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The Plymouth Brethren or Assemblies of Brethren are a low church and non-conformist Christian movement whose history can be traced back to
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Ireland, in the mid to late 1820s, where they originated from
Anglicanism Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of the ...
. The group emphasizes ''
sola scriptura , meaning by scripture alone, is a Christian theological doctrine held by most Protestant Christian denominations, in particular the Lutheran and Reformed traditions of Protestantism, that posits the Bible as the sole infallible source of au ...
'', 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.


History

The Brethren movement began in
Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of th ...
, Ireland, where several groups of Christians met informally to celebrate the
Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
together, the first meeting being in 1825. The central figures were
Anthony Norris Groves Anthony Norris Groves (1 February 1795 – 20 May 1853) was an English Protestant missionary, who has been called the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, and la ...
, a dentist studying theology at Trinity College;
Edward Cronin Edward Cronin (born Cork, Ireland, 1 February 1801, died Brixton, 1 February 1882) was a pioneer of homeopathy in England and one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren movement. Life Cronin was born in 1801 in Cork, Ireland, before moving to ...
, studying medicine,
John Nelson Darby John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of moder ...
, a curate in County Wicklow; and
John Gifford Bellett John Gifford Bellett (19 July 1795 – 10 October 1864) was an Irish Christian writer and theologian, and was influential in the beginning of the Plymouth Brethren movement. Life Bellett was born in Dublin, Ireland. He was educated first at the ...
, a lawyer who brought them together. They did not have any
liturgy Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. ''Liturgy'' can also be used to refer specifically to public worship by Christians. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a communal response to and partic ...
, order of service, or even any ministers; in their view, since their guide was "the
Bible The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts of a ...
alone" they sought to do it according to their own interpretation of the biblical text. 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 The rapture is an eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurrected believers, will rise "in the c ...
view in 1831 as
Edward Irving Edward Irving (4 August 17927 December 1834) was a Scottish clergyman, generally regarded as the main figure behind the foundation of the Catholic Apostolic Church. Early life Edward Irving was born at Annan, Annandale the second son of Ga ...
. Many people came to these meetings who became important in the English movement, including Benjamin Wills Newton and
George Müller George Müller (born Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller, 27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898) was a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren m ...
. The two main but conflicting aspirations of the movement were to create a holy and pure fellowship on one hand, and to allow all Christians into fellowship on the other. 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 Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related denominations of Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John Wesley. George Whitefield and John's br ...
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. The first meeting in England was held in December 1831 in
Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...
,
Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
. It was organised primarily by
George Wigram George Vicesimus Wigram (28 March 1805 – 1 February 1879) was an English biblical scholar and theologian. Early life He was the 20th child (hence his middle name) of Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet, a famous and wealthy merchant, and the 14th c ...
, Benjamin Wills Newton, and John Nelson Darby. The movement soon spread throughout the United Kingdom, and the assembly in Plymouth had more than 1,000 people in fellowship in 1845. They became known as "the brethren from Plymouth" and were soon simply called "Plymouth Brethren". The term ''
Darbyites The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848. The Exclusive Brethren are now divided int ...
'' 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". In 1845, Darby returned from an extended visit to Switzerland where he had achieved considerable success planting churches. He returned to Plymouth where Newton was in control, and he disagreed with some details in a book that Newton had published concerning the tribulation that was coming. He also objected to Newton's place as an elder in the Plymouth meeting. But several attempts to settle the quarrel in the presence of other brethren failed to produce any clear result. Two years later, Darby attacked Newton over a lecture that Newton had given on the 6th Psalm, and an exchange of tracts followed. Newton retracted some of his statements, but he eventually left Plymouth and established another chapel in London. Darby had instituted a second meeting at Plymouth, and he complained of the Bristol Bethesda assembly in 1848, in which George Müller was prominent; he was concerned because they had accepted a member from Ebrington Street, Newton's original chapel. Bethesda investigated the individual but defended their decision, and Darby was not satisfied. He issued a circular on 26 August 1848, cutting off Bethesda and all assemblies who received anyone who went there. This defined the essential characteristic of "exclusivism" which he pursued for the rest of his life. The
Exclusive Brethren The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848. The Exclusive Brethren are now divided i ...
experienced many subsequent splits, scatterings, and recombinations. The
Open Brethren The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spread ...
also suffered one split (concerning the autonomy of assemblies) which occurred at different times in different parts of the world. Nevertheless, both the Exclusive and the Open Brethren continued to expand their congregations, with the opens expanding more rapidly than the exclusives. Darby visited Exclusive assemblies in America seven times between 1862 and 1877. Itinerant preachers from Scotland and Ireland established most of the early Open Brethren assemblies in America in the second half of the 19th century.


Open Brethren

The best-known and oldest distinction between Open assemblies is in the nature of relationships among their local churches. Open Brethren assemblies function as networks of like-minded independent local churches. Brethren generally feel an obligation to recognize and adhere to the disciplinary actions of other associated assemblies. Conversely, Open assemblies aware of that disciplining would not automatically feel a binding obligation to support it, treating each case on its own merit. Reasons for being put under discipline by both the Open and Exclusive Brethren include disseminating gross Scriptural or doctrinal error or being involved in unscriptural behavior. Being accused of illegal financial dealings may also result in being put under discipline. Another less clear difference between assemblies lies in their approaches to collaborating with other Christians. Many Open Brethren will hold gospel meetings, youth events, or other activities in partnership with non-Brethren Evangelical Christian churches. More conservative Brethren tend to not support activities outside their own meetings. International Brethren Conferences on Mission (IBCM) were founded in 1993 in
Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...
by unions of churches from various countries. According to an IBCM Network census released in 2020, they claimed 40,000 churches and 2,700,000 members in 155 countries.


Exclusive Brethren

Exclusive Brethren have remained attached to Darby's doctrine. They are more interdependent, more conservative with a propensity for a dress code, very attached to the spontaneity of worship and preaching. They form several more or less compartmentalized circles of communion, from the most moderate to the narrowest. The movement has a Protestant theology and recognizes
infant baptism Infant baptism is the practice of baptising infants or young children. Infant baptism is also called christening by some faith traditions. Most Christians belong to denominations that practice infant baptism. Branches of Christianity that ...
. Around 40,000 worldwide in 2012, "close" brothers are often referred to as Darbyists, but rarely refer to themselves as such.


Plymouth Brethren Christian Church

The term ''Exclusive Brethren'' is most commonly used in the media to describe one separatist group known as Taylor-Hales Brethren, who now call themselves the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC). The majority of Christians known as Exclusive Brethren are not connected with the Taylor-Hales group, who are known for their extreme interpretation of separation from evil and their belief of what constitutes fellowship. In their view, fellowship includes dining out, business and professional partnerships, membership of clubs, etc., rather than just the act of Communion (Lord's Supper), so these activities are done only with other members. The group called the Raven Brethren (named for prominent Exclusive leader F.E. Raven) seceded from the Raven-Taylor-Hales group and are less strict and isolationist. Exclusive Brethren groups who are not affiliated with PBCC prefer being referred to as Closed rather than Exclusive brethren to avoid any connection with these more strident groups.


Brethren labels and distinctions

Terminology which sometimes confuses Brethren and non-Brethren alike is the distinction between the Open assemblies, usually called "Chapels", and the Closed assemblies (non-Exclusive), called "Gospel Halls." Contrary to common misconceptions, those traditionally known as the "Closed Brethren" are not a part of the Exclusive Brethren, but are rather a very conservative subset of the Open Brethren. The Gospel Halls regard reception to the assembly as a serious matter. One is not received to the
Lord's Supper The Eucharist (; from Greek , , ), also known as Holy Communion and the Lord's Supper, is a Christian rite that is considered a sacrament in most churches, and as an ordinance in others. According to the New Testament, the rite was instit ...
but to the fellowship of the assembly. This is important because the Lord's Supper is for believers, not unbelievers. Some chapels, on the other hand, will allow practically anyone to participate who walks in and says that he is a Christian, based on the newcomer's profession of faith. Such assemblies are said to have an "open table" approach to strangers. Gospel Hall Brethren, on the other hand, generally believe that only those formally recognised as part of that or an equivalent assembly should break bread. Most Closed and some Open Brethren hold that association with evil defiles and that sharing the Communion meal can bring that association. Their support text is from 1 Corinthians 15:33, "Do not be deceived: evil communications corrupt good manners." Among other distinctions, the Gospel Halls would generally not use musical instruments in their services, whereas many Chapels use them and may have singing groups, choirs, "worship teams" of musicians, etc. The Gospel Halls tend to be more conservative in dress; women do not wear trousers often, although they can and there is no scriptural objection in doing so, but most do not wear them in meetings and always have their heads covered, while in most Chapels women may wear whatever they wish, though modesty in dress serves as a guideline, and many continue the tradition of wearing a
head covering Headgear, headwear, or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head, including hats, helmets, turbans and many other types. Headgear is worn for many purposes, including protection against the elements, ...
taught in 1 Corinthians 11:2-13. Open Brethren churches are all independent, self-governing, local congregations with no central headquarters, although there are a number of seminaries, missions agencies, and publications that are widely supported by Brethren churches and which help to maintain a high degree of communication among them. Henry K. Carroll performed an analysis of United States census data in 1912 to assign Roman numerals to various Brethren groups. For example, Brethren III is also known as the Lowe Brethren and the Elberfeld Brethren. Carroll's initial findings listed four sub-groups, identified as Brethren I-IV, but he expanded the number to six and then to eight; Arthur Carl Piepkorn expanded the number to ten. Those who have attempted to trace the realignments of the Plymouth Brethren include Ian McDowell and Massimo Introvigne. The complexity of the Brethren's history is evident in charts by McDowell and Ian McKay.


Definition

Both Open and Exclusive Brethren have historically been known as "Plymouth Brethren." That is still largely the case in some areas, such as North America and
Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...
. In some other parts of the world such as
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, most Open Brethren shun the "Plymouth" label. This is mostly because of widespread negative media coverage of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, the most hardline branch of the Exclusive Brethren (and the only numerically significant Exclusive group in either country), which most Open Brethren consider to be a
cult In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
with which they do not wish to be misidentified.


Leadership

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 priesthood of all believers or universal priesthood is a biblical principle in most Protestant branches of Christianity which is distinct from the institution of the ''ministerial'' priesthood ( holy orders) found in some other branches, incl ...
. 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
pastor A pastor (abbreviated as "Pr" or "Ptr" , or "Ps" ) is the leader of a Christian congregation who also gives advice and counsel to people from the community or congregation. In Lutheranism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy and ...
s. 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'' (, 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." 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. 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 (). 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 (; ,; ; Philippians 1:1), men meeting the Biblical qualifications found in and . This position is also taken in some
Baptist Baptists form a major branch of Protestantism distinguished by baptizing professing Christian believers only (believer's baptism), and doing so by complete immersion. Baptist churches also generally subscribe to the doctrines of soul compete ...
churches, especially
Reformed Baptist Reformed Baptists (sometimes known as Particular Baptists or Calvinistic Baptists) are Baptists that hold to a Calvinist soteriology (salvation). The first Calvinist Baptist church was formed in the 1630s. The 1689 Baptist Confession of Faith ...
s, and by the
Churches of Christ The Churches of Christ is a loose association of autonomous Christian congregations based on the ''sola scriptura'' doctrine. Their practices are based on Bible texts and draw on the early Christian church as described in the New Testament. T ...
. 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. ), 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
bishop A bishop is an ordained clergy member who is entrusted with a position of authority and oversight in a religious institution. In Christianity, bishops are normally responsible for the governance of dioceses. The role or office of bishop is ca ...
s and overseers in other Christian circles, 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. 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 , 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 The English language name Bruce arrived in Scotland with the Normans, from the place name Brix, Manche in Normandy, France, meaning "the willowlands". Initially promulgated via the descendants of king Robert the Bruce (1274−1329), it has been a ...
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
Evangelist Evangelist may refer to: Religion * Four Evangelists, the authors of the canonical Christian Gospels * Evangelism, publicly preaching the Gospel with the intention of spreading the teachings of Jesus Christ * Evangelist (Anglican Church), a c ...
s 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 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.


UK government COVID-19 contracts

Dozens of companies with connections to the Exclusive Brethren now known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church were awarded £2.2 billion in UK government
COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...
contracts from the
Department of Health and Social Care The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for government policy on health and adult social care matters in England, along with a few elements of the same matters which are not otherwis ...
. This included providing Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Several former members of the church have connections with the
Conservative Party The Conservative Party is a name used by many political parties around the world. These political parties are generally right-wing though their exact ideologies can range from center-right to far-right. Political parties called The Conservative P ...
, and MPs have previously lobbied for the church to be given UK charitable status by the Charities Commission.


Notable Brethren

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 Watchman Nee, Ni Tuosheng, or Nee T'o-sheng (; November 4, 1903 – May 30, 1972), was a Chinese church leader and Christian teacher who worked in China during the 20th century. His evangelism was influenced by the Plymouth Brethren. In 1922, ...
, 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: *
John Haigh John George Haigh (; 24 July 1909 – 10 August 1949), commonly known as the Acid Bath Murderer, was an English serial killer convicted for the murder of six people, although he claimed to have killed nine. Haigh battered to death or shot his ...
- infamous serial killer, “The Acid Bath Killer” * Robert Anderson – senior officer of
Scotland Yard Scotland Yard (officially New Scotland Yard) is the headquarters of the Metropolitan Police, the territorial police force responsible for policing Greater London's 32 boroughs, but not the City of London, the square mile that forms London's ...
and Christian author; was a member of the Plymouth Brethren, first with Darby then with the Open Brethren party, before returning to his Presbyterian roots * John Gifford Bellet – classics researcher of
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by Henry VIII, King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any college at either Cambridge ...
*
George Beurling George Frederick "Buzz" Beurling, (6 December 1921 – 20 May 1948) was the most successful Canadian fighter pilot and flying ace of the Second World War. Beurling was recognised as "Canada's most famous hero of the Second World War", as "The F ...
– Canadian WWII fighter pilot *
Robert Mackenzie Beverley Robert Mackenzie Beverley (1798-1868) was an author, magistrate, and controversialist. He was born in the town of Beverley in Yorkshire, attended Richmond School, and matriculated at Trinity College, University of Cambridge in 1816. He received the ...
– one of the most influential figures to abandon the Quakers and join the Brethren during the Beaconite controversy * John Bodkin Adams – British general practitioner, convicted fraudster, and suspected serial killer. * Lancelot Brenton – translator of the Greek-English edition of the
Septuagint The Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (, ; from the la, septuaginta, lit=seventy; often abbreviated ''70''; in Roman numerals, LXX), is the earliest extant Greek translation of books from the Hebrew Bible. It includes several books beyond th ...
*
F. F. Bruce Frederick Fyvie Bruce (12 October 1910 – 11 September 1990), usually cited as F. F. Bruce, was a Scottish biblical scholar who supported the historical reliability of the New Testament. His first book, ''New Testament Documents: Are They ...
– British biblical scholar, author of 40 books and commentaries. (Open Brethren) * Robert Chapman – prominent among the Plymouth Brethren in the 19th century * Henry Craik – worked with
George Müller George Müller (born Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller, 27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898) was a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren m ...
in Bristol at Gideon and Bethesda Chapels from 1832 *
Edward Cronin Edward Cronin (born Cork, Ireland, 1 February 1801, died Brixton, 1 February 1882) was a pioneer of homeopathy in England and one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren movement. Life Cronin was born in 1801 in Cork, Ireland, before moving to ...
– pioneer of
homeopathy Homeopathy or homoeopathy is a pseudoscientific system of alternative medicine. It was conceived in 1796 by the German physician Samuel Hahnemann. Its practitioners, called homeopaths, believe that a substance that causes symptoms of a dis ...
and one of the original Dublin brethren *
Aleister Crowley Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pro ...
– British occultist, was raised in the movement until his father's death. *
John Nelson Darby John Nelson Darby (18 November 1800 – 29 April 1882) was an Anglo-Irish Bible teacher, one of the influential figures among the original Plymouth Brethren and the founder of the Exclusive Brethren. He is considered to be the father of moder ...
– preacher and originator of modern
Rapture The rapture is an Christian eschatology, eschatological position held by some Christians, particularly those of American evangelicalism, consisting of an Eschatology, end-time event when all Christian believers who are alive, along with resurre ...
doctrine *
James George Deck James George Deck (1 November 1807 – 14 August 1884) was a United Kingdom, British-born New Zealand Evangelism, evangelist. Life Deck was born in Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk, England, to John Deck, a postmaster, and Mary (''née'' Welch or W ...
– evangelist and missionary to New Zealand; officially associated with the Exclusives but refused to cut his ties to the Open Brethren. *
Jim Elliot Philip James Elliot (October 8, 1927 – January 8, 1956) was an American Christian missionary and one of five people killed during Operation Auca, an attempt to evangelize the Huaorani people of Ecuador. Early life Elliot was born in Portland ...
– one of five missionaries killed while participating in Operation Auca *
Ken Follett Kenneth Martin Follett, (born 5 June 1949) is a British author of thrillers and historical novels who has sold more than 160 million copies of his works. Many of his books have achieved high ranking on best seller lists. For example, in the ...
– British novelist * Emily Bowes Gosse – painter, illustrator, and author of religious tracts *
Philip Henry Gosse Philip Henry Gosse FRS (; 6 April 1810 – 23 August 1888), known to his friends as Henry, was an English naturalist and populariser of natural science, an early improver of the seawater aquarium, and a painstaking innovator in the study of ma ...
naturalist and marine biologist **
Edmund Gosse Sir Edmund William Gosse (; 21 September 184916 May 1928) was an English poet, author and critic. He was strictly brought up in a small Protestant sect, the Plymouth Brethren, but broke away sharply from that faith. His account of his childhoo ...
– the son of Phillip and Emily Gosse who wrote ''Father and Son'', about his relationship with his father and the religion. *
Anthony Norris Groves Anthony Norris Groves (1 February 1795 – 20 May 1853) was an English Protestant missionary, who has been called the "father of faith missions". He launched the first Protestant mission to Arabic-speaking Muslims, and settled in Baghdad, and la ...
– missionary to
Baghdad Baghdad (; ar, بَغْدَاد , ) is the capital of Iraq and the second-largest city in the Arab world after Cairo. It is located on the Tigris near the ruins of the ancient city of Babylon and the Sassanid Persian capital of Ctesiphon ...
and India * John Eliot Howard – chemist and quinologist *
Luke Howard Luke Howard, (28 November 1772 – 21 March 1864) was a British manufacturing chemist and an amateur meteorologist with broad interests in science. His lasting contribution to science is a nomenclature system for clouds, which he proposed i ...
– chemist and
meteorologist A meteorologist is a scientist who studies and works in the field of meteorology aiming to understand or predict Earth's atmospheric phenomena including the weather. Those who study meteorological phenomena are meteorologists in research, while t ...
, the "namer of clouds" *
Harry Ironside Henry Allan "Harry" Ironside (October 14, 1876 – January 15, 1951) was a Canadian-American Bible teacher, preacher, theologian, pastor, and author who pastored Moody Church in Chicago from 1929 to 1948. Biography Ironside was born in Toronto, O ...
– Bible teacher, preacher, and author; pastor of the
Moody Church The Moody Church (often referred to as Moody Memorial Church, after a sign hung on the North Avenue side of the building) is a historic evangelical Christian (Nondenominational Christianity) church in the Lincoln Park neighborhood of Chicago, Ill ...
in
Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...
(1930–1948); associated at different times with both the Open and Exclusive Brethren * William Kelly – prominent leader of the Exclusive Brethren in the late 19th century * Charles Henry Mackintosh – 19th-century author of Christian books who published as C.H.M. *
George Müller George Müller (born Johann Georg Ferdinand Müller, 27 September 1805 – 10 March 1898) was a Christian evangelist and the director of the Ashley Down orphanage in Bristol, England. He was one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren m ...
– founder of the Bristol Orphanage and a stated teacher in Bethesda Chapel, Bristol *
Watchman Nee Watchman Nee, Ni Tuosheng, or Nee T'o-sheng (; November 4, 1903 – May 30, 1972), was a Chinese church leader and Christian teacher who worked in China during the 20th century. His evangelism was influenced by the Plymouth Brethren. In 1922, ...
– leader in the " Little Flock" movement in China after being "put out" by Exclusive Brethren for "breaking bread with sectarians" *
Thomas Newberry Thomas Newberry (1811 – 16 January 1901) was an English Bible scholar and writer, best known for his interlinear Englishman's Bible', which compared the Authorised Version of the Bible with the Hebrew and Koine Greek of the original texts, fi ...
translator Translation is the communication of the Meaning (linguistic), meaning of a #Source and target languages, source-language text by means of an Dynamic and formal equivalence, equivalent #Source and target languages, target-language text. The ...
of the ''Newberry Reference Bible'', which uses a system of symbols to explain verb tenses * Francis William Newman – younger brother of
Cardinal Cardinal or The Cardinal may refer to: Animals * Cardinal (bird) or Cardinalidae, a family of North and South American birds **''Cardinalis'', genus of cardinal in the family Cardinalidae **''Cardinalis cardinalis'', or northern cardinal, the ...
John Henry Newman John Henry Newman (21 February 1801 – 11 August 1890) was an English theologian, academic, intellectual, philosopher, polymath, historian, writer, scholar and poet, first as an Anglican ministry, Anglican priest and later as a Catholi ...
; excommunicated for denying the Divinity of Christ * Benjamin Wills Newton – early leader of the assembly in Plymouth; branded as a heretic by John Darby and his followers *
John Parnell, 2nd Baron Congleton John Vesey Parnell, 2nd Baron Congleton (16 June 1805 – 23 October 1883) was the son of Sir Henry Brooke Parnell, 1st Baron Congleton (3 July 1776 – 8 June 1842) and Lady Caroline Elizabeth Dawson-Damer (died 16 February 1861). Life Parnell wa ...
– missionary to
Mesopotamia Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
* G. H. Pember – English theologian who lived in the 19th century; wrote the book ''Earth's Earliest Ages'' * Joseph M. Scriven – writer of the words to the hymn "
What A Friend We Have In Jesus "What a Friend We Have in Jesus" is a Christian hymn originally written by preacher Joseph M. Scriven as a poem in 1855 to comfort his mother, who was living in Ireland while he was in Canada. Scriven originally published the poem anonymously, a ...
" *
Hudson Taylor James Hudson Taylor (; 21 May 1832 – 3 June 1905) was a British Baptist Christian missionary to China and founder of the China Inland Mission (CIM, now OMF International). Taylor spent 51 years in China. The society that he began was respons ...
– founder of the China Inland Mission *
Samuel Prideaux Tregelles Samuel Prideaux Tregelles (30 January 1813 – 24 April 1875) was an English biblical scholar, lexicographer, Christian Hebraist, textual critic, and theologian. Life Tregelles was born at Wodehouse Place, Falmouth, of Quaker parents, but ...
– English biblical scholar and theologian *
William Edwy Vine William Edwy Vine (1873–1949), commonly known as W. E. Vine, was an English Biblical scholar, theologian, and writer, most famous for '' Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words''. Life Vine was born in the second quarter of 1873 ...
– author of '' Vine's Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words'' and numerous commentaries *
George Wigram George Vicesimus Wigram (28 March 1805 – 1 February 1879) was an English biblical scholar and theologian. Early life He was the 20th child (hence his middle name) of Sir Robert Wigram, 1st Baronet, a famous and wealthy merchant, and the 14th c ...
– wrote a Greek and English
Concordance Concordance may refer to: * Agreement (linguistics), a form of cross-reference between different parts of a sentence or phrase * Bible concordance, an alphabetical listing of terms in the Bible * Concordant coastline, in geology, where beds, or la ...
to the New Testament and ''The Englishman's Hebrew and Chaldee Concordance of the Old Testament'' *
Orde Wingate Major General Orde Charles Wingate, (26 February 1903 – 24 March 1944) was a senior British Army officer known for his creation of the Chindit deep-penetration missions in Japanese-held territory during the Burma Campaign of the Second World ...
– British commando


See also

* Assemblies Jehovah Shammah *
Exclusive Brethren The Exclusive Brethren are a subset of the Christian evangelical movement generally described as the Plymouth Brethren. They are distinguished from the Open Brethren from whom they separated in 1848. The Exclusive Brethren are now divided i ...
*
Gospel Hall Brethren The Gospel Halls are a group of independent Christian assemblies throughout the world that fellowship with each other through a set of shared Biblical doctrines and practices. Theologically, they are evangelical and dispensational. They are a con ...
or Gospel Hall Assemblies *
Indian Brethren The Indian Brethren are a Christian Evangelical premillennial religious movement. Although they have some distinct characteristics, they have a lot in common, in both doctrine and practice, with the international Open Brethren movement, with wh ...
*
Kerala Brethren The Kerala Brethren are a significant subset of the Open Brethren movement. In the South Indian State of Kerala, four Syrian Christian ( Nasrani) men who came from traditional churches were baptised in 1898, and many of the Kerala Brethren con ...
Assembly *
The Local Church (affiliation) The local churches are a Christian group which was started in China in the 1920s and have spread globally. The basic organizing principle of the local churches is that there should be only one Christian church in each city, a principle that was ...
* Needed Truth Brethren *
Open Brethren The Open Brethren, sometimes called Christian Brethren, are a group of Evangelical Christian churches that arose in the late 1820s as part of the Assembly Movement within the Plymouth Brethren tradition. They originated in Ireland before spread ...
*
Plymouth Brethren Christian Church The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC) also known as Raven Brethren or Taylorites is a Christian denomination currently led by Australian businessman Bruce Hales. The group is a subset of the Exclusive Brethren, a Plymouth Brethren group. ...


Notes and references


Bibliography

* Adams, Norman (1972) ''Goodbye, Beloved Brethren''. Impulse Publications Inc. * * Carroll, H. K. (1912) ''Religious Forces in the United States''. New York * Coad, F. Roy (2001) ''A History of the Brethren Movement: Its Origins, Its Worldwide Development and Its Significance for the Present Day''. Regent College Publishing * Dorman, W. H. (1866) ''The Close of Twenty-eight Years of Association with J. N. Darby''. London: Houlston & Wright. * Ph.D. Thesis * * * * * Ironside, H. A. (1985)
Historical Sketch of the Brethren Movement
' Loizeaux Brothers , 1st edition 1942. * Kelly, William (1883) ''Response by William Kelly to J. S. Teulon's Plymouth Brethren'
Free download site
* Lindsay, Thomas Martin (1885). "Plymouth Brethren", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Ninth Edition. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons. * Lindsay, Thomas Martin & Grieve, Alexander James (1911). "Plymouth Brethren", ''Encyclopædia Britannica'', Eleventh Edition. New York: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. * * * Pickering, Henry (1918) ''Chief Men Among the Brethren''. London: Pickering & Inglis, 1918; Loizeaux Brothers, Inc. Neptune, NJ, 1996, * * Smith, Natan Dylan (1996) ''Roots, Renewal and the Brethren''. Hope Publishing House * Strauch, Alexander (1995) ''Biblical Eldership: an Urgent Call to Restore Biblical Church Leadership''. Lewis & Roth Publishers * Stott, Rebecca (2017) ''In the Days of Rain: A Daughter, A Father, A Cult''. Winner of the 2017 Costa Biography Prize. London: Fourth Estate. * Stunt, Timothy C. F. (2000) ''From Awakening to Secession: radical evangelicals in Switzerland and Britain, 1815–35''. Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark * Taylor (1866) ''Biography of Henry Craik''. London * Teulon, J. S. (1883) ''The History and Teaching of The Plymouth Brethren''. Londo
Free download site


External links


Brethren OnlinePlymouth Brethren
(online library of Brethren authors)
BrethrenPediaBrethren Archive
(online archive of historical reference material related to all strands of 'Plymouth Brethren')
Brethren Archivists and Historians NetworkChristian Brethren Archive
(largest and most significant collection of Brethren archives, books, tracts and periodicals in the world)
The Plymouth Brethren Movement
History of, and Selected Ministry from, the 'Raven/Taylor' segment of the so-called Plymouth Brethren movement)

{{Authority control 1827 establishments in Ireland 19th century in Dublin (city) Christian fundamentalism Religious organizations established in 1827