure Church Principles, e.g. David Martin and Reidenbach Mennonites, and (2) the radical stream, e.g. the Orthodox Mennonites, Hoover Mennonites, and Believers in Christ (Lobelville, TN) communities.
  • Item
    The Hoover Mennonites in Belize: A History of Expansion in the Shadow of Separation
    (Ohio State University. Libraries, 2018) Roessingh, Carel; Bovenberg, Daniëlle
    We examine the migration history of the Old Order Hoover Mennonites located in the small, multi-ethnic country of Belize. The Hoover Mennonites live in the settlements of Upper Barton Creek, Springfield, Birdwalk, and Roseville. Characterized as one of Belize’s more conservative churches, the Hoover Church is also Belize’s most geographically dispersed Mennonite community. This paper brings together historical and present-day sources to account for and chart this dispersion. To describe what brought together this group between 1958 and 1984 and what drove their subsequent migration across Belize, we examine the religious and legal circumstances of the founding of their settlements. Observations and reflections on their most recent expansion consider how changes in immigration policy, desire for separation from worldly influences, and population growth contributed to an Old Order community that is doubly separated: from the world and from kindred settlements.
  • Item
    Interpreting Non-Amish Perceptions of the Old Order Amish Using Cultural Relativism and Human Rights Frameworks
    (Ohio State University. Libraries, 2018) Park, Kristin
    Relatively little is known about how ordinary non-Amish citizens interact with and perceive their Old Order Amish neighbors. This study used interpretive and semi-inductive approaches with in-depth interviews to describe and analyze interactions and perceptions of non-Amish research participants. Sixteen subjects were identified from purposive, snowball and theoretical sampling in a region near a sizeable, very tradition-minded Old Order settlement. All participants engaged in secondary relationships, while several individuals had intimate and enduring relationships with a small number of Amish individuals and families. While most participants perceived their Amish acquaintances and friends as honest, hard-working, caring and community-minded, some expressed negative views about racial and ethnic prejudice, rejection of safety devices, hygiene, sanitation and treatment of animals and an overly-restrictive culture. While no definitive conclusions were reached, negative perceptions were analyzed with attention to the preferred stance of cultural relativism for cross-cultural evaluation, while more universal human and animal rights considerations were also articulated.