Plymouth Brethren
The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and Nonconformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to Dublin, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where it originated from Anglicanism.[1][2] The group emphasizes sola scriptura, the belief that the Bible is the only authority for church doctrine and practice. Plymouth Brethren generally see themselves as a network of like-minded free churches, not as a Christian denomination.
For the Australian church also known as the Exclusive Brethren, see Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.History[edit]
Origins in Ireland[edit]
The Brethren movement began in Dublin, Ireland, where several groups of Christians met informally to celebrate the Eucharist together, the first meeting being in 1825.[3] The central figures were Anthony Norris Groves, a dentist studying theology at Trinity College; Edward Cronin, studying medicine, John Nelson Darby, a curate in County Wicklow; and John Gifford Bellett, a lawyer who brought them together. They did not have any liturgy, order of service, or even any ministers; in their view, since their guide was "the Bible alone" they sought to do it according to their own interpretation of the biblical text.
Early theology[edit]
An important early stimulus was the study of prophecy, which was the subject of a number of annual meetings at Powerscourt House in County Wicklow starting in 1831. Lady Powerscourt had attended Henry Drummond's prophecy conferences at Albury Park, and Darby was espousing the same pre-tribulational view in 1831 as Edward Irving.[4] Many people came to these meetings who became important in the English movement, including Benjamin Wills Newton and George Müller.
The two main but conflicting aspirations of the movement were to create a holy and pure fellowship on the one hand, and to allow all Christians into fellowship on the other.[5] Believers in the movement felt that the established Church of England had abandoned or distorted many of the ancient traditions of Christendom, following decades of dissent and the expansion of Methodism and political revolutions in the United States and France. People in the movement wanted simply to meet together in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ without reference to denominational differences.[6]
Establishment in England[edit]
The first meeting in England was held in December 1831[7] in Plymouth, Devon. It was organised primarily by George Wigram, Benjamin Wills Newton, and John Nelson Darby.[8] The movement soon spread throughout the United Kingdom, and the assembly in Plymouth had more than 1,000 people in fellowship in 1845.[9]
They became known as "the brethren from Plymouth" and were soon simply called "Plymouth Brethren". The term Darbyites is also used, especially when describing the Exclusive branch which has a more pronounced influence from Darby. Many within the movement refuse to accept any name other than "Christian".
Leadership[edit]
One of the most defining elements of the Brethren is the rejection of the concept of clergy. Their view is that all Christians are ordained by God to serve and therefore all are ministers, in keeping with the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers. The Brethren embrace the most extensive form of that idea, in that there is no ordained or unordained person or group employed to function as minister(s) or pastors. Brethren assemblies are led by the local church elders within any fellowship.
Historically, there is no office of pastor in most Brethren churches, because they believe that the term pastor (ποιμην, poimen in Greek) as it is used in Ephesians 4:11 describes one of the gifts given to the church, rather than a specific office. In the words of Darby, these gifts in Ephesians 4:11 are "ministrations for gathering together and for edification established by Christ as Head of the body by means of gifts with which He endows persons as His choice."[34] Therefore, there is no formal ordination process for those who preach, teach, or lead within their meetings. Men who become elders, or those who become deacons and overseers within the fellowship, have been recognized by others within the individual assemblies and have been given the blessing of performing leadership tasks by the elders.[35]
An elder should be able and ready to teach when his assembly sees the "call of God" on his life to assume the office of elder (1 Timothy 3:2). Brethren elders conduct many other duties that would typically be performed by the clergy in other Christian groups, including counselling those who have decided to be baptized, performing baptisms, visiting the sick, and giving spiritual counsel in general. Normally, sermons are given either by the elders or by men who regularly attend the Sunday meetings—but, again, only men whom the elders recognize as having the "call of God" on their lives for that particular ministry. Visiting speakers, however, are usually paid their travel costs and provided for with Sunday meals following the meetings.
Open and Exclusive Brethren differ in how they interpret the concept of no clergy. The Open Brethren believe in a plurality of elders (Acts 14:23; 15:6,23; 20:17; Philippians 1:1), men meeting the Biblical qualifications found in 1 Timothy 3:1–7 and Titus 1:6–9. This position is also taken in some Baptist churches, especially Reformed Baptists, and by the Churches of Christ. It is understood that elders are appointed by the Holy Spirit (Acts 20:28) and are recognised as meeting the qualifications by the assembly and by previously existing elders. Generally, the elders themselves will look out for men who meet the biblical qualifications, and invite them to join them as elders. In some Open assemblies, elders are elected democratically, but this is a fairly recent development and is still relatively uncommon.
Officially naming and recognizing eldership is common to Open Brethren (cf. 1 Thessalonians 5:12–13), whereas many Exclusive Brethren assemblies believe that recognizing a man as an elder is too close to having clergy, and therefore a group of leading brothers, none of whom has an official title of any kind, attempts to present issues to the entire group for it to decide upon, believing that the whole group must decide, not merely a body of elders. Traditionally, only men are allowed to speak (and, in some cases, attend) these decision-making meetings, although not all assemblies follow that rule today.
The term elder is based on the same Scriptures that are used to identify bishops and overseers in other Christian circles,[36] and some Exclusive Brethren claim that the system of recognition of elders by the assembly means that the Open Brethren cannot claim full adherence to the doctrine of the priesthood of all believers.[37] Open Brethren consider, however, that this reveals a mistaken understanding of the priesthood of all believers which, in the Assemblies, has to do with the ability to directly offer worship to God and His Christ at the Lord's Supper, whether silently or audibly, without any human mediator being necessary—which is in accordance with 1 Timothy 2:5, where it is stated that Christ Jesus Himself is the sole Mediator between God and men (men being used here generically of mankind, and not referring simply and solely to males).
The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, the most hardline of all the Exclusive Brethren groups, has developed into a de facto hierarchical body which operates under the headship of an Elect Vessel, currently Bruce Hales of Australia.
In place of an ordained ministry, an itinerant preacher often receives a "commendation" to the work of preaching and teaching that demonstrates the blessing and support of the assembly of origin. In most English-speaking countries, such preachers have traditionally been called full-time workers, labouring brothers, or on the Lord's work; in India, they are usually called Evangelists and very often are identified with Evg. in front of their name.
A given assembly may have any number of full-time workers, or none at all. In the last twenty years, many Open Assemblies in Australia, America, and New Zealand, and some elsewhere, have begun calling their full-time workers pastors, but this is not seen as ordaining clergy and does not connote a transfer of any special spiritual authority. In such assemblies, the pastor is simply one of several elders, and differs from his fellow-elders only in being salaried to serve full-time. Depending on the assembly, he may or may not take a larger share of the responsibility for preaching than his fellow elders.
This list consists of mostly nineteenth-century figures who were associated with the Brethren movement before the 1848 schism. They are the leading historical figures common to both the Open and Exclusive Brethren. Two exceptions are H.A. Ironside and Watchman Nee, twentieth-century preachers who spent time associated with both the Open and Exclusive Brethren. See the respective articles for other more recent figures who have functioned primarily or entirely in either the Open Brethren or Exclusive Brethren: