PLYMOUTH
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PLYMOUTH
neglect this and remain in the society. E\dl living or
erroneous doctrine are also \'isited, first by remon-
strance, then by judicial condemnation and expulsion.
Infant baptism is an open question among them, but
the majority of assemblies practise the baptism of
believers by immersion without regard to previous
baptism. They reject confirmation altogether.
Though they disown an ordained ministrj', j-et they
admit a distinction between those teachers whose
ministrj- is to the church and those whose ministry is
to outsiders. The latter are regarded by them as
evangelists given to the world by Christ and qualified
by the Holy Ghost. They may devote their lives to
preaching the Gospel, and must not request, though
they may accept, contributions. Their theology is
Calvinistic, laying great stress on original sin and pre-
destination, and with regard to morals exhibiting
marked Antinomian tendencies.
In their doctrine of justification they attach great importance to establishing a close connexion between that gift of God and the resurrection of Christ. Darby in his treatise, "The Resurrection as the Fun- damental Truth of the Gospel", writes: "The saints are regarded by God, as risen in Christ, and conse- quently as perfectly justified from all their sins; but how does the Saint actually now participate in bless- ings so great? It is by partaking of that life in the power of which Christ has risen." And a little later, "I share in the righteousness of God by being quick- ened with that life in the power of which Christ was raised from the dead coming up out of the grave, all our trespasses being forgiven." It has been stated that the general doctrine of the brethren on justifica- tion was influenced by the teaching of Newman (Brit- ish Quart erlj- Review, Oct., 1873), but the resemblance is merely superficial and the differences are fundamen- tal. The Brethren claim that once the gift of justifi- cation is received it can never be lost, and they carry this view to such lengths that some of their writers hold that a Christian ought not to pray for the for- giveness of sins, as to do so would imply doubt of the fullness of mercy already received. They also consider Justification as entirelj' independent from Baptism, which is regarded as an ordinance of Christ binding on believers but destitute of spiritual efficacy in itself.
The majority of Plymouth Brethren hold millena- rian views respecting the Second Advent of Christ. From the beginning they attached great importance to the study of prophecy, and, though they are strong believers in the literal and verbal inspiration of Scrip- ture, they have always made a point of mystical inter- pretation. The result has been that they have arrived at several strange conclusions, peculiar to their own party. Thus they distinguish two advents of Christ yet to come, the rapovala, when He will receive the Church, and the ^m^di/eia, when He will finally come to take possession of the earth in glorj'. The former may be expected at any time and may even be secret, but the latter will be heralded by signs. When the former occurs all true believers, living and dead, will be carried to heaven, an event described as the "Rapture", and then the judgments of God as fore- told in the Apocalypse will fall upon the earth. The Roman Empire (identified with the Beast) is to be revived as a special agency of Satan, and its head will ultimately claim divine honours and be received by the Jews, then restored to Palestine, as their Messias. A faithful remnant of the chosen people alone will remain in the world as a witness to God, but this remnant looks forward onlj' to earthly glory under Christ when He shall come to take possession of the earth. When this happens Christ's empire on earth will be established \-isibly with Jerusalem as its capital. The saints of the Rapture will reign above the earth, the Jewish remnant will rule on the earth and will enjoy great power and material prosperity. At the end of the millennium there will be a great rebellion
against Christ, headed by Satan, and then will come
the final judgment as described in the Apocalj-pse,
though it follows that this will be of a difTerent nature
from that which the Catholic Church teaches us to
expect. For the saints will not be judged at all, their
resurrection ha\-ing taken place more than a thousand
years before that of the wicked. When the wicked
have been sent to their doom, the new Jerusalem
including the saints of the Old Testament, the saints
of the Rapture, and the martyrs of the Jewish Rem-
nant, will descend out of heaven from God, and from
that time forth the tabernacle of God shall be with
men. This fantastic interpretation involves a break
with all Christian tradition and necessitates a novel
exegesis of much of the Scriptures, especially the
Apocalypse and Isaias.
One feature of Phinouth Brethrenism which calls for remark is the special aversion in which it is held by other Protestant sects. This is doubtless due primarily to its methods of proseh'tism, which are peculiar. An Anglican WTiter (Dictionaryof Religion, cit. inf.) com- plains that "the body has in the main always directed its propagandist efforts far less towards the large re- siduum which unhappily hes outside of all churches than to those professing Christianity in Churches already existing. Some of them have gone so far as to openly avow that their mission is 'to the awakened in the Churches' and such efforts as they do make in mission work or city evangelization are as a rule sin- gularly unsuccessful. It is this which has brought upon them the common reproach of being 'sheep- stealers rather than shepherds.' " In their proselytism they have made large use of the Press. In 1834 the Brethren established a quarterly periodical called "The Christian Witness", carried on after 1849 as the "The Present Testimony". This is now supple- mented by several other periodicals and a large num- ber of pamphlets and tracts which are offered for sale at the depots they have established in most large towns. Their chief writers, besides Darby himself, whose collected works fill thirty-two volumes, are C. H. Mcintosh and William Kelly who have WTitten a large number of commentaries on various parts of the Bible, and Charles Stanley who wrote on Justification in the Risen Christ, the Sabbath question and similar topics. One scripture scholar of distinction, Dr. Samuel Prideaux Tregelles, severed his connexion with them before his death. But their theological literature has not produced any work of value, and, fhough voluminous, has already passed into oblivion. It is chiefly remarkable for the \-irulence of the inter- necine controversies which they have carried on inces- santly, for in separating themselves from other bodies the Plymouth Brethren have signally failed to find union in their midst, and the bitter quarrels which have marked the eighty years of their existence have become a distinctive feature of the sect. This their own writers have admitted, and it was one of Darby's followers, W. H. Dorman, who on separating from him wrote: "No religious movement, perhaps, ever so thoroughly succeeded in defeating its own ends; in- stead of union it has produced the most hoiieless and heartless contentions and di\nsions that perhaps ever passed current under the specious pretence of zeal for Christ and care for the truth." It is difficult to ascer- tain particulars as to the present condition of (he body as they do not publish anything in the nature of a year- book and refrain from collecting or furnishing returns.
Miller. The Brethren: their origin, progress and testimony (London, 1879): Teclon, History and Doctrines of the Pt:/moulh Brethren (London. 1883); Reid. Plymouth Brethrenism unveiled and refuted (Edinburgh. 1875); D.\rbt, Collected works (32 vols., London 1867-83); Kei.i.y. Lectures on Fundamejitat Truths con- nected with the Church of God (London, 1869) ; Groves. Memoir of ■inthony Norris Groves; Anon. Plymouth Brethrenism, reprinted from British Quarterly Reriew of Oct.. 1873 (London. 1874); Rogers. Church Systems of the Nineteenth Century (London. ISSl); Renham. Dirt, of Religion (London. 1887); Neatey. Hist, nf the Plymouth Brethren (London, 1902). EdwIN BuRTON.
