Powerscourt Estate, Ireland
The Plymouth Brethren have several contenders for the title of Founder and Early Church Father. There is however probably only one woman who would fill the role of ‘Mother of the Church‘. Lady Theodosia Wingfield Powerscourt was a young and wealthy widow, and like Darby, was a member of the Anglo-Irish aristocracy in the early 19th century. Viscountess Powerscourt was a powerful advocate in the formative years of the movement that became known as the Plymouth Brethren.
J.N. Darby, recognized as one of the founders of the Plymouth Brethren, was a very close friend of Lady Powerscourt. It is believed that they at one time planned to marry but mutually decided that their lives were headed in different directions. Some say that they were ‘dissuaded’ by other members of the early Plymouth Brethren.
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AN Groves & JN Darby
This is a facsimile of an 1836 letter written to John Nelson Darby (JND) by the man who many credit as being the originator of the movement that became known as the Plymouth Brethren: A. N. Groves.
The letter indicates clearly that Anthony Norris Groves (ANG) was concerned by signs of sectarianism and rigidity in Darby’s teachings and he gently remonstrates with his old Trinity friend before returning as a missionary to India. Unfortunately, history proves that Darby ignored the warnings.
The Exclusive Brethren today treat Darby’s theory and interpretation of ‘Separation from evil’ as their foundational principle. It has led to heartache, ripped-apart families, suicide and even murder.
It is not often that a historical document such as this one can point so clearly to a moment when a future cult could have been avoided.
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Reproduced with permission from:
Breakout: How I escaped from the Exclusive Brethren
by David Tchappat (2009)
The following chapter was written by a former Exclusive Brethren member who wishes to remain anonymous.
A Short History of the Exclusive Brethren
There are many Christians known as “brethren” who trace the origins of their movement to John Nelson Darby who lived just over 200 years ago in Dublin. Schism and division has been a consistent feature of the movement almost from the start. The following summary relates to the Taylor-Symington-Hales Branch of the Exclusive Brethren (signified by the more recent leaders of this group); arguably the most radical and perhaps controversial of all the groups in the Brethren movement.
The Brethren trace the origins of the movement to John Nelson Darby who was born in London in 1800 into an aristocratic Anglo-Irish family. Lord Nelson, a friend of his uncle, Admiral Sir Henry Darby, was a sponsor at young Darby’s christening.
Darby’s mother died when he was five years old and at the age of 15 his family moved to the ancestral estate in Ireland. He took an honours degree at Dublin University and studied law for three years at the Dublin Chancery Bar. But he never practiced law. To the annoyance of his family, he abandoned his legal career and became a priest in the Irish Church of England in 1826, serving in the parish of Calary in the mountains of County Wicklow.
Almost immediately John Darby fell out with church leaders over matters of doctrine and by 1827-28 he was meeting to “break bread” in the home of one of four other dissenting young men in Dublin. The group believed that the existence of an established church and ordained clergy was contrary to scripture. “I can find no such thing as a national church in Scripture”, Darby wrote at the time. In 1832, he had a major disagreement with Archbishop Magee about a requirement for converted Catholics to swear allegiance to King George IV and, in the same year, disagreed with Archbishop Whately about matters of church doctrine.
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