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Summary
- Most Amish groups forbid members to initiate a divorce or to remarry while a husband or wife is still living.
- The rule rests on the words of Jesus in Matthew 19:6 and Mark 10:11–12, and the Dordrecht Confession of 1632 describes marriage as the union of “two free, believing persons.”
- A baptized member who breaks the rule and will not confess can be excommunicated and shunned; someone who left before baptism is not shunned.
- Unhappy couples sometimes separate without divorcing, as Paul allows in 1 Corinthians 7:10–11.
- No systematic study measures Amish divorce or separation, so any published Amish divorce rate is a guess.
- Widowed Amish often remarry (1 Corinthians 7:39), and the Amish have never practiced polygamy.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- Scripture quotations from the King James Version (Matthew 19:6, 9; Mark 10:11–12; 1 Corinthians 7:10–11, 39).
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, Elizabethtown College, “Regulations.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/cultural-practices/regulations/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Diversity.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/social-organization/diversity/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Church Discipline.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/church-discipline/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Religious Rituals.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/religion/religious-rituals/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Deviance.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/cultural-practices/deviance/
- Young Center for Anabaptist and Pietist Studies, “Frequently Asked Questions.” https://groups.etown.edu/amishstudies/frequently-asked-questions/
- “Dordrecht Confession of Faith (Mennonite, 1632),” articles 12 and 13, Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Dordrecht_Confession_of_Faith_(Mennonite,_1632)
- Jacob D. Goering and Leo Driedger, “Divorce and Remarriage” (1989), Global Anabaptist Mennonite Encyclopedia Online. https://gameo.org/index.php?title=Divorce_and_Remarriage
- Amish America, “Can Amish People Get Divorced?” https://amishamerica.com/can-amish-get-divorced/
- Amish America, “Amish Marriage: Beliefs and Customs.” https://amishamerica.com/marriage/
- Amish America, “Amish and Polygamy: Do They Practice It?” https://amishamerica.com/amish-polygamy/
