Across families

Anabaptism (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite) and Sunni Islam

Different families with 11 axes in close agreement — the sort of pairing a quiz weighting only the divine axes would never surface. Mean distance across all seventeen axes: 0.13 (0 would be identical).

Anabaptism (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite)Christianity

Faith as a freely chosen adult commitment enacted in a separated community — baptism on confession, not on birth. Discipleship and non-resistance are the substance; the community, not the clergy, discerns.

Sunni IslamIslam

Absolute and undivided oneness, a transcendent God who is nonetheless nearer than the jugular vein, and a revealed text taken as dictated rather than authored. People are born sound and forgetful rather than fallen, which places C3 far from the Christian position despite everything the two share.

Where they agree

  • A1 Divine reality

    Both sit at a divine reality certainly exists — a gap of 0.00.

  • C2 Shape of time

    Both sit at one life, then judgment — a gap of 0.00.

  • E2 Origin of the cosmos

    Both sit at an intentional act — a gap of 0.00.

  • A2 Personhood

    Both sit at a personal being one can address — a gap of 0.02.

  • C1 Survival of the self

    Both sit at continues in some form — a gap of 0.02.

  • A3 Plurality

    Both sit at strictly one — a gap of 0.03.

  • D1 Mechanism of the ultimate good

    Both sit at between given as grace and achieved by effort or insight — a gap of 0.07.

  • E4 Standing of nature

    Both sit at between creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred — a gap of 0.07.

  • B2 Reading of sacred text

    Both sit at leaning literal and binding and literal and binding respectively — a gap of 0.08.

  • D3 The body

    Both sit at leaning to be disciplined — a gap of 0.08.

  • B1 Source of truth

    Both sit at leaning revealed and fixed and revealed and fixed respectively — a gap of 0.10.

Where they part company

  • D2 Centrality of ritual

    Anabaptism (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite): between essential and prescribed and optional or absent. Sunni Islam: essential and prescribed. A gap of 0.45 on an axis running from “essential and prescribed” to “optional or absent”.

All seventeen axes

AxisAnabaptism (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite)Sunni IslamGap
A1 Divine realitya divine reality certainly existsa divine reality certainly exists0.00
A2 Personhooda personal being one can addressa personal being one can address0.02
A3 Pluralitystrictly onestrictly one0.03
A4 Locusbetween wholly beyond the world and fully present within itleaning wholly beyond the world0.22
B1 Source of truthleaning revealed and fixedrevealed and fixed0.10
B2 Reading of sacred textleaning literal and bindingliteral and binding0.08
B3 Institutional authoritybetween clergy and tradition decide and individual conscience decidesleaning clergy and tradition decide0.16
C1 Survival of the selfcontinues in some formcontinues in some form0.02
C2 Shape of timeone life, then judgmentone life, then judgment0.00
C3 The human conditionleaning fallen and in need of rescuebetween fallen and in need of rescue and ignorant but fundamentally sound0.40
D1 Mechanism of the ultimate goodbetween given as grace and achieved by effort or insightbetween given as grace and achieved by effort or insight0.07
D2 Centrality of ritualbetween essential and prescribed and optional or absentessential and prescribed0.45
D3 The bodyleaning to be disciplinedleaning to be disciplined0.08
E1 Exclusivityleaning one true pathone true path0.18
E2 Origin of the cosmosan intentional actan intentional act0.00
E3 Locus of belongingleaning an individual choicebetween a people, inherited and an individual choice0.40
E4 Standing of naturebetween creation, given for use and animate and itself sacredbetween creation, given for use and animate and itself sacred0.07

Positions for Anabaptism (Mennonite, Amish, Hutterite) rest principally on Schleitheim Confession (1527) and Dordrecht Confession (1632); for Sunni Islam, on Qur’an with the Sahih collections and classical Sunni fiqh. Per-cell sources are listed on each tradition’s own page.

Which of the two is closer to you?

The questionnaire places your answers on these same axes and ranks all 65 traditions by how closely they match. Take it.