The Friends of Man are a

Christian denomination A Christian denomination is a distinct religious body within Christianity that comprises all church congregations of the same kind, identifiable by traits such as a name, particular history, organization, leadership, theological doctrine, worsh ...

founded in 1919 by Frédéric-Louis-Alexandre Freytag, the former Branch manager of the

Swiss Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internation ...

Watch Tower Society The Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania is a Non-stock corporation, non-stock, not-for-profit organization headquartered in Warwick, New York. It is the main legal entity used worldwide by Jehovah's Witnesses to direct, adminis ...

since 1912. He founded a group first named the Angel of the Lord (this name was inspired by a verse of the Apocalypse), Angel of Jehovah Bible and Tract Society, then Church of the Kingdom of God or the Philanthropic Assembly of the Friends of Man.

History

The group began when Freytag started publishing his own personal views and sent ''The Message of Laodicea'' (''Le Message de Laodicée''), in which he claimed he was the legitimate successor of

Charles Taze Russell Charles Taze Russell (February 16, 1852 – October 31, 1916), or Pastor Russell, was an American Christian restorationist minister from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and founder of what is now known as the Bible Student movement. He was an ...

, to the Bible Students. Therefore, he was ousted from the Watch Tower Society by Joseph Rutherford in 1920. He published two journals, the monthly ''The Monitor of the Reign of Justice'' (''Le Moniteur du Règne de Justice'') and the weekly ''Newspaper for All'' (''Le Journal pour tous''). In Italy, the first community was founded in 1946 in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

by Sebastiano Chiardola. When Freytag died in 1947, one of his followers, Bernard Sayerce (1912–1963), a

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

schoolteacher, claimed he was his successor. Almost all of the 900 French and Belgian assemblies joined this new group which had a peak of 9,700 members between 1958 and 1962. In 1963, Lydie Sartre (1898–1972), who was named the "Dear Mom", then Joseph Neyrand (1927–1981) in 1971, replaced Sayerce as leaders of the movement, named "Amis sans frontières" in 1984.

Beliefs and practices

The movement theology includes Christian doctrines of

restorationism Restorationism (or Restitutionism or Christian primitivism) is the belief that Christianity has been or should be restored along the lines of what is known about the apostolic early church, which restorationists see as the search for a purer a ...

and

millennialism Millennialism (from millennium, Latin for "a thousand years") or chiliasm (from the Greek equivalent) is a belief advanced by some religious denominations that a Golden Age or Paradise will occur on Earth prior to the final judgment and future ...

. Its beliefs can be found in Freytag's writings: ''The Divine Revelation'' (''La Divine Révélation'', 1920), ''The Message to Humanity'' (''Le Message à l’Humanité'', 1922) and ''The Eternal Life'' (''La Vie éternelle'', 1933). The movement stresses the need to change the character of humanity by practicing the Gospel. Members believe that only 144,000 persons, who are the Kingdom of God's members, will go to heaven. They are

antitrinitarian Nontrinitarianism is a form of Christianity that rejects the mainstream Christian doctrine of the Trinity—the belief that God is three distinct hypostases or persons who are coeternal, coequal, and indivisibly united in one being, or essen ...

and believe in a sole God,

Jehovah Jehovah () is a Latinization of the Hebrew , one vocalization of the Tetragrammaton (YHWH), the proper name of the God of Israel in the Hebrew Bible/ Old Testament. The Tetragrammaton is considered one of the seven names of God in Judais ...

. They are vegetarian. In 1951 the movement turned increasingly to

philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

: help for

disadvantaged The "disadvantaged" is a generic term for individuals or groups of people who: * Face special problems such as physical or mental disability * Lack money or economic supportKingdom of Nepal: Economic and Social Inclusion of the Disadvantaged Poo ...

, disaster relief and material donations for farmers. They celebrate the feast of the Army of the Lord on 18 April and the feast of the little flock on 18 October. The weekly four meetings are largely devoted to study of the founder's writings. Baptism and the

Last Supper Image:The Last Supper - Leonardo Da Vinci - High Resolution 32x16.jpg, 400px, alt=''The Last Supper'' by Leonardo da Vinci - Clickable Image, Depictions of the Last Supper in Christian art have been undertaken by artistic masters for centuries, ...

are celebrated only within the Swiss branch, not in France.

Organization

The movement was later under the leadership of Édouard Rufener, then Marie Roulin, then Mr. Kohli. An elder oversees a community. The main headquarters are in

Cartigny, Switzerland Cartigny is a municipality of the Canton of Geneva, Switzerland. History Cartigny is first mentioned in 1220 as ''Cartiniacum'' and ''Quartinie''. Geography Cartigny has an area, , of . Of this area, or 55.5% is used for agricultural purposes ...

. In France, the national headquarters were located in rue Amelot, in the 11th arrondissement of Paris, with a strong influence in the south-west, before moving to Les Ormeaux, in

Lot-et-Garonne Lot-et-Garonne (, oc, Òlt e Garona) is a department in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region of Southwestern France. Named after the rivers Lot and Garonne, it had a population of 331,271 in 2019.Parc des Princes Parc des Princes () is an all-seater stadium, all-seater Association football, football stadium in Paris, France, in the south-west of the French capital, inside the 16th arrondissement of Paris, 16th arrondissement, near the Stade Jean-Bouin ...

in 1948 and 1949, in Bordeaux in 1950 and in Toulouse in 1951). Regional meetings are also organized in European countries as well as in non European countries such as Algeria and Morocco. The 71,500 members are active in twenty countries, including Switzerland, Germany, France, Belgium, UK, U.S., Mexico, Brazil, Canada, Australia, but particularly in Italy.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Friends Of Man Bible Student movement Christian organizations established in 1916 Christian new religious movements