AMANA (SOCIETY OR COMMUNITY OF TRUE INSPIRATION). - This sect arose in Germany during the Pietist movement among those who maintained that the direct inspiration of God in the Church had not yet ceased. In 1714 a small group of such believers, led by Johann Friedrich Rock and Eberhard Ludwig Gruber, organized themselves at Himbach in Hesse. With Rock’s death in 1749, they say the gift of divine inspiration temporarily ceased, and the small group called the “Community of True Inspiration” remained united, though few in number, until 1817. In that year it received new impetus from Michael Krausert and an Alsatian girl, Barbara Heinemann, in whom the elders recognized the gift of inspiration. A little later, Karl Metz joined them. The members of the Community were persecuted by various German governments as conscientious objectors to the oath of allegiance, since they claimed their own promise sufficed; then Metz received a divine inspiration to move to America, where he arrived with some companions in 1842, followed later by others. They first settled in the state of New York near Buffalo, and then in 1855 all emigrated to the state of Iowa, where they founded several villages, all named A. (from the Hebrew word in the Song of Songs, interpreted as “faithful belief”), from which the Community took its name.
Their confession of faith is based on Holy Scripture and on the words of those who have received the “true inspiration,” though this gift ceased again for a time after Metz’s death in 1867 and Heinemann’s in 1883. Of interest is the reading of the 23 reasons with which Gruber explains why divine inspiration is now so rare, the 21 rules for daily examination of conscience, and the 24 rules for true piety. The Amana Society numbers barely 2,000 members; it is governed by a council of 13 members, annually elected by the Board of Elders. All property is held in common, which is why it is also called a “communist society.” The members engage in agriculture, industry, and commerce; the proceeds cover common expenses, and any surplus is used for public works such as schools, hospitals, etc.