Who Are The Anabaptists?: Amish, Brethren, Hutterites, and Mennonites

by Donald B. Kraybill

The Anabaptists of North America sport an amazing spectrum of religious and cultural diversity—from communal Hutterites to urban Mennonites, from low-tech Amish to acculturated Brethren. New members with Asian, African, and Hispanic cultural roots add spice and color to traditional Anabaptist ways. Counting more than 6,000 congregations and 100 different groups, the Anabaptists are known for their strong commitments to peacemaking, service, and community. In this concise text, a leading scholar of Anabaptist communities provides a sweeping overview of their beliefs and practices as well as their similarities and differences.

Genres: Amish

48 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2003

Reviews

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

This little book is a primer on the Anabaptist faiths (Amish, Brethren, Hutterites and Mennonites), a view from 35,000 feet, as it were. Only so much can be done in 45 pages, but it's good for a starting point. It confirmed for me something that I only recently had come to realize: There is much more diversity among Anabaptist fellowships in terms of such thing as worship styles, living simply and the like than I had formerly realized. Perhaps the closest to commanality is expressed by the author on Page 43: "... seeing the church as a concrete social community, marked by mutual accountability, is central to the Anabaptist legacy."