General History

In the early part of the 19th century, there was widespread interest in returning to the patterns of church life that are evident in the writings of the New Testament. The Restoration Movement, as it has been called, led to the emergence of several Christian groups, including the Churches of Christ in the USA and the Brethren in Britain and Ireland. Other Churches included the Seventh-day Adventists, Christadelphians, Jehovah's Witnesses and Latter-day Saints.

In the late 1820s, a group of people came together as a result of annual conferences held at Powerscourt Castle, County Wicklow, Ireland. The leaders of this group of people were mostly university trained scholars, but were disenchanted with the lack of spirituality they saw in the Church of England and the narrow mindedness of some other Protestant churches.

The Brethren, as they later became known, wished to see Christians finding unity in the simplicity of their shared belief in Jesus Christ. They felt that Christians should be able to meet together without national administration, organisation or control as was the case with the Church of England. Rather, the Brethren contended that each group of Christians gathering together should be responsible for their patterns of worship following the instructions in the New Testament. W. Blair Neatby, a Christian historian writing in 1902, stated that the Brethren; "sought to effect a fresh start without authority, precedent or guidance beyond the letter of the Holy Scriptures".

The Brethren wished to avoid a name which would make them into another denomination. The preferred to refer to themselves simply as 'Christians' or 'Brethren'. However, one of the early assemblies at Plymouth became unofficially known as the 'Plymouth Brethren', and Brethren have sometimes been referred to since that time as 'Plymouth Brethren'. The Brethren rejected 'clericalism' and the idea of domination by a hierarchy of clergy. Rather, they emphasised the roles that all people had to play in the life of the church, although they held that women should not be allowed to teach men. Another focus was their fascination with statements in the Bible which could be taken as referring to the future and particularly to the idea that Jesus Christ would return to earth to reign.

Brethren style meetings occurred in homes before 1826. However, a significant point in Brethren history was when Edward Cronin, a dentist and convert from Catholicism, began to practice holy communion at home with several other people after being refused a place in a local church unless he promised to settle there permanently. They were joined by others including John Darby who became a significant leader in the Brethren movement. By 1830, the meetings were large enough to require the use of the auction rooms in Dublin and the leaders began to codify the beliefs of the movement.

These leaders were keen to engage in missionary work, following the patterns of Jesus' disciples in the times of the New Testament. They began journeys to various places to preach and teach. Anthony Groves travelling to Bagdad and India, John Darby to France and Switzerland and George Muller to Germany. Meetings, or assemblies as they were usually called, were also started in many places in Britain, including Bristol, Plymouth, London and Barnstaple.

However, while the Brethren focussed on finding the New Testament patterns for church life and for daily living, the movement had no centre of authority and lacked a system to resolve conflicts between movement leaders. In 1845 a division occurred between B. W. Newton, the leader of the Brethren who met in Plymouth and John Darby. Darby accused Newton of 'clericalism', of encouraging a form of leadership which resembled the authoritative structures in other denominations. Darby also accused Newton of trying to develop relationships between the various Brethren assemblies. Darby believed that Newton was trying exert his influence over them all in this way. Further, Darby accused Newton of misinterpreting some of the statements in the Bible about what would happen in the future. After many discussions in the Plymouth Assembly, Darby announced that he would be breaking from Newton's group. In the following years, some others joined him. The Plymouth Assembly was greatly weakened, and at the end of 1847, Newton himself left.

Darby was developing the idea that Christians should separate from all that was evil. He argued that this should be the basis of the unity of God's people. Darby believed that associating with people who had the wrong beliefs or practices could taint an individual. He thought that all churches apart from the Brethren were doomed. It was important to separate oneself from all those with whom one disagreed.

The particular issue for Darby was the acceptance of people from the Plymouth Assembly at another assembly at Bethesda. Darby urged assemblies to reject anyone who came from Plymouth and was tainted by association with Newton. This principle also meant that Christians should separate themselves from most aspects of 'worldly' life, including radio and television and even schools and universities. The assemblies which followed Darby became known as the Exclusive Brethren.

On the other hand, other Assemblies held that 'shared love for Christ' should be the basis for unity, rather than separation from evil. These Assemblies became known as the "Open Brethren". For some time, both groups expanded quite rapidly. Both had their evangelists who spoke at large rallies.

The Exclusive Brethren have undergone additional divisions since this time. However, the key distinction between the two groups remains whether unity is based on separation or exclusion from evil or whether it is based on acceptance of all who love Jesus Christ.