Bethesda Chapel where the Letter of the Ten was read out in 1848
The Letter of the Ten – this famous document outlines the principles of what was to become known as the ‘Open’ Brethren or more popularly, the Plymouth Brethren.
It had taken 3 years from the time that J.N. Darby had set up a ‘Separate Table’ in Plymouth to the time that he forced the first of the many divisions that the Exclusive Brethren would experience.
By comparison, the Plymouth Brethren would only have one – the ‘Needed Truth’ division in the late 19th century.
The entire tone of the Letter is one of reasoned restraint:
“… we would neither desire nor expect that the saints here would be satisfied with the decision of one or two leading bethren. Those who felt desirous to satisfy their own minds, would naturally be led to wish to peruse the writings for themselves. For this, many among us have no leisure time …”
“If a brother has a right to demand our examining a work of fifty pages, he may require our investigating error said to be contained in one of much larger dimensions; so that all our time might be wasted in the examination of other people’s errors, instead of more important service.”
The Ten were: Continue reading »
John Nelson Darby (JND)
A highly detailed and meticulously recorded narrative of events at and surrounding Ebrington Street in Plymouth during 1846 written by John Nelson Darby.
Although JND states in the first paragraph that the narrative is not aimed at “clearing up one’s own grounds of conduct…” it is nevertheless a comprehensive document that seeks to place the writer as far above the events as possible.
Much of the described conversation and events in this often fascinating document seems petty today – a little more than two educated and powerful men bickering at each other; but at stake was a growing new movement and a sphere of influence that was starting to spread internationally.
No matter whether Newton (often referred to as ‘Mr. N’ by JND) was a heretic or heaven-forbid, doctrinally incorrect, it was John Darby who instigated the eventual division and history shows he did so with extreme predjudice!
“I had rather see my child die than be under the moral influence that rules at Ebrington Street.”
- JND
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The Rectory, Wittersham, Kent - birthplace of C. F. Cornwallis
Caroline Frances Cornwallis was an English author. She was born in 1786 at Wittersham in Kent and died in 1858. She was an advocate of higher education for women.
We have a five page extract from an early work, believed to have been compiled by Caroline Cornwallis, that contains a segment describing the early Plymouth Brethren. This was published prior to the Bethesda Division and indicates that the ‘Separatism’ that has marked Brethren for so long was prevalent within a few years of their formation.
Cornwallis provides a number of quotations, including this prophetic statement from a contemporary commentator:
“If the tenets of the Plymouth Brethren be consistent with themselves, they necessarily withdraw them from all society, and every existing form of Christianity, shutting them out from all co-operation with the holy and benevolent, for the relief and blessing of their poor and sinful fellow-creatures, making it sinful to fulfil the duties of a subject, a citizen, etc.”
- Rust (‘Examination of the Opinions of the Plymouth Brethren’ – 1843)Continue reading »
John Nelson Darby
Although not published until 1864, this collection of letters between Rev. Kelly and J.N. Darby commences in 1839 and the views of Darby are therefore significant in the light of his later actions and attitudes.
Topics covered include Darby’s own feelings regarding the Roman church as well as the C of E.
Darby outlines his belief in the importance of having one (Darby-approved) church in a town – an aspect of the Exclusive Brethren that remains to this day.
Darby used this principle notably in the English town of Plymouth, from where the Plymouth Brethren gained their name. Following a doctrinal dispute with an old friend, Darby forced a split in the Plymouth congregation by setting up a second communion table. This action precipitated a chain of events that led to the entire Plymouth Brethren being ripped apart during the mid 1840′s … an event known as the Bethesda Division.
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