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Amish Grace  By  cover art

Amish Grace

By: Donald B. Kraybill Ph. D., Steven M. Nolt Ph. D., David L. Weaver-Zercher Ph. D.
Narrated by: Richard Powers
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Publisher's summary

The remarkable response of the Amish Community to the horrific shooting of 10 schoolgirls at Nickel Mines, Pennsylvania, in October 2006 stunned the larger world. Amish Grace tells the incredible story of this community's reaction to the senseless shooting and explores its profoundly countercultural practice of forgiveness.

Outsiders often hold a stereotypical view of the Amish as a stubbornly backward people - a view rooted in the picturesque images of buggies, beards, and bonnets. But the community's collective and radical act of forgiveness - the loving and compassionate response to the shooter and his family - gives us insights into who the Amish truly are and how they live their faith.

In a world where religion spawns so much violence and vengeance, the surprising act of Amish forgiveness begs for deeper consideration.

©2007 John Wiley and Sons, Inc. (P)2008 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Critic reviews

"This intelligent, compassionate, and hopeful book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on forgiveness." (Publishers Weekly)

“A story our polarized country needs to hear: It is still grace that saves.” (Bill Moyers)

“[A] work that nourishes both mind and soul.” (Library Journal)

What listeners say about Amish Grace

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    1 out of 5 stars
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    1 out of 5 stars

I wish I could un-hear this book

Any additional comments?

Goodness this book was so violent, sad and downright terrifying that I wish I could erase ever listening to it. I believe in the concepts of grace and forgiveness, and these ideas are mentioned in the book. Not fully explored--but mentioned. Instead the book read like a news reporters tale of destruction, senseless hate crimes and doom. I suggest to give this a pass--wish I had.

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34 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

Turned heartbreak into hope for me

This book works at two levels. First, it's a very helpful book in understanding who the Amish are and why they do things so differently. Very few people live their lives as in tune with their faith as the Amish do.

Second, of course, is the tragedy of the schoolhouse shooting. I don't think I'll ever understand that. But the horror turned to incredible outpouring of grace from those who lost loved ones in this. This was utterly shocking to the world, because it seems so much against our "human nature". This book digs down deep into what it means to be Amish, and how and why their natural response was so forgiving and loving. It stands as a challenge to me to examine my faith and ask why that faith does not inform my actions more. I think it also asks the question larger -- how can we create a more loving and supporting community?

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16 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

What a Blessing

Amish Grace helped me to examine myself and how I treat my family and the people I meet daily. It is a historical account of a horrible tragedy, and how a group of grieving Plain People showed unconditional love and forgivness to outsiders that invaded their simple world.
Amish Grace explains the "whys" of the Amish customs better than any book I have read. I highly recommend this audio book.

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13 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A great read!!

As a Christian, the subject of grace intrigues me. Although I do not embrace the amish doctrines, I found this book encouraging and a fascinating explanation of how the Amish treat such a tragedy as the killing of these children.
It helped me in my own walk with God to understand the grace He offers His children.

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8 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Informative But Some Repetiion

Is there anything you would change about this book?

This was informative about the Amish way of life and their beliefs, but did seem to repeat itself about repercussions of the event at the Nickel Mines school.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

It would have been interesting to interview more people who were impacted by this tragedy.

How could the performance have been better?

The reader of this book sounded like he was just reading text, not really feeling what the book was expressing. He often pronounced the word "a" as a long a sound, rather than our conversational "uh" pronunciation, making the reading a bit stilted.

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5 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Imagine a World w/ a lot more Peace, Love, Family

I can’t help but think “how much more wonderful this world would be if we all thought and did as the Amish”. After reading this book, I’m convinced of it now. I know, I know… “they don’t seem of this world”… but, neither did Jesus Christ I’m sure.

I recommend that readers take the time to slow it down when reading this book, let it sink in, try to set your biases aside and just appreciate the Amish for who they are and how they want to live their lives on this Earth.

None of us is perfect (and neither are the Amish), but imagine a world that is a lot more loving, a lot more simplistic, a lot less stress and hustle bustle.

Imagine.

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars

Amish Grace

This is a most touching book about the murders of children and how the Amish Grace could forgive and love the family of the murderer. This book creates in you a desire to examine your own ability to forgive- and I found myself alittle short in the area. I loved this book.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

A Great Book

Amish Grace was incredibly written. A great book to read/listen to. I learned something that has had a profound affect on me. The myth and mystery was dispelled and a greater understanding gained about the Amish.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

Amish Grace

I was disappointed in this book. I love stories about the Amish, but I felt the writer really had to stretch to get a book from this topic. Became boring.

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4 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
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    2 out of 5 stars

Boring

What would have made Amish Grace better?

I would not recommend this book it was very hard to understand. I was looking for the story on what happened to the families not general facts on what happens to all Amish people.

What do you think your next listen will be?

I think my next book will be a true cime book

How could the performance have been better?

More energy the person reading the book should like the book.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Amish Grace?

all general stats on Amish people

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2 people found this helpful