Who are the Plymouth Brethren? (1887 essay rewritten)

Guest blog by W. McDONALD (1887).

(This essay has been revised and updated with the assistance of  Microslop CoPilot. The essay appeared in it’s original form, as the Introduction to Daniel Steele’s 1887 book A Substitute for Holiness, or Antinomianism Revived: The Theology of the So--Called Plymouth Brethren Examined and Refuted. I have no biographical information about the author, except to note that his name appears as one of the early leaders of the National Holiness Association.)

They are a sect — if that is even the right word for people who reject all sects — popularly known as "Darbyites," "Brethren," "Plymouth Brethren," and so on. They began in England nearly sixty years ago under the leadership of Mr. John Darby.

Mr. Darby was born in England to wealthy parents. He was trained for the law and began practicing it. But after his conversion, the whole direction of his life changed. He became convinced that it was his duty to enter the ministry. When his father learned of this plan, he strongly opposed it, and when he could not persuade him otherwise, he actually disinherited him. Still, a wealthy uncle adopted him and later left him a substantial fortune.

Perfect Love as a Definate Blessing

It took four thousand years for the sacred Scriptures to fully unfold — "to import God into knowledge," in the phrase of Dr. Bushnell. The patriarchal and Jewish dispensations were devoted to revealing and firmly impressing the Divine unity on one nation surrounded by polytheism. If the triune personality of God had been taught before God's oneness of substance was securely established, it might have asked too much of humanity in its early stage of theological learning. For more than three thousand years, the first words taught to every child in the Jewish nursery were these: "Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." Under the dispensations before Christianity, faith in this truth, when it produced obedience, was saving. It is saving now for all who have received no higher revelation. So why do we need a clearer and more definite manifestation of the nature of God? Why should he reveal the unthinkable fact of his threefold personality, and call us to a faith that rises so far above reason? This is a question even angels might approach with bashful tread. It is certain that he has not taken me into his counsels. Here I walk by faith. And faith says that the fuller revelation of God, and the new requirement of faith in the Trinity, come from his gracious purpose to give richer blessings to the believer in a dispensation "rather glorious."

Fletcher's Doctrine of Three Dispensations (rewritten)

John Fletcher

John Fletcher, in his well‑known portrait of St. Paul as the model evangelical preacher, insists — strongly — that a minister cannot do his work well without a clear understanding of what he calls the three great eras of spiritual life. He names them the dispensation of the Father, the dispensation of the Son, and the dispensation of the Holy Ghost.

Anyone unfamiliar with the distinct experiences of these three dispensations, Fletcher argues, will struggle to apply Gospel truth correctly or fully fulfill their ministry. Although these dispensations appeared successively in history, they now exist at the same time. Among people accepted by God and living on the earth today, some are living primarily in the dispensation of the Father, some in that of the Son, and others in the dispensation of the Holy Spirit.

The Higher Life Prayer. (Rewritten).

"For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every familya in heaven and on earth takes its name. I pray that, according to the riches of his glory, he may grant that you may be strengthened in your inner being with power through his Spirit, and that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith, as you are being rooted and grounded in love. I pray that you may have the power to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, so that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

"Now to him who by the power at work within us is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen." — Ephesians 3:14-21 NRSV.

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In the third chapter of Ephesians (verses 14–21), Paul opens the door of his prayer closet just enough for us to overhear what he is saying to God. Across the centuries, believers have leaned in and been deeply moved by what they’ve heard. We’re invited to listen — not as intruders, but as reverent guests. This kind of eavesdropping is honorable.

Like Jesus himself, Paul’s most urgent prayers are not aimed at hardened unbelievers — “the world” — but at those who already belong to Christ. His concern is “the perfecting of the saints.” Before we trace the powerful requests of this remarkable prayer, it helps to pause and look at the people he is praying for.

Who Were the Ephesians?

The Ephesian church was made up of people who, by almost any measure, lacked sophistication, stability, and moral polish—certainly far less than members of many modern congregations. Most were poor and working class. Historically, these are the kinds of people who respond first when Christ is preached in a community.

The Abiding Comforter (Rewritten)

[Jesus said:] “If you love me, you will keep my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, to be with you forever. This is the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees him nor knows him. You know him, because he abides with you, and he will be in you." — John 14:15-17 NRSV. 

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Many people who read the New Testament struggle to find the sharp, instantaneous spiritual transition that modern advocates of Christian perfection insist should follow conversion. And honestly, that confusion makes sense. It usually comes from failing to recognize that several biblical ideas are actually pointing to the same spiritual reality: the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the fullness of the Spirit, the anointing that teaches and remains, and the promised abiding Comforter (παράκλητος). 

When Jesus promised the Comforter, He was not talking about someone whose sole job was emotional consolation. The Greek word παράκλητος (paraklētos) carries a much broader meaning. It can just as accurately be translated helper, advocate, teacher, guide, or counselor.

For the purposes of this essay, we will use the older term "Comforter." But, remember: It carries with it a wealth of meaning.

The Anointing (Rewritten)

“As for you, the anointing that you received from him abides in you, and so you do not need anyone to teach you. But as his anointing teaches you about all things, and is true and is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in him.” — 1 John 2:27 NRSV.

The anointing is not an abstract force or influence — it is a person. Scripture says He teaches, and teaching belongs to a living agent. The idea of anointing comes from the ancient practice of consecrating kings and priests. When someone was set apart from ordinary life to serve in a sacred role, they were anointed with oil. In the same way, when God sets apart His kings and priests, He pours out something far greater: the anointing of the Holy Spirit — the baptism of the Spirit — the blessed Comforter who remains forever. 

The Dove Descending and Abiding (Rewritten)

Harriet Beecher Stowe

Harriet Beecher Stowe, in her fine essay on “Primitive Christian Experience,” uses the following language:

“The advantages to the Christian Church in setting before it distinct points of attainment, are very nearly the same in result as the advantages of preaching immediate regeneration in preference to indefinite exhortation to men to lead sober, righteous, and godly lives. It has been found, in the course of New England preaching, that pressing men to an immediate and definite point of conversion, produced immediate and definite results; and so it has been found among Christians, that pressing them to an immediate and definite point of attainment will, in like manner, result in marked and decided progress. For this reason it is, that, among the Moravian Christians, where the experience by them denominated full assurance of faith was much insisted on, there were more instances of high religious faith than in almost any other denomination.”

That is a strikingly practical insight, grounded in real observation.

Things From Which We Are Not Yet Delivered (Rewritten)

Christ offers to free believers in this life not only from sinful actions, but from the sinful, selfish bent that comes with fallen humanity. Now we need to name some things that do come from sin — and can look a lot like sin — but don’t actually have its moral character. In other words, they aren’t on the list of things Jesus promises to remove for us in the present life. They are —

First: Spiritual warfare — which, of course, includes temptation. Jesus himself faced temptation. “As he is, so are ye in this world.” “The disciple is not above his Lord.” The Christian life is a long battle, and our weapons come from Christ’s promised presence, the power of his word, and the gift of his Holy Spirit. Still, we do insist that we can be delivered from the most distressing and dangerous kind of war: a civil war — a revolt against Christ raging inside the believer’s own heart. 

Bible Texts Examined: What Scripture Really Says About Sin (Rewritten)

Much of the disagreement about sin comes down to a lack of precision. People often talk past one another because they mean different things by the word sin. In this discussion, we are not talking about involuntary human weakness or unavoidable imperfections. We are talking about willful violations of God’s known law — whether that law is written in Scripture or impressed on the conscience.

The idea of living without sin immediately alarms many people. To them, it sounds like taking the crown off Christ — the only sinless person to walk the earth — and placing it on human heads. But before reacting, we need to ask a deeper question: does sin in the human soul honor Christ, or does it dishonor Him?

Full Salvation is Available Now (Rewritten)

There’s no serious disagreement among Christians that full sanctification is necessary to enter Heaven. Where people often hesitate is on when that kind of purity can actually be reached. Many assume that as long as soul and body are joined together, the body must inevitably contaminate the spirit. According to this view, complete purity is impossible before death.

But this assumption rests on a very old mistake.

The idea that matter itself is inherently evil comes not from Scripture, but from ancient pagan philosophy—specifically from Gnosticism and Platonism. These systems taught that matter is eternal, un-created, and irreversibly corrupt. God, they claimed, merely shaped this flawed substance as best he could, but could never fully cleanse it. As a result, the soul was thought to remain defiled as long as it was trapped in the body, only to be purified later — after death — by some kind of fiery process.