How did the Exclusive Brethren start?

Answer 1

To call the Exclusive Brethren 'Plymouth Brethren' is an error that would offend the vast majority of Brethren meeting in small chapels and Gospel Halls around the world. The Exclusive Brethren had their roots in the 1820's movement that became known as the Plymouth Brethren, but by the late 1840's, the first of many doctrinal divisions had separated the primarily evangelical Plymouth Brethren into two distinct 'camps'.

The original movement has been described as 'a Reformation within a Reformation'. A large number of people were dissatisfied with the established church of the early 19th century and it seemed like a breath of fresh air to meet in a simpler environment without the constraints of clergy or centralized administration. The early dissidents began to gather in larger groups and one of the largest, a gathering of several hundred was in Plymouth, England. It was there that they were first referred to as the Plymouth Brethren.

A doctrinal concept that has become heavily associated with the more correctly named Taylorite-Hales Exclusive Brethren is 'Separation' - or in it's full form, 'Separation from evil'. The simple instructions in 2 Timothy 2 have evolved into a rigid framework of rules and regulations that have resulted in today's Exclusive Brethren being accurately described as "an extremist sect and cult".

The first public demonstration of Exclusive Brethren 'Separation' occurred in 1848/1849 when John Nelson Darby (1800-1882) led a major division of the early Plymouth Brethren. At the center of the storm were the doctrinal beliefs of two men, Benjamin W Newton and Darby. Newton did not adhere to Darby's Dispensationalist teachings and would probably today be viewed as a Post-Millenialist. Darby advocated his Pre-Millenial prophetic view of the church and held that the church would be 'Raptured' prior to the Tribulation (these Darby teachings were later to gain huge popularity in the USA and elsewhere mainly due to the widely circulated Scofield Bible notes).

Darby maintained that all Brethren gatherings or assemblies should follow the decisions of another. In practice, this meant that should a local assembly pronounce a disciplinary decision, this decision would be submitted to a higher authority (the remainder of the linked congregations) for review and confirmation. If upheld, then all assemblies were to abide by the decision. Implicit in this process was the assumption that an associated assembly represented the Christian witness in any town that it existed. Darbyites, as they were to become known, referred to themselves as 'those surrounding the Lords Table'. Thus, in just 20 years, some components of the small breakaway movement was already becoming convinced that they alone represented the 'true' Christian church.

Following a stormy meeting in London, Darby lit a fuse that would rip the movement apart. All those that followed Newtons' 'Heresy' would henceforth no longer be considered part of the Brethren fellowship. As the impact of the decision continued over the subsequent months, a nearby chapel at Bethesda dared to allow one or two of the now 'cut-off' members of Newtons congregation to join them in communion. This sparked the 1848 crisis and by 1849, the Plymouth Brethren were irretrievably split into two camps - the larger original 'Open' Plymouth Brethren and the new 'Closed' or Darbyite followers. It is this latter group that became known as the Exclusive Brethren.