Christian Brethren vs Exclusive Brethren
We have been contacted by several media and other interested parties who are a little confused by the current row in Australia over a Christian Brethren decision not to allow a self-help gay/lesbian group to use a church-run summer camp facility.
A gay youth support group trying to meet to talk about homophobia has had its booking at a Phillip Island camp ground blocked because the resort owners, the Christian Brethren church, deplore their lifestyle.
The confusion stems from a perceived relationship between the Christian Brethren and the Exclusive Brethren.
The Christian Brethren church is historically linked to the infamous Exclusive Brethren, but broke away in the mid-1800s.
Very quickly, the Christian Brethren is another name for the Plymouth Brethren - or more accurately, the ‘Open’ Plymouth Brethren. They are called ‘Open’ for two main reasons:
1 - Because they allow visitors to partake of Communion or Breaking of Bread with them;
2 - To distinguish themselves from the ‘Closed’ or Exclusive Brethren.
The Plymouth Brethren have their roots in Dublin, Ireland. During the 1830’s the movement grew in numbers and spread to the UK mainland where they were first called Plymouth Brethren.
Two senior figures within the movement had a major disagreement about doctrinal matters in the 1840’s and one of them, a John Nelson Darby decided that he could no longer ‘walk in fellowship’ with those who supported the doctrinal error. He therefore forced a major split in the Plymouth Brethren now known as the Bethesda Question.
The ‘Darbyites’ were known as the Closed or Exclusive Brethren. This group would not allow a visitor to simply join their communion services - the individual had to be screened first. Those that supported the right of an individual to have his/her own responsibility regarding partaking of communion, were by comparison known as ‘Open’.
Over the years, the Exclusive Brethren became more and more introverted and tangential to mainstream Christianity. Whereas the Open Brethren retained their evangelical bias and missionary zeal, the Exclusive Brethren gradually withdrew from society.
There were several more divisions within the Exclusives - all over doctrinal disagreements. Each division produced a smaller group with both sides normally proclaiming that they were now the ‘right position’.
In the 1960’s an American, James Taylor Junior took over the world-wide leadership of the Darby/Raven/Taylor strand of the Exclusive Brethren. It is generally considered that from this time, the Exclusive Brethren started to display the unmistakable signs of becoming a cult. Today’s emphasis by the Exclusives on business and commercial activities can also be traced back to that time.
The Christian / Open Plymouth Brethren are certainly historically related to the group that the Australian Premier, Kevin Rudd, recently called “… an extremist sect and cult”. But by comparison, they are a pleasant walk in the park! In any case, the Exclusive Brethren do not own any Summer Camps - they are not allowed to go on vacations.
It is perhaps highly significant that the Christian Brethren are so concerned about the confusion, they are considering changing their name!
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