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.

After finishing his theological studies, Mr. Darby was ordained and entered the ministry of the Established Church. But he did not remain there long. Unable to accept the doctrine of apostolic succession, he rejected it, withdrew from the Establishment, and denounced it as an illegitimate church.

Having broken with what he regarded as an apostate church, he went looking for the true one, still assuming at that point that such a church could be found. But Mr. Darby never found his ideal church.

Those who agreed with him were urged to gather together and wait until Christ should personally return, which they confidently expected would happen soon. The first group formed around this belief was in Ireland. But it was in Plymouth, England, that the Brethren found their greatest success. There their numbers quickly rose to around fifteen hundred. Their success in Plymouth was so notable that they came to be called "Plymouth Brethren." It should be said, however, that they never adopted this name, or really any other, except simply "Brethren." Nor do we know that they seriously object to the title.

The labors of the "Brethren" met with considerable success, and groups were formed in London, Exeter, and several other places. Many wealthy people joined them and contributed significant sums to help spread the new faith.

Around this time they established their first periodical, called the Christian Witness, with Mr. Darby as its chief contributor.

It was not long before their fierce attacks on the church brought strong opposition from the English clergy. That opposition was so effective and so ably managed that the spread of the new faith was not only seriously checked, but their numbers were greatly reduced.

In 1838, or around that time, Mr. Darby left England for the Continent. He first visited Paris, where he stayed for a time without seeing much result from his labor. But in Switzerland, which he visited next, he found a more promising field.

Some time before Mr. Darby’s visit to Switzerland, the Wesleyan Methodists had begun successful work in Lausanne, and a number of members of the State Church had withdrawn and joined them, causing no small stir among the people.

Among the new converts to Methodism were some who still held to the doctrine of predestination and rejected the Wesleyan doctrine of Christian perfection. It was argued that, under these circumstances, those who held to predestination and still remained with the Methodists had received only half the truth. These religious differences extended to the Methodists of Vevay and caused considerable unrest there as well.

With the goal of overthrowing this new faith, an influential member of the State Church at Lausanne invited Mr. Darby to come and contend against the Methodists. He did so, and through his preaching, along with the publication of a book titled The Doctrine of the Wesleyans Regarding Perfection, and their use of the Holy Scriptures, he succeeded in so confusing the uninstructed people that most of them abandoned their faith and either returned to the State Church or joined the dissenters.

But Mr. Darby seems to have had more in mind than that. He delivered a series of lectures on prophecy titled Views Regarding the Actual Expectation of the Church, and the Prophecies which establish it. These lectures were widely attended and made a deep impression on all classes of people. They were later published in French, German, and English, and can be found among Mr. Darby’s collected works. In the author’s own estimation, at least, they lifted the veil that had long covered the prophecies.

Mr. Darby’s influence over the people is said to have become so great that the regular ministry was almost entirely ignored, and he came to be accepted as a kind of prophet. In fact, his publications helped turn the people, as a whole, away from the ministry.

It was his custom to administer the sacrament every Sabbath to churchmen and dissenters alike, without distinction. This gave him a reputation for being a broad-hearted Christian, eager to make the church one.

Once Mr. Darby had sufficiently drawn the people to himself, he appears to have been ready to reveal his plans more fully. These plans, it was said, were to draw the best members out of the State Church, unite them with others, and in that way form a circle of completely free congregations, without any organization, while making himself, it was claimed, the center of the whole.

To accomplish this, a series of "fly sheets," or tracts, was issued at Geneva and Lausanne, clearly revealing Mr. Darby’s design. In one of these tracts, titled "Apostacy of the Economy," he struck at the root of the tree, leaving the whole Christian Church, so far as he could, a shapeless wreck. In another tract, "On the Foundation of the Church," he attacked the Dissenters and denied their right to form a church. In still another, "Liberty to preach Jesus possessed of every Christian," he denied the existence of any priestly office in the church except the universal priesthood of believers. Since the church had come to an end, the ordained ministry, or priesthood, went with it. No man, nor any body of men, Mr. Darby claimed, had any right to such an office, and anyone claiming such a right only proved the corruption of the whole system. In another tract, titled "The Promise of the Lord," based on Matt. 18:20, the watchword of the Darbyite gatherings was given. Finally, a tract titled "Schism" was issued, in which all who hesitated to join these gatherings were labeled "Schismatics."

It is easy to see how quickly the work of demolition moved forward. First the church is torn down. Mr. Darby would not allow even a poor Dissenter to organize a new one, no matter how good it might be. Next the ministry is swept away, and if anyone should claim such an office, that would be taken as the clearest proof of corruption. In this way the world is left without a church and without a ministry, and the only substitute offered is a few Darbyite gatherings, without form and without responsibility. From Switzerland they spread into France and in time gathered several congregations in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, and elsewhere. A French periodical was established to spread their principles, and a kind of seminary was started to train missionaries.

That divisions should arise where there is no organization, and where all organization is completely rejected, seems strange. But people who could so readily embrace the radical views Mr. Darby taught were not likely to remain united for long. This is especially true of the Plymouth Brethren.

A split soon took place under the leadership of Mr. B. W. Newton. It began in England but spread to the Continent as well. Mr. Newton, it was claimed, agreed with Irving that Christ was not sinless. Most of the Darbyites strongly rejected this idea, and the offending Newton was formally expelled by Mr. Darby. We will not pause to ask how Mr. Darby could consistently expel a man from his society while denying and utterly rejecting all organization. The Newton heresy spread into Vevay, where it caused considerable trouble. The "Brethren" there split into two factions, and this was soon followed by several other divisions.

Another division took place in England, in which Mr. George Muller of Bristol was the leading figure. Other divisions followed as well.

In America there are several schools of the Plymouth Brethren. Some of them completely ignore Mr. Darby. While the old man is still living, they have gone so far as to portray him as a second "Diotrephes, who loveth to have the pre-eminence" (3 John 9). They have implied that Mr. Darby, the father of them all, had fallen far from original Darbyism. At the very least, that is the natural conclusion from the way they have treated him. In Boston and elsewhere, we have two classes, or schools, of the Plymouth Brethren.

The religious views of the Plymouth Brethren are fully set forth by Dr. Steele in his book A Substitute for Holiness, or Antinomianism Revived. They are Antinomians of the strictest kind. Everything except pure Darbyism belongs to this world. Nobody is right but themselves. The church is fallen and cannot be reformed, and our only duty is to come out of her. Anything that looks like church prosperity is, to the Plymouth Brethren, a delusion. "The year-books of Christianity," says Mr. Darby, "are the year-books of hell."

One of their writers, speaking of the church, says: "It is a corrupt mysterious mixture, a spiritual malformation, the master-piece of Satan, the corrupter of the truth of God." "It is that thing which Satan has made of professing Christianity. It is worse, by far, than Judaism; worse by far than all the darkest forms of Paganism."

For a Plymouth Brother, the New Birth is not a change in our old nature, but the formation of a new man entirely distinct from the old—one with his own customs, desires, aims, feelings, and needs—and these are spiritual, heavenly, and divine. The old man, instead of being absolutely crucified and put to death, was only crucified in Christ eighteen hundred years ago, while in fact he still lives and grows, often becoming worse and worse to the very end of life. In answer to a question once put to Mr. Darby, he said that his nature, or old man, had been growing worse and worse ever since he had believed in Christ. But he paid no attention to that, because he was saved in Christ and had nothing to do with the old man—the carnal mind. One of their number puts it this way: "The believer’s state can never correspond with his standing." The seventh and eighth of Romans exist in the same heart and at the same time.

Mr. Mcintosh, their most highly regarded authority, says: "Flesh is flesh, nor can it ever be made aught else but flesh. The Holy Spirit did not come down on the day of Pentecost to improve nature, or do away the fact of its incurable evil, but to baptize believers into one body, and connect them with their living head in Heaven."

Perfect holiness, for the Brethren, is exactly the same thing as justification. It is, or was, a finished work of God. It is not in any sense personal within ourselves, but in Christ, accomplished when He died on the cross. It can never be diminished or increased. No sin committed by a justified person can in the least affect his justification. The soul’s standing must always remain as pure as Christ Himself. He may get drunk like Noah, commit murder and adultery like David, curse like Peter, or lie like Ananias and Sapphira, and his standing is no more affected by it than Stephen’s was under a shower of stones, with his face shining like that of an angel.

One of their writers gives the following description of a good man: —

"The good man feels that when he is presenting to God his prayer and his praises and other holy things, that many vain and foolish thoughts often come unbidden, as the unclean fowls came down upon the sacrifice which Abraham had laid in order to be offered to God (Gen. 15:11); and he feels that his sacrifice is sadly spoiled; and he asks, 'Can the pure God accept such impure sacrifices as I now bring and lay on His altar?' There is so much of self and sin in our holiest things that our very tears need washing, and our very repentance towards God needs to be repented of. In each of our hearts there is a fountain of black, filthy waters; and when we think we are about to present a gift pure and clean to God, the stream bursts forth, and the gifts we thought would be so clean and pure are besmeared with vile effusions of our own corrupt heart. And we often think that Satan empties much of the horrible filth of hell into our hearts, making each of them into a sewer for the foul waters of the abyss of despair to run through."

Could anything worse be said of the most wicked man alive? Satan could do no more than pour the "horrible filth of hell" into his heart and make him a "sewer for the foul waters of the abyss of despair to run through." This is the very best the gospel of the Plymouth Brethren can do for poor, fallen human nature. And yet, strange as it sounds, this same man—filled with the "horrible filth of hell" and a "sewer for the foul waters of the abyss of despair to run through" — is, at the very same time, as pure as Christ Himself. Here are the words: —

"He who is our Great High Priest before God is pure without a stain. God sees Him as such, and He stands for us who are His people, and we are accepted in Him. His holiness is ours by imputation. Standing in Him we are in the sight of God, holy as Christ is holy, and pure as Christ is pure. God looks at our representative, and He sees us in Him. We are complete in Him who is our spotless and glorious Head."

Here is full-fledged Antinomianism.

The Plymouth Brethren claim to have no creed but the Bible. They condemn all who openly adopt a creed, saying that such people put human opinions in the place of the Word of God. And yet they seem to have a very definite creed, and they press it with great persistence.

They denounce all commentaries on Scripture as misleading, and yet Mr. Darby himself wrote commentaries on the Bible at considerable length — not to mention Mr. McIntosh, whom they regard as nearly, if not quite, inspired.

They do not labor for sinners, but for members of the various churches, as though those people were in greater danger than the world outside. They may be seen around revival meetings with tracts in hand containing opposing sentiments, placing them into the hands of new converts in order to confuse them and draw them away from Christ and salvation. In this way they make converts to their faith, not from the world, but from the churches.

We gladly bid God-speed to all who are working for the salvation of souls. And if we believed that souls were made better by accepting the dogmas of the Plymouth Brethren, we would most heartily say, "Go on, and the Lord bless you." But as far as we can see, their teachings are evil, and only evil. They turn order into chaos and deceive souls by assuring them that they are in Christ while they remain full of corruption.

Through the writing of his book A Substitute for Holiness, or Antinomianism Revived, Dr. Steele has done valuable service for all the churches, for if Plymouthism succeeds, the churches are the ones that will be emptied. While they may hold some views in common with certain evangelical churches, their main purpose is to undermine the churches and foster a spirit that would lay waste every church in Christendom. We firmly believe that this book will greatly help to stop this growing tide of error.

Dr. Daniel Steele adds this note:

To discover whether they were truly a sect — that is, a fragment cutting itself off from the general Church of Christ — the author once asked Mr. Darby whether he would be allowed to partake of the Lord’s Supper with them if he presented himself. Mr. Darby replied that he would be permitted to partake, provided he correctly answered certain doctrinal questions. The other "Brethren" present strongly objected to such liberty and hinted at close communion. So while they denounce all schisms and sects, they are themselves a sect of the strictest and most exclusive kind.

 

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This is a revision of the Introduction to A Substitute for Holiness, or Antinomianism Revived (1887) by Daniel Steele, completely rewritten with the assistance of Microslop CoPilot. The original essay can be found here:  INTRODUCTION by W. McDONALD.