The Plymouth Brethren / Massimo Introvigne.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Introvigne, Massimo, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Plymouth Brethren.

Plymouth Brethren Christian Church.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (142 pages)

Place of Publication:

New York, New York : Oxford University Press, 2018.

Summary:

This text offers a scholarly treatment of the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church (PBCC), one of the largest denominations within the Brethren movement that originated with John Nelson Darby and a 19th-century revival in the British Isles. The work discusses the Brethren movement in general, the schisms, the beliefs and daily life of the PBCC, and the controversies surrounding its practice of strict separation from non-members of the Church.

This is the first history of the Plymouth Brethren, a conservative, nonconformist evangelical Christian movement whose history can be traced to Dublin, Ireland in the late 1820s. The teachings of John Nelson Darby, an influential figure among the early Plymouth Brethren, have had a huge impact on modern evangelicalism. However, the credit for Darby's work went to some of the first generation of his students, and as evangelicalism has grown it has completely ignored its origins in Darby and the Brethren. In this book, Massimo Introvigne restores credit to John Nelson Darby and his movement, and places them in a contemporary sociological framework based on Introvigne's participant observation in Brethren communities. The modern-day Plymouth Brethren emphasize sola scriptura, the belief that the Bible is the supreme authority for church doctrine and practice. Brethren see themselves as a network of like-minded independent assemblies rather than as a church or a denomination. The movement has also refused to take any formal denominational name; the title "the Brethren" comes from the Biblical passage "one is your Master, even Christ; and all ye are brethren" (Matthew 23:8). The Plymouth Brethren offers a typology of differing branches of this reclusive movement, including a case study of the "exclusive" branch known as the Plymouth Brethren Christian Church, and reveals the various ways in which Brethren ideas have permeated the modern Christian world.

Contents:

1.Introduction

Who Is Afraid of the Plymouth Brethren?

The Brethren Movement

Plymouth Brethren and Evangelicalism

Plymouth Brethren and Fundamentalism

2.Darby and the Origins of the Plymouth Brethren

The Prophetic Context

Darby and the Origins of the Brethren

Darby's Companions in Ireland

Darby in Plymouth

Muller and the Bristol Group

The Development of Darby's Ministry

Continental Brethren: Switzerland and Italy

The Split Between Open and Exclusive Brethren

3.Raven and the Time of Divisions: A Map of the Brethren Movement

The Divisions of the Brethren Groups

Brethren I and Their Schisms (Brethren VII and Brethren VIII)

Brethren II

Brethren III and Their Schisms (Brethren V, VI, and IX)

Brethren IV and Their Schisms (Brethren X)

4.Retrenchment and Mainstreaming: The Plymouth Brethren Christian Church in the 21st Century

The British Charity Commission Case (2006-2014)

Brethren IV and the Question of Cults

Brethren's Separatism: Between Retrenchment and Mainstreaming

The Question of Youth

The Paradox of Brethren Schools

The Elusive Public Benefit and the Rapid Relief Teams

Conclusion: Traditional Values in a Postmodern World.

Notes:

Description based on print version record.

Previously issued in print: 2018.

Includes bibliographical references.

ISBN:

0-19-084244-X

0-19-084245-8

0-19-084243-1