Plymouth Brethren

Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Webster's Unabridged Dictionary:

Plym·outh Breth·ren

Top

The members of a religious sect which first appeared at Plymouth, England, about 1830. They protest against sectarianism, and reject all official ministry or clergy. Also called Brethren, Christian Brethren, Plymouthists, etc. The Darbyites are a division of the Brethren.


Plymouth brethren, Christian brethren, or Darbyites, began in Dublin in the mid-1820s when groups of young men, several from Trinity College, met for communion regardless of denomination. With no intention of starting a separate movement, they did exactly that, thanks to J. N. Darby (1800-82), a non-practising barrister who had recently resigned his Anglican orders. Despite the division between open and exclusive sections, they remained similar in beliefs and structure: a world-denying pietism; the Bible as their supreme rule; an interest in prophecy and the Second Coming; believers' baptism; weekly breaking of bread; no set liturgy; no ordained ministry, though many full-time evangelists; a congregational polity with no co-ordinating organization. Popularly stamped with the exclusive image, their ideal atmosphere is better seen as one of spiritual and intellectual liberty set in a context of brotherly love.

Columbia Encyclopedia:

Plymouth brethren

Top
Plymouth Brethren, group of Christian believers originating in the early 19th cent. in Ireland and spreading from there to the Continent (especially Switzerland), the British dominions, and the United States. One of their notable leaders was John Nelson Darby; the members are sometimes known as Darbyites. They refer to themselves as Brethren, Christians, or Believers. In a reaction against the formality of prescribed ritual, the requirements of ministerial ordination, and other established conditions in the churches of the times, groups of believers began to meet independently in Dublin and elsewhere for spiritual communion. Associations were formed c.1828 in Dublin and c.1830 at Plymouth, England, whence the popular name Plymouth Brethren. Brethren hold differing opinions concerning baptism and expect the personal premillennial second coming of Christ. The Lord's Supper, as a commemorative act of worship, is observed once a week. Followers of different leaders withdrew from time to time from the main body to form new congregations. This tendency to divide was carried over into the United States and Canada by emigrants, who established new meetings of the Brethren there. In the United States there are eight separate divisions, some of the exclusive type, stressing congregational interdependency, and some of the open type, stressing the independence of congregations. Basically fundamentalist, the Brethren consider the Scriptures the only true guide. No officers are chosen to preside over the congregations; the privileges and duties of the ministry depend upon the personal gift of the individual member. Membership in the United States is c.98,000.

Bibliography

See study by F. R. Coad (1968).


  See crossword solutions for the clue Plymouth Brethren.

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

Copyrights:

Mentioned in

John Nelson Darby (English theologian)
Douglas E. Harding (parapsychology)