A Brief History of Antinomianism (Rewritten)

Theological errors tend to come around in cycles, sometimes after very long stretches of time. They are like comets with unknown orbits that suddenly sweep into our solar system — but unlike comets, they are not harmless. They often leave moral wreckage behind them. Because all Christian truth is practical and aims at the moral transformation of people, every denial of that truth is harmful. Such denials do more than cloud the truth or block its purifying power; they actively corrupt and destroy souls. This is especially true of errors that free people from obligation to the law of God. 

After St. Paul had shown that no one can be justified by works meant to compensate for sin, and after he had established justification through faith in Christ — a faith that works by love and purifies the heart—a class of teachers appeared who drew a false conclusion from Paul’s teaching. They claimed that God’s law is abolished for the believer, who is now released from its authority as the rule of life. For this reason they became what Luther first called Antinomians (Greek anti, against, and nomos, law). From Rom. 3:8, 31; 6:1; Eph. 5:6; 2 Peter 2:18, 19, and James 2:17-26 — passages that warn against twisting the truth into an excuse for loose living — we can infer that Antinomianism, at least in its cruder form, had a place in the primitive church.

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.